For This Reason

Recently Malana and I were thinking about that verse in 1 John 3:8 "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." NIV When we thought about what the devil's work was, our conversation went back to the very beginning in the garden where Satan tempted Eve. We noticed that the snake's tactic was to drive a wedge between Eve and God by smearing God saying that God was trying to hold something back from them. His tactic was to get Eve to mistrust God. Then when the mistrust was in place Eve was already in sin. Concerning sin Paul wrote that "everything that does not come from faith is sin". (Rom 14:23 NIV) So the devil's work is primarily get us to mistrust God.

Shortly after this conversation Malana was in the car by herself complaining to the Lord that she was getting very frustrated with the Lord because He didn't seem to be answering some specific prayers she had prayed. She then said, and I quote, "I don't know if I can trust you anymore."

Of course when she said this our previous conversation came back to her mind and she realized that the driving this wedge of mistrust between her and the Lord was the devil's work. Eureka! She discerned what was actually happening: she was being tempted by the devil to mistrust God!

So Malana and I have something to say to you all: Never mistrust the Lord. Don't give in to the devil's work. Jesus is worthy of all our trust. He came and suffered humanity's judgment so we could be freed from our bondage to death. By this He has demonstrated to us the depth of His compassion and love for us all. He took the responsibility of mankind's sin, though He was without sin, and gave to us His very life.

Through faith he now lives in us. We are now eating of the tree of life. Never go back but continually trust our Lord - for He is Worthy!

Divorce and Repentance

Recently I was taken to task over my view of divorce and remarriage in the church. This came about because I had publicly in our church prayed over a newly wed couple where the wife had been divorced and the previous husband was still alive and unmarried. This appeared to have been an official acceptance on my part, and the church’s part, of their marriage – which it was.

I thought it would be good to get my views down in digital format (no longer paper and ink!) so we could discuss these things.

There are several issues that have to be looked at. First of all, what is marriage? Why do we have marriage since it is not essential for procreation? How does marriage fit into God’s plan for mankind? Is it more than itself i.e. a sign of something greater? If so, what? Are polygamy and polyandry always wrong? How does the church relate to those new converts who are in such marriages?

Secondly there is the issue of divorce itself. What is it? Can it be done without sinning? Is it always because of the hardness of the heart? If it is always sinful, how do you repent of it? What does repentance over this sin look like? How can such a person be restored? If it is not always sinful, how can we tell the difference? Do we need to always be able to tell the difference? Is it ever the right thing to do?

Then, after coming to an understanding divorce, we need to see how this applies to remarriage. Can a divorced person remarry? Is this always adultery? If it is adultery, how can this be repented of? What does forgiveness of the sin of remarriage look like? Can a remarriage be blessed by God? Under what conditions, if any, can a remarriage after divorce be proper? If never proper what do you do about it? How should the church relate to those who are married improperly?

These are some of the questions that need to be addressed in order to answer the question of divorce and remarriage. I will try to simply address these issues over the next few posts. Wish me luck.