2005-05-13
Hi There Cherished Readers,
We who are washed in the blood of Christ by our faith in Him are part of a group of very blessed people, the Body of Christ. When I meditated upon what it must have taken for God to sacrifice His only Son on the cross for us, to not only raise Him, but to give all believers the promise that we too will be raised [RO 8: 29], and to give us His very own Spirit to dwell within each of us, I’m in awe of the Father! The enormity of these unselfish acts goes beyond what we can comprehend. This is especially true in view of the degree of sin that is committed. The Father and everything He teaches us through the Scriptures, prayer, the circumstances of our lives, and our congregations is ever-righteous. He wants us to thirst for righteousness too. We should feel as the Psalmist did in PS 42: 1-2, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, O God. I thirst for You, the living God. When can I go and worship in Your presence?” That is why it’s so necessary for us to visit and revisit painful subjects like adultery and divorce. We must understand why it’s necessary, why we owe it to the Father and the Son, to find sufficient motivation to stop this behavior. We are reminded in MT 5: 8, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God.” Our Lord has promised us that we will see Him face to face, as I believe Moses did [REV 22: 4].
There is a truth that should be painful to those whose sexual conduct is sinful: their conduct is a measure of their relationship with God. The Father has made it very clear what is acceptable, like sexual relations within marriage, and what is not, like adultery, fornication, homosexuality, and lesbianism. Sadly, our society is trying to find ways to rationalize these latter behaviors. Some of these rationalizations are: “People are getting married later in life now, so as adults, we can go ahead and have sex beforehand;” “My husband is so abusive, that having an open marriage is okay;” “We should legalize same sex marriage;” “I just couldn’t help it; she’s so very attractive; my wife is so clueless, she’ll never know I’m having a little fun on the side;” and so on. The worst rationalization of all is, “I don’t have to worry about the Bible; I just take what I think is okay and leave the rest.” It’s a wonder God doesn’t destroy these people who act on these attitudes on the spot! But, somehow, I guess our Father is so compassionate, patient, and hopeful that they will repent of these sins that He is willing to give them more time to do so. God’s view on marriage is clearly stated in several places in the Scriptures, e.g. GN 1: 27; GN 2: 23-24; LV 18: 20; EPH 5: 21-29. His views on the gay lifestyle appear in LV 18: 22 and RO 1:24-32. From all that God has told us in His word, His definition for marriage is a union between one man and one women and Himself. It is His will that He should be a Partner in their union, albeit not a sexual one.
MT 5: 27-32 are Christ’s words on adultery and divorce. They bear repeating. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart. So if you right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body go off to hell. It was also said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her written notice of divorce.’ But now I tell you: if a man divorces his wife, even through she has not been unfaithful, then he is guilty of making her commit adultery if she marries again; and the man who marries her commits adultery also.” These words should make anyone think twice before divorcing. The only release for the believers involved in the latter situation comes to us in 1 COR 7:15, “However, if the one who is not a believer wishes to leave the Christian partner, let it be so. In such cases the Christian partner, whether husband or wife, is free to act. God has called you to live in peace.”
God’s teaching on adultery certainly didn’t first appear as late as the NT. It was early in the OT, EX 20: 14 and DT 5: 18, for example. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” It can’t be clearer than that. Human rationalization is like a block between mankind and God. It gets in the way of both God’s communication with mankind and with mankind’s ability to understand God’s will. The more rationalization and bad behavior that goes on, the farther is the distance between God and man. Christ’s greatest pain on the cross didn’t come for the mockery and scourging beforehand or even from the horrific death on the cross. It came from that time of separation from God that was necessary for the work of the cross to be done, for Christ to take on the sins of the world. God wants nothing more than for there to be peace and sweet fellowship between Himself and those willing to take the step necessary to be saved: repentance and belief in His Son. JN 6: 39-40, the passage which I believe is Christ’s “mission statement,” tells us that Christ’s main purpose is to bring as many people back to the Father as the Father has given Him. Our time on earth is supposed to be a partnership between God and man, where, with God’s help, man discovers his own pockets of sinfulness and takes steps to make changes in his life to expunge them. Remember, God has never asked us to do anything that He didn’t first equip us to do. His love for us is beyond measure.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your throne today to acknowledge that we are sinners with the need to cooperate with You in the process of sanctification. You provide the circumstances of our lives as opportunities to learn to make choices that please You. Your Son has told us in MT 5: 3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their’s is the Kingdom of heaven.” We are empty and useless without You, and we want You to know that we are more than grateful for Your mighty presence in our lives. You deserve our daily study of Your word, our willingness to put its precepts in our hearts forever, and our action in making changes in our lives that enable us to comply with it. Moreover, You deserve our praise for Who You are and what You do for us. PS 86: 12-13 expresses our hearts. “I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever. For great is Your love toward me; You have delivered me from the depths of the grave.” From our past experience, we know that it is You Who gave us faith and a hunger for Your word. We know that You have taught us from the time of our youth to live righteously. In matters of sexual conduct, You have made it clear what is acceptable and have given us the Holy Spirit who acts as our consciences. When we err, You give us the opportunity to stop the wrongful attitudes and behavior and forgive us when we do mend our ways. Dearest Abba, we need to understand why conforming our lives to Your way is so important. We need to think not only about immediate consequences and people who are harmed by our sins, but we must also consider the eternal consequences. Our desire is to fulfill Your purposes (both immediate and long term) for our lives. We thank and praise You. We dedicate our lives to your service. We pledge to be faithful to You, and You alone. In Christ, we pray. Amen.
Next week, I am led to continue discussing adultery and other sexual misconduct, as He has given me more to say. I realize that you get these messages several weeks after I write them. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t say something about the death of Pope John Paul II, which happened on April 3rd. While American Catholics didn’t always agree with his conservative views on celibacy in the priesthood and banning the use of contraceptives, there was so much more to this man than that. He was a great peace-maker in this world, kindly and loving. One need only hear what people who had audiences with him had to say to know that. God gave him a 26-year papacy that helped to bring many reforms in the Catholic church and world politics in general. He was side by side with President Regan in bringing down the Iron curtain, and believed implicitly in freedom. I mention this now, because of RO 13: 1, “Everyone must obey state authorities, because no authority exists without God’s permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God.” This man who spoke 10 languages traveled more than any other Pope in history, so as to gain an understanding and connection with the people of his church and the world. He knew about persecution from the time of his youth in Poland. We can only pray that whoever is elected to be the new pope will be as faithful believer in Christ as this man was. The Catholic church and the world in general was blessed by God in giving Pope John Paul II the opportunity to serve Him that He did. God continues to bless all believers every day of our lives. Each of us needs to look for these blessings in his own life.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn