____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ July 10, 1994 ____________________________________________________ "Except For The Cause Of Fornication" by Tom Edwards Even among many members in the church of Christ today, views are changing toward Bible doctrines on divorce and remarriage. Unfortunately, it appears that many are beginning to side with one of the various liberal positions taken on this issue and finding ``justification'' for having done so; but God's word, which cannot be changed, is still teaching the same thing today as it did when spoken from the mouth of Jesus Himself: ``And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, EXCEPT FOR SEXUAL IMMORALITY, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery'' (Matt. 19:9). God's word gives only ONE EXCEPTION for why a person could divorce his spouse and marry again, and that ONE EXCEPTION is SEXUAL IMMORALITY. Regardless of what the laws of our land say, THIS IS THE ONLY SCRIPTURAL GROUND FOR NOT ONLY DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE, BUT ALSO FOR JUST THE DIVORCE ITSELF. The innocent spouse has the right to put away his or her marriage partner who has become guilty of the sin of adultery--but not vice versa--and though the innocent is free to remarry after having done this putting away, the guilty is not. These are hard words to tell someone who would be in this situation, but they are words that must be said in love and with the desire to inform others of what God is saying in this matter. How difficult it must be for two people who are unscripturally married to divorce after having lived together for so long--and especially if there are children involved--but it is one of the things they must do if they want to be right in God's sight; for it would constitute part of their repentance; and if one doesn't truly repent, there can be no forgiveness (Luke 13:5; Acts 2:38). I'm reminded of those Jews who had returned from the Babylonian captivity and had begun to re-inhabit the Promise Land. Many of these had married foreigners during a time when God wanted them not to. Note Ezra's rebuke toward them: ``'...You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel. Now, therefore, make confession to the Lord God of your fathers, and do His will; AND SEPARATE YOURSELVES from the peoples of the land and FROM THE FOREIGN WIVES.' Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, `That's right! As you have said, so it is our duty to do''' (Ezra 10:10-12; emphasis mine). The following verses in this chapter make up a list of those who had intermarried in this way and who had consented toward the putting away of their foreign wives. It is further pointed out that in some of the cases there had been children born to them by these foreigners (v. 44), but still that would not justify their remaining married. I cite the above illustration to make you aware of the emotional trauma that certainly must have accompanied many of those who had to do this--yet, it was still what God required of them. Though I don't read anywhere in the New Testament that it is a sin for a man to marry someone of a different race, I do read that IT IS A SIN TO MARRY SOMEONE WHO HAD BEEN MARRIED BEFORE THAT HAD NOT BEEN THE INNOCENT SPOUSE WHO HAD DIVORCED THE GUILTY SPOUSE BECAUSE OF ADULTERY. This is one of the issues of our time to which we must give our earnest attention. Realizing the great difficulty it could be for some who are unscripturally married to have to end their wrongful marriage, my heart goes out to them; but rather than making an emotionally charged issue with this, we must rather be strong and submit our lives to the will of God. For we show to the Lord our love by our obedience; and how greatly that love must ring out when our faithfulness involves such a challenge as to put away the one we have become attached to on the most intimate level, after having learned that we have no God-given right to remain together. Let us remind ourselves that a few short years of pleasure in this life, even if it consists of a selfless commitment toward a person we ``love'' above all others, will never make up for an eternity spent in separation from the love, mercy, and blessings of God--that could have been ours in eternal glory--if we fail to take heed to God's word. Whatever struggle you must make during this life to reach the safe haven of God's eternal rest and peace, it will all be greatly worthwhile to you in the Judgment Day. Let us, therefore, press on to that goal and make whatever sacrifices we must along the way. If we, therefore, are living in an unscriptural marriage, we must sever this relationship or we'll never make it to heaven, we'll miss out on that great ``marriage supper of the Lamb'' (Rev. 19:7-9), and not having obeyed the Lord will become the greatest regret of our lives. Now's the time we can make the change for the better--which will definitely lead to the best ``change'' of all, when the mortal puts on immortality, and the perishable puts on the imperishable (1 Cor. 15:51-54). ___________________________________________ Homosexuality by Tom Edwards During July of 1992, two women were united in marriage at a Unitarian church by a woman ``minister.'' The Austin American Statesman announced the event and included the picture of these two women, along with many newly weds, in the wedding section of this newspaper. Though this particular church ``sanctioned'' the matrimony of these two women, the laws of Texas did not recognize it as being such. Even more alarming than this particular marriage, however, is the numerous letters expressing support toward lesbian marriages. Ninety-five per cent of all the letters sent to the editor were in favor of what these two women had done. This reminds me of the wicked whom Paul speaks of in Romans 1:32 who ``not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them''--for even if they had not done the same, their ``hearty approval'' would have still made them guilty. Have we forgotten God's repugnance toward Sodom and Gomorrah and why He destroyed these cities? It appears so--or at least we strive to ignore it. Because of this, the moral fabric of our society continues to rip apart at its seams, but we must strive to sew it back up with the thread of godly principles revealed within the Scriptures. Though some things in God's word are hard to be understood (2 Pet. 3:16), this certainly isn't the case when it comes to homosexual activity: ``For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error'' (Rom. 1:26,27). According to this passage, lesbianism is ``UNNATURAL''; and homosexual behavior (or sexual activity between those of the same sex) is not only an ``ERROR,'' it is also described as being ``INDECENT ACTS'' of ``DEGRADING PASSIONS.'' Back in the Old Testament, God had commanded, ``If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a DETESTABLE ACT; they shall surely be PUT TO DEATH. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them'' (Lev. 20:13, emphasis mine). And Leviticus 18:22 reads: ``You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is AN ABOMINATION'' (emphasis mine). Nowhere in the Scriptures does the Lord ever justify or condone the practice of homosexuality; rather, it is condemned in both the Old and the New Testaments. Though we are no longer under the Old Testament today--but rather the New Covenant--God still has the same abhorrence toward the sin of homosexuality; and if we were still under the Old Covenant, we would have to literally put to death homosexuals, as shown in Leviticus 20:13. The liberals in this matter can shout all they want, but God's word will still stand even after their voices are gone; and the Lord shows that practicing homosexuals must repent and cease from this practice before they can be saved from their sins. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:9, ``Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites.'' Clearly, to continue in any of these sins will keep one barred from the Lord's eternal glory. ``But I was born that way,'' someone might say. Even if this be true, would it justify the immoral relationship between two men or two women? I was born to be a heterosexual. My sexual preference is toward women--not men. But does this mean that as a bachelor I could be promiscuous, practice ``free love,'' and justify it all simply because I have this innate desire for the opposite sex? To the contrary, the one guilty of fornication will have no more hope of entering heaven than the one guilty of homosexuality. There must be repentance from these sins. The above passage (1 Cor. 6:9) was said to those of Paul's day in Corinth who had formerly been guilty of various sins--and homosexuality being one of them. But though some of the brethren had been guilty of this prior to their becoming a Christian, Paul indicates that they were not living that way any more, by saying, ''...such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.'' Fornicators, thieves, liars, homosexuals, and people guilty of various other sins can be forgiven; but they must repent of whatever their sin and meet God's condition of salvation. The fornicator can no longer continue in fornication. The thieve can no longer continue to steal. The liar can no longer continue to lie, and the homosexual can no longer continue to practice homosexuality. This is what God's word has been showing for hundreds of years--and way before my time. And it will continue to teach this way after my time as well. Let us hearken to the word of the Lord when it comes to matters of morality and religion, for it is by His word that we shall each be judged in that great Judgment Day (Jn. 12:48). ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________