God, the Just

Can the God of the Bible still be just for allowing one man to die for the sins of others? 

The answer to this question may appear to be a no-brainer  to most Christians, but there many other people that believe that it is unjust or even unfair for God to make one man pay for the sins of others. People's sensitive sense of justice logically says that whosoever did the crime must serve the time.  In religious thought, every man is accountable for his own sins.  Why would anyone would want to take on the sins of other people and be punished for it? Why would anyone do such a thing? Why indeed, for God is holy as well as just and it is His justice that demands satisfaction when anyone violates his commands.  That makes that person who violates God's commands, His laws,  a transgressor and a sinner.  Here is the point, there has been no man, except for one, that has lived a sinless life,  everyone else  is a sinner before God. In fact the prophets said there is none righteous (Isaiah 41:26) If anyone thinks himself righteous apart from God beware, for the prophets also proclaim that all of our righteousness is as filthy rags to the Lord God (Isaiah 64:6).   So bad was our condition that David said, " Blessed is the man who transgression is forgiven, whose sins are covered..." (Psalms 32:1) His statement illustrates the fact that sin continued to be a problem all because Adam disobeyed God's command and transgressed His law (Genesis 2 +3), but God being a Just and Holy God must judge sin, but how can He do it without condemning His chief creation, mankind? 

How does a Holy God forgive a sinning  person?

Surely, God can just forgive Adam? Can't He? Yes he can, but the problem is more complicated than that. When Adam sinned, he violated God's law, God's command, his action was a illegal act.  One illegal act must be remedied by another legal act.  This is like someone killed someone else, which is against God's law.(Exodus 20:13; Romans 7:7-13,24+25) When the killer is tried and convicted, God 's law requires the death of the killer.  Should God show the killer mercy and make void his own  Law? Or should God allow the legal judgement of His law prevail? What should a Holy God do? 

How does a Holy God look upon a sinful man?

Let us look at what did God do in the Bible, when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden. When he disobeyed God's command, Adam became a sinner, God being Holy can not look approvingly  upon sin and still remain Holy, if He did, He would have destroyed Himself along with anyone and any thing that is attached to Him, that means the end of all creation, for God is a holy God and judges all uncovered sin. He is the foundation of all that is created. So when Adam sinned, what God did to remedy the problem in the short term? God killed animals and covered Adam with their bloody skins.  This allowed God to look upon with Adam in his sinful state without destroying him,  from that point on mankind, when  anyone came into the presence of God they  had to offer a blood sacrifice of an animal, because the sinful nature of mankind is transferable from one generation to the next, or there would be no need for animal atonement sacrifice in subsequent generations . Thus God averted judgement upon Adam's sin through blood atonement. Which He directly administered to Adam.


The Practice  of the Blood Atonement. 

This practice of the atonement sacrifice through the use of animals continued from the time of Adam until the time of Moses, where the practice was codified, or made law. (Genesis 4:4, 8:20, 31:54; Exodus 3:18, 23:18) According to the law, once a year the atonement sacrifice had to be made by each person who was the head  of his household and the High priest each year had to offer also an atonement sacrifice, one for himself and another for the people and intercede for the people, because the people's sin offering was to atone for the sins of the people and allow God to be with them. The problem with this was the fact that mankind manipulated the atonement sacrifice system so that only those who could afford atonement of their sins got their sins atoned (John 2:14+15), while the ones who could not afford to get their sins atone for was left without hope until the day of Atonement. Even then not everyone could get their sins atoned for. Also the blood of animals did not permanently deal with the sin issue, the blood of animals only covered sins temporarily.  So what can a Just and Merciful God do? Should He continue the blood atonement offering system or eliminate it?  If He did eliminate it, God would have to destroy Israel, their laws, and anyone one else that came into the knowledge of his existence. 

What was God's plan to save sinful mankind? 

What did God do? He decided that he would sacrifice a part of Himself to redeem mankind. What choice did He have? He could not legally just forgive sins for His law required judgment upon all uncovered and un-atoned for sins, and  His  Holiness destroys all the uncovered and un-atoned sins that it sees and every thing or person it is attached to. If He did not do something to remedy the fact that many people was not getting their sins atoned for, He will lose all their souls to Satan and Hell.  Hell is the place where all who are condemned in their sins go after their physical death on earth.  Now I ask, would God be Just if he allowed such a thing to happen? He would not be, so in his Mercy He decides to have a son, born of a Virgin, of the house of David. He calls and send prophets to tell the people that still believe in him that a redeemer is coming. Like Moses, a deliverer, who led the nation of Israel to their freedom. 

God then chooses Elizabeth to give birth to the messenger who will prepare the people for arrival of His Son, none other than John, the Baptist. Six months later God chooses Mary, a virgin girl who is engaged to Joseph, a son of the house of David. God sends the Angel Gabriel to tell her of her selection and of the child that she was going to conceive. Gabriel tells her that the child will called the son of the Most High (the phrase "the Most High" is another name for God) and His name will be called Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-35 ) She accepts the assignment, and God makes her conceive, Jesus.  Jesus, whose Mission from God, was to  tell people of the Good news of God's redemption and then die for their sins so that God's Holiness and Justice can be satisfied.  For the illegal act committed by a Man like God (Adam), that brought sin into the world must be condemned, and the sins of many people must be atoned for by another legal act  by a holy God like man (Jesus). This is what God's law and Holiness required, in order to be permanently satisfied.  Since the blood of animals did not permanently eliminate sin, the blood of His only begotten Son, pure and holy surely will eliminate the sins of those who believe in Him and permanently free mankind from the penalty of sin, which is death and eternal damnation.  So Jesus had to die for us, in our place so that we who chose to believe in Him will not have to pay the penalty of sin, which is going to Hell with Satan in the Lake of Fire for all eternity, but each one of us, through Christ,  will have the opportunity to live a righteous life before God without sin disqualifying us. Which also allows each of us who believe entrance into Heaven.

Which is more just? To die thinking or believing  that your are forgiven without your sins covered or to die knowing that you have the atonement for your sins through faith in the shed blood of Jesus?

So what do you think of God?  Would He had been just  to let all of mankind die in their sins without hope of redemption? Do you think it would have been fair for God to allow a man to die in his own sins, believing that he is forgiven?  No it would not have been fair or just for God to allow people to die in their own sins under the presumption that they are forgiven.  So a Just and Merciful God must allow one man, His Son, to die for the sins of the world and cover mankind with the Holy and Righteous blood of His Son, Jesus. For without His sacrifice upon the cross, we certainly all would have been lost forever.

The Water and the Blood

There has been a lot said about salvation these days.  Some have said that the current Christian community is really deceived. Why? Because many believers were not baptized for the remission of their sins as illustrated in the Bible. Many people who say that they are believers in Christ have made only a faith confession, to which other people have said that this is not enough telling people that they have to be water baptized in order to be saved.  There has been nothing short than a clear rift between believers on this issue. So we ask today are believers saved by faith in the finished work of Christ, faith in the blood  of Christ or are they saved by the act of water baptism?

The crux of the matter is the Remission of sins, the word remission is another way of saying forgiveness of sins.  John, the Baptist preached a gospel of the remission of sins, and he used water to symbolize the cleansing power of God over those who came with a repented heart.  Understand that John, the Baptist used  water baptism to show what God was preparing to do by he who was to come after him.  "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and [with] fire:"  (Matthew 3:11) This signifying a change when the one that was to come institutes a new type of baptism.  He also stipulates here that his administration of water baptism was a work for repenting people.      So what we understand here is that water baptism is for people who believe in God  who has already repented of their sins and want to openly declare that testimony. (Mark 3:6) John, the Baptist never says that the administration of  water baptism cleanses people of their sins rather at that time it prepared people to receive the forgiveness of their sins.  For John, the Baptist could not grant or administer forgiveness, that was not his mission, his mission was to prepare the way of the Lord. 

So what was John, the Baptist doing? He was preparing the people for the forgiveness that was to be received once Christ completed his mission on earth.  So people came out to him to be Baptized not to be forgiven  but to prepare them for the true baptism  that will cleanse them from their sins from the one that was to come. That baptism that was to come John called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and that this other baptism is the one that only Jesus, the one who came after John can administrate.  So what John was preaching was the Gospel of God's forgiveness: In that if people repent and confess their sins, they are candidates to receive the symbol of God's forgiveness to come, that symbol was water baptism.  No where does John testify that water Baptism will save any of them that repented of their sins or cleanses them from their sins. This is logical because Jesus did not die yet and shed his blood on the cross, so the water that John. the Baptist was using did not cleanse any one from their sins and did nothing for their salvation.

So why did the people repent and accept water baptism if it did nothing for their salvation?  Water baptism did two things, it publicly declared a person's turning away from his sins and prepared him to receive him who was to come after John.  

So why do some people today say that it is necessary to be baptized in order to be saved? This comes from a few verses in the Bible they are as follows:

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16)

and

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:38)

and

"The like figure whereunto [even] baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:" (1 Peter 3:21)

In Marks gospel, the 16th  chapter and 16th verse seems to confirm what some people testify of the necessity of Water  baptism  for salvation to be received.  Except for the fact which we have previously found out that water Baptism only prepares one to be cleansed from his sins it does not cleanse anyone from their sins.  Another thing to notice is that all these verses previously shared come after the fact that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead.  So this brings us to the question: What does water baptism has to do with salvation after Jesus had died? If we read from the context of each of the scriptures listed above, we will discover that water baptism was not necessary for salvation, repentance is.   For you can not be baptized unless you first believe and repent. In the case of  1 Peter 3:21,  the correlation between Noah and his family  being saved and water baptism saving us now is that Noah family was made up of repented souls who was brought into a new life when God delivered them from the water of the flood.  The point is,  you have to believe God's message and repent first before you get baptized and symbolically confess your faith openly. For to administer water baptism upon some who first does not believe and secondly has not repented of their sins, undermines the purpose of the Gospel and water baptism. The Gospel message is the good news that God desires to save each one of us, but we must have faith in his Son's death and resurrection, this is what water baptism openly declares for each participant who chooses to believe the Gospel.  Here is the question, suppose you believe in just Jesus' death and resurrection are you saved?  The Bible says yes.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Romans 10:9)

why?

"For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:10)

So water baptism does not cleanse anyone from their sins, but it is an open declaration of that which was already received.  So as long as a believer  confesses faith in Christ's death and resurrection that person shall be saved.  Why  shall be saved and not is saved?  Salvation is in the hand of him that judges all men. It is not in the hands of men to administer or to not administer.  The reason I believe that it is written is that salvation is not complete until we hear the Judge of all say "well done my good and faithful servant, enter in to the joy of your lord!" until then it is a faith walk. That is, we already received the salvation of God by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ.  

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

In other words, Faith is the title deed, the grocery receipt of what was purchased on your behalf.  The evidence of possession depends upon who has title, who has record of ownership, who has the receipt of that which was purchased.  Therefore, as long as we have faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God and openly confess that faith, we possess ownership of that salvation that we seek receive at the judgement seat of Christ.  The Bible never says that water Baptism is the title deed to salvation, but it does illustrate that water Baptism is an open declaration of an inward change. An open declaration of a repenting soul.

So what saves a soul from sin? What cleanses him from all unrighteousness? The imputed blood of Jesus the Christ upon him. It alone atones for sin and is imputed to every one that confesses faith in Jesus' death and resurrection.  It is applied every time a believer confesses and repents of sin. (1 John 1:9) David desired to see this day where a man sins can be blotted out, for he said.

"Blessed [is he whose] transgression [is] forgiven, [whose] sin [is] covered." (Psalms 32:1)

He said this because in his day for a person to have his sins atoned for he had to present an atonement offering. Foretelling of the blessing that now befalls upon all who believe in Christ for Jesus is our atonement offering (Romans 5:10+11). For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins ( Hebrew 9:22,28) Without water baptism there is always the opportunity to repent and be saved, for salvation does not depend upon water baptism, but upon the confession of the faith of the one who believes in the atoning power of the blood of Jesus.  

So is water Baptism necessary for salvation? No it isn't.  For Paul, the Apostle met two people who believed after the Gospel of repentance, he expounded more accurately the way to them and they received by faith what the salvation the Gospel of repentance prepared them for.  (Acts19:1-7) The Gospel of God's salvation rests firmly on Jesus's death and resurrection and nothing more and nothing less. 

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How I Study the Bible.

If you are an firm believer in Christ and desire to learn more from your Bible this article is for you.  First of all  please remember that studying is not interpretation.  Studying is research that can lead you to the proper interpretation of the Bible.  This is called in scripture "rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15) There are several different ways to  study the Bible.  The one the few ways I love to study the Bible is by topic or theme, but I do not limit myself to that way of study.  Here are a few other ways to study the Bible

A) Chronologically- This type of study respects time and history in relation to the subject or person you are studying in the Bible.

B) Thematically-This type of study respects the idea or subject  the student is inquiring about in the Bible.

C)  Memorization- This is the simplest form of study which requires certain passages  or verses of the Bible to be retained in the students memory.

D) Inquiry- This type of study is the most adventurous, it asks questions and seeks answers within the Bible.

E) Character- This type of study focuses upon a Bible character of interest. It like doing a biographical study, following a person's life or relationship with God from beginning to the end.

F) Self application- This type of study takes what the student finds applicable in the Bible to his or her own
life. It is a "how to"  study. If you understand the directions and follow what the Bible prescribes you should receive the benefits of obedience to its principles..

G) Model- This a study that seeks a role model from the scriptures. Another way to look at it is to ask yourself the question, " Who is you greatest Bible Hero, other than Jesus?.  Model studies help the student seek attitudes to emulate from various Bible characters that was acceptable behavior to God.

H) Book- This is a study that allows you to look at each book of the Bible and discern its parts.  It allows you to understand, in part, the human author's intention when he composed the book and why.

One thing I do when studying the Bible is always study any interesting verse, passage or character in the context and in respect of the context where the verse and passage is in the Bible.  This is a safeguard against drifting way out of the textual limitations of what the scriptures present.  Some people get some strange ideas about what the Bible says about a matter because they never consider the context of the verse or passage of the Bible they are citing from.

After I decide which way I am going to study the Bible, I get some 6 X  4 blank index cards or pieces of paper and use a concordance to search out the proposed scriptures that is in line with that study.  Anything of interest or anything that is illuminating I note on those cards or pieces of paper.  It could be a statement, a idea, a concept it could be anything.  I stopped using highlighters, and marking bible passages with a pen because using such devices can damage the pages of the Bible.  By writing the verse address, phrase or the address of the passage down on a separate piece of paper, I am able to look at all the verses on a given study  and glean eternal truths from them in relation to the study topic.

The next thing I do is look up related material to the verse or the passage I am studying.  This is material that is not necessarily  found in the Bible, but is Bible related.  It can be Historical information, Archaeological information, Inspirational information, Scientific information, the list goes on and on.  There is a lot of information that is Bible related.

I then write them down in a outline format.  This keeps me on track to the most sensible and logical conclusion based upon Biblical truth.   Now after I develop my outline.  I write my Study out in such a way that I can come back and review it.  Now some studies last for years, some for days and some for hours. It largely depends on the broadness of the study.  That is why I say that Bible studying is research because it can go on for days. Now if you want to keep your studies short, limit them to what you really want to understand or what you really want to know.  This will keep you from drifting from one degree or dimension of the study to another. Focus on one dimension ask one to three direct or pointed questions to guide you in your study. You can make cross reference notations in your study to be investigated later.

The danger to all Bible studying is prejudice.  When studying the Bible you must be free of preconceived ideas. Which is the root of prejudice in the study of scripture.  If you have a preconceived idea about something that God does, God allows, God prohibits that was not found it the scripture or anything related to it, it can be the idea that you substituted for Biblical truth instead of doing the research.  This is why I always say that the worse kind of deception is self deception. If a preconceived idea came from a preacher, studying it in the Bible is the only way to verify whether it comes from that preacher's personal opinion or from the Bible.  That is why it is good to take notes when someone preaches. If you find that the preacher is not adhering to Biblical truth but is preaching from personal opinion. I strongly suggest that you leave that church and find one that the preacher bases his teaching upon biblical truth.

You don't need a chain reference Bible to study or a Study Bible to perform any of the studies listed in this article.  They are what we call Bible aids, they are good for clarification purposes and it is very good to have access to at least two or three of them.  Do not get caught thinking that what that Chain reference Bible suggests in your own private studies.  Treat them as someone giving their opinion of what the scripture of interest refers to.  You do need however an very good concordance.  I love Strong's Exhaustive with Greek/English and Hebrew/English dictionaries in them because I could look up everything, even to where a comma is placed. I can find the Hebrew or Greek word that was translated into English and increase my understanding of the scriptures.

Finally you do not study the Bible in order to show how intelligent you are in the matters of scriptural understanding. You study the Bible to guard yourself from false teachings, false preachers and from self deception.  Let the word of Christ grow in you richly.  The richer you grow in your understanding of Christ and the Bible, the richer you really are.

Who is Rev C R Sanchez?

A believer in Christ, who has walked in "The Way" for some 30 plus years. A man of God that the Lord has raised up to provide hope and knowledge to believers and non-believers about the Christian faith. A teacher of the Bible that is not afraid to confront the dificult issues surrounding the faith with sound biblical explainations. A newly ordained Reverend, a former member of Living waters Missionary Baptist Church of Camden NJ and a current member of Green Grove Baptist Church of Berlin, NJ.  A man of God seeking to build a education ministry or build up the church ministry, by the grace of God and for the Glory of God, through teaching, preaching and encouraging the believers. For this purpose he founded the online Ministry named Berean Bible Fellowship of NJ.   Berean Bible Fellowship of NJ is a network of believers in Christ from laymen to Bishops in that  discuss the issues of the day so that they may be addressed and the church be edified.  He is also available for speaking engagments in the southern NJ area. Prepared to be blessed. You can reach him via email: sanchez856@yahoo.com

The God that can not lie.

There has been the accusation against the God of the Bible that calls him a liar.  More intellectual opponents of the Bible and the revelations it contains cite two passages from a bible version of their choosing to make their point.  These passages are John 7:8-10 and 1 Kings 22:22+23. In both cases it appears that Jesus and the Creator God lied.  However, upon closer examination of each texts it is clear that God or Jesus did not lie at all.  In the case of  John 7:8-10 Jesus never said that he wasn't going up to the feast at all.  He told his brothers that He was not going to the feast with them upon their invitation and encouragement.  In the case of 1 Kings 22:22+23, God did not do the lying but allowed a lying spirit to speak through those prophets.  So does God lie? No, but if someone refuses to believe in him he sends to them confirmation  of whatever they do believe. (2 Thessalonians 2:11). He does this to separate the believing from the unbelieving, the true believer from the false believer, the  God worshiper from the idol worshiper.  Only God can do this being the judge of all men.  This is why I have said on many of occasions that the worse type of deception is self deception, and woe unto the person who believes a strong delusion that is so strong that it is impossible for them to see the truth.  

So God does not lie to those who believe in him or do not believe in him, it is people choose to believe the lying spirit which tells them to not have faith in the God of the Bible.  Who is this lying Spirit that is allowed to deceive the masses?  It is Satan, who uses people to blind the eyes of those who would believe in Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4) The next question is why God can not lie? A few reasons we show why God can not lie to anyone.  They are as follows:

1) God can not lie after He has made a promise about a matter (Titus 1:2).

2) God can not lie to those who has made a covenant with (Hebrews 6:18).

3) Even though we were made in the image of God, and are capable of lying, God is not like us in that respect (Numbers 23:19).

      - The common issue that arises out of this understanding is the following rational: Is therefore 
        Jesus God? He was a man was he not? The Bible says that God is not a man. So Jesus can 
        not be God.  Here is where the understanding of different dispensations from which God 
        chooses to speak to mankind comes in.  It the Old Testament, God chose to speak through 
        the prophets. In the New Testament God, chose to speak through his Son. (Hebrews 1:1-4)    
        So at the time the prophet uttered the words of Numbers 23:19 God did not have a son, nor 
        was he a man.  The point is that God was not like a man that he needed to lie about anything 
        to anyone.  Concerning Jesus being God, it is Jesus, while in a human body that also declared 
        the truth that God is a Spirit, but he also constantly declared that God was his father and the 
        miracles that he performed was the proof of what he was saying about himself was true.  In 
        the mindset of the Jews in Jesus' day what Jesus declared about himself was no less than 
        blasphemy. A crime punishable by death.  What is blasphemy? Blasphemy is taking that 
        which is holy and of God and associating it with something or someone sinful. In Jesus' case, 
        the religious people viewed Jesus as a man who was born of Samaritan blood, a sinner who 
       claimed  the Holy God has his father.  In their minds anyone claiming God as his father was 
       also claiming to be just as divine or claiming to be God, because the power authority and 
       characteristics of the son came from his father.  For this claim and testimony, they hung Jesus 
       on a cross and after he had expired there upon it, they buried him, but God raised Jesus up 
      from the dead and he began to appear to many, as he has continued to do so in many other 
       parts of the world. Why should we believe all this?

       a)Because God promised that he would have a son. (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6)
             -Also that the child would be of the seed of a woman (Genesis 3:15)

      b) Because God promised that he will make one of the sons of the family of king David his son.  
          (2 Samuel 7:12-15)

      c) Because God promised that his Son would have to suffer and die. (Luke 1:21; John 1:29)


      d)  Because God promised that he will not let his holy one see the corruption of death. 
          (Psalms 16:8-10)

       e) Because God declares through his prophets that He alone keeps his own word.
           (Numbers 23:19; Isaiah 55:8-12)

  Since it is God who promised, in order for anyone to have faith in His words, His promises, He has to make sure that they are fulfilled. He had no choice but to deliver upon what he promised whether he spoke it directly, or through an angel or a prophet.  God had to make good on His word.  So God carried out what He had promised concerning Christ, and remains faithful over His word.  Even though any one of us may lose faith, He remains faithful.  Why? That perchance someone finds faith in Him may find His words still trustworthy and credible.  For it is written:

"If we believe not, He remaineth faithful: He can not deny Himself..." (2 Timothy 2:13) 

"For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Peter 1:16-21)

For the God of the Bible is the God that can not lie.

What the Bible says about Divorce and Remarriage?

What the Bible says about Divorce and Remarriage:

It has become necessary to educate those who believe that divorce is a sinful act. They do this without seeking God and His word for answers about what to do about it first. The word of God is the final authority  and I believe the this revelation  in the lives of those who believe will find this teaching is anointed and liberating. For those who are seeking the answer to this issue  the following biblical information on the concept of Divorce and Remarriage will be helpful. The Bible encourages all to study to show ourselves approved. So just don't take my word for it. Read and study for yourselves.

For those who do not understand Divorce is not sin. If Divorce was sin that places everyone who is divorce in sin or in a sinful status. That is not what Jesus said. Jesus said,"Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery."  (Mathew 19:9) Now the escape clause is, "..except for fornication..." for those believers studying this issue. For those who do not know what  fornication is, it is having sexual relations without being married to the person you are performing sex with. If this kind of  sexual infidelity be found in the marriage then according to the bible divorce is permissible.

Now clearly Jesus wanted to make sure that this divorce and remarriage for anything that was pervasive in his day was stopped. So he placed a warning clause that whosoever marries a divorced person commits adultery. The question is when was that clause stated before the escape clause or after? It appears after. Which means that this too is non applicable to the righteous divorced person who has found infidelity in his former marriage. So it is just the one who has been discovered unfaithful in the former marriage cannot be married again, but the one who is faithful in the former marriage is free and can marry again.

Consider also this: if divorce was sin then why did God commit sin (Jeremiah 3:8) where He divorced Israel? No obviously God did not sin in divorcing Israel, he divorced Israel because he found Israel constantly playing the harlot with other Gods.  In other words he found infidelity in his relationship with Israel. We say, as believers that the bible stipulates that God never changes and Jesus is the same yesterday, today and for ever and he is righteous. If that be true, then divorce is not sin but a corrective action. A remedy to make sure that godly people marry godly people. Because godly people are human and get blinded by the same fleshy infatuations that blind unsaved people. Godly people can make judgement errors. Horrific ones. Divorce was a remedy, and is an remedy to a unwanted marriage condition.

Now Divorced people who have been faithful to God and has dissolved the marital union are free to remarry again. They are not bound to live celibate lives for the rest of their lives. Again in Mathew 19:12 Jesus addresses this issue by talking about becoming an eunuch. For those who do not know an eunuch is, an eunuch is a person who has his reproductive organs removed. Jesus states that some have made themselves eunuchs, this does not necessarily mean that they have had their reproductive organs removed, what it  means is that they have decided to remain single for the rest of the natural lives and have committed the rest of lives to be in service to God. This condition of celibacy is not mandatory but it is only given to those who can accept it. This makes celibacy optional for the righteous divorced person. Most righteous divorce people can not receive it. That is fine because it is only required of those who can receive it.

Now does God allow remarriage of a divorce Person? Yes He does (Deuteronomy 24:1-3; Leviticus 21:14; Romans 7:1-3; 1 Corinthians 7:13-16) A Divorced person and a person who is a Widow has similar qualities in that they both have suffered the lost of a loved one. Divorced people go through a lot of grief more than a widow does. What the divorced person has to contend with that is different from the widow is that they may see that person again in their lifetime and old contentions or old Romanticisms may arise only to be frustrated by the ex mate. The Widow does have that problem because all that person has is the memory of  his former mate. Now remarriage does not not heal these feelings and only constant prayer, and intercession for the ex spouse can lead to such a thing. What remarriage does for the saved divorced person is provide the needed companionship which now they see the value of. That being said it is God's perfect will is that a divorced person be reconciled to his or her former spouse. If that is possible the righteous divorced person and the ex-mate should seek reconciliation. However, sometimes that is not what God wants for the righteous divorced person, because reuniting with the former spouse may lead to the same problems that caused the marriage to dissolve in the first place. What divorced people need to know that if reuniting with the former spouse is not possible can they marry someone else? The answer is Yes they can, but they have only one attempt in doing this. If they get divorced by their next spouse they are committed to mandatory celibacy for the rest of their lives. That is what is stipulated in Deuteronomy 24:1-3.

Now who can a righteous divorce person marry? A divorce person can not marry a virgin, that is forbidden by the Law of God. A righteous divorce person can only marry another divorced person who was not found unfaithful in their former marriage. A righteous divorce person can marry a widow, there is no commandment against that, I checked that out in the bible.  Where there is no law, there is no transgression. Where there is no transgression, there is no evidence of sin.  The next possible candidate category may be controversial but I believe that a righteous divorced person can marry an unwed christian mother. Why? Because an unwed christian mother has in a sense joined herself with another but for some reason she is not with him. So an unwed christian mother is like a divorced righteous woman with children. Some unwed christian mothers are mothers before they expect to be through their lack of self control and judgment and know that they cannot be married as a virgin christian bride. Others became Christian after they became mothers, because they know they need help in the raising of the child. The place they come to is the Church. Some of these unwed mothers think they can not be married at all, because they feel that even though God forgives them for what they have done, they have disqualified themselves from being a perfect wife to a quality Christian male. That in my opinion is not true. If God has enough forgiveness for the unwed christian mothers error in judgement, then God also has enough grace to perfect those things that imperfect them. Nevertheless, in my opinion, the unwed mother falls in the category of non-virgin candidates for marriage of a divorced person.

I humbly submit therefore that the Church is missing a whole segment of the population that believe in Christ but believe that they can not be remarried that needs to be ministered to.  The demographics of the church congregation have changed,  there are more divorced people in our christian communities than we have married people in our churches. This article is an attempt to minister to those who have been divorced in a Christian union and was not the one  that was unfaithful in that union. It is my prayer that this article has blessed you.

Where am I to pay my tithe offerring?

Someone asked me this question one day. Being a preacher I simply told him you pay tithes at your church. This same person followed the question he had asked me with this statement. Which church? I don't go regularly to a church, yet I pay my tithes. This confused me, for a moment then I remembered that people do this because they believe in tithing, they just did not make up their minds about attending church. If you are like this person, I want you to consider something. When we go out to eat at a resturant, we pay when we are served. We never pay for the food and not go out to the restuarant we have chosen to eat. Surely some one will enjoy a free dinner on your generousity! That is what some people are doing, They have sent their tithes to a ministry or a church and have not visited the ministry or the church. Some one else will enjoy the benefits of hearring the message on your account.

Now the man was not finished because he wanted to know which church to give it to because he did not want to give it to a church that he did not agree with its theological view on the scriptures. Surely I understood this. It is like paying in advance for food at one fast food location and attempting to eat at another because you did not like the food in the location you sent your money to. No body would do that. The Bible is clear, the tithes is the Lords and it must be given in support of God's work in the earth. Where do you give it largely depends upon your situation, if you can not regularly attend church and receive your direct benefit for your gift which is the counsel from the word of God for your life. Then the tithe should go to the man of God closest to you that is ministering in your life. I like what one TV preacher said concerning giving to his ministry, he said, " I offer to you the opportunity to give to this ministry, If you received spiritual enlightment and education from this ministry. Keep in mind this ministry is supported by you the viewer and this telecast would not be possible without your financial support, I thank you in advance for your generous support, you are making it happen"

The key is elightment and education, not just a good feeling or good music. If the man of God is ministerring life into your life there you should offer the tithe offerring. Scripturally speaking this is what the bible instructs in the Law that if the way be to long for you to give the tithe offerring, they had the right to turn it into money (we do not have that problem in our day) and send or bring it themselves to where the name of the Lord is. The place where the name of the Lord is, is the place where the Man of God is teaching the word of God. Whether that be in a hotel, hospital, basement of a home, a church edifice, classroom where ever you are being educated and enlightened by the man of God. That is where you give your tithe offering.

Now the only exception to this is when you are in a situation that there is no man of God teaching the word of God in reasonable distance from your home. In this case you may start a separate account for the tithe offering and when someone in need comes to your home you can use the tithe account monies to assist them. This is also scriptural but it is not the norm. The tithe offerring is for the blessing of God and his word to reach others, by you participating in giving it God promises to open the windows of Heaven and pour out blessings upon your life. These are the places you can pay the tithe offerring and still be scriptuallly correct and in the will of God.

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