We rightfully bemoan the rise of the gay hermeneutic in which Christians are reinterpreting the Bible to allow for committed same-sex relationships, but has anyone ever stopped to think that what these liberals are doing to the homosex texts we “conservatives” have already done to the divorce and remarriage texts? We have mangled Jesus and Paul’s teachings to allow for divorce for reasons other than sexual immorality, and to allow those who have divorced or have been divorced without grounds to remarry because we don’t think it is fair for people to be unhappy or alone. We understand the strong desire to be in a loving, sexual relationship. Our emotions become the motivating factor for reinterpreting (or ignoring) what would otherwise seem to be a pretty straightforward condemnations for most divorces and remarriages.
This is exactly what is happening on the same-sex marriage front. Sympathy for the plight of same-sex attracted persons causes theologians, pastors, and laymen alike to reexamine our interpretation of the Biblical passages condemning homosex, or just ignore those passages altogether. My point is not to say “if we can mangle the Biblical teaching on divorce and remarriage then we ought to do the same to the Biblical teaching on homosex.” Surely, if we are wrong to reinterpret the one we are wrong to reinterpret the other. It’s just to say that the gay hermeneutic has a pedigree in the remarriage hermeneutic. Both allow our feelings to reinterpret the Biblical teaching.
While I bemoan the hermeneutic, I can understand the impulse. Even some conservative Christians who are improperly divorced will choose to accept flimsy interpretations of the Bible or sign up for the “sin now and repent later” plan when it comes to remarriage because they can’t handle a life of singleness. Same-sex attracted persons are doing the same thing and for the same reasons. None of this makes it right, but it does make it understandable.
Thinking to Believe 
May 18, 2015 at 7:35 am
Interesting thought process. I am dealing with the divorce matter currently with someone very close to me who is asking me if it’s alright for her to divorce when her husband wants to do it but won’t take the legal steps to make it happen. There’s been no infidelity from either side, though there has been one instance of physical abuse, and many of emotional abuse. It’s hard to tell her that without infidelity, there is no legal right there to divorce.
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May 18, 2015 at 9:05 am
Jason, as always I appreciate your stance on these topics and I wholeheartedly agree.
Jason, also, as always, you are a Biblical breath of fresh air in this INSANE world of asinine relativism, political correctness and situational ethics.
I know this is mainly about divorce, but please allow me to comment on homosexual “marriage”….
One of the many problems (and there’s a long list of problems) with homosexual marriage is, “where does it stop?”
Like one of the Supreme Court Justices stated……”what if three people all want to get married to each?”
Well it’s alreadyhappened…in Taiwan, three homosexual men are now married each other.
In reality, the root problem is age-old…..it’s good versus evil, God versus satan, decency versus indecency.
Liberalism seeks to breakdown that which is rooted from God. Good is called evil and evil is called good.
I am hoping that this is all a great big nightmare and I will finally wake up to see that men only marry women, that individuals are thankful for the gender they were born with and that men will act, talk & dress like real men and woman will act, talk & dress like real ladies.
Have a great day and God bless you!
~Elaine
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May 18, 2015 at 11:04 am
Hello Jason.
Although this comment is related to the post, I figured I would post it anyway. I dont know how often you check the older posts, and I wanted to ensure I got a response. It is my understanding that you are a proponent of the KCA, which states that an infinite regression of causes is impossible. I’ve heard and atheist retort that the same concept would apply to Gods thoughts, since the theist claims God exists eternally and has thoughts. Ostensibly, God must have had a first thought. This would seem to make his existence finite. I think the error may lie in the assumption that time elapses between God’s thoughts sans-creation, but I am not sure. Can you help me wrap my head around it? Any reply would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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May 18, 2015 at 12:51 pm
I think you are being too simplistic by saying that the text is being re-interpreted but I don’t think that is the case.
It seems to me that we are not re-interpreting text as much as we are reinterpreting who and what and why it applies in the first place. We don’t re-interpret text about demonic possession because we now know that demonic possession is merely brain problems such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, pyscosis and the like. The point it that we are more educated and now are un-applying text to human conditions that text were applied to people wrongly in the first place.
This same un-applying applies for the homosexual condition as well, not re-interpreting text for convenience.
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May 18, 2015 at 2:45 pm
Jason:
Are we re-interpreting text because we don’t pay attention to killing witches anymore? Or are we merely in a higher civilizing process? I submit the latter.
Exodus 22:18 “Do not allow a woman to live who does witchcraft.
18 “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”
18 “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.
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May 18, 2015 at 5:06 pm
And by the same token:
“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.” (Exodus 22:21-24)
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May 18, 2015 at 5:26 pm
“There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to YHWH; and because of these detestable things YHWH your God will drive them out before you. You shall be blameless before YHWH your God. For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, YHWH your God has not allowed you to do so.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-14)
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May 19, 2015 at 4:42 am
The Catholic Church has never allowed divorce and that is in keeping with the Gospel teachings of Jesus Christ.
The refashioning of holy scripture by the Protestants has nothing to do with hermeneutics but rather the personal opinion and bias of any Tom, Dick or Harry who hallucinates himself into a preacher.
Jesus quite clearly states the doctrine of divorce in his own words, not those of Peter, Paul or John.
So the Protestantism, like atheism, is a rebellion against God.
Read what the Bible actually teaches about the sanctity of the covenant of marriage:
Gen. 2:24
Mal. 2:16
Matt. 19:3–8; cf. Mark 10:2–9; Luke 16:18
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May 19, 2015 at 10:09 am
silenceofmind:
for reflection
FastTrackFact History: Catholicism had an inflexible dogmatic stand on divorce, King Henry the VIII objected to the Vatican position because he wanted to remarry, thus the first 7 letters of the Protestant movement was a “Protest” against the Church’s inflexibility and Protestanism was born in England.
silenceofmind: In your commentary you forgot, neglected or omitted Matt 19 verse 9 in your commentary when you cited Matt 19:3-8; Jesus’ take on the marriage matter which in Matt 19: 9 “Jesus said, I’m holding you to the original plan, and holding you liable for adultery if you divorce your faithful wife and then marry someone else. I make an exception in cases where the spouse has committed adultery.”
That is, the original plan of the sanctity of marriage UNLESS broken by one or both of the parties. And let’s not kid ourselves what marriage Jesus is talking about, the marriage Jesus is talking about is sexual union. That bonding, essentially that involves an autonomous covenant forged naturally by the “FIRST sexual union” of two people, without religious filters, nothing more, nothing less.
Mark 10:2-9 plus 10-12 “When they were back home, the disciples brought it up again. Jesus gave it to them straight: “A man who divorces his wife so he can marry someone else commits adultery against her. And a woman who divorces her husband so she can marry someone else commits adultery.” This is the criterion for divorce which has morphed today to the, more polite way language state the same thing, “Mutual Consent” without the shame religion would have your face rubbed in.
Luke 16:18 more exlicitly: “Using the legalities of divorce as a cover for lust is adultery; Using the legalities of marriage as a cover for lust is adultery.
One has to remember that there is a certain incompatibility among people that cannot conform to the strict standards imposed by religion, yes I know you might prefer to call it from God but it’s from religon as Jesus points out in the continuation of the marriage talk in Matt 19: 10-12 regarding flexibility.
( 10 Jesus’ disciples objected, “If those are the terms of marriage, we’re stuck. Why get married?” 11-12 But Jesus said, “Not everyone is mature enough to live a married life. It requires a certain aptitude and grace. Marriage isn’t for everyone. Some, from birth seemingly, never give marriage a thought. Others never get asked—or accepted. And some decide not to get married for kingdom reasons. But if you’re capable of growing into the largeness of marriage, do it.”) Some marriages as Jesus notes are not for everybody but of course Religious society demands it, Barbie Doll promotes it and De Beers Diamond Jewellers profit immensely by it. Nevertheless there needs to be a scheme in place for mistakes and mis-matches especially in societies that determine marriage partners for their children, some societies as soon as their are born as in India and must be honored on pain of death in some ancient oriented cultures.
There are those who believe their role is to defend what they believe their creator meant in the creation but that is, without dispute, merely conjecture and speculation of imagination and legislated, not always by men who had the best intentions at heart in their interpretation for control and manipulation of the masses. And this is readily seen in some religions today as they shatter lives by killing whoever will not follow their understanding of the demands of religious(Holy Book) interpretations.)
Religious “dogma” holds only to rigid, uncompromising, unyielding inflexibility something that no God would ever have built into his creation; otherwise, there would never be a need for compassion or forgivness without a “built-in flexibility” that allowed for such, as Jesus demonstrates so forcefully in his teachings about “turning the other cheek” and “love your enemies” that applies equally to the righteous priest and rebuked sinner.
There is a “text book” yes but there is a “flex book” in the human experience as well; without which you will relegate your mind to the Drug of Absolute Certainty and only bring to bear ancient interpretations of the “Text Book” with no room to maneouver in the “Flex Book”, when no action is too callous or too spiteful or too cruel to be justified.
And if you get hooked on the Drug of Absolute Certainty and if you keep taking it, you too could wake up one day, so full of righteousness that suddenly the only thing that makes sense to you anymore is somebody else’s death, possibly by stoning. And you’ll realize that your mind is no longer your best friend.
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May 19, 2015 at 10:17 am
Take,
The bottom line is that Jesus said that divorce does not exist.
The whole point of Christianity is Jesus, not King Henry the Whatever.
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May 19, 2015 at 10:47 am
Messiah’s standard regarding adultery constitutes the strictest of measures:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Evidently, He leaves absolutely no room to maneuver in the so called “Flex Book”. (Matthew 5:27-28)
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May 19, 2015 at 2:22 pm
silenceofmind:
The bottom line is that Jesus said there WAS an exception for divorce and spelled in out….except for fornication……except for adultery…..except for unfaithfulness
you can shrug it off but you can hide from Jesus’ words.
The whole point of Christianity has nothing to do with Jesus, Jesus knew nothing about Christianity. Christianity sprang from acts of the apostles, hijacked by the Jerusalem Jews. Jesus worshipped, honored, respected in spirit and truth and please don’t ever try to make Jesus out to be the glorification of the Scribes and Pharisees and eventually the Catholic Church from Nicea in 325 CE.
Christianity has nothing to do with Jesus but it has with Paul and other early Church members who themselves understood very little about the real Jesus, so much were they embedded with the supernaturalism of nonsensical miracles, hearsay and foolishness in superstition.
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May 19, 2015 at 2:37 pm
Take,
God does not think like a Protestant.
With regard to man, God thinks in terms of covenant.
Covenant means a giving of self.
We give ourselves to God. He gives Himself to us.
Fortunately, the only way to break a covenant is to die.
That means a spouse remains married even if the other spouse “fornicates, commits adultery or is unfaithful.”
Your interpretation of the Bible contradicts the covenant nature of our relationship with God and with each other.
The Church does annul marriages, however. But an annulment is by nature different than divorce.
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May 19, 2015 at 3:16 pm
silenceofmind,
You’re right on target with the profound statement, “With regard to man, God thinks in terms of covenant.” From Noah to Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Moses and the nation of Israel to David on down to the renewed unconditional everlasting covenant Yahshua makes with every believer. And because the Almighty exemplifies perfect righteousness & faithfulness, His commitment to His covenants be they conditional or unconditional consists in perfect truth and is always fulfilled [Titus 1:2].
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May 19, 2015 at 4:43 pm
The real thing is the conversation skips the question put to Jesus, and Jesus’ tendency to read motivations (Lustful look = adultery)
The exception for fornication gives the context of the question. Jesus isn’t saying that divorce is impossible, but lets get to the brass and tacks of Jewish law:
Woman caught in adultery > no divorce, you just stone her… (and the man which is never preached on in John) and problem solved.
So the divorce question hinges on something else…
Notice Jesus takes pains to say re-marriage in the context of divorce is bad…
Maybe, now this is crazy… the primary context is the question of if I divorce my wife for my lover I’m still good under the law right?
!BINGO! – Using the law to cover evil! Jesus’ # 1 complaint! – give the man a prize!
Now, that said, re-married people can’t go back to their original spouse anyways. So do we solve the issue with more divorce which God hates?
What if the split spouse sleeps with someone else or marries again too? Covenant void…. so it’s not a constantly regurgitating sin. If it is, then whoever dies first goes to hell, but the survivor gets off after a confession… maybe even can keep their second spouse now. Such legalistic non-sense.
Or do we admit we are sinners and there is only one unforgivable sin and a 2nd marriage isn’t it.
If Catholics took half the stance on stolen candy bars and the like that they do marriage none of ya’ll would get the waffers!
Sin is sin, for this one it’s a sinful union but maybe, just maybe, the transformative power of Christ can rectify it… IDK naive?
Or is the Gospel only for the righteous and not sinners?
The issue is when we say up front the sin is OK. It’s not. And trust me believers struggle under it.
The homosexuality issue is that they want an overt blessing and more troubling is that they want leadership (which should never be easy to get for anyone!).
But the protestant position has always been sinner and saints, homosexuals sin yes, but they are not cut off because it’s not a sin Jesus can’t redeem. But we all sin ourselves. But our marriage never makes us holy, and once the adultery is done, it’s done. It’s not an Aorist verb in any of the verses…
If you want perfection to get you straight into heaven, go curse out a gang, go to your priest, say confession, and go say hello to the gang again.
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May 19, 2015 at 10:41 pm
Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. (Hebrews 13:4)
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May 20, 2015 at 1:15 am
FA:
Yawnnnnnnnnn. I tire of your Pharasaical Preaching. I know the judge…Take care now you hear. As the followers of Bahá’u’lláh would say:
Bahá’í, Bahá’í for now.
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May 22, 2015 at 12:02 am
Phil,
I don’t know the specifics of the situation, but I can say that not getting along with someone is not justification for divorce and remarriage. The moral justification for divorce and remarriage is so narrow, according to Jesus, that his disciples reasoned that it’s better not to get married at all rather than risk having to stick with the same wife until death do you part. We err in thinking that the purpose of marriage is to make us happy. Not so. If anything, the purpose of marriage is to sanctify us. Marriage isn’t always easy, and there can be a lot of crud that happens, but it’s still a marriage and it can’t just be rent in two by human will.
Jason
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May 22, 2015 at 1:22 pm
Greg, email me your question at jasondulle [at] yahoo.com
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May 22, 2015 at 1:32 pm
Greg,
Actually, I’ll just respond in this thread, and if you have a follow-up to my response, send it to my email.
Properly speaking, the KCA does not argue that an infinite regression of causes is impossible. It only argues that some X that begins to exist must have a cause for its existence, and since the universe began to exist, it had a cause. Neither of the two premises argue for the impossibility of infinite past causation. Rather, premise two is the conclusion of a separate argument against the impossibility of infinite past causation.
With that said, does God’s eternal existence and thoughts throw a monkey wrench into the idea that there cannot be an infinite chain of causation extending into the past? No. First, it is a mistake to think of thoughts as causes. Right now I have chosen to think about flying pink elephants, but that thought isn’t causing anything. Only acts of the will can cause something. Thoughts are causally inert. Secondly, it is a mistake to think of God’s thoughts as being discursive, following one after another. God doesn’t think like we do. He doesn’t have one thought, followed by another, followed by another, etc. God simply has the property of knowing all truths at once. For such a mind, the matter of “first though” is a category error.
Jason
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May 27, 2015 at 5:16 am
I think you are being too simplistic (as previously stated) (or I’m about to be!)
The issue with re-marriage is how one progresses once a divorced person repents of that divorce. If both parties have, since the divorce, remained celibate, then they ought to remarry each other. However, if one has gone off and re-married (or had relations with someone else), then it would release the original wedding vow.
With same-sex marriage, you cannot allow it once someone has repented of their homosexual behaviour since the new marriage would be continuing in sin.
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May 27, 2015 at 7:55 am
Homosexual behavior is not something one needs to repent of since it is equal to heterosexual behavior.
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May 28, 2015 at 5:03 am
Not to rehash old arguments, but heterosexual behaviour is not the same as homosexual behaviour although it can also be sinful.
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May 30, 2015 at 3:24 am
Some interesting comments so far.
My story goes like this: I have been married twice (now divorced). I was not yet saved with my first wife. Both my second wife and I were saved when we got married. So what went wrong? Well – we got married for all the wrong reasons.
The main problem was that the reason for us to get married had many holes. First, neither of us understood love. In fact, I belief most people confuse love (charity) with lust. We did exactly this. Secondly, we did not make the effort to truly tap into God the Father to hear what His will for us was. Looking back, I am still certain today we were not supposed to marry in the first place. On top of this, we relied on what other people said and we did not yet have the maturity to ignore them and find out for ourselves before God.
The end result was a spectacular mess which was starting to influence our 4 year old daughter to the point that made me realise drastic action is required. There is perhaps still an argument that my decision to divorce again was wrong, but even now after 5 years I am still convinced I did the right thing.
I am still single – mostly because I do not believe it is right that I re-marry again. I am certain that I have grown spiritually and that I am indeed more mature than what I was back then. It is in this growth that I have discovered that my true happiness and blessing lies with my relationship with God. He is my everything and I continue to give Him all the glory every day. I also believe I understand the true, Godly love, a lot better and this made me look very differently at people in general. I have also in this last couple of months looked in depth at what it means to lay my life down – the completeness of love so to speak.
Yes, I still struggle at time with thoughts of lust (“worldly love”). But I accept for now that I had my change. By grace I might be given another change at some point – but it cannot be out of my own desires! It will have to be out of God’s hand that such a privilege flow.
I wish I could do things a lot different, but as they say: hind sight is always 20/20.
For now I continue to just live my life in service as much as possible. I have found true happiness in the Word of God and in my relationship with Him. I am confident that I can walk into the future and grow i my relationship with God without a wife. I know this, because the God I serve is the same God that made the earth. He is almighty and He has already demonstrated His abundant love for me. Whatever He provides in my life for me I take and enjoy to the fullest.
It is time Christians stop making the Bible fit their agendas and desires. We must stop manipulating the Holy Word to justify our filthy actions. What ever we do has to be to the glory of God. Gay marriage, divorce, re-marriage and what ever else we do in lust or selfish desire is not giving glory to God.
I hope my experience can also help others.
Thanks Jason for sharing this and as always I hope to see more of your and other’s comments and opinions.
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May 30, 2015 at 7:22 am
Looking to others for approval, in my opinion, not only means seeking the approval of the people in your social WORLD OR RELIGIOUS WORLD but indeed from the approval of those who chiselled out biblcal dictates, dogma and decrees over thousands of years, the bible itself.
Human beings can only make decisions of right and wrong based on their personal agenda, desires, bundle of experiences and consequences, influence of family, peers, culture, social and yes religious environments, perceptions, understanding, intelligence, discretionary insight and common sense. Marriage is not right for everybody but culture shapes actions and reactions and many things done in life are determined, rightly or wrongly, after the fact, like divorce; success is not always doing what’s right on the first attempt but learning from the things you do wrong, learning as you go; no baby ever learned to crawl and walk without falling over or falling down many times; how then could life in general be any different including marriage. Balance is learned.
Remember Jesus made mistakes too and corrected them; he was a sinner according to the religious folk of the day; he lied when it was necessary to preserve his own life. Sin most often is what others say you do that offends them, their sensibilities or their ideas of righteousness but you can’t live your life through someone’s else’s eyes, mind or judgment; their life depends on them just as your life depends on you.
How can believers do what is right, know what is right, hear what I say, when they constantly look to each other for approval and are not concerned about the true approval that comes from the authority within of which I said, “the Kingdom is within you”. And where does the Father reside? In the Kingdom!
Luke 6:26 ”There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests—look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular. :-?
John 5:41-44 ”I’m not interested in crowd approval. Because I know you and your crowds. I know that love, especially the Father’s love, is not on your working agenda. I came with the authority of my Father, and you either dismiss me or avoid me. If another came, acting self-important, you would welcome him with open arms. How do you expect to get anywhere with the Father when you spend all your time jockeying for position with each other, ranking your rivals and ignoring the Father?
John 12:42-43 On the other hand, a considerable number from the ranks of the leaders did believe. But because of the Pharisees, they didn’t come out in the open with it. They were afraid of getting kicked out of the meeting place. When push came to shove they cared more for human approval than for the Father’s glory.
I find your comment:
“Gay marriage, divorce, re-marriage and what ever else we do in lust or selfish desire is not giving glory to God.”
is a horrible accusatory statement of condemnation actually, especially using the pronoun “we” because you do not speak for me nor can you or should you imply to speak for anyone else but yourself………I am thankful for my life despite my mistakes and failings and you should content yourself in being thankful for yours.
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May 30, 2015 at 11:54 am
“Take Away”……WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT???
Are you serious?
You said…….”Remember Jesus made mistakes too and corrected them; he was a sinner according to the religious folk of the day; he lied when it was necessary to preserve his own life”
Maybe you should try reading the BIBLE in it’s proper context……and remember, it wasn’t what “the religious folk of the day” said that even matters, it’s what The Word says.
1. 2 Corinthians 5:21 …..” For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
2. 1 Peter 2:21-22…. “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.”
3. 1 John 3:4-5……. “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.”
4. Hebrews 4:13-16…….”And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, YET WITHOUT SIN.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
~~~~~~
GOD is perfect and without sin….and since Jesus is God in the flesh – Isaiah 9:6 and 1st Timothy 3:16………. then we can Biblically conclude that Jesus is without sin. If He did have sin, it would be completely impossible for Him (the body / son) to be our Sacrificial Lamb to cover our sins.
So with all due respect “Take Away”, please NEVER make the faulty assumption that Jesus either committed a sin or made a mistake……that is impossible in every way, shape or form….period.
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May 30, 2015 at 1:45 pm
Yahshua [Jesus] was a mortal threat to all those who lived by the false religious systems [Pharisaical Judaism, Sadducism etc.] of His day [Matthew 7:26, 27]. Yahshua never “lied when it was necessary to preserve his own life.” Yahshua is God. God does not lie [Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18]. Sin is all that which opposes, rebels against or transgresses the Instruction of God. Sin is lawlessness in the face of God’s Law [1 John 3:4]. If you are to be well you must do what’s right in God’s sight [2 John 1:6; 1 John 1:7; Psalm 119:1-3]. All that Yahshua taught and preached was in full agreement with the Word of God [Matthew 5:17-20; John 5:39].
Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. (James 3:13)
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. (James 3:14)
This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. (James 3:15)
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. (James 3:16)
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. (James 3:17)
And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:18)
Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? (James 4:5)
But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” (James 4:6)
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8)
Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. (James 4:10)
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor? (James 4:12)
Who do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. (James 4:14)
As for God, His way is blameless; the word of Yahweh is tested; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. (2 Samuel 22:31)
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May 30, 2015 at 7:01 pm
elaine:
You missed the point; I did not say that Jesus sinned I simply that the religious folk of his day, like the Christians today, say what others do and count it as sin, not that it is sin because sin by and large comes from what other people say you do that offends them so therefore you are a sinner in the eyes of the beholder. That’s why Jesus cautions us not to judge others for if we do we are actually judging ourselves. This was the modus operandi of the Pharisees who claimed Jesus was a sinner, in their eyes, not in my eyes or even in your eyes, but in their eyes: according to them, he committed the sin of Blasphemy in their eyes, he committed the sin of working or picking corn on the Sabbath because his disciples were hungry.
Jesus lied to his brothers when they asked if he was going to the Feast of the Tabernacles and Jesus said No. Jn 7:10 But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. and the reason for not revealing that he was going to the Festival is in the first verse of John 7: 1: “After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.”
I don’t say that Jesus sinned because he lied to his brothers to preserve his life from the loud-mouth brothers who would have revealed Jesus’ whereabouts to the Jews, had Jesus gone with his brothers to the Festival.
When Jesus called the Samarian woman a dog when she asked for help, and Jesus said the help was not for dogs; she immediately rebuked him by her response in Matt 15:27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table. Jesus felt remorse and humiliated for slighting her that way; I don’t say that jesus sinned but it was a horrible mistake for him to have said it and he repented immediately. And that mistake was drilled into Jesus by the religious leaders of his day who forbade interaction with “infidels” of Samaria
And I am not saying jesus sinned because he fell in the dirt and rocks and skinned his knees as he played with his village pals in the streets and then went crying and clinging to his mother’s skirt for comfort but he had all the learning experiences that we all humans have; those are not sins; they are learning experiences so one can, by practice, grow wise in the discernment of good and evil and hold fast to the good.
The problem with dogma and Christians is that while they are prepared to accept jesus as God they can’t fathom him as man, as human “with all the pitfalls, who in every respect has been tempted as we are, YET WITHOUT SIN.
Jesus was never God in the flesh; that is a preposperous claim that only dogmatic religion makes, he was not born of a virgin; he was conceived by a virgin with a real live human father, by the Spirit of Love; only religion will tell you the impossible account for his birth just as religion has always used magic to perpetuate the hoax of miracles. Most Christians don’t have enough common sense to stop at the crossroads of common sense and the ridiculous claims made by religion. You don’t know where to draw the line between the supernatural and reality so you cling to the impossible supernatural of angels dancing on the heads of pins and think nothing of the folly you talk about without any sense of shame because you have been erroneously lulled into a ritual trance that others are also lulled into by religion and together as a group you are content to acknowledge with each nonsensical attributes impossible to happen except in Church and Hollywood.
This dynamic of your indoctrinated mind leaves you susceptible to an inability to understand the comments that I made and believe that you know what you are talking in reply; but, the simple fact remains that you don’t even know what I am talking about let alone what you are talking about and I have to explain things in the Bible that you pass over without an understanding thought about it in your brain.
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May 30, 2015 at 7:20 pm
“Take Away”……you are an individual who cannot be reasoned with because of your lack of Biblical knowledge & understanding… and mainly because of your absence of humility to God’s Word, so I will just say, “have a nice evening.”
PS. Of course Jesus was God in the flesh…….I already pointed out two Scriptures that reveal that absolute TRUTH, but unfortunately you place your personal opinion above God’s Eternal Word……and that’s not a healthy decision.
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May 30, 2015 at 8:15 pm
elaine:
I believe I know the bible and interpret it with knowledge and understanding like Jesus interpreted the bible. Although it is clear that Jesus never quoted anything from the New Testament like you that’s all you quoted and not anything Jesus said but what everybody but Jesus said. The NT is church talk by church people who themselves did not understand who or what Jesus was all about. So Jesus never quoted any of the scriptures you did, not because he didn’t like it; he just never had it. The Old Testament Bible was the only bible Jesus ever had in his hand.
The bible, Old T. or New T. is not the word of God; the bible is the word of man who claim the words he chiseled were the words of God. But the whole of the Old Testament began with magic tricks claimed as miracles by Moses. If you believe the Bible is the Word of God, those men have duped you.
It is worth noting what Jesus himself said about sin and described sin as being decided in the eye of the beholder. Jesus gave an example using John the Baptist and himself: John who came fasting and not drinking and they(the religious leaders) said he has a demon; in other words, he was “FULL of sin. Yet the Son of Man (Jesus) came eating AND drinking and they (the religious leaders) call him a glutton and winebibber, keeping company with sinners (in other words the Son of Man himself, full of sin) in the eyes of the clergy and their generation. Two completely different lifestyles and yet the clergy claimed that both were sinners. Would you be prepared to tell Jesus that your idea of sin describes sin better than Jesus’ description of “sin being in the eye of the beholder” as illustrated by him?
Now consider what a lie is:
A lie: a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood. When Police Officers hide behind vehicles, trees, bridges to set their radar, are they lying and deceiving? When our soldiers battle in war, ambush or by stealth, cunning and with deceit hide from and sneak upon, the enemy, what are they doing?
When Jesus deliberately hid and escaped from and used cunning and deceit to outwit his enemies what was he doing? Using cunning, deceit and falsehoods: a lie.
Cunning, deceit and falsehoods, were used as early as
Matt 2: 13-16 escaping the wrath and rage of Herod.
Luke 4:28-30: to throw him to his doom, but he gave them the slip
John 6: 15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, he departed into a mountain alone.
John 8: 59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
John 10: 39-42 They tried yet again to arrest him, but he slipped through their fingers.
John 11: 54 Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness
56 Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast?57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him
John 12: 28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.John 12: 36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
In many other incidences Jesus necessarily had to deceive his enemies to escape for self preservation and while deceit may be considered underhanded it can also mean “being clever” and “fortuitous”, depending if you are the prey or the predator. If you were a German in WWII and hid a Jew from the Nazis what would you say if the Nazis asked you if there are any Jews here? What would you say about such a lie that could get you killed?
Now don’t get me wrong here but Jesus, the real Jesus lied and deceived his enemies to escape the clutches of those religious fanatics who wanted to manhandle him, arrest him, beat, bash and thrash him, assault, whip, scourge, browbeat, mock, punch, scratch, kick, lash, stab and nail his hands and feet to a plank. There is nothing wrong with lying and deceiving the religious pricks one has to hide from to avoid, pass around, disguise from, leave by the back door, jump in the boat, pack up for the desert, to avoid their perverted religious insanity of the Religion of Death; he would have to do the same thing today if he was in a Muslim theocracy or confronted by Christian and Judaist fundamentalists who would most certainly argue with him about the God Concept as they and you understand a supernatural God compared to how Jesus understands it as the God “within” which is exactly what happened two thousand years ago isn’t it?
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May 30, 2015 at 8:40 pm
Take away…no offense but you talk too much and you’re not saying a whole lot. It’s the same thing over & over and you’re avoiding the main point.
I understand that you have little patience with hypocrites…..so do I……furthermore and more importantly, so does God.
The main point is, God is eternal, God is perfect, God is love, God is holy, God is merciful, God is righteous, God is ONE and Jesus is that ONE God.
Until you absorb that into your heart, mind & soul, all you have is ……nothing.
I humbly suggest that you pour out all your frustration that you hold towards people, into God Hands, and lay down all your sins before Him (as we all must) and ask the Lord to fill you with His Spirit and His love.
Until you have His Spirit in your life, all you have is limited head-knowledge and that’s not going to help you in the future, if you know what I mean.
I have stuff to do…so again, you have a nice evening.
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May 30, 2015 at 9:00 pm
elaine:
No offense taken.
I realize the frustration of religionists who have been indoctrinated by religious dogma. Jesus had the same problems with the people he encountered trying to convince them that the supernatural does not exist and the God you refer to is not the God Jesus referred to. He saw God as “The Father” within every human being. Unless you come to understand and know him of whom you speak, Jesus cannot cleanse your mind of the indoctrination you are suffering from in a wasted life.
Read Matthew 23 and the 8 fold indictment against your religious ancestors and you can see how the religious establishment cannot change and is totally against everything Jesus ever stood for. And in that indictment Jesus never tried to convince anyone about who God is mercy, holy etc as you.
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May 30, 2015 at 9:18 pm
Here I have many tasks to do before the evening ends!!!….. and yet I find myself replying to you……oh well….here I go again.
At least this last reply of yours is not a thesis, like the others.
You tell me to read certain scriptures in the Bible and yet you avoid & ignore the majority of scriptures…….I call that cherry-picking and again, I repeat, that is very unhealthy.
I am sorry that you have allowed the god (small “g”) of this world to indoctrinate your mind & human spirit with such goofy “progressive” thoughts.
So in light of that statement, I will say back to you……..Unless YOU come to understand and know HIM of Whom you speak, Jesus cannot cleanse your mind of the indoctrination you are suffering from, in a wasted life.
Adios Amigo(a) & Good night & God bless our Troops / Vets & God bless the USA!
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May 30, 2015 at 9:22 pm
And elaine, who told you about God? So it begs the question why you believe you can describe God? rather audacious unless you are talking about the Father within as Jesus described; anything more or less and you’re in the wrong pew, that’s the religious pew where Jesus never sat except to teach the people the truth about the tyranny of religion.
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May 30, 2015 at 9:39 pm
I do not ignore anything in the Bible, and I do cherry pick the scriptures for reference on the topics I discuss. The BibIe I just know it and understand it in the context of the history of mankind as revealed to me since I was a youngster in search of a champion.
Take care and may all your good thoughts for the Troops, Vets and Country remain within you.
“Man can never be a woman’s equal in the spirit of selfless service with which nature has endowed her. We worship women as the living embodiment of the spirit of service and sacrifice. A woman is the Mother of the Human Race and a righteous peace maker. The real ornament of woman is her character, her purity, her beauty.”
Ghandi
Her life giving and her giving life is why the Earth is called Mother Earth; why Nature is called Mother Nature.
Women of the World…WOW and upside down
Mothers of Mankind….MOM.
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May 30, 2015 at 10:44 pm
Well my task is done and now I am able to say a little more before I go ZZzzzz…and that is…..
“Mother Earth?”………give me a break. Dumbest term ever.
Poor Ghandi, I know he meant well, but how wrong he was to even imply that anyone should worship women.
Worship belongs to God our Creator alone….. and again, His Name is Jesus the Messiah.
Ghandi was also in error to imply that…. “Man can never be a woman’s equal in the spirit of selfless service with which nature has endowed her”….
……….because I see every day, male police officers, male firefighters and male soldiers who offer their service of sacrifice at the cost of their own lives to insure the safety of my family, myself and those around us.
So you see, there is good in both men & women and there is evil in both men & women.
Moms are wonderful!…my mom was the absolute best!…..but so was my dad!
You see, you can’t become a mom without a dad ….dads are absolutely essential…and vice-versa.
In fact, contrary to a certain “movement” that has attempted to hi-jack the Rainbow from God’s Word to use it perversely in their unnatural lifestyle, I would much rather have ONE dad than TWO moms.
But perfection is ONE mom & ONE dad……without that combination, humanity would cease to exist….and that’s a fact.
By the way, I love the number “ONE”…..it reminds me of my favorite Scripture……it’s found in Deuteronomy 6:4…it’s actually referred to as “The Shema”
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD”
And how I love our One LORD!
~~~~
OK…..a final goodnight and sleep tight.
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May 31, 2015 at 11:11 pm
TA:
The false christ of your predilections proves completely baseless.
For the record; i.e., the Gospel record:
You obviously lack any competent skill in harmonizing the Gospels or understanding Scripture. Whenever you twist Scripture you always obtain a dysfunctional result as you’ve patently demonstrated [2 Peter 3:16].
Re: among other things your “commentary” on John 7.
Yahshua instructs some of His disciples to go to Jerusalem for YHWH’s/Yahweh’s Feast of Tabernacles [Leviticus 23:33-44] because it draws near [John 7:2]. He tells them His time is not yet to go to the Feast [John 7:6, 8]; not over any concern over His own life. There’s nothing untruthful here. Yahshua is God Incarnate. He’s in absolute control as He works the Will of God the Father who is enthroned in Heaven [John 6:46; Matthew 5:16, 45, 6:1, 9, 7:11, 21, 10:32, 33, 12:50, 16:17, 18:10, 14, 19, 23:9]. Being faithful to the Word of God Yahshua will go to Jerusalem to observe this Feast as it is commanded in the Torah/Pentateuch/Law of Moses/Law of God of every Jewish male when His time is fully come [Exodus 34:23; Chronicles 8:12, 13]. Yahshua remains behind in Capernaum to teach in the synagogue concerning the Last Great Day & The Resurrection [John 6:24-59] at the Sabbath of the Feast of Trumpets [Leviticus 23:23-25]. Then examining Mark 9:2-9 we receive Mark’s account of The Transfiguration. These events are placed into chronological sequence by referencing the one miracle of Yahshua recorded in all four Gospels; i.e., The Feeding of the Five Thousand. And then having accomplished these things Yahshua travels to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles [John 7:10, 14]. No one took Yahshua Messiah until it was the appointed time. This was one of the cornerstones of His ministry that He would fulfill the Spring Feasts of YHWH with complete precision. It was by His authority received from God the Father that Messiah went at the appointed time [John 7:32-46]. Yahshua Messiah came to fulfill Hebrew Scripture [The Five Books of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms and Poetic Writings/TaNaKh/Septuagint] and that is exactly what He did and will continue to do until all is fulfilled [Matthew 5:17-20; John 5:39].
Look to Isaiah 52:13-15; 53:1-12 for true revelation of Yahshua as Suffering Servant and Messiah King – Son of Joseph and Son of David.
Read Luke Chapter 5 to learn about Yahshua’s ministry to sinners: “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31, 32)
There’s no getting around it: If you believe in Messiah Yahshua/Christ Jesus, the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob then you believe in the Word of God/Torah/Pentateuch/God’s Instructions/Law of God/Royal Law/Law of Moses/Gospel of Messiah/Gospel of Peace/Gospel of the Kingdom/Law of Liberty/Hebrew Scripture/Holy Bible – all of it – Old and New Testaments. Frankly, I’m convinced by your “interpretations” that you don’t even know what most of those terms mean. Then again you’ve already said yourself you don’t believe in the Bible [John 5:46, 47]; something about chiseled sayings [Matthew 12:32]. I think you should give Acts 5 a read and see how God handles those who dishonor Him. You don’t believe in the One True God and His Messiah. Your “godfather” resides “within” the inventive recesses of your own carnal imagination and in your reality your “champion” is flesh just like yours who lies and cheats to preserve his own skin. Satan answered Yahweh and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.” (Job 2:4) Whom do you worship, TA? You’re a reckless idolater at heart who maligns & manipulates God’s Word [Deuteronomy 4:2; Isaiah 63:10; Revelation 19:13]. Your freely chosen actual motives lie between you and the Almighty but be sure of one thing you’ll receive from Him what’s due [Deuteronomy 32:41]. False doctrines, doctrines of demons, false gospels, false christs, false prophets, false religious systems all bear ungodly, rotten fruit and so do also those who promote them. There are smug, profane, condescending, self-absorbed, arrogant, ego-maniacal, cynical, narcissistic, perverts attempting to mislead many. The Age of Deception has come to pass. Some even try doing so “in the name of Christ”. Yahshua Himself warned us [Matthew 24:4, 5]. Their aims & motives run the degenerate gamut; from lust to greed to wanton power. But each and everyone finishes the same way, “for the wages of sin is death [Revelation 20:14, 21:8] but the free gift of God is eternal life in Messiah Yahshua our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Turn away from sin then turn to God asking for His forgiveness; believe and trust in His Son whom He sent.
O Yahweh, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; for You have worked wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness. (Isaiah 25:1)
Therefore a strong people will glorify You; (Isaiah 25:3a)
For You have been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a rain storm against a wall. (Isaiah 25:4)
Like heat in a drought, You subdue the uproar of aliens; like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced. (Isaiah 25:5)
YHWH of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine. (Isaiah 25:6)
And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched over all nations. (Isaiah 25:7)
He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord Yahweh will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for Yahweh has spoken. (Isaiah 25:8)
And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is Yahweh for whom we have waited; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” (Isaiah 25:9)
– Frank Adamick
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June 1, 2015 at 2:46 am
Sure FA and that’s why He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him; and The (religious”) world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil; and, I am not going up to this feast; and But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
One doesn’t need to be a Christian Rocket Scientist to understand this stand alone event.
Where is the miracle (Magic) in The Feeding of the Five Thousand?
It doesn’t take skill to jump all over the bible and randomly choose scriptures and claim harmony; it takes an indoctrinated mind to push the narrative of religion’s dogma, a proselyte, a non thinker. Who is impressed with a Jack Van Imp’s nonsense preaching style of dishonest academia? Not Jesus and not I. And He said to them, “Isaiah was right about frauds like you, hit the bull’s-eye in fact: ‘These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
but their heart isn’t in it. They act like they are worshiping me, but they don’t mean it.
They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy,
Ditching God’s command and taking up the latest fads.” ‘teaching for doctrines the precepts (dogma) of men.
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June 1, 2015 at 1:58 pm
Are you smarter than an atheist? A religious quiz
Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups in a 32-question survey of religious knowledge by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. On average, Americans got 16 of the 32 questions correct. Atheists and agnostics got an average of 20.9 correct answers. Jews (20.5) and Mormons (20.3). Protestants got 16 correct answers on average, while Catholics got 14.7 questions right.
How will you do on the quiz? I scored 29 out of 32(91%) but at least 2 correct answers were guess answers.
Take the quiz here:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0105/Are-you-smarter-than-an-atheist-A-religious-quiz/When-does-the-Jewish-Sabbath-begin
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July 24, 2015 at 7:35 pm
Homosexuality God calls it an abomination is divorce the other thing you mentioned an abomination?
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