Marriage, Divorce & Remarriage: Answering False Doctrines

the topic of marriage divorce and remarriage is one of those topics that we don't always want to study and we don't always want to hear about and is not one of the easiest to try to make your way through because man has done a whole lot to confuse the issue if you are not here this morning we spent time trying to simply look at what the Bible says about that topic what does the Bible say about marriage what does the Bible say about divorce what does the Bible say about remarriage if you were to back up from that study this morning about what does the Bible say about that topic and begin to try to look at what is man say about this topic what are the different views that man has about marriage divorce and remarriage how many different views do you think you could come up with now if you were to confine your investigation if you were to confine your looking for different views to just the church just the church do you think that you would find complete unit unity even within the church on the matter of marriage divorce and remarriage you won't in fact you'll find dozens of different views that exist among different individuals about what they think is the right to be married what they think is a permission to be divorced who they think has the right and the ability to remarry and so what I would like to do tonight is to just look at two - false doctrines when it comes to the matter of marriage divorce and remarriage anytime you call something a false doctrine that automatically just kind of gets people's attention you say well that that's kind of judgmental isn't it well if the Bible is true doctrine than anything that's not following the Bible is not going to be true and if we can investigate something and find that it is not true doctrine then what else could it be called but it's a false doctrine there are as I said dozens of these out there and we could look at a number of them and our intent in this is not to give an exhaustive answer to each of these we could be here quite a while if we were going to give an exhaustive answer but just to give you a snapshot view of what some believe even in the church what some believe about this particular doctrine and what can we do to give a Bible answer to those thoughts into those questions that arise and so really the intent of our lesson in itis is to encourage you is to encourage you to get into the Word of God and to study it to study it for yourself because here's what happens what happens when somebody comes to you with one of these ideas is that it sounds good sounds right you know that and when they say it you think well that just kind of makes sense and it on the outset you may think you know I don't know I don't know how I would if that's not right I don't know how I would answer that well you know just because something sounds right doesn't necessarily make it right I think parents know that don't we just because something sounds right just because our child has found a way to maneuver the vocabulary and the and the argumentation to their favor we might think wow that is a powerful argument but all the while in the back of our head we know it's not right but we might be trying to figure out how am I supposed to answer this well as Bible students we need to get into the Word of God and allow the Word of God to saturate our hearts saturate our lives it is not possible it is not possible for us to know every false doctrine that is out there because people just keep you know you know they just keep coming up with more and more there's no way for us to know every doctrine that's out there and every facet of every doctrine that is out there but is it possible for us to know the truth and if we know the truth and we will be more equipped to be able to handle and hopefully to answer some of these things even if they may sound good the first doctrine that I want us to investigate tonight has commonly been called the Pauline privilege those of you who have studied the topic of marriage divorce and remarriage know what that is but some we've not studied may look at that and say Pauline privilege what is Mexico's got it to do with this what you know I mean what's the deal you know what what is Paul battisti got to do with this not to overlook any Paul's and our kind of do we have any other Paul's in our current you know what what's the Pauline privilege well look at first Corinthians chapter 7 the Pauline privilege as as this is not stated in this in their words this is a summation and again there are so many different facets of this there's no way to to describe every position even within the Pauline privilege doctrine nor to answer every one of them but here's basically here's basically the position that they take now I remember this is on the screen but not on the screen to say here's what the Bible says this is to say here's basically what their position is their position is if a non-christian spouse you have a Christian and a non-christian married to each other if a non-christian spouse deserts the Christian spouse departs from them then the Christian is free of the bondage of that marriage and free to remarry that's their position and they take that primarily from that expression in verse 15 first Corinthians chapter 7 you are not under bondage in fact some of the books that have been published proclaiming this particular doctrine to have that in the title of their book that you're not under bondage and the idea has been purported that if you're married to a non-christian and you're non-christian spouse leaves you you're free you're not under bondage anymore you can go and mayor whoever you would like now if somebody brought that to you and they laid that in your lap and you began to look at this is it possible you might look at that and say hmm well that could be what it's saying I mean that verse does say they're not under bondage so you know if I'm married to a non-christian they leave then then maybe that does give me the right to remarry let's investigate this a little bit there are a number of reasons that this doctrine is called a false doctrine the very first one and this one in and of itself would finish the discussion we don't even have to add anything else to this but the first point that you need to under and if you don't get anything else to answer this particular doctrine we need to see that it contradicts what Jesus said in Matthew 19 verse 9 we looked at that this morning we looked at Matthew 19 and verse 9 this morning where Jesus says but I say to you whoever divorces his wife and marries another except it be for fornication commits adultery Jesus and that one verse provides for us in that passage and you tie that back in with Matthew chapter 5 and verse 32 provides for us an exception to his rule about marriage divorce and remarriage but when Jesus gives an exception how many are there to give an exception how many are there by using that word except Jesus was saying this is the only one the word itself means if and only if they put their spouse away for fornication if and only if their spouse is guilty of fornication can they divorce and marry without committing adultery he says that's the only the only way someone can divorce and remarry now that's what Jesus said do we understand the word except he used the same word in John chapter 3 and verse 5 you know John 3 and verse 5 where Jesus says except a man be born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God same word except a man be born of water and you cannot earn the kingdom of God well what does that word accept mean over there it means that is the only entrance into the kingdom of God you're not going to find a backdoor you're not going to find a side door you're not going to find any other door into the kingdom except means it's the only one if that's what it means in John 3 of verse 5 why isn't that what it means in matthew 19:9 it's exactly what it means it is the only exception if if I were to ask everybody get up and leave except for Micah I need everybody to get up and I'm not asking you sit down I'm but if I were to say everybody get up and leave except for Micah would there be any misunderstanding would Scott be able to what what about me I want to stay no I said except for Micah what if somebody says well that's not fair what is there any misunderstanding that when you say except for Mike he's the only one that gets to stay he's the only one that's in trouble the only one who's been sleeping through the sermon all the way through that that's far just kidding Mike and Julie he hasn't been he's paying attention so we understand that word except you put it back here and when Jesus says this is the only exception are we going to find another one when Paul comes along if if underscore capital letters bold if Paul were providing another privilege and that's why it's called this a Pauline privilege if he's providing another manner by which someone can divorce and remarry what is Paul doing he's contradicting what Jesus said in matthew 19:9 are we ready to accept that are we ready to say that Paul is placing himself up against Christ himself just the very fact that Jesus used that word except means there is no other no other way by which someone could ever accept ibly divorce and remarry their spouse number two it conflicts with the entire context of this passage we looked in verses 10 and 11 this morning where the Bible says a wife is not to depart from her husband a husband is not to divorce his wife we see the permanency of marriage right here in this passage if God emphasizes the permanency here to say that he gives some other exception here is is contradicting even the the very context here and the second place you get into verses 12 and 13 when when Dirk read those you saw that being married to a non-christian is not even justification for divorce don't let him not divorce her into the universe 12 let her not divorce him at the end of verse 13 just because a Christian is married to a non-christian is not permission by which someone can divorce them and so when you get down to verse 15 this is a situation that was being faced by these brethren put put yourself in their shoes okay and anytime we come to it to study the Bible we've got to put it in its context put yourself in the shoes of the Christians at Corinth Paul came through Corinth on his second missionary journey in Acts chapter 18 he comes to this vile wicked immoral City and there are people there who are converted to Christ and here's the problem and this is the reason when you read first Corinthians chapter 7 in your Bible apparently by it by the wording in this chapter and by how Paul writes this entire book apparently the Christians in Corinth had written a letter to Paul asking him some questions look at the first verse of this of this of this of this chapter now concerning the things of which you wrote to me chapter 7 verse 1 there were some things that they had asked him and evidently some things they had asked him about marriage and if you read through chapter 7 you can get a pretty good idea what their questions must have been one of the questions that they must have asked in their letter to Paul was what about me as a Christian when I'm married to a non-christian what am I supposed to do am I supposed to stay married I'm a Christian I've been called out of the darkness into this Marta into his marvelous light I have been transferred out of darkness into the kingdom of the son of his love I'm a child of God in their child of the devil what am I supposed to do that apparently was one of their questions and that's the genesis of these verses in chapter 7 verses 10 through 15 Paul is addressing that question what do you do when you're married to a non-christian and what does Paul say stay married to them that's that's the answer to their question being married to a non-christian is not a reason to divorce because they are not a Christian and so in that context to get down into verse 15 and you see that Paul is addressing a situation where perhaps this non-christian that they're married to was creating creating some problems in the marriage oh you think you're all that now how you become a Christian you think you're too good for me now don't you oh you're mr. goody two-shoes you know you won't go with me down to the bar anymore you won't go dancing with me anymore you won't do all this stuff with me boy yeah you're just too good for me can you picture that happening in the city of Corinth where one spouse has become a Christian and now they're trying to change their life but the other spouse has not been converted its problems its problems in the marriage problems that have been created and perhaps perhaps even as we read verse 15 these spouses these non-christian spouses are driving their spouse to make a choice all right who do you want you want Jesus or you want me you can't have us both you got to make a choice you want to follow this Jesus guy or you want to stay married to me and what's Paul saying Paul is saying in this passage that that one must remember that his first loyalty is to Christ that's his first loyalty that's where he must remain devoted in all of his ways and if a Christian were to choose his unbelieving spouse over Christ he would be enslaved that's where disused here in verse 15 he would then be under bondage to that spouse if the non-christian forces the issue what Paul says in verse 15 is that the Christian is permitted if you're going to depart then depart but not to compromise his or her loyalty to Christ now mark this down in first Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 15 divorce and remarriage are not being discussed that is not the emphasis of what Paul is dealing with in fact Paul is not dealing with remarriage in this chapter at all until you get down to verse 39 he's dealing with issues related to marriage and specifically in this context between a Christian married to a non-christian and if Paul note this if Paul in verse 15 is giving permission as these individuals under the Pauline privilege doctrine want you to believe if he is giving permission in verse 15 for a Christian to divorce and remarry he would be contradicting himself even within his own passage What did he say in verses 10 and 11 don't depart don't divorce if he says don't do it why would he four verses later be saying oh go ahead and do it doesn't make any sense that's not what he's doing last thing I want us to note in this particular passage when you get to verse 15 the word that is under so much scrutiny in this in this passage is the word bondage read this verse in verse 15 but if the unbeliever departs let him depart remember verses 12 and 13 if the unbeliever is going to stay then you stay married to them but first word in verse 15 what if the unbeliever departs then you let him depart a brother or sister is not under bondage now here is what the Pauline privilege people want you to believe they want you to believe that that bondage there is the marriage bond that their whole case rides on that bondage being the marriage bond and what they want you to believe is that when that non-christian departs you are no longer bound to your marriage to that non-christian you are freed from that bond problem is that's not the word that's used here the word that God uses for the marriage bond elsewhere like what we saw this morning in Romans 7 2 and first Corinthians 7 39 completely different word you may have an ESV if you're looking at an ESV you may be wondering what verses am if you're looking in ESV in first Corinthians 7 or verse 15 you may be thinking I'm not seeing the word bondage and in this in this verse and you're absolutely right the SV doesn't have the word bondage it has what this word literally means to be enslaved when you pick up the Bible and you read this passage this word means to be enslaved and you would you would be happy to know that God never uses that word enslaved to talk about marriage aren't you happy to know that the old ball-and-chain you know jokes get those out of here we're not enslaved when you might feel like you are but the Bible never uses the word that you are enslaved and it doesn't use it here this word enslaved is not talking about the marriage bond the Christians first allegiance is to God and he is not expected to desert the Lord in order to maintain a marriage that's what God calls in this passage enslavement if you were going to desert the Lord in order to maintain a marriage you have become enslaved you are now under bondage you are chasing after this marriage instead of chasing after God that's not what God wants one other note about this word bondage and this may be too technical but I think it's important the word that's used here for the word bondage is in the Greek perfect tense we don't have a perfect tense in the English language so that's kind of foreign to us but the Greek perfect tense is a tense we have president we have past we have future so does the Greek okay but the Greeks also had a perfect tense it is a form of a past tense but it has the significance to it they have a past and something happened in the past they also have a past tense that is a repetitious past tense when when John the Baptist was saying to Herod it is not lawful for you to have her the verb that's used for saying is repetition in the past he didn't just tell Herod one time he didn't just say hello Harriet oh by the way it's not lawful for you to have her see you later Saad he just said it one time the Greek indicates he said it over and over and over and over and over that's why Herodias was tired of him that's why Hirota said put him in prison and finally give me his head I'm tired of hearing this guy was just because of one sermon because John the Baptist he was he preached the same sermon every day and Herodias was done with it but they also had a past tense called the perfect tense and the perfect tense indicated there was something that happened in the past but the results of that action in the past are still present today it's the it's the tense that's used every time in the New Testament where the Bible says it is written it refers to an Old Testament passage and it says it is written it was written in the past thousands of years ago hundreds of years ago it is written in the past but the results of it are still abiding today perfect tense that's the tents that is used here now think about that this says if the unbeliever departs let him depart for you are not a brother/sister is not under bondage what that is literally saying is you are not now nor have you ever been under bondage in such a case now if that's I can't be how can that be the marriage bond they want that their case rides upon it being the marriage bond but were they not married to this person were they not bound to this person by marriage yes in the past they were and even to the present they are but the tense amazing how God helps us to see whether we look at it in English or Greek whether we look at it one verse or the context that in every way that we come at this passage it does not support some Pauline privilege it was dealing with a situation that these Christians were dealing with at that time and Paul was not giving them any kind of permission to remarry in this verse at all that was not the issue at hand the concern was are you enslaved to Christ or are you enslaved to pursuing a marriage that's going to take you away from Christ that's a hard issue it's an issue that some people are facing today it's something that Christian spouses are even dealing with today this is not permission to to divorce this is not permission to remarry but it is a reminder to all of us that there's a loyalty that we have that surpasses all other loyalties and that is to Christ our marriage does not come before our loyalty to Christ our devotion to obeying the laws of our land does not surpass our loyalty to Christ our responsibility to obey our employers and even obey our parents does not surpass our loyalty to Christ it must come first Paul doesn't give any kind of a privilege beyond what Jesus gave in Matthew chapter 19 and verse 9 here and it's shameful it's shameful that some have tried to come to this passage and find such when such cannot be found one other doctrine that we want to look at tonight and if you have other questions about that Pauline privilege I'll be happy to talk to you about that one other doctrine I want to talk to you about tonight and this is not necessarily the name that they give to it was the name that I give to it something called baptismal sanctification and it's hard to gauge this what I'm about ready to say it's hard to gauge it's hard to gauge within the church which one of these man-made doctrines is the most prevalent there's a lot of different ideas that people have about marriage divorce and remarriage and it probably depends on what part of the country you are probably depends on who's in the congregation it probably depends on where the preacher and has come from there's a lot of different factors that play on how people are influenced in different ways in this particular matter but in recent years I believe that this matter of baptismal sanctification has become more and more popular here's basically what they say so that you can understand where what we're talking about in this regard and again this is a summation of their position not in their exact words they basically take this position that regardless of someone's past relationships regardless of someone's past marriages since baptism the Bible teaches washes away all of our sins then what they say is that since baptism washes away all of our sins baptism will also wash away previous marriages previous divorces and thereby it sanctifies the marriage that you are in at the point that you were baptized doesn't matter how many times you've been married doesn't matter how many times you've been divorced doesn't matter why you divorced whether it was scriptural or not once you are baptized God sanctifies that marriage and you can stay with that spouse now again there are all sorts of different facets and fingers and and sub doctrines to this that just go in a lot of different directions there's no way to chase all of them tonight and so you may be thinking well they say this yeah they say a lot I'm trying to boil it down to one central idea if someone brought this to you what would you say someone brought this to you would you be inclined to say well yeah that sounds right I mean baptism does wash away your sins and if adultery is one of those sins it's gonna wash away that and if God washes away my adultery then what does that leave it leaves me in a marriage that I'm not an adultery anymore this is a very common argument it's a very common argument in South Florida it's a very common argument that is made in Mission Points it's very common argument that is made when people go out to evangelize and to teach people the gospel because here's what happens if you set out to teach somebody the gospel they've never obeyed the gospel you sit down and you study with them what they need to do to be saved and you find out in the process of that study they've been married three times and none of them were scriptural divorces they do not have a scriptural right to be with their current spouse you find that out in the process of studying with them hmm what do I do I can either explain to this person that doesn't know much Bible I can either explain to them that they are living in adultery and the only way they can be saved is that they've got to get out of this marriage or I can believe a doctrine that says once they're baptized God forgets about everything else and they can stay right where they are which one of those is easier which one of those sounds bitter which one of those is more pleasing to the palate but Jesus didn't always promise that things would be easy did he jesus never promised that obeying the gospel would be easy did he did he not say that in order to follow him men would have to count the cost for some people that cost is higher than others did he not say in order to follow after him men would have to deny themselves and take up their cross and follow him sometimes that's a heavier burden for some than others what about this doctrine you may be sitting here in thinking boy that's pretty persuasive I think I could go along with that well could the Bible go along with that what does the Bible say about the role of baptism in this particular matter of marriage divorce and remarriage first of all we need to understand that while baptism washes away sins and it's interesting this doctrine this baptismal sanctification you know is a doctrine within the church because how many different religious organizations today are teaching that baptism washes away sins you're not going to find very many that hold to that doctrine of the Bible and so here is a group that's ticked because they believe baptism washes away sins yes acts 2 and verse 38 acts 22 verse 16 on and on baptism removes sin when someone is baptized that washes away their sins but you will not find a version here's what we're going to develop next couple minutes you will not find a single verse in Scripture that affirms that baptism changes a sinful practice into a righteous practice or a sinful relationship into a righteous relationship you won't find one it's interesting that you won't find one and yet they want this one matter of adultery to be the only one that God will sanctify let's see if we can help to develop that and help you to see that look turning your Bibles to first Corinthians chapter six look in 1st Corinthians chapter 6 I hear about ten of you turning the pages that's good first Corinthians chapter 6 starting in verse 9 I know I know your mobile devices don't make noises first Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 9 do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God do you not know that now where would they have ever learned that Paul must have taught that to them don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God well what what kind of people are we talking about do not be deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexuals nor sodomites nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God and such were passed it some of you but what happened but you were baptized you were washed that's what that's means 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 it is obvious from those verses that Christians and Corinth had been practicing those things before their conversion when he says in verse 11 such were some of you it is obvious that they had been practicing these things sometime before their conversion but how many of those things could they continue once they were converted look at the list again in verses 9 and 10 which one of those things could they continue in after they were baptized because baptism washes away all sins right baptism washed away all says wash away all all relationships wash away all all situations so could could somebody who used to worship an idol be baptized and then keep on worshipping an idol well why are you saying no that was a quick answer for you all that said no I mean why you're so quick with your answer on that why are you so quick with your answer on that because something had to happen these were activities in the past and when they were converted what did they have to do in order to be converted stop worshipping idols what about somebody made their living as a thief could they be baptized raised to walk in newness of life and now they're just a clean thief they're not a dirty old evening without their clean thief you know they do it a nice way now you know they they're not mean to the old ladies they're just taking it from the rich nice but you know they just cleaned up their ways really could a thief be baptized and come up and keep on stealing in his livelihood is that possible shake your head this way no you can't do that well you go down this list and is there anything else on this list that somebody could continue to do after they were baptized obviously everything listed here were things that they had to stop in order to be converted to Christ do you see the word adultery on this list you see the word fornication on this list is that the only one that doesn't count that's what the baptismal sanctification people want us to believe they want us to believe no the thief has to stop he can't steal anymore and-and-and the idolatry he can't worship idols anymore and all of these that the drunkard he can't drink anymore but the adulterer all he can he's okay when he's baptized God just washes away everything before that and he can keep on with whoever he's with is adultery the only possibility that comes out of that list well we want it to be easy don't we and that's what they've come up with but when you dive more into this passage in 1st Corinthians chapter 6 what you find is not just the word adultery here but you find the word fornication fornication is that broad greek term that includes all illicit sexual activity it includes every bit of it it's that broad term that includes everything else adultery adultery is sex that takes place between two individuals one of whom at least one of whom is married to somebody else but adultery is just one form of the larger category of fornication let me ask you a question which forms of fornication must a person stop in order to be converted to Christ and no longer continuing when you begin to look at this matter of fornication and you begin to see everything that's involved what about a couple who's living together a couple who has moved in together with each other they're not married but they're enjoying the pleasures of marriage before they're ever married and they're converted to Christ they're baptized would it be okay for those two individuals now to continue living together continue enjoying the pleasures that belong only to married couples and they're okay in the eyes of God no because what they are doing is still considered by God to be fornication being baptized does not change what they are doing what about those those individuals who are homosexuals with the prevalence of this in our nation today suppose a homosexual couple comes and is baptized they hear the gospel they believe that Jesus died for them they they look at what God wants them to do and being baptized they that's what I'm going to do and a homosexual couple is baptized for the remission of their sins could they go back home and continue living in their homosexual marriage and their homosexual lifestyle no why because being baptized has not changed that it's sinful being baptized is not just all of us magically made it to be okay you can stay with that person it's okay because you've been baptized and God has sanctified that relationship that's not true sin is still sin regardless of when it's done what about those individuals who may be polygamists what if somebody who has multiple wives learns the gospel comes and is baptized can he go back home to his nine wives say hey honey honey honey honey honey honey I'm home hey is that is that okay well he's been baptized everything's free and clear God has sanctified the relationship he can keep on living living living living live with her her her is that okay no because God has said that fornication is a sin and being baptized does God does not make God ignorant of that man's past relationship do you think God knows how many women he was married to before he was married or before he's baptized do you think all of a sudden being baptized God is forgotten oh I forgot he had nine wives oh well he does nevermind I'll just let him have him all of a sudden being baptized has not sanctified that relationship you go down the list of what fornication includes what if somebody's a pedophile being baptized make that relationship now right and sanctified in the eyes of God what if somebody is involved in an incestuous marriage oh but they're baptized now that they've been baptized they can go back home and they can live perfectly right in the eyes of God no problem what about somebody who's involved in bestiality was it just a few months ago that a woman over in England was in England the woman who wanted or maybe even did marry her dog hello but you know if she was baptized then that would make it okay she could just go home and everything would be all right right because baptism is just some kind of a magical cure that just makes everything okay after that you go down the list and when you started está gating what fornication includes adultery is fornication and if no other part of fornication could be sanctified if no other and if no other sinful relationship could be made right in the eyes of God just because somebody is baptized then adultery cannot either adultery is a sin before somebody's baptized and remains a sin after that person is baptized it is it's another facet of this particular doctrine where somebody says that that that that non-christians are not amenable to the doctrine of Christ that they don't have to follow the doctrine of Christ it doesn't apply to them that's craziness the doctrine of Christ applies to every man and sin before being baptized does not all of a sudden become a non sin and sanctified and everything is okay after you come up out of baptism God doesn't work that way baptism doesn't work that way this argument really I believe pushes us to the point of a just complete absurdity in our study of the Bible let me see if I can give you just a few illustrations of this if it is the case if it is the case that there's this couple and they're living in adultery they've been married multiple times without scriptural divorces and now they're living in adultery but they're baptized and now God sanctifies that relationship and all of a sudden God is okay with them and they can stay together let me ask you a question what if only one of them is baptized now what is that marriage only half adulterous now I mean can you have such a beast that a marriage is only half adults one of them is living in adultery but the other ones is free and clear and not living in adultery does is that the way God works you can't have what you can't have one individual who has been baptized and all of a sudden oh well he he's okay he's okay because he's been baptized but know that other spouse still living in adultery I believe last time I checked it adultery takes two right can't have half adultery what what about the question John the Baptist kept telling Herod over and over and over it's not lawful for you to have her is not lawful for you to have her if the doctrine that says once you're baptized whatever marriage you're in now is sanctified you can stay with that person what what's what's the preacher's name what was the forerunners named John the who baptized ER you think he knew anything about baptism why didn't he just preach to Herod Herod here's your plan of salvation and once you follow this plan of salvation you're baptized guess what buddy you can stay with Herodias just come over here follow the crowd do what everybody else is doing and be baptized and when you go back home you can stay with Herodias why didn't I why didn't just tell him to do that he could have shaved his head if he had preached that to him that doesn't make any sense that's not what John preached why because he told him your relationship is not right in the eyes of God and it never can be he said it is present tense not lawful present tense for you to have her present tense he wasn't just talking about some limited time he was talking about forever time it will never be right for you to be married to her one other question what is it what is it think about your knowledge of the New Testament when someone is baptized when someone is immersed into Christ what is it that washes away their sins is it the water not the water is it the preacher not the preacher is it the clean towels not the clean - what is it that washes is it the chlorine not the clay what is it that washes away those sins you know the answer it's the blood of Jesus blood of Jesus washes away those sins so here's what here's what these individuals want us to believe they want us to believe that when and when an adulterer is baptized that the blood of Jesus well the blood of Jesus will forgive adultery but if they go right back into that adulterous relationship the might they want us to say well it just they can just stay in that relationship no matter what because the blood of Jesus in Baptism forgives them well let me ask you a question those of you who are Christians tonight what is it that forgives you of your sins when you pray and you confess your confess your sins if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness what is it that cleanses you from your sins as a Christian it's the same blood same blood washes away sins in Baptism washes away sins of Christians when they sin so why not take their argument and say that Here I am as a Christian I can go and divorce and remarry and just ask God God sorry I'll try not to do it again he'll forgive me I can live with this person for a while then when I get tired of her divorce remarried God I'm confessing my sin that wasn't a good thing to do I messed up marrying her shouldn't have done it got a bad idea but please forgive me washes me clean okay God I'm gonna find another one and just take that same blood that washes away sins and baptism and I just keep on to God please forgive me and he just keeps on if that it does that not take us to the point of absurdity when all of a sudden we make a joke out of the laws of God why would Jesus why would God have a marriage law why would Jesus even give an exception if all I had to do is say God sorry that ideas shouldn't have done that one and he just wipes me clean and I can go why have marriage laws at all why call something fornication why have a word like adultery if none of those things really matter this is while I said very prevalent in a doctrine it is one of the most damaging because there's so many people who believe it and it sounds so good but there are souls that are going to be lost because they have followed a doctrine that's not found in the Bible as we close tonight I want you to remember what was it that Peter told them to do on the day of Pentecost when they asked men and brethren what shall we do what was the thing he told them to do before they were baptized remember what he said repent and let every one of you be baptized in order for baptism to forgive someone of their sins they must first have repented of their sins repenting of sins involves the fact that this person has made a resolution I am going to stop sinning how does an adulterer make up his mind he's going to stop sinning as an adulterer he's got to make up as my resolution and when he's made up that resolution he makes a reformation of life I change my life I changed the direction of my life how does an adulterer change the direction of being an adulterer and then that person when he's repents must make restitution must fix anything that is wrong in his life in order to truly repent and turn away from sin how does an adulterer do that repenting of an adulterous relationship is more than just regretting some past decision repenting of an adulterous relationship requires someone to cease and to stop sinning how do you do that how do you stop sinning if you are living in adultery the answer is hard but there's only one answer if I'm living in adultery the only way for me to stop sinning is to stop living in that marriage and it's hard that is so hard you mean I've got a I've got to give that up I've got to break this off that's just that just doesn't sound that just doesn't sound like the God I know you know we can make God sound really good and whatever way sounds good to us but when we come to the Bible and God tells us to repent genuine repentance will not allow us to keep on living in sin remember what Jesus told that adulterous woman caught in adultery go and do what sin no more what did that mean Jesus that means stop having sex with people that God has not joined you to you think that was hard for her you think that required some change in her life we read over that we'd gloss over it oh that was nice of him Jesus didn't stone her no but he said stop what you're doing and in order for man to repent of his sins and in order for an individual to repent of their adultery just as they would have to repent and turn away and cease all other relationships that would violate God's will they must cease from that one if someone I don't know if this is a good illustration or not if someone came to your home they stole the car out of your garage or your driveway they stole the clothes out of your out of your closet they stole the jewelry out of your jewelry box and they took your wife I know this sounds like a setup for a joke and it's not so I just did get that I just get that out of your head okay but they take your car they take your clothes they take your jewelry they take your wife this person wants to become a Christian becoming a Christian requires a resolution of mine I got stops requires a reformation like I got a change I got to turn away from what I'm doing it requires a restitution if I've done wrong I've got to fix it and restore it if I've stolen something I must return it if I've robbed a bank I must return it I must pay for the consequences of my actions which of those items would that person have to return to you to be made right in the eyes of God does he have a right to your car no does he have a right to your jewelry and your clothes no they don't belong to him does he have a right to your wife no she doesn't belong to him any more than those other things would in order to be made right in the eyes of God we've got to get out of situations that are separating us from God this is not one of those fun lessons to get up and to preach and I am certain that it is not one of the fun lessons to sit into here if you want to see that the Bible even has precedents the Bible even says for individuals to get out of marriages that they don't have a right to be in go home and read Azra the last two chapters the book of Ezra tonight read Ezra 9 and 10 in your Bible you'll see some hard decisions that people had to make and if you're one who would say yeah but what if children are involved in that marriage that just that just seems so harsh that they would have to that they would have to end that marriage read Azra chapter 9 in chapter 10 and see what God required of them may God help us to be students of his word to be true to his book and to remember that he said the way unto life is narrow it's difficult there's only a few who find it don't believe these things that have been said tonight just because someone has stood before you and presented them go home tonight study this make sure that the things that have been said are so but if they are so if it is what the Bible teaches then let us accept it and teach it and let us help others who have accepted these doctrines and had been led astray by them are you a Christian tonight you're a child of God we said this morning that one of the greatest ideas the Bible ever gave us is that we can be married to Jesus you could be in a relationship with him if you believe that he's the son of God if you make up your mind I'm gonna stop doing wrong I'm gonna start doing right there's a lot that's involved in that step of repentance a lot of change that's required in order to be right with God and if you're willing to make up your mind tonight to do that you don't have to get everything fixed before you're baptized you just have to make the decision I'm going to change I'm going to fix these things you can confess the faith that's in your heart be baptized into Christ and serve Him faithfully this church can help you in any way tonight would you come right now as together we stand in saying

Channel: Palm Beach Lakes church of Christ

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Id: cmEBQmjjduY

Length: 53min 28sec (3208 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 22 2015