Does God Forgive Divorce?
Will God forgive me if I get a divorce?
Will God punish me, or ignore my prayers if I get a divorce?
Can I get remarried if I had a divorce?
First, I want everyone to know that I do not condone divorce. In fact, if you are still married, and struggling, may I encourage you to watch my video on advice for Married Christians.
This video was created for people that are ALREADY divorced and perhaps struggling with how God may view them.
One of the most common questions asked by Christians is “does God forgive divorce?” and/or how does God respond to believers that have been divorced? Here’s the biblical truth to these questions about divorce.
If you listen to most teachings, you may be thinking that God doesn’t forgive divorce, or at the very least, that God will dole out some punishment if you were to get divorced. But neither is true, or even biblical.
Before I explain this, I want to give my typical disclosure, so I can cut off the angry punches at the start.
I do not condone divorce!
If you’re married to a believing spouse then I firmly believe that God’s heart is that we remain married.
If you are considering divorce, I encourage you to seek counseling. See a pastor. See a trusting friend. Talk to each other. Do whatever it takes to save your marriage.
It is through our marriage that Christians show Christ to the world. We do this by living out our identity in Christ through our marriage.
For example, our spouses will often offend us. When they do, we have a choice. We can belittle them. We can insult them. We can say hurtful things. Or we can choose to forgive the offense and treat them with respect, honor, and dignity. When the world sees this forgiveness in our marriage, we are symbolically showing them who Jesus is for us.
Jesus forgives all our sins and promises to never hold them against us. I know we’re not perfect, but it’s to our benefit to forgive others. Consider this. Does speaking down to your spouse hurt your marriage or help it? I’m just saying that everyone wins when we forgive.
God promises to never leave us and never forsake us. Romans 12: 18 tells us:
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
At the same time, you may be married to an unbelieving spouse, that doesn’t want to be with you. Again, if possible, I would encourage you to work it out. However, he or she may not be willing to. In that case, I point you to 1 Corinthians 7:15.
Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace.
Now, in the case of an abusive person, God is not asking anyone to be a punching bag. Leave them. Get away from that monster. He/she has already violated God’s standard. Men are to honor their wives. Treat them with respect.
What about adultery? Again, I think God’s heart would be that, if possible, to work it out. However, God clearly permits a divorce when adultery has been committed.
So, with my view clearly showing that, in most cases (not all), that I am not in favor of divorce, let’s answer the question.
Will God Forgive You If You Get Divorced?
The answer is an undeniable ‘YES’, God DOES FORGIVE DIVORCE.
I want you to think back to what saved you? Jesus did. He shed His blood on a cross to take away all of your sins.
The same thing that saves you, is the same thing you need to hold on to when you wonder how God responds to divorce.
God does not have a bucket of some sins Christians can be forgiven of, and some that aren’t.
You are not in some holding tank waiting for you to somehow engage in some religious activity to get back in good standing with God. Jesus applies the same forgiveness to divorce as he does lying, cheating on taxes, or any other sin.
Will God Punish You or Ignore Prayers if you Get a Divorce?
Absolutely not, God would never punish or ignore the prayers of His children. That comes from a distorted teaching in 1 Peter 3:7.
Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
This is not God not answering your prayers. This is about married people who are arguing and fighting, and as a result, not praying together. God is not hindered, and his answers to your prayers are not hindered. The only thing being hindered is you and your spouse’s prayer time.
Can I Get Remarried if I Had a Divorce?
Again, you’re not in some holding tank. You are free in Christ to marry again. However, if you were unable to save you marriage, I would encourage you to make sure you are slow to marry again. If you do, be sure they are a believer in Christ. Be sure they are gentle, loving, and honorable.
In fact, before you remarry, you need to first be sure you are getting your happiness and joy from Jesus. Don’t expect to get all of this from a spouse. If you do, you’ll end up disappointed every time.
And above all, never forget they are human. They will offend you. That hurts us. Men especially have a hard time with it. Our ability to forgive our spouses greatly improves the quality of our marriage.
Take Away: If you are married, then stay married, if you can. That’s God’s heart. If you can’t, then God will not punish you. He won’t ignore your prayers or withhold blessings. You are not blessed because of your goodness. You’re blessed because of HIS goodness.
Your sins are dealt with.
But above all, if you are married, and as long as it depends on you, let your marriage reflect Jesus. Be forgiving, loving, and kind. Jesus is love.
I want to leave you with 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
This is how God treats us, even when we sin. That includes the sin of divorce or adultery. So, a piece of advice for those still married. Try your best to let Jesus be shown in all of your life. Live out 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 in your day-to-day lives. Your marriage will be much stronger if you do.
Author: Mike Cynar
Mike Cynar was raised in a church setting where he frequently noticed that many attendees would eventually drift away. The church labeled these individuals as ‘back sliders’ or ‘fake Christians’ just looking for ‘fire insurance’. However, Mike realized the issue was rarely with these individuals but instead with the church’s message itself. The teachings heavily emphasized behavior improvement and one’s flaws, with only a fleeting mention of one’s identity in Christ. It felt as though every sermon was tailored to the church of Corinth, who as we know or committing sins that even unbelievers don’t partake in. This trend was noticeable not just in one denomination, but across Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal, and many other churches. Upon understanding the true essence of the gospel – that our righteousness comes from Jesus’ actions, not our own – Mike was inspired to liberate believers from lifeless sermons and reconnect them with the genuine teachings of Jesus. He believes that one can nurture a vibrant and growing bond with Jesus, unhindered by rigid religious practices. And thus, “Jesus Without Religion” was born.
It turns out that it is grace that leads to repentance. And if our heart is to get others to walk in the Spirit and live a godly life, then the best approach is not a beat down sermon, but rather to remind other that it is only when we understand our true identity in Christ that we will live it out. Yes, it’s true, if you’re convinced that God thinks you’re a dirty sinner, you will ultimately continue a lifestyle that mirrors that view, but if you truly believe that even on your worst day, you are called holy, sanctified, justified, and will be presented blameless in the end, well, it turns out this is the secret to living out on the outside what has been worked in to the inside.
111 Comments
Thank you. I prayed and ask God for guidance about divorce and remarrying.
Amen! God is good.
I’m a believer in Jesus Christ, this message is very inspiring not to mention I’m with a man that was married and is still not divorced yet we’ve been together for almost 15 years and have 6 beautiful kids together and been seeking the lord on how to deal with our situation and if we should get married or not but reading this message really gives me hope for our future as we have the desire to start a ministry with our children n teaching them the true gospel not to mention the woman he was married to was pushed on him through religion and she was not interested in Christianity still to this day she’s still in the world
I am glad you were inspired. Thanks for the kind words.
To be honest, I am a bit concerned that you have been together with a married man for the last 15 years. I don’t know all the details, and I’m not asking you to spill them here.
Praying for God’s wisdom for you both. Stay well.
We weren’t committed to the Lord since this February 2021 but we’ve been feeling conviction or condemnation ever since….. and thanks for praying for us we need all the prayers we can get!! Bc I still question myself and Jesus if it’s the right thing to do after all we’ve been together for so long…… I have my days where I feel so condemned and ik it’s demonic I don’t want to keep living this way and not to mention I wasn’t brought up in the gospel but IK Jesus loves and forgives me I’ve repented many times of this. And I hear that still voice inside n tells me to be patient and Idk what that means but I’m just going to trust in the lord bc that’s wat the scripture says is to trust in him. Amen! He is divorcing his wife but what should I do when this happens is it still considered sin if we both make this decision??? He doesn’t want to go back to her I mentioned it to him many times but he refuses and wants to stay with me and I want to be with him also he actually asked my dad before I moved out from my parents home to live with him if he could have his blessing to marry me and my dad gave him his blessing before he passed. This was about 14 years ago I wished we would have went through with all that before we became Christian’s!!!
It sounds to me like you know what the right thing to do is. Of course, I could never tell someone that it’s OK to be in a relationship with someone who’s married. At the same time, I want to make it very clear that if you have ever called on Jesus to rescue you from your sins, then there is no condemnation for you. Now that is not condoning any type of sin, but it is saying that Jesus swore he remembers your sins no more. It is saying that you will be presented blameless on the day of judgment. So, part of my recommendation is to stop feeling condemned. That is not what God wants from you. But I will say, regardless of the type of sin you are engaged in, you will never be fulfilled unless you’re walking in the spirit.
This is some wrong teaching here buddy! Don’t let this man lead you all into hell
Hello Ron,
We appreciate your comment. Thank you. I invite you to back up your comment with biblical references. As it stands now, you really have not made your position valid. At this point, all that you basically said is ‘God does not forgive sin’. Or, at the very least, ‘you have put limitations on his kindness’.
Ron,
Did you miss the part about how he does not condone divorce? He has backed it up with the Biblical references that every pastor and Christian counselor has used that I have spoken with. I’m not seeking divorce, AT ALL! However, my Christian husband is😓, which is why I’ve investigated & researched this topic thoroughly. Ultimately, we are not on this Earth to judge. There is only 1 judge for everyone who has ever been present on Earth, and that is God.
God sent His only son to die a horrible, painful, and demoralizing death on the cross, and He did it willingly & out of obedience ALL for US because we couldn’t do enough, couldn’t live a perfect & sinless life in order to enter heaven. God recognized that and provided a way to cleanse everyone of EVERY SINGLE SIN EVERYONE has ever or will ever do, including divorce! Therefore, by saying God won’t forgive divorce, you are basically telling God, and Jesus, that the pure hell Jesus went through on the cross wasn’t good enough to cover the sin of divorce. Its saying something more needs to be done. Are you really going to imply to God & Jesus that His death on the cross was subpar & He needs to do more?
Is divorce something God desires? NO! But, He gave us the parameters for marriage & divorce to follow in the Bible, and tjat is whathas been emphasized in this article.
I am glad I found this page. I also am struggling with this . I was married at 18 to escape an abusive childhood home and married a man 4 years older than me . I am not making an excuse for what I did but after around 3 years of marriage I was lonely he didn’t pay attention to me and complained about my looks and weight gain ect… I left and moved out when I was 21 . During our separation I met a guy started dating and became pregnant so my husband divorced me as he had that right . It was a very shameful and embarrassing and painful time of my life . I did ask for forgiveness but wasn’t really seeking Christ or reading my Bible just believing in God at that point . Now then at 29 I remarried another man and an still currently married to him for 10 years but I started reading my Bible recently and wanting to become a Christian and give my life to the Lord . I have been told that I must divorce my current husband to become a Christian because I’m living in a constant state of adultery. We have children and a pretty happy marriage and I am not sure God wants me to break my family up .
I’m no expert, but as long as you repented and asked for forgiveness from God, your sin has already been forgiven. I think adding divorce onto this would just create another “sin” so when you remarry the same man, it’s not going to make a difference. Stay married. Stay committed to Christ 1st and foremost, and then stay committed to your husband (he should be #2 in your life above children), and then family. If you find yourselves struggling with any topic in your marriage, I suggest that you look into Focus on the Family’s Marriage Broadcast/PODCASTS. They are amazing, and they have counselors who can help and marriage intensive retreats. They are probably the BEST Christian marriage and family resource out there! I hope it’s okay to share this, but here’s a link to their app:
Focus on the Family App app
https://get.theapp.co/bk27
I was married. My late husband commited adultery , many times and He was divorced before I met him. I thought God just saved me from a sinful marriage, too. I seek Bible verses on Divorce and remarriage.before I decided to divorce him. God directed me to these verses:
Matthew 19:9
Matthew 5:32
1Corinthians 7:10-11
Mark 10:11
Luke 16:18
I was into a relationship after I divorced him, but God is so good. He directed me to Luke 16:18
Although in God’s law I am allowed to remarry because my marriage to my late husband was not legal in God’s eyes-because he was married before. The man I met was also divorced from before. so it would still be wrong..
Romans 3:7
I hurt that man by breaking up with him but I chose to abide God’s law.
Jackie,
Thanks for your comment. I think you’ll find the verses you slide in a very easy to explain.
First, to reiterate, please review the title of this post again.
The discussion is NOT whether or not committing adultery is a sin. No one is arguing about that. Also, no one is suggesting that we should just go out and get divorced. The discussion quite simply is about forgiveness of sin. Does God forgive sin or not? And if he does, did he just exclude the sin of adultery?
It just seems like there are a couple of comments that are responding to something that this post is not about. It would be like the title of the post being “Does God forgive you if you’ve told a lie before?”, and then having a bunch of people respond by trying to show me that line is a sin. In the same way, we’re not denying that telling a lie is a sin, we are not denying that adultery is wrong either. But the question is how does God respond to us?
Now let’s tackle those verses. I will point out that several of the verses you quoted were all just different writers citing their account of the same thing Jesus said.
[Matthew 19:9] And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
[Matthew 5:32] but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
[1 Corinthians 7:10-11] But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife is not to leave her husband 11 (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband is not to divorce his wife.
[Mark 10:11] And He *said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her;
[Luke 16:18] “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.
What do we know about every one of these verses?
1-we know in each case he was speaking to Jewish people. The Jews were ALL under the law.
2-we know Jesus had not yet gone to the cross and the new covenant had not been enacted. They were all under THE LAW.
So if Christians today are going to use the law as the stander then let’s not put limitations on it.
For example, let’s talk about another command regarding marriage under the law.
In [Deuteronomy 25:5–10] we discover there are circumstances that if your husband were to die, then you would be required to marry his brother, and he will be required to “have relations with you”.
Of course, we’re not going to find many Christians citing this command because that makes us a little too uncomfortable.
And I’m sure you realize there are a whole lot more verses that require you to do some very strange things under the law. For example, Women find themselves confined during their monthly cycle because they are viewed as defiled. You’re not allowed to eat pork or shrimp. And if you’re like most Americans today during the Sabbath you’re probably still cooking, washing dishes or cleaning the house a little.
So, what we’re doing is picking in choosing the laws that we want to impose on people.
[Romans 3:7] But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?
I mean this respectfully, but you have completely missed the context of Paul’s letter. Though, this would take a bit longer to explain. If you are interested, and have that kind of time, we did a series on Romans here https://jesuswithoutreligion.com/bible-study-online/romans/
Your looking for loopholes. Jesus gave examples exceptions for working on the Sabbath. He was saying don’t be nit picking about. When he spoke of divorce and remarriage he was very clear. There was 1 exception. When Jesus is clear there is no reason to muddy the waters by factoring in our personal desires. That is Satan’s trick. Furthermore some sins are greater than other sins. 1 Cor. 6-10 states several sins that will keep you from Heaven. 1 Cor. 10 makes it clear that what we did before we were saved is forgiven and in the past. Christians, however, who divorce and remarry are adulterers. That is one of the sins listed which will prevent you from going to Heaven. It is one of the modt difficult things for a Christian to accept. I’m sure it was very difficult for all the apostles to live knowing they would be martyred as well.
Unfortunately, I find it difficult to take people serious who believe in the doctrine of losing salvation. There’s no scriptural basis for that. It also is an insult to the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
You also have a very bad understanding of how the Sabbath applies today. In fact, the sabbath was merely a picture of resting from works of the law for righteousness. Specifically resting in Christ.
It’s very clear that you bought into the theology that God forgives your sins……unless you sin.
Paul have you ever looked on a woman and lusted ? And if so did GOD forgive you? And Remember adultery OF ANY KIND is unforgivable 👍
Am glad i have come across this site. I have been asking myself if God can forgive the divorces. Am a divorced woman and remarried. Am a Christian and love the Lord so much together with my husband. I infact am a secretary to one of the ministries at my Angelican church. We are making five years since we wedded. I got saved with my husband on the day of wedding. We based our decision to accept Jesus for His goodness for having allowed us to wed….and we had this verse 2 chorintians 5:17 that says if one is in Christ is a new creation, the old is gone and the new is here…
And so i thank you for creating this site for those who are divorced already. But to those who are not divorced they should not do so. God hates divorce They should not take this site as a scape route.
But i have read here people condemning this site. I would like to ask, does it mean divorcees cannot go to heaven evenafter they have accepted Jesus as their personal saviour?
Or another question…what advise do you give a divorce that can help her ir him to go to heaven. Thank you.
I agree
That post is well put. Many things in the old law are being stated. My mother said Jesus died for us to live! The Old Testament is history and is needed to explain the new and purpose of the new. So if all sin is equal and I’m forgiven. Why is it that I proclaim to follow Jesus I sin such as adultry I am judged so harsh by others. They themselves comment sin or is it just I look worse because I am honest. Another question if I was married and we divorced. Now we are trying to work on our relationship again but not remarried. If we are intimate since divorce we are still considered adulterous?
Christians are forgiven of all sin, but that doesn’t make it right.
We are lavished with grace. It never ends.
However, we are called to judge each other. But we should not be over the top.
In Corinthians, we see that a man is sleeping with his mom. They rightfully judged his behavior and threw him out of the church.
[1 Corinthians 5:3] For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this
Now, you said you are committing adultery. I don’t know if that means cheating on your husband or looking with lust. Cheating on a spouse indeed calls for judgment from other believers.
To your question about being intimate with your ex. Yes, that is still a sin if you are not married. Though, in my opinion, not something that I or any other Christian needs to be judging you for.
We need to use godly common sense before judging others. And we need to never forget our forgiveness.
Judgment from other believers should only occur when the sin is open, arrogant, prideful, and an insult to how it makes the body of Christ look.
However, we are not called to run around judging each other over every bad choice we make. That is especially true when poor choices are not continually repeated and in open arrogance.
Educated response! clear and concise
This is in response to a later post where you mention that fellow Christians are to “judge” others. I’ve always understood that there is only one judge for us, and that is God. He decides who is forgiven, or not, not us. He decides who makes it into heaven, or not; we don’t.
To judge, in my opinion, means you hand down a sentence, and God is the only one who should be doing that. Even Jesus states that it will be God the Father who separates the sheep (us) when we get to heaven!
I do believe we are to reprove, rebuke & guide fellow brothers & sisters in Christ when they are sinning or heading away from God, but we don’t actually “judge” them.
I’ve been on the receiving end of Christians with power and authority, or none, that judge quite harshly without knowing the whole story.
I used to run a Christian camp and witnessed and mentored over 3,000 kids & adults each year. It was one of the best times of my life, and I grew closer to God than ever before! However, when my husband was accused of getting a bit to friendly with some female adult staff at the camp, I lost my job because of his choices! Not mine! It was a job I loved and one where God was working through me to reach so many kids living in broken homes caused by divorce, substance abuse, and physical abuse. I did nothing wrong!
Then a friend of mine was being physically and verbally abused by her husband for nearly 30 years before she finally had enough & walked out. She actually didn’t want a divorce, but she also wasn’t safe to live in that house alone with him. Her last child just married and moved out. Interestingly, her husband was in the worship team of the church every Sunday.
Yet, the church “judged” her, and she was given a letter stating she wasn’t welcomed at the church anymore, and she needed to leave!
I’m sorry, but arent churches supposed to be for the weak, broken, sick, and hurting? Or is that only reserved for Jesus’stime?
So, at a time when she needed her pastor most, he turned his back on her and refused to listen to her full story and the abuse she endured. Her husband continued to play on the worship team for another 10 years until he retired.
So, to me, the word “judge” should be used with great caution because some people feel it gives them the power to hand down a “death” sentence without ever hearing the full story or allowing a fair trial.
Here’s the verse I’m referring to:
2 Timothy 4:3 In-Context
1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:
2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
I believe I stated in the video that we are in no way called to be judging someone else’s salvation. If we judge salvation, we are looking at their performance, which is to suggest faith does not matter. If someone says they are believer, we should let it be, and assume that they are. Only God knows the heart.
However, it is abundantly clear that believers have some role in judging other believers actions and poor choices. For example, if you see a friend of yours cheating on his wife, you absolutely have a Christian role to lovingly point out their wrongdoing and lead them back to Jesus. In Corinthians we see where they are called to throw a man out of church because of his actions.
You wrote “I do believe we are to reprove, rebuke & guide fellow”
There’s no way to rebuke someone if you are not judging their actions. NOTE: what is being judged is the action/sin, not the humans spiritual identity. I think I know your heart and it as well intended. This kind of judgment is nothing like judging the final outcome of their salvation. It’s Christians using good common sense and recognizing when a brother or sister has gone off the rails. Indeed, often times judgment results in some type of legal conviction, but not this kind of judgment. Think about in terms like using good judgment.
In the Old Testament, God literally put judges in place. Again, this was not spiritual judgment regarding their salvation. This was settling matters between men who were doing wrong.
If I started writing telling people that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with adultery, I would expect someone to come towards me with the judgment and calling me out for the deception (sin) I was guilty of. If someone were stealing from the local church, I would expect that someone would call them out, and possibly even remove them from the church. So judgment has its place. Just noticed that it’s not the kind of judgment that results in spiritual condemnation.
Correct interpretation of the scripture because you also have to look at 1st Corinthians 4:7 10:11 that says for the person to remain unmarried or be reconciled to their husband and in the latter part of the chapter it talks about the husband is bound by the same rule of the wife to remain unmarried or to be reconciled to his wife although it doesn’t say it in those exact words we have to assume that’s what the writer meant in that and also we have to look at the first part of that part where it says and the Lord commands not die and that is Paul talking so we have to make sure follow scripture to the letter because it talks about whoever commits adultery will not enter into the kingdom of heaven and based on the modern Christianity keeping that divorce and remarriage is okay we have to fall back on scripture in scripture alone and not go back to a cultural stats that this is the culture we live in and we live in a more modern culture and not back in the apostolic times we need to make sure we stay with the Epi stehlik teaching a scripture and what God says he also says that for Israelites to issue a bill of divorcement however he said from the beginning it was not so he said male and female he created them in the two became one flash there are no longer two but one how do you separate something that has been joined together by God and a holy and sacred as a covenant in the only thing that Frank say Covenant is death for the shedding of blood I strongly encourage you to continue your stand and what you have come to buy city of scripture on your own and not follow under the more modern teaching that divorce and remarriage is okay I have been divorced for seven years and because of scriptural teaching I am actually remaining unmarried I don’t ever see my wife coming back she divorced me and this is a topic I’m actually studying tonight and presenting at our church 3 Bible study and discussion tonight here where I live
Thanks for your comment.
If you have an open heart I think you’re fine I can give you some actual clarity on Paul’s writing.
Your view right now does not leave a lot of room for trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ in the blood he shed for our sins.
You cited 2 verses in Corinthian’s that did not line up with what you wrote. I’ve done that too. No worries.
You did however point out that “whoever commits adultery will not enter into the kingdom of heaven”. That comes from 1 Cor 6:9.
Consider this before you teach that view to other people this evening.
What you’re not doing is applying proper context. Let’s start by talking about ALL the sins in that list of people who won’t inherit the kingdom:
-idolaters
-sexually immoral
-Thieves
-Drunkards
-Greedy
-Slanderers
-Swindlers
We also see the list gets longer of people who will ‘not inherit the kingdom’ in Galatians 5:19-21
-Impurity
-Hatred
-Discord
-Envy
-Factions
-Dissensions
-Selfish Ambition
-Fits of outrage
So Mattew, you’ve got a big problem on your hands if all of these people will not inherit the kingdom? And certainly, you know the list is much longer than that. By your standard and interpretation, 90% of the world is doomed. Most, if not all of us, are guilty of at least one of these.
Now let’s put some context in this.
What do we call the things in this laundry list? We call them sins. What did Jesus do about those sins? He died for them. Do the math. You are clearly, though I am sure innocently, misinterpreting the context of Paul’s writings.
Here is what’s actually going on.
Paul was writing the Corinthian’s who were engaged in all kinds of sin. They knew the blood of Jesus worked and they had Grace poured all over them. They knew they were indeed free to do whatever without punishment. The problem was they were using their grace to indulge the flesh. Many Christians stupidly do that.
So, what’s happening is Paul has a heart for these Corinthians. He doesn’t want them to forget that the very things they’re doing now were once eternally punishable. The wage of sin is death. Any sins. Any size. Why do the very things that once resulted in eternal punishment? We’re not made for sin. We are never satisfied with sin. We have new desires.
BUT…….
Paul is NOT threatening the Corinthians. He’s talking about what happened to people who are NOT believers. In other words, he’s describing their previous condition and the result of their sins. And if we would just read one more verse we’d see Paul literally concludes by basically telling them ‘hey, that was what your old identity was, but that’s not who you are now, you are safe and you have been cleansed, so live it out”.
Here’s the verse:
[1 Cor6:11] And that is what some of you WERE. But you were WASHED, you were SANCTIFIED, you were JUSTIFIED in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
So, they WERE, in the past, the sum total of their sins. But now they have been saved. And if we’re going to live out our present identity we’re going to realize that we truly are only satisfied when we walk in the spirit.
In fact, check out the very next verse:
[1 Cor 6:12] “I have the right to do ANYTHING,” you say—but not everything is beneficial.
This is the Corinthian’s attitude. They are right. They are free. They are forgiven. And they can indeed do ANYTHING in the list, BUT, Paul’s reminding them not everything is beneficial. There are earthly consequences. And many of these sins affect our own body. So, let’s not let those things master us.
That is our context. Paul is not threatening the Corinthians with eternal punishment or losing salvation. Just consider that he has a heart for his brothers and sisters in Christ and doesn’t want them indulging in sins, but rather being a reflection of Christ as they live out their true identities.
I hope it helps.
WELL SAID!!
Thank you!
Good for you, because I am alone also and yes it’s hard. But Gods word is held above heaven and earth. I pray that God gives you strength to continue your journey.
In an earlier post, Mr. Rovbal rightfully so acknowledged that he’s not so perfect either. As the apostle James says, “we all stumble in many ways”. Roybal seems to be greatly missing the context of this post. The article is not addressing people who are considering getting a divorce or remarrying. It’s addressing people who already had this in the past. This post literally opened up by dressing. People who are still married and asking them to please read another post if they were considering divorce.. So, to even hint, that we are condoning, divorce is intellectually dishonest.
We all have something in our past. Heartbreaking that he seems to think there is no forgiveness available for this particular matter. I remain strong that if someone has sinse remarried, they should know that they are loved deeply by God and God will never leave them or forsake them. There is now no condemnation for those in Christ, and that does not go away because someone has remarried. For me and my family, we will not water down the blood of Christ.
NICE!!👏👏🫶🤲🙏❤️
I’ve read this tonight been thinking and I honestly don’t like divorce but I know things do happen I was always told God HATES divorce (which ik he does) but tonight I got told that God doesn’t “forgive” divorce I wasn’t ever told this till today and I’ve been trying to find it in the Bible and been ofc I’m kinda lazy and looked it up and that’s how I found this website but I wanna know where does the divorce thing start in the Bible like what Book/chapter/numbers?
You’re not going to find a verse in the Bible that says God does not forgive divorce. People who teach that do not honestly believe in the finished work on the cross. The only saying that God will not forgive is the sin of unbelief.
Mathew 12:31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
The bible clearly tells us that God forgives all sins except defermation of the holy spirit.
But again this does not mean that we should encourage divorce no. Just like we are not encouraging thefty, lies, slanders, gossip, etc. But just in case you find yourself having done these, because of human nature, and because of our sinful nature, and you repent surely God forgives you. No condemnation. God came to give us peace and have it abundantly. No condemnation whatsoever. Repent and kingdom of God belongs to people such as we who have repented.
Just because there is no verse in the Bible that says God does not forgive divorce does not mean that divorce is right especially when it’s done unbiblical. Divorce breaks a covenant which God ordained in Genesis 2:24 or Ephesians 5:31. Nonetheless, if divorce occurs the Bible in, 1 Corinthians 7:11, teaches the spouses to either remain single or to reconcile. Otherwise remarrying when one spouse is still alive is Adultery–which is sin. Remarrying is ONLY allowed after death breaks the marital covenant. The book, 1 Corinthians 6:9, warns that Adulterers will not inherit the kingdom of God. If our opinion about anything contradicts God’s word, guess which one is wrong? Situations like divorce and remarrying are true scriptural realities found in Matthew 7:14 about the wide and narrow gates. MANY choose the former and FEW choose the latter. At the end of life, everyone must carry their own cross and stand judgement according to their deeds here on earth. What will YOU tell God about your life?
First, please be careful not to see words like ‘forgiven’ and ‘grace’ and assume that the teaching to a license to sin. That may be your perception of this message, but that is far off base from what we are teaching.
Let me clarify further. When it comes to Christians, there’s not a single verse in all of scripture that says ANY sin is not forgiven. So, the burden is not on me to prove that divorce is no forgivable, the burden rest on you to prove it isn’t.
No one is making an argument for divorce as being right or good. In no way is our motive to condone divorce. That is not the context of this video. Divorce is terrible. Our heart is that all would remain married (in most cases). As a whole, in this video, we are speaking to people who are already divorced and are wondering how God views them now. In many cases, they have already remarried. They deserve to know that they are fully forgiven and loved by God. They deserve to know that God is not holding that against them. They are indeed blameless – Col 1:22.
You made reference to a covenant that God ordained. To be clear, you and God do not have a covenant together. God could swear by no one greater so he swore by himself – Heb 6:13, Genesis 22:16–18. That’s the new covenant. God promising himself.
The old covenant was a promise God made to the people. That covenant was between God and the Jewish people. We know how that turned out. The Jewish people swore they do everything written in the book of the law. God wasn’t surprised when they could not. We discovered that through the law no one would be found righteous, no not one. Not even you – Romans 3:10.
James tells us even if we were to perfectly keep the ENTIRE law, yet stumble at just ONE point, we are guilty of it ALL – James 2:10.
My brother, we all should be thanking God that we are not made right with him by the law, but rather by FAITH, through Grace. That’s why, as it applies to salvation, the new covenant completely releases you from any responsibility. That doesn’t mean we should sin. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that not even ONE ounce of your performance has a single thing to do with your salvation. That includes divorce.
Christians are clean and close to God. We are totally forgiven. We are the righteousness of Christ. We will be presented as blameless. Yep, that includes those who have divorced and remarried.
Yes, we are on the same page with God’s heart for us, and instructions for not divorcing and/or what to do if we are divorced. However, this is not a threat from God. God is not angry or disappointed with them. This is not a commandment of ‘thou better not get married again or else”. God wants what’s best for his children. And he has all kinds of behavioral advice that we should deeply consider as the counselor guides us day by day moment by moment. But I will not let anyone rob someone of God’s grace and forgiveness simply because they think Christians are still under some old covenant law. We are free from the law. We are not under the law. Christ is the end of the law for all who believe.
You’re bringing up adultery. Adultery is bad. Agreed. We should do our absolute best to avoid it.
Jesus said if you look with lust it’s the same as adultery. Literally, 99% of all Christian males would be guilty of it. I know I would, and I’m almost certain you would be too. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was showing the Jews (who would reject him and chase after the law for righteousness) the true standard of law and adultery. The point was no one can keep the law. You might think you can keep the law if you water down its true standard and perfection. But Jesus would say that if you even notice a pretty woman walking by and lust for even second, you are guilty of adultery. If you are angry with a brother you are guilty of murder. He would tell you to cut off your hand or gouge out your eye if it causes you to sin. And he meant that exactly as he said……….that is, IF you are under the old covenant law. That was the point, under that covenant all of humanity is doomed. This is a sermon that would lead any intelligent person to realize they need a better way. They need a better covenant. They need a covenant that is not contingent upon their human performance. And that’s what Jesus gave us.
God swore when we are faithless he will remain faithful – 2 Tim 2:13. That includes people who are divorced and remarried.
God swore he would NEVER leave us or forsake us – Heb 13:5. That includes people who are divorced and remarried.
God said to the one who believes he shall NOT be Judged – John 3:18. That includes people who are divorced and remarried.
When you write that ‘1 Corinthians 6 warns that Adulterers would not inherit the Kingdom’, you need to understand that he is most certainly not referring to Christians. You have missed the context.
Yes, the Corinthians are committing all kinds of sins. Adultery. Drunkenness. Etc. John is reminding them that these very sins would have led to eternal punishment BEFORE they were saved. He’s saying ‘why do the very thing that leads unbelievers to hell?” He wants to remind them that they are new. He wants them to live out their new identity in Jesus Christ. By the way, I should point out that there were a whole lot more sins listed in 1 Corinthians 6 than just adultery. That list was long enough to convict all of humanity. That would include you and me, my friend.
Miller, all you need to do is read the next verse to see the context and John’s point. After John pointed all that long list of sins (not just adultery), he encourages them by reminding them that this was their OLD identity. But they have now been fully cleansed. The point is to live out their new identity, and don’t use their freedom in Christ as a reason to sin. Here’s what he said.
[1 Cor 6:11] That is what some of you WERE! But you were WASHED, you were SANCTIFIED, you were JUSTIFIED in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah and by the Spirit of our God.
The keyword is that’s what some of them WERE. Past tense. Old identity.
But at the point of salvation, they were immediately sanctified, justified, and washed. New identity.
You also misquoted Matthew 7:13-14 out of context (narrow gate). That’s a longer conversation which I’m happy to address if you want.
Lastly, you asked me “What will YOU tell God about your life”?
You say that was the problem with these people in the story about the narrow gate. The narrow gate is people trying to get right with God through Jesus. It was narrow because the audience or Jewish people who are not willing to accept Jesus as Messiah. They were chasing after the law. Human performance-based salvation. If you read the story these guys are pounding their chest bragging about all that they did in their life. They are basically saying:
“Look at us God, aren’t we awesome! Didn’t we cast out demons in your name? Didn’t we perform miracles in your name? Aren’t you just super impressed with our awesomeness and all WE did for YOU”.
And you see what’s going on here? This is Judgment Day. And the only thing they want to talk about is what they did for God. Which is the same question you asked me. You wonder if I’ll be pounding my chest bragging about all that I did for God. And like them, you’ve missed it. Because it is not about what you did for God. God is not served by human hands as if he needed anything – Acts 17:25. When I stand before God I will not be pounding my chest bragging about all the things I did for him. No sir. I will be bragging about what HE did for ME.
And if you find yourself bragging to God about what you did for him, you may very well here are the words that the people in Matthew seven did. “Depart from me I never knew you”.
.You see salvation is about knowing God. It’s not about showing off. Yes, we absolutely should have good works and exude the love of Jesus. But Christianity is not about a laundry list of work so we can brag before God one day. Christianity is about knowing Jesus. And you’ll notice in Matthew seven the word ‘never’ appeared. They NEVER knew Jesus. Sure. It appeared they were doing a whole lot of outward works. But honestly my friend, I hope the day you stand before Jesus the only thing pouring out of your heart is a huge thank you for what he did for you.
God bless you, friend.
Wow, you explained so much of what I’ve been searching for. Thank you
Thanks! Reach out any time.
As a woman who was married and divorced very young and remarried later on I have always struggled with this. I do understand that God forgives divorce 100% but it’s the remarriage part I still struggle with. It’s clear in several New Testament verses that you are only permitted to remarry if your spouse passes away or else you are committing adultery. So isn’t being remarried keeping me in a state of adultery?
Fantastic explanations…thank you!
I’m considering divorce from a toxic marriage of 28 years…married in sin because of a pregnancy not love, neither saved at the time. I’ve always believed I was locked in to this marriage because adultery hasn’t been an issue. Now I’m seeing that maybe God doesn’t want a marriage to be a prison sentence because of decisions made in sin, and that He truly desires us to find a truly suitable spouse who doesn’t make us dread every single day, who every time the words “I love you” are said, knows it’s a lie. I appreciate voices like yours that gives a sympathetic yet credible voice against the harsh legalistic voices so prevalent in the church today.
I’m very sorry to hear about your “toxic marriage”. At the same time I want to be clear that I would never encourage divorce. This video was created for people who were already in the situation (divorced) and were seeking a deeper understanding as to how God viewed them. You certainly are free in Christ and his Paul said, all things are permissible. My only advice would be that you make this decision with lots of prayer, and in no way let my video be the result of ending your marriage. God bless you brother. I wish you well.
The truth brought tears to my eyes. Thank you, brother.
With what the Bible says about remarrying is pretty clear to me, and I for myself will not take the chance of getting remarried. Don’t matter how anyone sugar coats it God is not going to change it. We all have our cross to carry and some are heavier than others, mine is pretty heavy but heaven is worth the cost. I lost a lot of Christian friends because I won’t lie to them for what the Bible says about remarrying. Our flesh is not going to inherit the kingdom of God, only our spirit. So today and tomorrow I will crucify my flesh. God bless .
We always appreciate your comments. You were doing good until you had to slip the dig in calling it ‘sugar coating’. It would’ve been more Christian like just to share your views on the matter, and let individuals decide for themselves.
I always find it interesting when someone focuses on a small handful of verses on marriage, and completely ignores dozens and dozens and dozens of verses about forgiveness.
You’re going to crucify your flesh? You’re doing it to yourself? And you’re doing it daily? You seem to miss the point that you are not the one who crucified your flesh.
Crucifing the flesh is a one time deal. It’s done by faith. It’s the same thing as dying with Christ. The old is gone and not coming back. Yet somehow you’re going to crucify it over and over again? Notice the verse speaks in the past tense. Done. Over.
[Galatians 5:24] Those who belong to Christ Jesus HAVE crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
You’re going to take up your cross? How many times did Jesus take up his cross? He did it one time. You don’t die day after day after day. You die once. And then the old is gone and the newest here. Returning dying with Christ, and some type of ongoing event. Animals were crucified year after year. Their blood could never take away sin. Jesus died once and sat down beside the right hand of the father. One death was all that was needed because Jesus is greater than animals.
We’re never going to encourage any kind of sin. But I always take a step back when someone writes ‘I won’t take the chance’. At the very core what that seems to be saying is, ‘I’m not 100% sure that I’m forgiven and I’m not going to take a chance and find out’.
Again, if you’d like not to remarry, I respect that and honor that. That’s not what I’m challenging here. I’m challenging your lack of faith in forgiveness that has been offered to you as you imply, that anyone who does choose to remarry is resting their salvation. Doesn’t show a lot of faith to me. If you paid attention to the post, you’ll notice we are in no way, encouraging, married people to get divorced. We actually point to a totally different article, if someone is married and considering divorce. This article is address people who have already divorced (and many remarried), and are concerned about their forgiveness. And you seem to have no hesitation, reassuring them that the blood has been shed for them as well.
I hope you do not put limitations on the work of the cross in other areas as well
First please note in no way do I want to come across like I’m condoning divorce. I absolutely believe Christians should do everything reasonably possible to remain married. Of course, there are exceptions, such as abuse.
ALL of these verses you are reading are before the cross. You will not find a single post cross verse calling a believer an adulteress person.
In Romans 7:3, the actual context there is talking about if you’re trying to grab onto the law for righteousness, instead of Jesus, it’s the equivalent of committing adultery on Jesus. Paul was using Roman law (adultery) to point out that in order to be joined together with Jesus you must first die to the Law, which was the same thing that had to happen in human law before you could be married to another person.
Then we have the sermon on the mount. Matthew 5:27-32. This literally should shut every man’s mouth up. Jesus was not going to water down what adultery really is. It’s not about the physical act. It’s about the heart. And if a man so much as looks at a woman with lust for her he is fully and completely guilty of adultery just as if he committed the physical act. Jesus is exposing that, under the law, we are all guilty of adultery. And under law we might as well gouge out our eyes if it will cause us to sin. And the point Jesus is making is that we need to be free from a law of ‘thou shalt not commit adultery (or whatever sin you want to plug in), and we need to be under a new covenant of grace.
No question Christians can commit adultery. But we are not the sum total of what we do. We are the sum total of who we are in. And I promise you, you will not find even one verse for a Christian is referred to as an adulterer. In fact, when the topic comes up, we see that the language ends by saying that is something we WERE (past tense). In other words that was your identity before you were a believer. But you were washed. But you were cleansed. But you were justified in the name of Christ.
Circling back to how I started, in no way do I want anyone to walk away thinking that I condone divorce. I believe our marriage is a picture of Christ in us, and we express Him through our marriage. We should make every effort to remain married. BUT……
If you are a believer and you have divorced and remarried, regardless of the reason, I’m telling you God is not calling you or viewing you as an adulterer. God is looking at you as his child, fully forgiven, fully holy, and completely blameless.
Unfortunately, I understand there are people who elevate this one sin over all others. Some people elevate other sins as well. All sins are bad and worthy of death. But, if we have called on Jesus, he is not picking in choosing which sins he has washed away. He is taking them all away as far as the west is from the east.
So my advice to everyone is the following:
1-Let’s avoid sin. All of it. We’re not made for sin. We are the righteousness of Christ and we should express that in our daily lives.
2-but if you do sin, and we ALL stumble in MANY ways (James 3:2), we now have two choices. We can obsess over the size of our sin, or we can obsess over the size of our savior. It’s not semantics. This tells us where our affections are at.
I want to leave you with a few verses. In the story, we’re discovering that sin enters the world through one man. Adam. That one human’s sin was enough to destroy all of humanity. Then we discover that forgiveness comes through one God. Jesus. And what we’re learning is that if a mere human [THE PROBLEM] could destroy humanity, then how much more can the God of the universe [THE SOLUTION] solve the problem. Proclaiming Jesus is bigger than any sin we could ever commit, and we really truly don’t need to obsess over them. We just need to look at Jesus and say ‘wow, thank you. Here’s your verses:
[Romans 5:15-17 But the gracious gift is not like the offense. For if by the offense of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many. 16 The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one offense, resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the gracious gift arose from many offenses, resulting in justification. 17 For if by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
PS – I would be saying the same thing no matter what the type of sin was. It could be somebody struggling with lying. Gossiping. Drunkenness. It’s not about what kind of sin. It’s about what kind of solution that we have.
I hope that encourages you in some small way today.
I totally get what you are saying, I do. I have talked to a lot of pastors and counselors and I really am seeking freedom in this area. I just read it this way, a murderer can be forgiven but they turn from what they are doing and don’t murder anymore. If remarriage is considered adultery I feel I’m still remarried so I’m still in a state of adultery. I know God forgives adultery but that’s not the question. I know we are all redeemed who are in Christ but a murderer can’t keep murdering. Do you get what I’m saying? A sin is still a sin weather it’s forgiven or not and I don’t want to disappoint God. The way I read these verses it would appear he doesn’t recognize my current marriage Because all the verses are clear about not remarrying unless there is a death. I do know I’m forgiven but is my marriage a sin?
I can assure you that if you’re currently married that God’s heart would be that you remain married, That is not to suggest that when you originally divorced and got remarried that that’s sin. But that is now done and over. The same God who did not want you to divorce and remarry is the same God who would call you to remain married now.
King David was called ‘a man after God’s heart’. He was also an adulterer, AND he had Bathsheba’s husband murdered.
Please know this. Yes, we SHOULD avoid sin. But we all have past sins. Some little, some big. Some we overcame, and some we still struggle with. God is NOT shocked by your sin. Nor is he disappointed with you EVER. Of course, he does not want us to sin. But that’s not about him being angry or disappointed in us. He doesn’t want us to sin because he cares for his children. It grieves him when we buy into the liar’s temptations.
I am trying to be very careful that I don’t come across as acting like sin is no big deal, or that God doesn’t care. But I don’t want to back off so far that I fail to clearly express your total forgiveness in Christ, and to help you see that God is not disappointed with you. He adores you. So much that He gave his life to remedy your sin problem. They are now ALL take away. Gone. Remembered no more. You WILL BE presented as BLAMELESS on judgment day.
The greatest reason to avoid sin and that Jesus made us fully right with God. Rest in Christ 🙂
God does forgive divorce. He even forgives murder. The thing, is our level of commitment to his word is comparable to our level of faith. I want to have a relationship with my creator and his son Jesus Christ, so I try to keep myself as pure as I possibly can and obey his commands. I trust that his commands are in my best interest. If I were once a murderer, and after being saved I continue to murder, wouldn’t most reasonable people have a problem with that? So, if Jesus himself said that remarriage is adultery, why would I believe you over him? Divorce can be forgiven, of course, that does not mean go get married.
I know that many so-called “Christian” denominations now accept homosexuality. I’m not going to accept that either. I accept the scripture as it is. I trust that even the hard Commandments to keep are in our best interest. If I fail of course he will forgive me. But I would not continue to murder, and I would not continue to commit adultery.
Thanks for having this thread. Discernment is a difficult task. Its healthy for believers to agree, debate, whatever.
I understand how it’s possible to feel some of the things you’ve just shared, and while I want to avoid sounding combative, I think you will find they are not scriptural.
I hear a lot about our commitment somehow verifying our level of faith, but this teaching is not found in the scriptures.
Now, I’m not suggesting that there should not be a visible outward commitment. Of course, there should. We are made for good works. But when it comes to faith, God is not measuring it. ‘Faith the size of mustard seed’. Meaning it’s not the size of your faith that God’s looking at, it’s where your faith is pointing to.
When people talk about commitment I am reminded that God has not served by human hands as if he needed anything. Meaning none of our outward works or impressing God for strengthening our relationship with him. We don’t do these things to be closer to God. We do these things because it’s just part of who we naturally are.
I also want to point out that our relationship with Jesus it’s not stronger based on how pure our performance is. Your relationship is built on what Jesus did on the cross because, even on our best day, our performance could never make a difference.
Over the years I’ve noticed that when people give examples of sin they like to jump to the worst possible one they can, and so they start pointing out murder. While we all stumble in many ways, and all sin is worthy of death, the sin of murder requires an extreme level of evil to be present. While I know Christians commit multiple sins every day, you’re not going to convince me that murder is one of them.
And you’re also making a claim that I did not make. I did not say that remarrying was not adultery. Although in many cases it is not. What I said was that God forgives us. You’re trying to connect dots between murder and adultery but simply are not there. While not always, adultery is usually because someone is craving love, and for whatever reason feels they are not getting it in their relationship. Now, do not miss that I made very clear in my video that, in most cases, divorce is not the right solution. This video in no way was trying to build a case for people getting divorced and getting remarried. This video was addressing people who have already been divorced, since remarried, and now are struggling to wonder if God will forgive them. The answer is a RESOUNDING YES.
Now, to address your comment on homosexuality. Once again I will acknowledge that this is sin and should be avoided. In 1 million years I will not condone this behavior. But, if you put a homosexual in front of me who has called on the name of Jesus, I’m going to tell you that he is just as righteous and just as loud as the person who is doing everything they can to be ‘obedient’. God is not loving us and forgiving us based on our sexual habits. He’s certainly not loving us and forgiving us based on how obedient WE ARE. We have all of these from God because of Jesus.
To close let me circle back to where we started. You’re trying to make an argument that this video is condoning sin. You’ve missed it. This video is addressing rather her not God fully and completely forgives our sin, REGARDLESS of the type.
And a final message for anyone who was previously married, have since divorced, and are now married again. You cannot undo the past. That sin is forgiven and remembered no more. You need to focus on the here and now. And I can say with complete confidence that God’s heart is that you remain in your new marriage and not get divorced again. And this is not because God’s going to get you if you don’t. It’s because God wants what’s best for you.
So lady what is the solution. Divorce again and stay unmarried. I think this is the only solution.
“1-we know in each case He was speaking to Jewish people. The Jews were ALL under the law.”
Incorrect…
Matthew is the only writer to include this exception, because he was speaking to the Jews. Mark and Luke, who were speaking to Gentiles, did not even include it in their records of Christ’s teaching on marriage, because they would not have known of the Jewish marriage custom.
Paul did not include it when he quoted Christ on the marriage law.
“2-we know Jesus had not yet gone to the cross and the new covenant had not been enacted. They were all under THE LAW”
NOTE: John the Baptist, told Herod (a Roman), he had sinned, because he married his brothers wife, so John was thrown into prison, then Herod’s wife requested, via her daughter, for Johns HEAD on a platter, as her birthday present! Mark 6:16-30 Quite a story!
Rom 2:13 For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness,…
So we see, non believers are not exempt.
Jesus said, Matt 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I didn’t come to destroy them, but to fulfil them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not one letter or one stroke of a letter will disappear from the Law until everything has been accomplished. 19 So whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Ten Commandments)
Yes, in Christ alone it is made possible, He will sanctify us (but it’s ongoing, all our life, no one is perfect yet).
So Grace is not a licence to sin, Grace is God’s enabling, so we can do what is right.
Whenever someone starts pushing law-based methods for any purpose I honestly worry that they don’t even understand the gospel and what Jesus did for us.
1-the Gentiles never had the law Romans 2:14
2-the Gentiles were WITHOUT Christ, EXCLUDED from the promise – Eph 2:12
So, you can’t honestly think a disciple would turn around and seek to hang the law around the neck of Gentiles.
Sin existed BEFORE the law – Romans 5:13. The law just offers up the punishment. BUT, where the is no law, there is no transgression-Romans 4:15.
You cited Romans 2 where ‘no the hearers of the law are just, but the doers’. You’ve absolutely excluded the entirety of the context of Romans. Romans to does say that, but, SAME writer-SAME letter, Romans 3:20 also says NO ONE will be justified by the law. So you will have a difficult time recognizing that Paul knows no one will be justified by the law, only to turn around and try to push that system on people. In fact if you were to read Romans 4 – 16 you will see Paul has a very different outlook and is teaching us salvation through faith APART from the law.
Romans chapter 1 -3 is addressing planet earth has a problem. We all do. And then Romans goes on to describe and that we all need the same solution because through the law no one will be justified. The solution is Jesus. A new covenant. Only a fool would push the law on the necks of Gentiles, especially if they understand the scriptures and know that no one can be saved through the law. Not Moses. Not Job. Not Abraham. Not you or me.
Then you cited Matthew 5:17 ‘Do not think that I came to destroy the Law’. Respectfully, you again you have elevated a single verse while ignoring the bigger picture. No one said the law was destroyed, but would you ignore some more important verses like:
-Jesus is the END of the law for all who believe – Rom 10:14
-You are NOT under law but under grace – Rom 6:14
-Christ set us FREE from the law and we should not submit to it again – Gal 1:1
-NO ONE will be justified by the law – Gal 2:16. We are only justified by FAITH – Rom 3:28
-The law AROUSES sinful passions Rom 7:5 and causes sin to INCREASE Rom 5:20
-When Jesus died we got the NEW covenant and He makes to old OBSOLETE-Heb 8:13
-The Law is a ministry of DEATH and Condemnation – 2 Cor 3:7
-The law is WEAK and USELESS and perfect NOTHING-Hebrews 7:18
I’ve honestly only laid out a few verses, but you cannot read these verses in context and then turn around and think that the heart of God it’s a strap the law around our necks. And when you push that system on people it is a slap in the face for what Jesus Christ did for us. When Jesus spilled his blood on the cross he freed us from an impossible covenant and offered us one founded on better hopes in better promises.
The old covenant (law) was an exclusive system to the Jewish people. It was a promise between God and them. The problem was man could not keep their end of the deal and as such not a single Jew was found righteous through that covenant. The new covenant is not a negotiation between you and God. God has set you aside, and because he could swear by no one greater he swore by himself. Thanks be to Jesus that our way to righteousness is not keeping 613 law, but rather through faith alone. You are not the guarantor of this covenant, nor is your performance. Jesus is.
And I will leave you with these two verses.
1-before you go pushing the law on other people you should realize that you are not qualified to do so. No one is. James 2:10 has a very strong warning for people who do this. James tells us ‘if you keep the entire law but stumble and even one point you are guilty of it ALL’. You don’t get to do your best and just beg for forgiveness when you mess up. It is an all-or-nothing proposition. For this reason the law shut every mouth up-Rom 3:19. It shut our mouth because we are not qualified to be pushing that system because we can’t do it ourselves.
And lastly, you should not be a law-based salvation system because if you’re doing so, you’re suggesting that Jesus did not need to die on the cross and we did not need grace.
“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” – Romans 2:21
Michael, Part of me knows you are right. Part of me disagrees. You can ignore David Pawson’s teaching on this subject at you own peril, change your thinking, or explain where he is in error.
Heb 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
REV 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out* his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
*1813 exaleipho ex-al-i’-fo from 1537 and 218; to smear out, i.e. obliterate (erase tears, figuratively, pardon sin):–blot out, wipe away. see GREEK for 1537 see GREEK for 218
Proof beyond all doubt, that we CAN be taken out of the Book of Life (to be in there in the first place, means we certainly WERE saved once, to remain there is CONDITIONAL.
2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, brothers, rather be diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things, you shall never fall.
2 Pet 2:20-22
20 For if they have escaped (must have been saved at one point) the pollutions of the world through the full knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus, and are again entangled, they have been overcome by these, their last things are worse than the first.
21 For it would have been better for them not to have fully known the way of righteousness, than fully knowing it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
22 But the word of the true proverb has happened to them: The dog turning to his own vomit; and, The washed sow to wallowing in the mire.
(they were SAVED, WASHED, had FULL knowledge, but CHOSE to go away from following God)
Phil 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
17 Therefore, beloved, knowing beforehand, beware lest being led away with the error of the lawless, you fall from your own steadfastness.
“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”
Heb. 6 v.4-6: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”
“Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” –1 Corinthians 10:1
Rev 2:10…….. be thou faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life
Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent:
(II Peter 3:9)
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
1 Tim. 4 v.1: Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Thess 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first,
Grace is the mother and nurse of holiness, and not the apologist of sin.
Marion,
Yes, I would be happy to help you understand Hebrews.
The problem is you are reading this letter, inconsistent with your belief system, you think this condemnation is based on their performance. You think it’s based on their law-keeping and outward sin.
You’ve missed it.
First, who is this letter written to? It’s written to Jewish people. If not Jesus, what are they chasing after for righteousness? They are chasing after the LAW.
The Jewish people here have heard the gospel. They tasted it. They’ve been made partakers. But in the end, they have rejected it.
If you read the first 10 chapters of Hebrews you’re not going to find even one mention of outward sin. No mention of lying, cheating, adultery, etc.
The first 10 chapters are about one kind of sin. Inward sin. It’s about the sin of unbelief.
This takes us to the chapter you cited in Hebrews 3.
In verse 8 they are being told not to harden their hearts as they did in the wilderness. In context now he’s talking about the Jewish people harden their hearts to faith in Jesus.
In verse 11 we see the Jewish people will not enter his rest. They won’t enter it because of unbelief. We enter his rest when we are free from the law and under Grace.
And Marion, I have to be honest with you, it’s not a surprise that you stopped sharing at verse 14. If you would’ve just continued a little further in that chapter you would’ve seen what I’m sharing with you is correct. Let me post it now.
[Hebrews 3:19] And so we see that they were not able to enter because of UNBELIEF.
So, I’m not sure how you reverse 19 and walk away seeing this as an outward problem. And again, you can read the first 10 chapters and you will not find any mention of outward sin. With all due respect my friend I feel like you are blind to the gospel and need sight for your eyes.
Then you cite 2 Peter 1:10. Great verse. And just like you did in Hebrews 3, you once again only read part of the letter and failed to get the actual context. In fact, all you had to do was go back one verse. Early in the chapter, he starts talking about the importance of self-control, godliness, etc. But what if somebody did not have all of those attributes? What would cause it? We get that answer in verse 9:
[2 Peter 1:9] For the one who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
Once again we see that it is receiving God’s grace and believing that your sins have been purified is what leads people to live upright lives.
Everything you posted is easily addressed, however, when you practically copy and paste the entire Bible it’s difficult to address at all.
Let me encourage you to trust Jesus. He died for your sins to give you life. Eternal life. Imperishable life. It really doesn’t seem like you believe Him.
Marion,
You have sent me multiple emails and posted very long comments in my thread. And please know I appreciate and enjoy this dialogue.
I thought it would be important to point out that literally everything you have shared has been centered around YOU. It’s all been about human effort.
You literally have not mentioned the name of Jesus one time. You have not made any mention of faith. You have not mentioned the cross or the blood.
You have revealed where your focus and affection point towards. It is not for me to say if you actually know Jesus, but I’m beginning to have personal doubts, and that is sad.
The Jewish people could cite scriptures all day long, and they certainly had no problem pushing that human performance as a means of righteousness. But being able to quote scripture wasn’t enough. The problem is they didn’t want to talk about Jesus. They did not want to talk about faith. I sure the heck did not want to talk about the cross and being made right with Jesus by grace, through faith, apart from works at the law.
From the moment you started having dialogue with me, the only thing you have pressed is thou shalt not commit adultery.
Of course, no one thinks adultery is acceptable. But you’re pushing this as a means of righteousness. You are implying that forgiveness comes from keeping Commandments. You are literally putting people back under the Mosaic law for salvation.
Jesus is the end of the law for all who believe – Roman 10:4.
We are not under law but under grace – Romans 6:14
The law is a ministry of condemnation and death 2 Cor 3:9.
The law came in so sin would increase – Romans 5:20
The law, thou shall not covet, produced in Paul every kind of coveting – Romans 7:8
The law actually arouses more sin and bears fruit for death – Romans 7:5
I’m not clear why Jesus would go to extreme measures to rescue me from a ministry of condemnation in death only for you to come back and strap that law right back around our necks.
If you want someone to stop committing adultery, the answer is Grace. Not fear, punishment, or Mosaic law. It is great that leads people to repent.
So if you’re trying to tell us that we are forgiven by keeping rules, and let me encourage you to acknowledge that you are a Jewish Pharisee who is not trusting in Jesus but rather human flesh. And if that’s not correct, it sure would be nice if you would take a little time to talk about forgiveness, Jesus, faith, the cross, or anything that acknowledges what God has done for us.
PS, respectfully, and sadly, I can see you do not trust the blood of Jesus. You do not trust the process of God.
Hebrews 10:17 tells us “God Remembers our sins NO MORE”
Does NO MORE exclude divorce?
Col 2:14 tells us “God has CANCELED the certificate of debt against us and taking it out of the way”
Does CANCELED exclude divorce?
John 3:18 tells us “he who believes in him is NOT judged”
Does NOT JUDGED exclude divorce?
Psalms 103:12 tells us “as far as the west is from the east he has REMOVEDour transgressions from us”
Does REMOVED exclude divorce?
Hebrews 9:28 tells us “Christ was offered to bear the sins of many, and will appear a second time for salvation WITHOUT reference sin”
Does WITHOUT exclude divorce?
Eph 2:8 tells us “we’ve been saved through faith, and it is not of ourselves, it is a gift, so that no one can boast”
Does that exclude divorce?
1 John 2:1 tells us ‘My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous”
Does that exclude divorce?
1 John 1:1 ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from ALL unrighteousness.
Does ALL exclude divorce?
We have eternal salvation. The word eternal means without an end. What you’re fighting for as a salvation that can potential he had an end. Your confidence is in your human performance, and leaves very little room for faith in Jesus.
You are grabbing on to some pre-cross writings and elevating it above the cross. You’re literally saying adultery is not forgivable. So why not add on the other 9 commandments? What you were doing my friend is rejecting the work of Jesus.
Sorry, you don’t know me at all, your assumption is way off. I trust in the Blood of Christ alone and nothing else, for the sin of unbelief and for Him alone to sanctify me, which is ongoing til we leave this earth,
Just a quick response for now, first up, at no time have we ever stated Divorce is unforgivable, because certainly it is, separation is fine and preferred. It’s remarriage we are concerned with, as that is what. David Pawson was very careful to study, knowing the HUGE kickback it would bring, and it did, so we get why it took so long before he began to teach & write about it. However he is not the only Bible scholar to say exactly what he does.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Noqlkx4mUFQ
The Bible warns many false teachers will & have, come, in these last days.
“to deceive the very elect if possible” so we are all warned to be on guard. (The 5 foolish virgins got left behind, because they weren’t ready), who wants to miss the Rapture?
However, I do not mock God by thinking it’s ok to ask His forgiveness (daily, praying the Lords Prayer), but then thinking it’s ok to continually commit WILFUL sin. The Apostle Paul, said “shall we continue to sin, that grace will much more abound? GOD FORBID!” Blind leading the blind to fall into the pit, BE NOT CONFIRMED to this world but be TRANSFORMED, by the Word of God. ‘Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new’. Matt 3:8 ‘Bring forth therefor fruits meet for REPENTANCE’. Faith without works (obedience) is DEAD. Jesus said if you love me you will obey me. Salvation is not unconditional. (Loads of scripture can prove that)
Read all of Revelation Chapter 2; and Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life.
All sin (as our daily Lords Prayer includes, is forgivable (except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit). BUT forgiveness is obtained, by repentance. That means to make a 180º turn and stop doing, (only by God’s enabling Grace) whatever that sin is and then you certainly will have that sin washed away and put in God’s forgetfulness, if we sin wilfully and habitually, that pardon cannot come, whatever (as you listed) that sin may be, as none of those will get into heaven. Tough? for sure! Though in comparison to Eternity, time here is nothing. God IS a loving God, but he’s also are righteous Judge, as the majority will find out at the Great Throne judgement.
Adultery & fornication is the only sin against our body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, that’s why it’s a different matter to other sins.
This is speaking to CHRISTIANS, AFTER Christ was crucified for our sins:
1Cor 6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot? Let it not be! 16 Or do you not know that he being joined to a harlot is one body? For He says, The two shall be one flesh. 17 But he being joined to the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits fornication sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have of God? And you are not your own, 20 for you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (Read the whole chapter in context.)
1Cor 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. 18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
So you stated that divorce is forgivable, but remarriage is something we need to be concerned with.
What would we call that?
We would call that adultery.
That’s one of the 10 Commandments. So if you’re going to make a case that adultery is not forgivable, then every Christian who has ever told a lie, mowed the lawn on the Sabbath, wanted something great that their neighbors had (coveting), cheated on their taxes (stole), etc Will be at risk of eternal punishment.
It’s kind of like saying you’re not under the law, but if you break the law you will not be forgiven.
I mean this with all respect, I’m not interested in what David Pawson had to say, I’m interested in what Jesus had to. There’s no shortage of admired men who have a gazillion different theology’s. Maybe I’m just one of them, but it is my heart that people will consider how good God is to us.
Yes, the Bible does warn about many false teachers. Let me encourage you to examine those scriptures a little bit closer. This is not a warning about people teaching I guess human effort for salvation. This is a warning about people teaching that salvation can come in any other way than Jesus Christ alone.
My heart believes that you believe in Jesus and considered as ‘the elect’. Yet, at the same time, you were being deceived by false teachers that Jesus is not enough and that someone who divorces and gets remarried can lose their salvation regardless of their trust and faith in Jesus.
My advice to you would be to be on guard and be careful of that message. That message takes away the need for trust in Jesus, it puts the confidence in your outward performance.
You’ve completely misunderstood the message of the five versions. This was not about their performance. The oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. It’s not something you can buy or work for. You get the Holy Spirit through faith alone. And you better have it before you take your last breath. That’s the message that’s going on in this parable.
He made mention of thinking it’s OK to continually commit willful sin. Did you honestly walk away thinking that is the message we are promoting here? We are not promoting sin, but we ARE promoting the blood of Jesus Christ, and you will not get me to water down what he did on the cross. You will not convince me that any sin, willful or not, is too much for the blood he shed on the cross.
It’s very interesting that you quoted the apostle Paul for ‘saying shall we continue in sin that grace may abound’. Did you miss the reason he said that? Paul has a message that is offensive to the religious elite people of the world. His Messages that we are made right with God through faith, apart from works of the law. This type of message angered the Jewish elite. Paul is literally defending the gospel of grace. This question will never be asked to somebody who is teaching law-based messages like you are.
He is simply saying that yes you are completely saved through faith alone and it has nothing to do with your performance, but let’s not use that grace as a reason to sin more. Let’s live out the identity that we really are in Jesus Christ. Paul had to defend his message because legalists think he’s saying just because we’re totally forgiven he must be suggesting that God does not care about sin, therefore it must be OK to sin. You are literally treating me the way the Jewish people were treating the apostle Paul. And my response would be the same to you. What shall I say, should we get divorced so God’s grace will abound? And my answer will be of course not. But I would not dare say that if someone has already been divorced and remarried that God would revoke his grace. And that, my friend, is your message.
You cited Rev 3:5 as if it was a threat from God. That is not a threat verse, that is an encouragement verse. The encouragement is he will NOT erase our names. We overcome through faith, not through avoiding getting divorced and remarried.
And again you keep saying that forgiveness is ‘obtained by repentance’. I mean this with all due respect, but that is garbage teaching. That is life under the law. You are literally teaching a Jewish system.
Believers receive forgiveness through faith. There’s nothing else we need to ‘do’. That does not mean we should not repent and turn from sin. That would be crazy and stupid talk. But to suggest that our forgiveness comes through human effort by means of repenting, well, good luck putting any scriptural legs on that – because it’s simply not true. I’m not sure how you read countless verses that make no mention of needing to repent before faith would be considered. Here are just a few:
Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved – Acts 16:31
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved – Romans 10:13
By grace you have been saved through faith. It is not of your own doing, it is a gift of God, not by works, so that no one may boast – Eph 2:8-9
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish – John 3:16
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life – John 3:36
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life – John 5:24
This is the will of my father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. John 6:40
Do you know something that we do not see in these verses? We do not see any for human effort. No mention of repenting. No mention of works. That does not mean we should not turn from sin or have good works. But what it does mean is that that is not what saves us, as you seem to keep suggesting.
I’ve addressed most of your comments, and we can keep going if you’d like.
I’m saddened because I feel like you truly do not trust what Jesus did for you. I’m sad because I think you believe that too much grace and too much kindness from God somehow would lead people to sin more. I’m sad because I don’t think you can trust Grace because you think it will lead us to more sin. I hope in some way that this exchange communication will encourage you to really trust what Jesus did for us. It wasn’t just rescuing us from the little mess ups we have here in there. He completely and totally made it right with God through faith, apart from ANY law-based standard.
Forgiveness requires repentance, how does one (a professed Christian) repent from an unbiblical divorce (no infidelity no abuse) to even receive God’s forgiveness. I get that God forgives, but I am confused by the teaching of He forgives without mentioning that one must repent before receiving that forgiveness. True repentance means to turn away, and often results in a radical pursuit of the Holy Spirit. How can one be forgiven of divorce when they haven’t repented from it?
There are two types of repentance described in the Bible.
In the old testament repentance was described as STOP sinning. The Hebrew word is shuwb. It meant to turn back. Retreat.
Under the new, when we see the word Repent, its context is a change of mind. The Greek word is Metanoeo. It means to think differently. To Reconsider.
So when we see “repent and believe” for salvation, this is not ‘stop sinning and believe in Jesus’. This is ‘stop the sin of unbelief and believe in Jesus’.
Should we stop sin? YES. You will not get an argument on that. But does your avoiding sin save you or retain salvation? Not even in the slightest. If you avoiding sin could save us than Christ died needlessly – Gal 2:21.
You’re not forgiven because you “repent”/”stop” sinning. You are forgiven because of blood. Without blood, there is no forgiveness of sin Hebrews 9:22. And the only thing to activates that forgiveness is faith.
What you are suggesting is that forgiveness is activated by human effort. It is not. If you have called on the name of the Lord for forgiveness is not in and out and in and out according to your words, stopping sinning, or begging for forgiveness. Your forgiveness is continually activated because of the one time you place your faith in Jesus.
So forgiveness does not require repentance. It requires faith. Should we repent of sin? YES. And I have not taught, nor my suggesting different. But if you are going to suggest that your forgiveness is according to your ability to perform better, then you have something to boast about. But I think deep down we all realize we have nothing to post about because not one ounce of credit goes to our performance when it comes to our righteousness.
Thanks for your reply.
I am only speaking of repenting and forgiveness, not repenting where salvation is concerned.
I have two verses that would suggest that repentance from sin is indeed a requirement for God’s forgiveness.
1. “He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”” -Luke 17:1-4 NASB1995
2. “Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. -2 Chronicles 7:12-14 NASB1995
I believe God will withhold forgiveness until you confess and repent. I understand that I can never take God’s love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness for granted, but there are some pastors who will say sin all you want, God will forgive you. I think that is a gross misrepresentation of God’s love and forgiveness. One who believes (which I am not suggesting that you do) that we can just go on sinning because He will forgive is absolutely ludicrous and should examine their hearts.
Now my initial question was repenting for a divorce. When a believer divorces their spouse for unbiblical reasons, and says God led them to a divorce……how do you repent from that? God will forgive a divorce, but it seems like it does, as any sin, require repentance.
Rachel, you wrote ‘I am only speaking of repenting and forgiveness, not repenting where salvation is concerned.
If there is no forgiveness, there is no salvation. So, you are speaking of salvation.
Regarding Luke 17. The stumbling block is people teaching law-based salvation methods over Christ-based.
The context of forgiveness in verse 4 is HUMAN forgiveness.
There’s a lot of discussions that we would need to have to fully unpack the gospel letters, but the mistake you are making is you are citing PRE CROSS (old covenant) verses to make your case. Why is that? The answer is simple – it’s because you’re not going to find a POST cross (new covenant) verse that’s going to make your case.
So I have a challenge for you. You believe God will withhold “confess and repent”. My challenge is that you would give me one example of someone who was a believer and then failed to confess and repent, and lost their salvation because God withheld forgiveness.
If what you’re saying is biblical, you should have no problem showing me just one example that I will not be able to refute.
You’re suggesting that the teaching of God’s unconditional forgiveness to believers as a message of “sin all you want, and God will forgive you’. At best, that is a week, argument against us defending the power of the cross. We do not believe the blood of Jesus is weaker than the sin of humans. You can assume that a license to sin but that’s a legalistic defense when we struggle to debate with someone who is arguing how good Jesus is and how he rescued us.
Addressing your final question about how do you ‘repent’. The answer could be summed up with any kind of sin. Just don’t do it again. Stop. But don’t dare stop trusting that Jesus’ death on the cross was not enough for your sin. Your sin is small compared to His blood.
[Romans 5:15] For if by the offense of the one (Adam) the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many.
[Romans 5:17] For if by the offense of the one (Adam), death reigned through the one, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
[Romans 5:19] For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
Rachel, the point is Adam sinned. It was a human problem. Jesus died. It was God’s solution. You tell me what’s greater, human sin (problem), or Jesus’s death for sin (solution).
If the wages of sin is death, and Jesus died, are you actually suggesting that there’s more punishment that needs to be doled out for different kinds of sin? You’re saying it’s not his death that paid for you’re saying but rather your ability to stop sinning? May I please encourage you to strongly reconsider what you are teaching? Because your message is ‘Jesus will forgive your sin, unless you sin too much or don’t repent before you die’. That would be like someone flying in an airplane who was saved, told a lie, but before they could confess and repent of that lie, the plane crashes. But you’re teaching that person will go to hell. You leave no room for faith. And he totally rejects what Jesus did on the cross by that teaching.
I am not a teacher, just trying to study, understand, and apply His word to my life. The airplane scenario is a very good illustration. I acknowledge that we are all sinners, that’s why Christ died. I am not perfect, nor does He expect me to be as Jesus was the only perfect one to walk the earth. However, because I sinned, doesn’t mean I lose my salvation and go to hell. That is not at all what I am trying to convey.
I read this on Gotquestions.org:
“It is true that the forgiveness God extends to us is conditional upon our confession of sin and repentance. Confession involves agreeing with God about our sin, and repentance requires a change of mind concerning the wrong attitude or action and a change in behavior that evinces a genuine willingness to forsake the sin. Sin remains unforgiven unless it is confessed and repented of (see 1 John 1:9; Acts 20:21). While this might seem a difficult condition for forgiveness, it is also a great blessing and promise. Confession of sin is not an act of self-condemnation but of seeking God’s provision of the remedy for sin in forgiveness through Christ.
God’s requirement that we confess and repent of sin does not mean God is unwilling or unready to forgive. He has done everything on His part to facilitate forgiveness for us. His heart is willing, not wanting anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9), and He has gone to the most extreme lengths imaginable to provide the means by which He can forgive us. Because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, God freely offers us that forgiveness.”
This makes sense to me. I believe God is always willing to forgive the ones who come to Him and confess and repent. I don’t believe that God is a unilateral forgiver. If I am continually engaging in the same sin and asking for forgiveness from the same sin, I should examine my heart and my behaviors. I should question myself on the sincerity of me wanting to have a relationship with Him. .
Right on Rachel, YES, divorce can be repented of and forgiven, but the teaching here, is you can then go on in living in adultery, is OK’d, including any other wilful sin your flesh desires, without consequence?
That is misleading nonsense!
Grace is not a license to sin, (Apostle Paul clearly stated), when we do, then:
1John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. Written to the BELIEVERS.
Also, The Lords prayer, teaches us ‘daily’ to ask forgiveness.
If the “grace’ you claim to be saved by isn’t teaching you to “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world,” you’ve believed a lie! (Jude 4)
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Teaching us that denying ungodliness and wordly lusts we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world” (Titus 2:11-12)
It’s not ‘once saved always saved’ So you can live how you like, don’t be deceived.
2Tim 3-4 [Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Marion,
Please, if you’re going to quote me, please do it in context.
The teaching here is not ‘you can go on living in adultery’. In fact, the very first sentence redirects married people to watch a different video to encourage them to REMAIN married. Your comment is typically the takeaway from someone who doesn’t trust the grace of God and wants to turn everything to some legalist debate. You will go out of your way to make sure no one can rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
The teaching here is that adultery IS a sin, but like any other sin, we need to know that it is forgivable.
Let’s tackle your actual comment. Is there a consequence for our sin?
Well, if you are referring to earthly consequences, the answer is yes.
But we both know that’s not what you’re talking about. You’re saying God will punish us. This tells me a couple of things.
1-You do not believe that Jesus took all the punishment for our sins. You believe more punishment remains. You put limitations on God’s grace and kindness. God doesn’t.
2-You reject 1 John 4:18 ‘There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves PUNISHMENT, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
No doubt, by your comments you have lots of fear.
You’re teaching that God will forgive sin, but ONLY if you stop. That may sound spiritual and ominous, and make you feel super religious and elite over the rest of us, but it’s not the gospel. You are making this up as you go. The only condition for forgiveness is faith. Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Stop adding rules and regulations to the promises of God.
I’ve heard this legalist teaching using the term a “license to sin”. Talk about a misleading gospel – those type of phrases, which do not exist anywhere in scripture, or misleading phrases. These are man-made arguments to encourage people not to trust the cross.
Then you for citing, 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.
That’s a great verse. I’m curious if you somehow walked away thinking we are against confessing (agreeing with God)? It’s very interesting that you seem to have missed the word ‘ALL’. If we confess our sins and God forgives ALL of them, then exactly why are you threatening other believers with punishment? And again, I can tell you do not know the context of 1 John 1:9. Let me help. Here’s the context https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbprNc4IZ0Y
Also, I love the Lord’s prayer, but clearly, you don’t understand the context or the audience, so we’re not going to dig too deep into that right now. But I will say it did not say ‘ask DAILY for forgiveness’. Are you just making this up as you go?
Also, how do you walk away calling these people at the sermon on the mount believers? Since when do believers take Jesus to the Christ and crucify him? There’s an enormous amount of evidence that these are unbelievers. But, as a legalist, you’re going to be blind to this because you’re seeking out fear, condemnation, and punishment from Jesus. That’s exactly what he’s offering up to these people. He’s showing them exactly what life under the law looks like. No one wins. Everyone is condemned. This video may help https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RwQUCt9V-E
Marion, I know people just like you. I say grace, you hear fire insurance. I say forgiveness, and you hear license to sin. I see the cross, and you say yes but….. but… but..
You’re going to reject any amount of the gospel that would dare suggest Jesus took away the sins of the believer. The problem is you think salvation is about how good we are at avoiding sin. You fail to recognize that salvation is about being born again and receiving new life. Any forgiveness I talk about will be rejected by you as encouraging ungodliness.
You come across as being offended by the blood of Jesus. You won’t dare let people believe and trust that Jesus was a propitiation for their sins. Oh, you will give them a little bit of grace, but you’ll make darn sure they know it’s not that much. You’re that person that wants the world to know Jesus died for their sins……unless they sin again. I’m guessing that people who meet you are confused because, on one hand, you’re telling them Jesus died for all their sins, but then after they get saved and the gospel gets worse and grace becomes limited.
Bottom line, you do fully not trust Jesus, and sadly, do you think you’re human performance either activates or deactivates the blood he shed on the cross. I would encourage you to go back and Study the new covenant and what it means for you.
Contrary to our messages Jesus gave his life to save yours, and he is not going to revoke that promise. Now you can take the forgiveness message as a license to sin, or you can stop insulting the grace of God and recognize that we are not leading people to sin, rather we are showing down the grace of God.
The law came in that sin would increase – Rom 5:20. Those people that push rules and human performance are literally leading people to more sin.
But, here’s the newsflash, it is the grace of God that leads people to repentance – Rom 2:4. If you want people to avoid sin, then stop burying God’s grace in the sand.
Rachael,
Thank you for your reply.
It is not true that the forgiveness of God is conditional upon ‘confession’ and ‘’repentance’. That teaching comes form one verse, and a horrible misunderstanding of 1 John 1:9
Yes, confession means we simply agree with God that sin is bad. But God does not activate our forgiveness by asking for it for each and every individual sin. That is insane crazy teaching.
What about the sins we forget? What are you just let us off the hook for those? We all know there’s no real logic in that kind of teaching.
If you are a believer no sin remains unforgiven. All of your sins or in the future when Jesus died. If you are a believer the payment has already been made. The payment is not dictated by you’re saying I’m sorry. The payment was made by your faith and receiving Jesus.
I am not against confessing sins to God. I think that’s great. It means we agree with him. But there is no truth to the idea that our words and bagging somehow activate his forgiveness. Forgiveness was activated by what Jesus did on the cross. And I will not take credit for it by or teach that my words or avoiding sin activate forgiveness.
Take away:
Confess (agree with God) that our sin is bad? Heck YES!
Repent (stop sinning).? Heck Yes.
But let’s do that and still trust that what Jesus did was 100% sufficient for our sin.
I love you in Christ 🙂
What if you are currently in a situation where there is adultery and you have fallen completely in love and the ones who’s married is planning on divorcing his wife and remarrying? Because this is regarding the future and not the past is there no forgiveness there !?
Shaye C
Whenever someone is married, my first piece of advice would always be that if there is the possibility of reconciliation, then that should be the general biblical recommendation.
There are times that reconciliation is not possible, or doesn’t rely on someone who wants to remain married.
In good conscience, I could not encourage someone to be in a relationship with a married person. At the very least, I would encourage you to put that on pause until the marriage has ended.
Of course, I don’t think your question was asking me if it’s the right thing to do, but rather if this situation as well is forgivable. And while this will offend the religious ego, the answer is a resounding yes. Nowhere in scripture do we see that God will forgive some sins and not other ones, including the ones you were actively pursuing.
I have to believe though, that the new you is not going to be fulfilled being actively engaged in an adulterous relationship.
Thank you for the message. It brings clarity to my decision whether to divorce my husband of 32 years – he is an unrepentant adulterer. I have decided it’s time to cut this person off for good.
We really appreciate everyone’s comments here.
I want to reiterate that this article was not written to guide someone into getting a divorce. If anyone is considering a divorce, that is something that should be solely between the couple, and they should consider seeking counseling. They are far too many circumstances in individual relationships for us to even consider that role.
By your personal statement, that your husband of 32 years is an unrepentant adulterer, well, there definitely seems to be some serious concerns. We will definitely pray for that relationship to find healing.
But I want everyone to realize that we are not offering advice on whether or not to stay married or get divorced. This article is simply addressing does God forgive divorce.
If anyone is currently married and considering divorce, please consider watching the video that I created for them with advice to REMAIN married. It can be seen at this link https://jesuswithoutreligion.com/marriage-advice/
Few seem to realise the full implication of what Jesus was saying. Adultery is a sin committed by married people, when they engage in intercourse with anyone other than their spouse. This means that all those who have been divorced, however properly, are still married in God’s sight. The relationship is still there. It has not been dissolved. They have not been set free to marry anyone else. The first ‘covenant’ still holds. It has been betrayed but not cancelled. Divorce may be recognised at the human level, but not at the divine. This cannot be said often or strongly enough, which is why we have said it in so many different ways. The next thing to note is that Jesus did not limit the application of this startling statement to his followers, the Pharisees or even the Jews as a whole. It was a word for ‘anyone’ (literally, ‘everyone’) and for both parties, divorcer and divorcee, either of whom would be committing adultery on remarriage. – -Furthermore, the tense of the verb for ‘committing adultery’ is the present continuous, which means to go on doing something.– Some have tried to say that only the initial act of remarriage and its first physical union is adultery, but Jesus is including all subsequent intercourse. .. >>To put it bluntly, remarriage after divorce is bigamy in God’s sight. It is not a valid marriage<<
Consider the following arguments:
1. This explains why the ‘exception’ is only found in Matthew. We have already seen that this Gospel was primarily written for Jewish believers in the largely Jewish earliest churches. Jewish culture was a real factor to be taken into account, as it certainly was in the findings of the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:28-29). Intriguingly, abstaining from fornication (the same word porneia) is one of the three things Gentile believers are exhorted to practise out of sensitivity to Jewish scruples, but surely that is incumbent on all believers anyway, Jewish or Gentile. However, Jewish culture was based on Mosaic legislation which required virginity in a bride, on penalty of death (Deuteronomy 22:20-21). This was ‘proved’ not to be the case either, most obviously, by becoming pregnant before the marriage or not bleeding when the marriage was consummated, punishable by death. This is what nearly happened to Jesus’ own parents, Joseph and Mary, also recorded in Matthew (1:19). Since betrothal was a binding commitment to marriage, (they called each other, ‘husband and wife’ before their wedding ceremony) to break it was considered equivalent to ‘divorce’. Joseph, being a just (fair, righteous) man resolved to divorce her in a way that would minimise publicity and consequent disgrace. Like his namesake, he received divine revelation in dreams. Persuaded by the angel that Mary had not been unfaithful to him, he immediately immediately married her, so that he took the blame for her pregnancy himself.
2. This also explains why the ‘exception’ is not in Mark or Luke. Both were written primarily for Gentile readers. Neither Greek nor Roman culture required virginity before marriage nor were there any penalties for its loss. These Gospel authors may have recollected Jesus’ exception but saw no need to record it.
3. This also explains the astonished reaction to Jesus’ teaching on the part of his disciples (Matthew 19:10 – ‘If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry’). Had Jesus simply agreed with the conservative rabbi Shammai (adultery only) as against the liberal rabbi Hillel (for any cause), that might have been expected and accepted by his disciples. But if they understood him to mean only something that happened before the marriage could dissolve the bond and nothing after, the tone and content of their comment is entirely understandable. If marriage is impossible to get out of, better not get into it!
Nothing arising after marriage can justify divorce and therefore all remarriages after divorce are adulterous. Jesus’ standards are absolute, not relative.
To many this will seem ‘harsh’, ‘cruel’ and ‘lacking compassion’, all of which have been said about preachers upholding it. But Matthew himself records Jesus as demanding a higher ‘righteousness’ than that of the strictest Jews and as applying even the ten commandments in a severer way.
His compassion never led him to lower his standards to the level of people but to do everything he could, even dying, to lift them to his standards. His followers must do the same.
So, we may ask: ‘to whom should we give the benefit of the doubt, our Lord or us, who are so eager to justify ourselves?’
Marion –
You know that the law is so much tougher than anything you can handle. It’s so impossible that you’re willing to water it down.
If you’re going to talk about the true standard of adultery, then don’t let everyone off the hook. Jesus said ‘if you even so much as look would lust you are guilty of adultery’.
If you’re married, I can say with almost complete certainty that your husband is guilty of that on an ongoing basis.
In fact, I would say nearly every man on the planet is guilty of adultery and has not repented of it.
This was not a mistake when Jesus spoke those words. Those very words would render every man speechless asking themselves “then who can be saved”.
Please tell me Marion that on Sabbath you do not cook dinner. You do not vacuum the floor. You do not wash a cup. Or let me guess, we’re under the law don’t commit adultery but not under the law you can’t wash dishes.
And please tell me you’re not eating barbecue sandwiches or shrimp cocktail. Because of the law, you were not permitted to enjoy that kind of food. If you want to strap the law around everyone’s neck and ignore the new covenant and promises from God, I’m just curious how tight this is wrapped around your neck.
You are committing intellectual suicide by trying to suggest that we’re still under the old covenant. Including ‘thou shalt not commit adultery’. Note: Agreeing that it’s sin and wrong to do is not the same as being under the penalty of the law.
It requires very minimal intelligence to read the New Testament and see that we are free from the law. Not under the law. Jesus is the end of the law for law who believe.
So you can hijack this post with all of your comments but all you’re doing is revealing that you do not believe God and the promises he made. You’re pushing a message of your freedom from the law, but not all of it, just the ones that Marion decides.
So, you can sit here and regurgitate every verse that was written before the cross (old covenant), or you can believe Jesus when he says he has enacted a new one found it on better hope some better promises.
So this conversation has been going in circles for days now. I have a few questions for Marion. You seem bent on a remarriage is continual adultery and not forgivable. Have you ever told a lie or had a hateful thought? Once you became a Christian, have you ever told another lie or had another hateful thought? If so, aren’t you committing continual sins? You became a Christian. You became forgiven. You did not become sinless. As long as we are here on this earth, we will continually sin. We aren’t perfect. So did you lose your salvation over that lie? Is the lie or the next hateful thought unforgivable?
Marion i think what this man Mike is saying is this: He is not advocating for divorce whatsoever. But he is saying just in case one finds her self or himself having divorced because of unavoidable circumstances. And this person remarried. And this person repented, should she or he not enter the kingdom of God? What Mike is saying is that YES he or she should, reason for referring us to all the Bible verses and the videos. We are nolonger under the law. The Bible says i repeat when one is in Christ the old is gone and he is a new creature 2chorintians 5:17. Meaning their sins have been forgiven.
Divorce and remarriage case is like marrying when you are not a virgin. God wants us to marry when we are virgins yes, but we have ran short of glory and lost our virginity before marriage. Now if i marry and later repent definitely i will not retain the lost virginity. That doesn’t mean God will not forgive me because of repenting after i had lost virginity?
Also there are couples who do sexual intercourse when they are not wed or saved and even have children. Later they marry in church and even get saved, does it mean God will not forgive them because initially they had produced those children. There are certain things you can reverse.
The same with divorce and remarriage. Once you have been saved, God forgives you of your past and you move on in the new marriage.
My husband of 26 years next month told me this morning he wants a divorce. He said he doesn’t love me anymore. We have been in counseling for 6 months and he said it “isn’t working,” but the truth is more likely that he has had this decided for a long time and was just checking a box. He has not been to church with me in two years and has been pulling away from me for over a year. He cannot give me any other reason for his decision other than “there isn’t a spark anymore.” I have been devastated all day and just came across this article. It gives me such needed relief to know that God wants me to live in peace. I cannot make him love me when he doesn’t want to put in the effort. I am overwhelmed by what I am about to go through, but it is such a blessing that I have God’s word and His comforting presence to guide me.
I am terribly sorry to hear this news. Prayers are being lifted up for you. Lean on Him.
Many people have written articles about how they were helped but I am very grateful to this great man who brought my ex-husband back to me. This testimony is a true story and my name is Jennifer Sanchez. When I came in contact with this man was also through a testimony written about him helping with a cure for Herpes Virus and I have also encountered many testimonies about how he has been helping others with their life. To get back with an ex is one of the most innermost feelings many people would love to experience especially as those memories with our ex always cloud our mind when someone else does some of those things our ex used to do. I was a single parent of two boys for almost 6 years and though my ex-husband was not staying with me and the kids I still wish someday he will return to me. This doctor I encountered is known as Dr. Odunga helped me with my wishes and I am happy to write on this website that my ex-husband is back with me. I am very happy to share the testimony with everyone so that they too can meet this great doctor and solve their problems. I don’t know what others might feel about getting their ex back in their life but I always know there is a blessing in disguise with just a single re-connection with an ex. If you want to successfully get back with your ex or facing an infertility problem, contact this great man at —– Or WhatsApp/Call —– and share an awesome testimony too just as I did.
This sounds more like you’re in some kind of a Satanic cult. You’re teaching people to depend on humans and not God. That DNA is not welcome here. You will not be able to share such phone numbers and websites here. I have to leave the game and if you attempt to post it again we will block you from this page. I’m fairly certain you’re not really ‘Jennifer ‘and this is just spam.
I am married for 38 years. My husband committed adultery and filed for divorce and moved in with this woman. I asked for separation as He did not even try to seek counseling but he is adamant to divorce and marry her. We are both Christians. So His thing is He can divorce remarry and repent and God would forgive him He has not tried to do anything to salvage our marriage, in fact He is trying to drag me through the mud. He feels he does not have to help me financially. So you say He can repent and its okay even though He has no grounds to divorce. I just want to know what about the family that was damaged for no reason other than he decided he wanted a new wife. I know I am not perfect our marriage was not perfect I didn’t even expect this but this devastated me so bad it almost killed me so there is no consequence for willingly damaging lives?
You’re not quite quoting me correctly. So let me clarify based on what you’ve written.
1-yes, God will indeed forgive him. Assuming of course that he is a Christian. God has never said he has excluded his type of sin from the blood.
2-your husband certainly is not behaving like a godly man, or for that matter even a good man by human standards.
3-there are earthly consequences for our sins. Hurting you is an example of that. And that is a terrible thing.
Please understand, it is a terrible thing to hear that you’re going through this. In no way would I condone it or give her the approval for such ungodly behavior. But that doesn’t mean I get the right to water down what Jesus did about your husbands sin.
You cannot control your husband or take away his free will to make bad decisions. But you are free, it should not have to carry the burden of guilt or shame. For me, I would rather put less focus on your adulterous husband, and invest your time in encouraging you to lean on Jesus.
Humans (even Christians) can me mean. It’s not healthy when our entire happiness rest on the shoulders of our spouse, or any other human. Jesus must always be our rock. Our life. First.
Take Away: It is a terrible thing that your husband has done to you. And I’m sure he grieves God. Your husband is being led astray through a lie from the evil one. Your struggle is not against your husband, but rather the evil principles and work to miss guide him. And God is not going to turn from you, or your husband. When we are faithless God remains faithful.
I truly pray that God reveals to you that he is with you during this very difficult and painful time. Let me encourage you to keep your affections on Jesus. Maybe your husband will come to his senses. But you will be in bondage if you obsess over him and he’s not willing to seek the Lord’s will and remain united with you.
Again I’m terribly sorry to hear your story. I wish I could say it was rare. Praying for you, friend.
Hi Mike. I love your website and your page about divorce. Could I request you a simple favor? If you have a couple of moments, would you please pray for my long-wounded contested divorce procedure to be done with successfully? It has been 6 years already. It continues to consume me in all aspects of my life. I don’t want to make this transactional with God, but I have allocated a small fund that I plan to distribute as a blessing to a few people those in desperate need around the world, especially those affected by the pandemic, and part of it also includes a token of appreciation for those who prayed for me and those who supported me inorder to get a successful divorce, and I have bookmarked your page for my future reference. I will let you know when my divorce goes through. Appreciate this. Thank You.
We will pray for you. We pray for reconciliation (if that possible). Praying for wisdom. Praying for peace. Praying that you each hear God’s voice in all of this.
I am not sure if you were suggesting a fund to bless us, but please know that we have vowed from day 1 never to monetize this in ANY way. This is 100% for Jesus. Sorry if I misunderstood that part of your comment.
My names are Daisy Mendoza i want to testify but everything this guy wrote is spot on.
But what happens when the woman cheats? In my case i had to get a divorce. And the pathetic fool even had the nerve to say to me, lets have an open marriage. As you can see a very wise decision by me to get the divorce.
Thank you for this article on divorce. I am currently legally separated. Please pray for my husband that if he is not saved, he will come to know the Lord. He was verbally abusive to me for the last 2 years of our marriage. He became a person that I feel I no longer know.
Praying for you and your husband. Praying that God will continue to reveal himself to your husband. Praying for peace for you. Lean on Jesus. That’s his heart’s desire. God bless you Sarah
I just want to admit are used to be in a cult and I follow the fake God lord Bubuza. Everyone in that cult was lost. I was the worst of them all. I was deceived by the evil one. Now I admit Jesus Christ is the son of God.
I have been crying over this for awhile now. Alot of people tell me I am living in sin. I was married very young at 18. Bc he was a military man an well being young an naive I followed what he wanted to do. I still needed growing up to do. I was not a believer in Jesus at the time. I commited adultery in my marriage. That’s not the person I am and I hated myself for what happened. I cried every night believing I was going to hell for it. Keep in mind this man had me believing things about God that was totally false…. He did not believe in the one true God nore Jesus. And neither did I at the time bc of his Influence. We were together for 10 years. I told him I was unhappy for many years. I tried holding on to it for many many years. Anywho. I fell in love with someone else. And we eventually got divorced. I’m sure bc of my unhappiness be fell for someone else as well during our divorce bc he got with someone very quickly as well. I have been with this new guy for 8 years now. We agreed we didnt have to ever get married bc I already was an didnt wanna go thru it again. That was before I understand the importance of marriage and how important it is to God. 4 years ago I turned to Christ. My boyfriend was with me through every transition in my life. I was told that I had to move out of the house bc we were living together unmarried. I spoke with a pastors wife and she said i didnt have to move out. But she suggested that we did not make love until married. He was okay with this advice so we have not been close for a couple years now. Sounds crazy I know but he does not want to rush this. People push us bc we’ve been together for 8 years but I had just turned to Christ 3 to 4 years ago. And 2 years ago made the decision to do the right thing and to get married but he wants to take it slow see how we are with this new change in our lives. He said he felt God was having us not rush so I dont make the same mistake again. I was just in tears reading everywhere that bc of what I did that I should not marry again. So I’m sitting here thinking I need to either be on my own forever which I could do with God in my life. Or stay with my boyfriend and not be close forever, which I dont want to do that to him. Knowing him he prob would tho. Reading this made me feel better but I sure do pray that you are right but I do not want to risk living In the same sin every single day. Any advice I’d appreciate it. Thank you.
I’d like to add that my ex husband is now happily remarried and now has a child so theres nothing I could do to go back and fix that relationship.
Lyn – Thanks for sharing your heart. If it were my daughter, I would certainly expect that after many years of dating they would have known if they were meant to be together and should be married. At the same time I acknowledge that that would be my daughters personal decision. Marriage is not a feeling. It’s a commitment. Personally I don’t see how we would need six, seven, or more years to make a decision if we’re going to be honorable and remain committed to the relationship we are in.
You are free to marry again. You are free to remain single. My advice is always seek the Spirit.
I am seeking God right now in my quandary. I’ve been divorced almost 16 years, and I was the one who sought the separation/divorce. I did not try to reconcile. I did ask both God and my ex husband for forgiveness, and he remarried 15 years ago. I met someone about two years ago, and we desire to marry. I fear I must remain unmarried. I’m praying/seeking God’s will. I don’t want to have a marriage seen as adulterous or not blessed by God. My heart is heavy about it. I’ve been told by close friends who know me well that I berate myself way too much and blame myself for all of it. I’m really trying to forgive myself but I am hesitant to move forward until I know this is acceptable.
Absolutely seek the Spirit on this.
You can not undo your past sins. They are done. Over with.
Moreover, they are washed. Forgiven. Taken away.
So more than anything, regardless of what decision you made, you need to believe God when he says he remembers your sins NO MORE. He’s not looking at you as an adult.
Paul was addressing the Corinthians. They were believers. They were engaged in all types of bad behavior. Paul reminds them that before they were saved all those things would prevent them from inheriting the kingdom. First of all, here’s that big list of things:
[1 Cor 6:9-10] Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
Now, don’t think for a minute that was the entire list. The wage of any sin is death. The point was, Paul is telling the Corinthians that this behavior used to lead to eternal punishment. And he wants to ask them why would you still do these things now that they’ve been rescued? But he’s not threatening them. I know these verses are lifted up high to scare Christians. But I want you to see how Paul ends his comment. Paul reassures them of their new identity by saying the following:
[1 Cor 6:11] Such WERE some of you; but you WERE washed, but you WERE sanctified, but you WERE justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
Jen, it may be true that in your history you were guilty of adultery. But if you believe in Jesus, God no longer views you as the sum total of what you do. He views you as the sum total of who you are in. You’re either dead in Adam or alive in Christ.
So stop focusing on the behavior and your past. God is not looking at you as an adulterer. That’s what you WERE. But you have been washed, sanctified, and justified in Jesus Christ.
You are free to marry this man if that’s what you want to do. In my opinion, God would rather you be married then just date this person for life. You are not under the old covenant with God is going to be angry with you if you have divorced and remarried. Now I am not implying or supporting divorce in any way. If you choose to remarry God’s heart will be that you remain married. Please know that, with few exceptions, I do not advocate for any couple to get divorced. But at the same time, I am not going to rob you of the grace and the promises that God has made to you under the new covenant.
As a Christian, all things are permissible. All things are lawful. Of course, we should never use our freedom to please the flesh.
Relax. If you want to remain with this man, and he too is a Christian, I am very confident that God will Love you and forgive you just as much as if you didn’t. Of course, pray about it and seek God’s face. I’m just sharing with you but I believe the Scriptures have revealed to us.
Lastly. You need to forgive yourself. God will tell you the same thing. Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins? Do you believe he took them away? Do you believe him when he said he forgives you? Do you believe him when he says you are righteous, holy, justified, sanctified, blameless? How many ways must he say for you to believe him? And if the creator of all things has forgiven you, why would you not forgive yourself? God’s heart would be that you recognize your security and identity in Jesus Christ. Let it go and move forward. No matter what you ‘do’ God will never again be angry with you because of who you are ‘in’. The cross worked. You are free from the old covenant of sin and death. You are under a new covenant founded on better hopes and better promises.
Thanks for responding so quickly and for shedding truth on my situation. I do wish to marry this man not only because of his love for God, but because I have no doubt I am safe with him, which I did not experience in my first marriage. I have a super – sensitive heart and have always had a tendency to wear shame like a badge of honor and always seem to think God is more disappointed in me than adoring. That’s a story for another day, but thank you for reminding me of what is true and of God’s immeasurable love and grace.
Thanks for sharing your heart. You do NOT need to leave your husband to become a Christian. All you need to do is call on Jesus and believe. Run from a church that says otherwise. Also, that past is done. The sin is done. You can’t undo it. ALL unbelievers live in a ‘constant state of adultery’. BUT, if you believe in Jesus, you may have once been an adulterer, but that’s what you were (past tense), but now you are washed. Cleansed. Sanctified. ALL believers will be presented as blamless on judgement day!.
I am very happy today with my family. My name is sarah living in USA, My husband left me for a good 3 years now, and i love him so much. I’m not sure I can blame him. I am extremely obese and I smoke a lot. But I’ve learned to deal with the loss. I still eat excessively, but I’m learning to trust in Jesus.
That was rather odd…..
Im so thankful you chose to write this article about such a difficult and controversial subject. For years, I’ve lived under a heavy load of sadness and felt struck off because of my divorce. I made so many bad decisions in the belief I was not able to be forgiven. If only I’d known that the sorrow of divorce for me, was felt more keenly still by God and that I didn’t have to go down such a sad and desperate path as some sort of vagabond. I reached a crossroads in my life and was going nowhere when I realised it all comes down to my belief , if God is able to forgive me so I can have some peace and His power and leading again in my life or if once and for all I’m just ousted from his Grace and Family. I’m so glad you have the heart to share this with people like me who truly wondered. I long to live for God after so long away from him and much pain, and these verses here outlined make perfect sense , they are the Perfect Work of the Lord Jesus not our best efforts at avoiding sin and error. I rejoice that Salvation is based on what Gods Son has done and not what I failed to do . I am thankful you have a care that you want to free people from this grievous worry by speaking about this in the way you did. I see disagreement from some camps and it’s that which had me feeling like I wasn’t worthy to be God child. None of us are worthy! Our hope is in HIM. I bought this judgement for so long and I cast myself out from Gods people and I felt exiled . Now I rejoice because of his forgiveness and amazing grace and love I can continue in a relationship with the Lord once more , and while I’m humbled I’m also grateful to read and understand such a succinct and true explanation of Gods forgiveness of me his Child
Amen 🙂
I am pretty terrified I’m going to go to hell because I remarried. Let me preface by saying that I was in a marriage when I was seventeen and he was very abusive and he cheated. Several times. So, my divorce I believe was justified. However, I do not believe my marriage is. I remarried about 2 years ago. I love my husband so much & the thought of leaving him hurts so badly, but I do not want to live in sin. I want to do what God asks of him. My ex-husband is still living and I am afraid that I’m now living in on-going adultery. I have cried out to the Lord asking for Him to forgive me for remarrying because I honestly didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to. I thought was allowed to until later on I had read scripture and it says that I am not to remarry… how would you go about this? I just want to do what’s right for Jesus. Thank you in advance.
I meant to say what God asks of me**
OK I need to put a disclosure out there before I respond to you, because well I’m about to say is going to rock many Christians with a weak foundation.
DISCLOSURE: I am not even remotely condoning people leaving their spouse. If you are married (OR REMARRIED), I believe it is God’s heart that you should do everything reasonably possible to continue in that marriage. This especially holds true if your spouse is a Christian and wants to be married to you. Work it out. Use your marriage to show the world Christ as we forgive each other for their weaknesses and are willing to give up a right for them to be a means of our total happiness.
So, I am not an advocate for divorce.
Now with hat said I would like to respond to people like ‘T’ who were previously married, have since divorced, and now remarried, and are feeling guilty maybe even to the point of leaving their new spouse.
I think everyone on both sides of the fence can agree that adultery is sin. Where we disagree is in the definition of adultery, and who is guilty of it.
Let’s start with the very basics.
If adultery is sin, and Jesus died for it and took it away, why are we begging for forgiveness? Meaning, why are you begging for something God has already given you? You need to believe that adultery is included in the list of sins that Jesus shed his blood for.
Do not buy in to the lie that somehow the sin of adultery is somehow exempt from the grace and forgiveness that Jesus has showered you with.
Also, watch out for Christians who have a weak foundation who water down the true meaning of adultery. Jesus showed us the real standard. If you look with lust you are guilty just as the person who is physically cheating on their spouse with someone else. There is no difference. That pretty much makes every human being on the earth guilty of adultery.
Don’t misunderstand the point I’m making or that I believe Jesus was making. The point Jesus was making was that no one will be found righteous through the law. Including the law of the house or not commit adultery. This is what you’re trying to do right now. You’re trying to get right with God through the law. But I say to you, if you’ve even looked at someone with lust you are guilty of adultery and a danger of the fiery pits of hell. BUT – that is not what Jesus would say to the Christian. This is a message for people who do not have Christ. Apart from Christ they indeed are guilty of adultery. They are also guilty of lying, cheating, stealing, and every aspect of the law. But you are not under the law. You are free from the law. Some people have weak faith and they think that means we should just go out and commit world records for sin. I am not at all saying that. Sin is bad. Avoided like the plague. But you either need to trust what God has told you about what he’s done about you sin, or admit that you don’t really believe him. An adulterer is what you were. But you were washed. You were cleansed. You were justified – 1 Cor 6:11.
The apostle Paul talks about this long laundry list of people who were not inherit the Kingdom. An adulterous people is slapped right there in the middle of it. Ever noticed how all these legalists seem to ignore most of the list and zero in on adultery and/or homsexuality? What about thieves? Ever cheated on your taxes? Ever stolen anything? What about drunks? Do we really believe that people who struggle with alcohol but love Jesus will not inherit the kingdom? What about verbal abusers? There’s a lot of them in the church. And I promise you, this was not the entire list. Paul was making a point. You can insert any sin in the list and the point is even once in is enough to keep you from inheriting the kingdom. Of course the apostle Paul’s telling them why would you Corinthians do something that before you got saved lead to eternal death. But then he goes on at the very end of that comment to comfort them by reminding them they were justified. They were washed. They were sanctified.
So, I’m honestly trying to encourage you to stop worrying about God being angry with you. He’s not. He took your sin away. You have been justified. You have been washed. You have been sanctified. Your sins are nailed to the cross. You are safe and secure in His arms.
Sure, it is possible that when you left your first husband and joined this new man that there was an adulterous act. But you are not an adulterer trying to be a Christian. That would make you a Christian struggling with adultery. These are not semantics. As an unbeliever your identity is wrapped up in your behavior/sin. As a child of God, your identity is wrapped up in Jesus, not your behavior.
I’m very confident of this, regardless of your past, if you have since remarried, God’s heart would not be that you would again divorce. I’m not sure how these legalist Christians think getting another divorce somehow makes God happy. Stay with your new husband. Put the past in the past. Stop obsessing over it. It’s done and can’t be undone.
Believe that Jesus has ALREADY forgiven your past sins and is not holding them against you. God is not interested in you living a daily life of guilt and condemnation. That was the life Jewish people had who received their forgiveness through the blood of bulls and goats. Which was merely a shadow of the real thing, Jesus.
I’ll leave you with these verses:
[Hebrews 10:1-4] The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would NO LONGER have FELT GUILTY for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
The point is the blood of Christ worked. Why are you feeling guilty? You won’t find anywhere in the Scriptures where God wants you to feel guilty. Instead he wants you to believe that your sins have been taken away as far as the west is from the east. So, what should you do when you sin if not feeling guilty? Simple. Just stop doing it. And be thankful that that’s not something you need to carry on your shoulders. It is finished.
That verse from Hebrews ends with something very important verse 17.
Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
Are you willing to believe that Jesus is not holding your past against you anymore?
Are you willing to believe that you are a forgiven loved and totally acceptable child of God?
Are you willing to believe that you’re justified? Holy. Blameless. Sanctified?
And moreover, contrary to what lifeless religion teaches, are you willing to believe that your identity is in the aforementioned terms because of Jesus, and not your perfect performance or remarriage?
You are good with God, and when Jesus returns it will be without reference to your sins – Hebrews 9:28.
I hope that helped.
But what about these verse that say no adulterer will inherit the kingdom of God…(1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Galatians 5:19-21 & Revelation 22:14-15)? It’s clearly stated in other verses that remarriage after divorce is in fact adultery (Luke 16:18, Matthew 5:32, Mark 10:11-12). So then how could the remarried be allowed into heaven? If we expect a homosexual or murderer to repent and change their mind (do it no longer), then why don’t we expect an adulterous person to do the same? Commit adultery no longer (such “were” some of you (1 Corinthians 6:11). Were in the past but after saved stopped doing it. Seems like we are placing adultery over the rest of sins as it being ok. What Jesus tells us to do or not do is sometimes hard. If He is saying no remarriage then it means no, right? We can’t ignore the verse in Romans 7:2-3 that says only death gives allowance for remarriage. I ask earnestly seeking answers, as I’m in this situation and in much distress🙏🏻😢Thanks
Excellent questions! I hope you find the same to be true about the answer.
Indeed there is a scripture that says no adulterer will inherit the kingdom. Before I attack that, let me point out a few other people that the verses you shared say will not inherit the kingdom:
-thieves (that would include cheating on your taxes)
-habitually drunk (that probably just knocked out 30% of Christians)
-Greedy
-sexual immorality (this will include having sex when you’re not married. Knocked out another 30% of Christians)
-being jealous (just lost a bunch more Christians)
-selfish ambition (more Christians lost)
-envy
-outburst of anger
What do we call this list of things? We call them sins. And what did Jesus do about this list of sins? He died for them. He took them away.
You see as you read these verses as we find in 1 Corinthians, this isn’t a threat to Christians. This is the apostle Paul telling them to stop behaving the way they are. He’s reminding them, that before their new identity in Christ, the very things they are currently doing would have resulted in eternal punishment. And the point is, why in the world are you doing such stupid things when you know that they were worthy of death in your former life before you got saved?
But make sure you don’t miss what Paul says at the end of that first. He literally reconfirms their salvation because he doesn’t want them to think they’re being threatened. Keep in mind, he is saying this to the Corinthians who were doing all kinds of stupid stuff. But at the end, he writes something very interesting which is describing their new identity, not their behavior. He writes:
[1 Cor 6:11] Such WERE some of you; but you were WASHED, but you were SANCTIFIED, but you were JUSTIFIED in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
Do you see it? He’s saying such WERE some of you. Meaning your previous identity was based entirely upon your sin. What’s your new identity, even though you’re doing stupid stuff, is that you are now sanctified, justified, and washed.
So all he’s saying is stop doing stupid things that you knew resulted in eternal punishment. Don’t use your freedom to indulge the desires of the flesh.
Can I point out that in the very next verse, 1 Cor 6:12, Paul makes clear that ALL things are permissible for him? He’s basically saying I can lie, cheat, steal, and commit adultery because I’m free in Christ and my sins have been taken away. But just because that’s the case he’s not going to abuse his freedom as an excuse to do stupid things. This is why he goes on to say ‘all things are permitted for me, but I will not be mastered by anything”.
So while Christian can stupidly engage in the act of adultery, their new spiritual identity is not an adulterist. While a Christian can lie, their new identity is not a liar. We’ve been washed. We’ve been justified. We are no longer the sum total of our sin, but rather we are the sum total of Jesus. Colossians 1:22 says ‘we will be presented holy and blameless on judgment day’. That doesn’t mean in our human life we didn’t do stupid things and make very bad choices. It means our sins have been removed as far as the West is from the east, and if that’s the case, no punishment remains.
So yes, adultery is a sin. We should not engage in it. And if you’re unsaved, just like any other sin, on judgment day your adultery will result in eternal punishment. But the one who believes is not judged. There is no condemnation for those in Christ.
This is all about identity.
And let’s be clear, repenting of outward sin is extremely important. But no human being will ever be saved by doing so. You will not be saved by avoiding murder. You will not be saved by avoiding homosexuality. The only thing that saves us is faith in Jesus. Avoiding sin has absolutely nothing to do with salvation. It does have a lot to do with our new identity. And I find it highly unlikely that a born-again Christian will be running around stabbing people. Although I do believe it is extremely possible that a born-again Christian will unfortunately still be engaged in homosexual lifestyles. In my opinion, this is usually something that results from deep pain stemming from childhood, potentially being violated as a kid, or fathers who were highly inappropriate or absent.
But let’s not run away from the adultery conversation. Jesus said if you even look with lust you are guilty of adultery. That’s enough to shut the mouth of every Christian man. Jesus is showing us that we are all guilty of adultery. Because it’s not about the physical act, but rather the true standard is about the heart. Look with lust, guilty adultery. Angry, guilty of murder.
I want to add the following to end this reply. We are indeed called to avoid adultery. Avoid homosexuality. Avoid lying. Avoid any and all kinds of sin. But NONE that saves us. We are saved by putting our faith in Jesus and calling on him to rescue us from the eternal punishment that results from those sins.
Regardless of your son, once you are in Christ you have been washed. You have been justified. You are the righteousness of Christ. Your sins have been taken away. Nailed to the cross. So if you’re going to sin you’re going to do it with Christ in you. But it will never ever fulfill us.
The greatest reason in the world to avoid sinning, is we’re not made for it. It never satisfies us, and it’s a great reminder to remember that before we were in Christ, those poor choices resulted in eternal punishment. But as Christians, we do not need to fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who is in Christ has been perfected in love and does not need to fear punishment.
As it turns out, God has a lot of grace for us, and it is grace that leads us to repent. So soak it up!
I read your article. Very interesting and helpful. Thank you. Some people say God will not punish you if you divorce but it will open the door for the devil to make us sick and suffer. Is this correct?
It is correct that God will not punish his children if they get divorced. This opening the door for the devil to make us sick and suffering is a very broad statement and I’m not sure I would give it that much attention. The scriptures tell us that the evil one cannot touch us.
It is true that poor choices can lead to us getting sick and suffering. For example, if we’re going to drink excessively we could get liver disease. We could get into a car accident and suffer physically.
So please no I’m not trying to diminish sin. Christians do not need to be afraid of the evil one. He himself cannot make us sick/suffer unless God allowed him, which aside from rare exceptions like we read in Job, it is highly unlikely that would happen today. Again, there are earthly consequences to bad decisions. Divorce may cause us to be very sad. It may have a major impact on our children. It’s difficult to go much deeper based on limited information but I hope you found that to be helpful
Thankyou for that, I am on my second marriage, we’ve been very happily married for ten years now, divorced from my first husband 15 years ago (he didn’t treat me right) and I tried very very hard.my issue was I’m kind of new in my walk with god, and decided to join a local church last week, but I saw a flash of a “look” amongst some of them when I told them I’m on my second marriage, this made me doubt myself, but you have put my mind at ease thankyou
Welcome here. I hope you enjoy our messages 🙂
Hmm? It’s funny how some Christians will easily condemn those who get married and are of the Same Sex. Saying Marriage is a Secret Bond of and Man and Women before God. Turning Marriage into this Secret Believe. Yet, when it comes to.and yes it is in the Torah,Old Testament and even mention in the New Testament in Matthew and Mark. It is the one thing God truly looks down a pond and strictly doesn’t allow or in the worst circumstances. That would be the Secret Bond Christians like to believe they take part in Marriage and Divorce is the one and really the one thing mention in all 3 scriptures. Yet,Evangelicals don’t believe this or see it in the Bible but just say Jesus forgives all everytime something is about them.and can say God doesn’t forgive the Sins of things that others do that they don’t like. In the New Testament it say Divorce is allow only when the couple has exhausted everything to make the Marriage work everything..Than and only than. Also in all 3 scriptures it say if a Divorce is allowed. The 2 parties will remain unmarried and any relationships they take part in. Every person that person has been with will also be put a pond you as Adultery on both so I. And so til your day of Judgement. Everything else is or can be forgiven except this which is tagged a pond you til your judgement. This was this believed and practice among most Christian up until around the 1950. Little to No Divorces. Than Laws started being written making easier to get divorces and than given most power to Women in divorces in the 70’s til where we are now. Where this Secret Bond usually only last up til 3 yrs on avg. Than it’s not so Secret anymore. Until when something like Same Sex Marriage appears. In fact Divorce wasn’t allowed by any domination up til a Fat Narcissistic Man and King Of England didn’t like what the Pope and Catholics didn’t allow. So he decided to leave and Start the Church of England therefore allowing him to Murder and Divorce many Wife’s and start the killing and murdering of anyone who didn’t convert to his new religion and remain Catholic. So yes it is something God looks down a pond and doesn’t likely forget but sets it a pond those of us who do get divorce and puts a strict guideline how we should live our life’s once we take part . Not this eutopia you modern Christians paint that we can get married as many times as long as we forget our partners showing the Jesus in Us. It’s like how American aka Christians can turn there back on those who need help and the love Jesus spoke about. Such as the Jews and Japanese Americans during WWII. Where we turn thousands of Jews away knew about what was going on and did nothing. Saying if God wanted us to.help them he would of help them. The Japanese Americans we put in the same kind of Camps the Germans held the Jews but here No other of the Ethnic People we were at War with got threaten this way not the Germans or the Italians Americans. Than there are the Refugees from Syria we condone to suffer when they rush to leave the War there
and not but really always White Christians like to turn there back on the people who leave there Countries to the South from violence and for a better life just like there relatives once did.. Believe they are better then.them ,they are stealing our jobs,taking advantage of our Medical benefits , are Murders and Rapist anything to hate these people. Because yes that is what Jesus thought us and God looks for hatred . I don’t think when we go in front of God and you.guys have that Divorce thing on you already we can say when.asked about this we can say. We thought you would handle it if you truly want to help them. Saying where is God if he didn’t want this to happen he wouldn’t. Many said that during WWII. No I think God knew and set this in.motion so he could say to you and I on our Judgement Day. Where were You and what did you do. We don’t want to reply we didn’t nothing and we did not like those people whether they were Jews,Muslims and People South of the Border cause that wouldn’t fly because they are all his Children and when put to the test like he did JOB. We failed.horrible.
Thanks for sharing. Some of what you wrote was difficult to follow or perhaps there were some misspelled words. I was actually struggling to determine if you were on defense against my post, or an agreement.
Certainly if anyone has looked at my post, they do not believe that I condemn anyone. There’s only one thing that will condemn us. And it’s not same-sex marriage. The only thing that will condemn us is the rejection of Jesus. Unbelief. So, if you trust Jesus to rescue you from your sins, and that he rose from the dead to give you life, then condemnation is not something you need to worry about.
His salvation has been available to anyone that will receive him. Regardless of the bad choices you’re making in life.
Now, talking about same-sex, marriage is a completely different subject from salvation. A person can be an alcoholic and be saved. That doesn’t make the excessive drinking not a sin. A person can a liar, and still be saved. And likewise a person can be in a gay marriage and be saved. But if anyone wants me to meet them in the middle in denial that it is a sin, well, I will not do so. You have to commit intellectual suicide to read the Bible, and actually believe that’s the case.
I love my wife and I respect her I will always love my wife for everything she has helped me get through but I’m not in love with her anymore I’m not attracted to her anymore and I get even more sad as the days go by because I feel like she deserves someone that can feel that for her what should I do ?
My friend, I hear you and feel your heart.
And as much as I understand how you’re feeling, please understand that I could not in good conscience offer any advice that would lead to divorce.
While it is ideal to be attracted to your spouse, I don’t think marriage is about continuing to be ‘attracted’ to someone.
Marriage is a picture of Jesus and His church. He will never leave us or forsakes us. He forgives us when we don’t deserve it. We show the world Jesus when we live out those attributes in our marriage.
Have you considered some Christian counseling? Praying for restoration
I haven’t been a good Christian. I haven’t had convictions like these up until recently. There’s been a lot of adultery in my life. After the divorce of my first marriage that ended because of abuse, my ex got married a few months later and lied to me while we were thinking about “reuniting.” I’m glad it didn’t work out. However, my life was very hard and sinful for years. I didn’t get remarried til 10 yrs later. My husband is the most amazing father and provider and is everything that it states how a man should treat his wife. We have sinned… but we have been blessed with 2 beautiful children when I always thought I couldn’t have any. We are pulling close to God now and I’ve never felt this determined. I am sure it is the Holy Spirit trying to take hold of our lives. I don’t want to be a continual sinner.. I don’t even want to upset or anger God with disobedience but every night this week I’ve sobbed begging him for forgiveness and clarity. I find comfort in your message, I just hope that our faith and salvation in Jesus has not been harmed by my poor choices.
I often times start with a disclosure that I would never condone sin. Because this amazing message of the type of forgiveness, you have can easily be confused as giving hardy approval,
With that said, you do not need to beg for forgiveness. If you have received Jesus, there is no amount of sin that can remove your forgiveness. Not a big sin, no more ones that you’ve committed over and over again. As far as the west is from the east, they have been dealt with once for all.
Some call that a license to sin. But I say that it is great that will ultimately lead you to turn from sin.
So to be clear. Every question is forgiven of every sin did that ever committed or will commit in the future. No more punishment remains. It is finished. Be careful not to think that you are the source of sin. Yes, you are allowing sin to reign in your mortal body, but you are not the source. You are simply the vehicle. Useless knowledge to renew your mind and realize you’re not saying no to your desires, but rather ‘its’ desires.