Wow-God bless you...but I applaud Christina M. who has been freed from the throws of legalism. The Pharisees often quoted Moses, but they had their own version. The problem the Pharisees had was that they were real good with the letter of the law, but they missed the Spirit of it. You all quote Jesus alot, but you are missing the Spirit of Jesus' teaching. You say you believe in grace, but you are not consistent.
You speak of obedience in the same vein that the Pharisees did, who put unbearble burdens on the backs of the weak...and burdens they honestly couldn't carry either, but pretended to, since the sins others committed was not the ones they committed.
Sure, we are to live godly. Da. No kidding. Jesus said "if you love me keep my commandments". The Bible also says that if "we practice sin, that is live continually and willfully in sin, we are not of God". However, we are also sinners folks. Hello?
Jesus said "if we say we have no sin, the truth is not in us". 1 John 2:1 says that "if we sin, we have an advocate (counselor for our defense), Jesus Christ, the righteous one". Now, we know as Paul said, that we do not purposely sin more so that grace will abound...but we will sin...and when and if we do, God acts in merciful and gracious ways.
You all amaze me, you really do. This reminds me more of the editorials than a forum.
I went through a painful divorce. I will not honor the enemy by going into sordid details that gives no honor to Christ. I will say, though, that I was not the innocent party in the divorce. I will also say, that I could not look up into heaven for over a year, and could only pray that the Lord would be merciful. I hurt, that I hurt others.
I cried so hard that I thought I would die. I let many people down. I let myself down.
I let God down. But one day, I began to find Christians, some were my own children and family telling me, David, God is not finished with you. He is gracious and merciful.
I know my heart was right. I was not prideful and insistent that I deserved any good for my sin. God heard my cry and showed his mercy in many many ways. I thank the Lord for His grace. I do not deserve to continue to serve Him. My son Pastors with me in our church. My son was hurt by my divorce too. But God has so restored me that He has given me my son, who loves his dad, and respects his dad. He is married, not divorced...and does not believe in divorce. He believes, as does his dad that marriage is permanent, and that divorce is often destructive.
He also, though, believes that when God restores, He does so fully. He can take any sin and our painful past and remember it no more. When I confessed and repented, desired to continue to serve the Lord. I could not, nor should not have gone back to my former wife. First, I remarried a wonderful Christian woman, who came from an hurtful, abusive marriage. My former wife, remarried a man. I am sorry but I am not going to hear that going back in this situation is what God expected, and that this is the only way for me to discontinue perpetual adultery. I haven't heard what you are saying from Christ either and neither have you.
You know, when Jesus confronted the woman at the well, which is the New Testament, by the way.. He spoke to the religious pharisees about their having stones in their hands ready to kill this adulterer. According to the law, she was guilty of death. It is interesting that Jesus asked them who of them was without sin. His implication was that any of their sins were able to condemn them as was this sin of this woman. Jesus, in grace, told her to "go and sin no more". She went out to tell others about what she had heard.
May you hear what the Spirit of God is saying, and respond to what He is saying.
Grace
David Whitaker
