NOTE #1: Sometimes there appears to be more yelling, screaming, finger pointing, accusing and general uproar by Christians concerning marriage, fornication and adultery than any other subject.
Before we continue with Why, How, Where, What and When part #2 concerning the Holy Spirit it is necessary to explain marriage because the concept of marriage plays such a large part in explaining the Holy Spirit’s work concerning the individual Christian, the local Church and the general, worldwide Church that is comprised of many denominations.
Marriage in modern times is a very sensitive, explosive and controversial subject so the only solution is to compassionately, sensitively, completely, scripturally, spiritually and with love explore #1 man’s marriage and #2 Jesus’ marriage; both in detail.
NOTE #2: Man makes civil laws to guide man’s concept of morality. Example: The struggle concerning homosexual marriage. God makes scriptural laws to suit God’s concept of morality. Example: (James 4:4) “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is the enemy of God.” and (1Cor. 6:9-10) fornicators, among others, will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Rom. 1:6-28 esp. V.6-7 & 21 key: written to Christians, V.24-27 key: homosexual practices described and V.28) “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge God gave them over to a reprobate (Strong’s w #96: rejected, castaway) mind (Strong’s w #3563: the faculties of perceiving, understanding, feeling, judging).”
NOTE #3: Eunuch’s: Three definitions: #1 (Dan. 1:3-11 Hebrew) Eunuch (to be castrated): #2 (Matt. 19:12 Greek) Eunuch (to be castrated, to live unmarried, to be impotent): #3 (1Cor. 7:2-34 esp. V.8, 11, 32, 34) Unmarried (not married): (1Tim. 4:1-7 ESP. V. 3) There is no place in scripture where God forces a person, who meets scriptural requirements, to be unmarried. (1Cor. 7:32-34) There are places in scripture where a person can volunteer to be unmarried so he or she can devote their life fully to God. Scripture does not instruct the church to refuse marriage to a person who is scripturally qualified to join in a marriage. (Gen 2:18) “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone—–.”
Can you imagine being forced by church people to live alone, to not be married; with never a smile across the table; never a warm embrace, never a shared laughter, never bringing a gift to that special someone, never sharing a tender snuggle——? Can you imagine being forced by people (the church hierarchy) to face all the problems, fears, uncertainties, disease, normal sicknesses, coldness, loneliness and even death——alone? (Heb. 13:4-8 esp. V.6) Yes, I know Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us but that is not what I’m talking about because (Gen 2:18) “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone—–.”
A CONFUSING SCRIPTURE: (Eph. 5:1-33) (V.1-21) Paul writes instructions about how a Christian should conduct himself then without fanfare he seemingly goes off on a tangent (V.22-25) about marriage and he mixes in a little bit about the church and Christ.
(V.26-27) Paul dedicates two verses strictly to the relationship between Jesus and the church. (V. 28-29) Two more verses are introduced concerning the relationship of a husband and wife with some Jesus and church mixed in. (V.30) Then Paul describes members of the church as being Christ’s physical body.
(V.31) Paul describes the joining between a man and his wife. (V.32) Paul calls all this a great mystery. (V.33) Paul concludes that one should love his wife and that she reverence her husband. (2Tim. 2:15 keywords: rightly dividing the word of truth) It doesn’t take a person long to feel he is in over his head when attempting to rightly (correctly) divide (dissect) this chapter of God’s truth.
(1Cor. 2:10-14) Many scriptures state the Holy Spirit reveals (Rom. 16:25 keyword, power) God’s secrets, (1Cor. 2:10) His deep things, and (Eph. 3:4-5) the mysteries of God as God decides to reveal them. Paul is not confused, he has no trouble explaining himself, and he is not babbling. Paul wrote the scriptures exactly as the Holy Spirit anointed him to write them.
Chapter 5 of Ephesians will be explained below. Spiritual marriage and physical marriage are one of God’s secrets, a deep thing of God which is a mystery, that can only be revealed by God’s anointing through the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 5:32) “This is a great MYSTERY: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”
MAN’S MARRIAGE
NOTE: Jesus said; (Matt. 15:9) “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.“ God inspired Moses to write the first five books of the Bible which established Judaism as a religion and it is commonly called the Torah. Various Jewish sages, scholars and rabbis wrote opinions that were eventually gathered and incorporated into a book called the Talmud and much of that was incorporated into what ruled the Jewish religious worship and daily life. The Talmud was what Jesus was referring to in (Matt. 15:9) “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.“ END OF NOTE.
A BIT OF HISTORY: History states by Jewish law and custom the women of Israel were considered of no or of very little value. Jewish law permitted a man to divorce his wife for any reason and set her on the street with nothing.
Meet a pretty young woman, trump up some charge against the old wife; “her cooking doesn’t please me any more”; divorce the old wife, keep all the marital goods and property, set the old wife on the street with nothing, not even the next meal and marry the young woman!
Adultery as specifically used in the scriptures is (entering a marriage in violation of one’s original marriage vows). Fornication (Greek word: porneia por-ni-ah) #1 (is a blanket word that covers every type of scripturally unlawful physical sexual activity including adultery– physical and idolatry– spiritual). (Ex. 34:15-16 & Rev. 2:12-17 esp. V.14 key words; the doctrine); (Rev. 2:12-17) is especially important because it is written to the Church and it hooks Old Testament Israelite idolatry to New Testament Church idolatry and God views both as spiritual fornication. Example:
If you were God would you feel loved, respected and the greatest thing in their life if your people (Christians) cheer louder, talk more about, and feel more passion for “their team” than they do you; would rather watch TV than learn about you (read their Bible) or talk to you (pray); or visit their friends and talk about everything but you (no witness and testimony) and etc?
If you were God would you feel like your people above were worshiping other things (idolatry) more than you? Would you judge them as committing spiritual fornication? MOST IMPORTANT how would you judge you? Fornication also means #2 (the practice of idolatry by God’s people) which is a spiritual sin because the idolater is breaking the spiritual covenant, (the vows, the soul bond, THE GRACE COVENANT) between God and man.
So there is both a physical fornication and a spiritual fornication. The Greek word for fornication is (porneia- por-ni-ah) and is the source word for THE ENGLISH WORD porn/pornography. I wonder how many Christians watch or are involved with pornography?
JESUS CLEARS UP THE DIVORCE SITUATION: (Matt. 19:3-9) (V.3) The Pharisees asked Jesus; “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?” (V.4-6) Jesus pointed out that in the beginning God made them male and female. A man will leave his birth family and shall cleave (to glue to, to adhere, to join) to his wife and they shall be one flesh.
“What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” Obviously this referred to a marriage ceremony (a physical covenant) by man in which at the same time God joins a man and woman (a spiritual covenant) to each other in marriage and God considers them (Gen. 2:24 & Matt. 19:4-5) as becoming one flesh. THINK OF THE MAGNITUDE OF THAT:
(Gen. 2:18-24) Material, a rib, was taken from a man’s body and made into a woman, an individual. When a man and a woman fall in love and get married they become one once again. (V.24) It is no wonder the grief is so great when a husband or wife in a loving marriage dies. They were a one then the rest of him or her left and he or she is only a half and he or she is alone again!
Man was forbidden to dissolve those marriage vows, and his wife was actually part of the man and her husband was part of her. Jesus established how God views marriage; the man and the woman were physically (flesh), emotionally (soul), and spiritually (life) joined; so how can man separate one flesh (body), one soul, and one life that God hath joined together?
(V.7) The Pharisees were not satisfied and sought to justify themselves by asking; (Deut. 24:1-4) “Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away.” (V.8-9) Jesus pointed out the fact Moses had given men permission to put away their wives because men were hard hearted. Then Jesus patiently repeated that at the beginning there was no divorce.
Then Jesus exerted His authority; and said; (V.9) “AND I SAY UNTO YOU, WHOSOEVER PUTS 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.”
So fornication is the only legal reason for divorce according to Jesus’ words. If you divorce your wife for any other reason than fornication and marry another you commit adultery and if anybody marries that divorced woman he commits adultery.
Please re-read (V.9) the “I SAY” part of the above paragraph. Think about it! What did Jesus really say? Jesus is saying you can put away (divorce) your wife if she fornicates, SO, OBVIOUSLY: You can marry another and it won’t be counted as adultery against you or your new wife if your new wife meets certain scriptural qualifications!
Various scriptures stress equality in marriage concerning marital fidelity so the same rule must apply if a wife puts away (divorces) a fornicating husband and marries another it will not be counted as adultery against her or her new husband.
(1Thess. 5:19) Quench not the Holy Spirit and pray about it; ask God to show you the truth through the Holy Spirit and if you need to, please read the “JESUS CLEARS UP THE DIVORCE SITUATION” paragraph again before you continue.
(1Cor. 2:10) This is important because any revelation of scripture comes through the Holy Spirit. Many local churches and even denominations make these two judgments concerning divorce.
JUDGMENT #1: Two Christians are married. Man catches wife fornicating and divorces her. The man later marries a Christian widow OR: a never before married Christian OR: a scripturally correct divorced woman. The church judges that man as having two living wives and that man cannot hold a position in church (1Tim. 3:2) that requires a man to be the husband of one wife.
JUDGMENT #2: If a man is divorced and remarried before he is saved (a sinner) and after that second marriage he gets saved and later on seeks one of those “husband of one wife” positions in church. The church judges that man as having two living wives and that man can not hold a position in church (1Tim. 3:2) that requires a man to be the husband of one wife.
(Rev. 1:5) “Yessir, God has washed your sins away, (2Cor. 5:17) you are a new creature in Christ and all your sins are forgiven but; sorry pal, you’ve got two living wives, we don’t forgive that easily and you can’t serve God like that here!” That church still considers the man an adulterer in spite of God’s forgiveness and salvation!
These two church judgments are actually a weird, distorted belief in “once in grace always in grace regardless of sin” because the sin part that destroyed the first marriage covenant is overlooked and the first marriage vows (covenant) are still considered binding! The fornicating wife or husband is still in grace with the first marriage covenant and the person they were married to is still counted as bound by that marriage! WOW!
In many cases the churches that make such a judgment also preach and teach that being in a backslid state or even being lukewarm will return a person to a lost state at the judgment because (Rom. 1:31) they are covenantbreakers! WOW again.
Think about this: A covenant is a binding agreement. #1 Marriage vows are a covenant; because man and woman are in physical covenant (vows) with each other and (Matt. 19:4-6) in a spiritual covenant (vows) with each other that is ordained by God. Please be sure and read the following scripture!
(Heb. 12:23-25 esp. V.24 keywords: new covenant) #2 Salvation is a covenant; because God and a man are in spiritual covenant with each other through the blood of Jesus the mediator (reconciler) of the new grace covenant.
In simpler terms: A man is held in bondage to a fornication broken marriage covenant by a church that preaches and teaches a person can commit physical or spiritual fornication and break covenant with God and go to hell for it! THINK ABOUT IT: They preach it and teach it both ways at once. (1Cor 14:33) “God is not the author of confusion.” (Eph. 4:30) Grieve not the Holy Spirit by (Luke 11:46) putting grievous burdens on God’s people.
Strangely enough there are two schools of conviction put into practice concerning the marriages of preachers, deacons and etc. GROUP ONE bluntly says you cannot serve God in that capacity if you have two living wives. GROUP TWO bluntly says you can only have one wife at a time when you serve God in that capacity. Who is right? Which one of these two is rightly dividing God’s word through the Holy Spirit?
OF COURSE THERE ARE MANY POSSIBLE SCENARIOS TOO NUMEROUS TO DESCRIBE HERE BUT LOOK AT JUST ONE EXAMPLE AND THE CONSEQUENCES: A young man and woman are each a twenty year old born again Christian. They fall in love and are married. Three years go by, the husband is called to preach and he begins.
Two more years go by and the woman leaves the young preacher, files suit for divorce and moves in with another man. They live in an area where divorce cannot be contested (no fault divorce law) such as Kentucky. That means if a person wants a divorce the civil law guarantees the divorce regardless of how the other person in the marriage feels about it.
The stunned young preacher finds himself divorced without having any say-so in the matter. Three more years go by and the woman is still in a sinful relationship or even married again. The young (now twenty eight years old) preacher has met a scripturally qualified woman and wants to get married. He is informed that if he marries this woman the church credentials committee will strip him of his preaching credentials and he will not be allowed to preach because he has TWO LIVING WIVES.
*****(Remember that both 1Tim 3:2 and Titus 1:6 said ONE WIFE and the word LIVING is not found in either scripture.)***** If you need to, please read the above paragraph again that starts with “Jesus clears up—-” before you continue. The young preacher reads (Matt. 19:3-9) and decides his second marriage is sanctioned by God’s word and he goes ahead and gets married. His church and denomination take his credentials and forbid him to preach in their churches.
That should be the end of it, right? THINK ABOUT THIS: (Acts 16:7) The Holy Spirit will not let the young preacher leave his denomination even though they have “excommunicated” him and he understands that to do so would cause him to be in disobedience to God. The young preacher endures all the slights, snubs, slurs and insults that only outraged Christians can do to one of their own but he keeps right on loving his brethren.
The young preacher understands that (John 12:48) Jesus’ word will bring judgment upon the people who will not receive that word and he understands his situation can or will bring judgment upon the Christians, or at least the leadership that upholds the denominational rules, in his denomination.
Situations similar to this one happen all the time but since this is a hypothetical situation you are allowed to judge and by that you will learn. PRAY TO GOD FOR HOLY SPIRIT GUIDANCE AND READ (JOHN 7:24) “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” The only righteous judgment comes from (John 6:63 & 12:47-48) God’s word SO JUDGE THIS:
(John 2:23-25; 16:29-33; 21:17 & Rev. 2:23) God knows all things; past, present, and future and God knows what the young preacher could have accomplished if he had not been forbidden to preach by his denominational church.
(1Cor. 3:10-15) At the works done judgment of believers will the preacher or the forbidders be held responsible for those works (1COR. 9:12 & GAL. 5:7) that did not get done by the young preacher because he was not allowed to preach? (Rom. 14:10-13) What about all the Christians who were mean to the young preacher; what will their works judgment bring upon them? THEN:
(John 6:44 & 12:32) The God I serve will not let the people the young preacher was forbidden to teach and preach to will not be left to just fall through the cracks. God will give them the exact amount of drawing and revelation from somebody else they would have gotten from the young preacher. To those folks it will be as if the young preacher had never existed! See the scriptural commentary Is God Fair on this website; you will be astonished!
(1Cor. 3:10-15) Let us pray the believer’s works judgment will be the only judgment that will be faced by these people because at least only the works will be burned and not the believer. I am certainly glad an intelligent, honest, loving, tender hearted God is in charge of all judgment. (1John 1:1 through 2:12) Do not EVER forget that sin in this life can be forgiven in this life and it will not be brought up at any judgment. If someone needs to ask forgiveness now is a good time to pray.
Read these (1Cor. 1:10-13 & 3:1-4 then Eph. 4:1-32 & Phil. 2:1-15). You know and I know Christians “run off and leave” the Holy Spirit all the time or there wouldn’t be denominations so THINK ABOUT THIS BEFORE WE GO ON: Go back a hundred, one hundred and fifty, or even two or three hundred years. The large majority of people could not read, a few could read “a little bit” and very few of the population could read really well. Think about the possibilities of when a lot of churches or denominations were organized. What if the old-time preachers and deacons simply got something wrong?
Has anyone ever scripturally challenged some of the old rules set forth in the treatise, by-laws, or whatever “contract” guides various churches and denominations? Just think how a mistake can be handed down as “gospel truth” through the generations! Example: The protestant movement was brought about by men who decided the Holy Roman Church and the Anglican Church of England had gotten some things wrong so the Protestants rightly divided the scripture and changed those things! Please read the three article Introduction to the Sin in Church commentary concerning the origin of the protestant church. You will be shocked.
(2Tim 2:15) “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing (dissecting) the word of truth.” BECAUSE: (read this scrip>Heb. 4:12) The word of God knows exactly what YOU need to get to heaven and it knows exactly what YOU don’t need to get to hell (read this scrip>Heb. 6:4-6) and it does plainly say Christians can fall away and cannot make it back into fellowship with God! (1Cor. 12:8) Ask God for knowledge and wisdom through the Holy Spirit. (1Cor. 6:9) Remember: A fornicator shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
(1Cor. 7:2-16 esp. V.2-4) To avoid fornication a man and a woman must get married and a marriage is a shared relationship with equality and concern for each other’s needs. According to this scripture sexual activity between a husband and wife is the only sexual activity God considers sinless. (V.5) Do not withhold physical attentions from each other except when one needs to fast and pray and that with the consent of the other because if physical intimacy is withheld too long Satan will be sure to invade your thoughts with his lies; “Well, he don’t want me anymore; OR:
Well, she’s found somebody else.” OR: Satan may even use someone of the opposite sex to tempt you. (V.8-9) If they cannot contain (self-restraint in diet or chastity) themselves it is better for the unmarried and widows to marry rather than burn; (#1 to kindle or ignite a fire; #2 to be refined; #3 to be inflamed with anger, grief, or lust); you can decide which of these three definitions fits the situation because you will anyway; (1Cor. 6:9) just be sure you are right!
The whole set of scriptures in this and the above paragraph is about avoiding fornication so it is obvious the unmarried and widows should get married rather than commit sexual acts out of wedlock which is fornication. (V.15) If one is married to an unbeliever and the unbeliever departs; the Christian is not in bondage (to enslave) in such cases. The marriage vows are the bondage. (V.2) If there is no bondage the believer can obviously get remarried to a scripturally approved person.
(Heb. 3:12-19 & 4:6-11 keyword: unbelief then Acts 1:15-20) It is obvious a believer can return to the state of unbelief (backsliding) and lose his/her place in God’s kingdom! SO: Like the young preacher given in the example, three paragraphs above this one, a Christian marriage covenant can be broken and there isn’t anything in the world that can be done about it! See the two articles BACKSLIDING: QUEST FOR THE TRUTH on this commentary.
(Eph. 5:22-32) Paul uses these scriptures to stress the same thing Jesus said about equality in a marriage and uses Christ and His church as an example. Paul ends at (V.31) with exactly what Jesus said in (Matt. 19:4-6). They had to take vows (a physical covenant) in order to be husband and wife, and they are to be joined to each other physically (body), emotionally (soul), and spiritually (life); so how can man separate one body, one soul, and one life that God hath joined (a spiritual covenant), together; (Matt. 19: 9) except; AS JESUS SAID; “EXCEPT IT BE FOR FORNICATION”?
So, we can draw the conclusion from the above paragraphs that sex, the physical union between a husband and wife, is the physical manifestation of spiritual love and union in a marriage and if one physically breaks the vows of marriage, (the physical covenant), and commits physical fornication the spiritual bond, (the spiritual covenant), is also broken and divorce can be the result.
That also shows the “once in grace always in grace regardless of sin” teaching TO BE A FALSE TEACHING! Think of what you just read concerning equality; Jesus gave His best so why shouldn’t He expect us to give Him our best? The rest of this article will be concerned with the MYSTERY mentioned in (Eph. 5:32).
JESUS’ MARRIAGE
(Eph. 2:18) You have access to God through the Holy Spirit so (John 16:13) ask God to guide you into all truth by the Holy Spirit of truth. NOTE: Consider this Example: A man and woman are married. Husband has an illicit sexual affair, wife doesn’t know and keeps right on loving husband and having sexual relations with him.
The affair goes on for 2 years and wife cannot know because (Prov. 30:18-20) just like the path of an eagle through the air, a serpent’s path across a rock, or a ship’s path through the water; the physical flesh, the husband’s body, shows no signs of the betrayal because there is no change in his body; it looks the same, feels the same and is the same.
Then the wife catches the husband in the act. The husband’s physical body, the wife has loved throughout the marriage including the past 2 years of the fornicating affair, is unchanged but the special spiritual relationship (marriage) of the soul (self, the emotions, individual personality) is destroyed by the physical betrayal. The husband’s physical body has become defiled and is unclean in the wife’s eyes and the wife doesn’t want her husband anymore because her trust in him is destroyed. This is how a physical sin can destroy a spiritual covenant relationship #1) in a marriage and #2) IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.
THIS IS THE POINT PAUL WAS MAKING IN (EPH. 5:1-33) THAT APPEARED SO CONFUSING. GOD’S HOLINESS DEMANDS BOTH MARRIAGE COVENANTS, #1) between a man and a woman AND between God and an individual person, TO BE SPIRITUAL COVENANTS BASED ON EMOTIONAL (SOUL) AND PHYSICAL LOYALTY TO THE COVENANT PARTNER.
PLEASE REMEMBER GOD’S EXPECTATION WHILE YOU FINISH READING THIS ARTICLE CONCERNING MARRIAGE. Know this too; (Psa. 93:11 & Prov. 5:21 and 15:3) God knows everything and His eyes are everywhere beholding both the evil and the good! Be careful.
The scripturally correct church: (Ex. 12:3) The gatherings of the Jews in the Old Testament were called congregation (assembly). The word church is not used in the Old Testament. BUT: (Acts 35-44 esp. V.38) My KJV Bible New Testament refers to the church in the wilderness when Moses was leading the Hebrews toward the Promised Land. (Acts 13:43) The word congregation is used one time in the New Testament.
The New Testament word church means; (a calling out, a popular meeting, assembly, a religious congregation, Christian community of members on #1 earth OR: #2 saints in heaven OR: #3 both) So for the sake of clarity (1Cor. 4:17) local congregations comprised of individuals will be called congregation or the local church and (Eph. 5:27) God’s Church composed of all local churches will be called the Church in this part of this article.
Think about this: Since church means a calling out, the individuals in the church are the called out people. When the service is over the church goes home and an empty building is left behind. A Christian doesn’t go to church; they are the church and they go meet with the congregation and worship God at the church’s house of worship. (Luke 19:46) That’s why Jesus said; “My house is the house of prayer” when He was talking about the physical temple AND: (1Cor. 3:9) each Christian (1Thess. 5:17) is to be a building of prayer.
That last statement should have caused you to think of (1Cor. 3:16-17) which is a scripture about the individual Christian; “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Holy Spirit dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” Think about this: When a sinner, or any person, meets a Christian and has a conversation they should go away with the feeling they have been to church because they heard something about God and/or something about Jesus!
The groundwork of denominations was started by man and it (1Cor. 1:11-13) actually began when members of the early church at Corinth started grouping themselves into groups that followed the personalities of these three magnetic preachers. Some followed Paul, filled with zeal; some followed Apollos, a highly educated Greek; some followed Peter, an uneducated, impetuous fisherman; and a fourth bunch said their little group was the only one who had Christ. Can you imagine that; that someone could think they can “bottle up” Jesus and sell Him like a snake oil salesman sells his elixir!!!
Please read (Prov. 6:16-19) at this time concerning discord among brethren. This dividing into little contentious groups by the Corinthian church divided the church at Corinth and that attitude is very evident today in denominational beliefs. Denominational attitude and sometimes even spoken words by “elders” say; “If you don’t believe like we do, get on out the door and don’t come back!”
WOULD JESUS, SPEAKING THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT, SAY THAT TO ONE OF HIS CHRISTIANS? The word denomination is not used in the Bible but since denominations are with us they will be called by that name. God will sort it all out in due time.
Think about this Biblical situation and example for a minute: (2Sam. 24:10-16) David had “sinned greatly” and God allowed David to choose one of three offered punishments; seven years of famine, three months of enemies rampaging through Israel, or three days of pestilence.
David obviously recognized the pestilence as some type of supernatural punishment so he chose the pestilence and answered; “let us fall into the hand of the Lord; for His mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.” David, in his spiritual understanding, understood perfectly that God is filled with mercy and that man is merciless. That still holds true today and denominations peopled by men appear to be merciless toward each other and sometimes even their own. NOW:
For you Catholics; protestant denominations that claim Jesus Christ and His teachings are your sister Christian denomination. For you Protestants; the Catholics claim Jesus Christ and His teachings so they are your sister Christian denomination. WHY: (Matt. 12:22-32) If there is only one person in any denomination that is truly saved through (1Pet. 1:18-25) the Holy Spirit according to the word of God and you call that denomination of the devil OR: its works of the devil you have blasphemed the Holy Spirit because the devil does not perform the salvation of men’s soul. BUT: There is hope for you.
(1Tim. 1:3-17 esp. V.13) The Apostle Paul was a blasphemer but he obtained mercy because he did it ignorantly in unbelief! (Matt. 15:1-14) This mindless denominational dogma that is handed down from generation to generation is nothing but the commandments of men AND:
That is why Jesus Christ’s wonderful, beautiful, blood bought, Bride of Christ Church is sometimes stereotyped as an emotionally destitute, pompous, self-righteous religious organization, dripping in willful ignorance and petulance, (Rev. 3:1) sitting in the graveyard (John 8:31-36) of truth and freedom, (Col. 1:4-29 esp. V.5, 23, & 27) hope, (Luke16:10-13) and trust.
(Matt. 16:13-19) Simon Peter said: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus foretold (prophesy) of the church to come when He said; “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.” Of course Jesus was not talking about Simon Peter the disciple but about what Simon Peter had said;
“Thou art the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God.” because (Eph. 2:13-22) the church would be built upon Jesus who is the rock, the cornerstone, of the building. More than likely the disciples didn’t understand what Jesus meant by church since the Holy Spirit had not been given nor had the New Testament been written.
But Simon Peter understood perfectly what the (Rom. 9:30-33 esp. V.33 & 1Cor. 10:1-4) Rock meant after the Holy Spirit was given. (1Cor. 2:12-13) The Holy Spirit taught the Bible Writers and (2Tim. 3:16) inspired them to write the Holy Scriptures. Through that inspiration Simon Peter wrote 2 books of the New Testament and (1Pet. 2:4-8 esp. V.6) he wrote Jesus is the corner stone.
Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, after he was given the Holy Spirit, was commanded to write several New Testament books, (Eph. 2:13-22 esp. V. 20) and he also wrote that Jesus is the corner stone of the church.
THE CHURCH MUST UNDERSTAND (1Pet. 2:1-8 esp. V.5 keywords: spiritual house & V.6 keywords: chief corner stone) JESUS, THE CORNERSTONE, is the foundation anchor and He, through His Holy Bible (HIS WORDS) and the Holy Spirit, establishes the square and level of the spiritual house which is the “called out ones” who assemble together in a structure to worship God. Denominational dogma does not supersede God’s Holy Word; it teaches only what that denomination believes.
BE CAREFUL THAT YOU DO NOT GET CAUGHT UP IN WORSHIPING A DENOMINATION OR AN EXPENSIVE BEAUTIFUL STRUCTURE BECAUSE THAT IS IDOLATRY (EMOTIONAL FORNICATION) AND THAT CAN BREAK YOUR SPIRITUAL COVENANT WITH GOD!
The Church: John the Baptist said many strange statements to the people of that time. John is derived from the Hebrew name Jochanan which means (to wait with hope and trust). Baptist (complete immersion) simply means baptizer. (John 1:6) John the Baptist was sent from God (Isa. 40:3) as Isaiah had prophesied. (Luke 3:4) John the Baptist was sent as a forerunner of Jesus to prepare the way for the Lord. (Heb. 9:7-12 esp. V.10) The Jews performed ritual washings of purification because the Law of Moses demanded it.
(Gal. 3:23-24) The Jewish Law of Moses was the schoolmaster that was supposed to bring the Jews to Christ. Thus the Jews were a prepared people and were supposed to understand what the baptism of John the Baptist meant.
(Matt. 3:3-11) John preached repentance that would bring a person to a point in which they could repent (reverse direction) and (Matt. 3:11) he performed a type of baptism that was a physical prophecy of the Christian salvation event in which (Rev. 1:5) a person, through the Holy Spirit, is washed in the blood of Jesus, cleansed of their sins and are baptized (immersed) in the Holy Spirit.
(Luke 1:16-17) John the Baptist was a forerunner; he was preparing the Jews, those who were willing to repent, to meet Jesus. (Matt. 17:10-13) The Jews should have also recognized John the Baptist but many of them didn’t.
FIRST: Think about all you have read concerning marriage; especially equality. As a Christian, If you will pray and meditate, these will be three of the most revealing paragraphs you will ever read concerning WHAT JESUS THINKS OF YOU. One of the strangest statements made by John the Baptist (John 3:25-29) was when he told a group of Jews that Jesus is the bridegroom.
There are several references throughout the New Testament that talks about Jesus being the Bridegroom but (Rev. 19:6-9 & 21:1-4 esp. V.3) “the tabernacle (the tent, habitation; new Jerusalem) of God is with men” and that scripture reveals the Bride and she is the Church.
AS AN INDIVIDUAL WHEN YOU WERE SAVED YOU ENTERED INTO SPIRITUAL UNION WITH JESUS BECAUSE HE CAME, AS THE HOLY SPIRIT, TO LIVE WITHIN YOU. THERE WAS EVEN A PHYSICAL CEREMONY THAT COMMEMORATED THE BETROTHAL; YOU WERE BAPTIZED. YOU ARE NOW THE BRIDE OF JESUS, ALONG WITH THE WHOLE, TRUE, BLOOD BOUGHT, SPOTLESS CHURCH COMPOSED OF BORN AGAIN INDIVIDUALS JUST LIKE YOU.
(Rev. 19:7-9) THE WEDDING WILL TAKE PLACE (ROM. 8:16-18 ESP. V.17) “THAT WE MAY BE ALSO GLORIFIED TOGETHER” (MEANING; AT SOME FUTURE TIME) (1COR. 15:19-23 then 51-55) WHEN WE ARE RESURRECTED INTO OUR ETERNAL, INCORRUPTIBLE, GLORIFIED BODIES. (REV. 21:1-4) WE WILL LIVE IN THE NEW HEAVEN, NEW EARTH AND NEW JERUSALEM WITH THE GODHEAD IN PERSON WHERE THERE WILL BE NO MORE DEATH, SORROW, CRYING, OR PAIN FOREVER. If you do not believe the Holy Spirit is Jesus please read the segment; “Who is the Holy Spirit” in this commentary.
The scriptural Bridegroom/Bride illustration is given in the Holy Bible to point out the magnitude of emotional/spiritual love Jesus has for each member, YOU, of the Church. Sometimes a Bridegroom will refuse to marry a Bride who is unfaithful. Please just stop and think about that for a minute. Answer these questions and you will understand the Biblical illustration. Would Jesus want a bride who is an unfaithful harlot—–IDOLATRY? Would Jesus want a bride who is all dirty—–SIN? Would Jesus want a bride who doesn’t fully love Him—–LUKEWARM?
Would Jesus want a bride who is selfish—–A HARDENED HEART? WOULD YOU WANT A FIANCE LIKE THAT? Just think of the dark, sinking grief and red-hot anger a bridegroom feels when he is BETRAYED by his bride. Think of the white-hot JEALOUSY a bridegroom feels about his bride. What about the furious RAGE a bridegroom feels when someone mistreats his bride. Please think of the gut-twisting, tender, fiery LOVE a bridegroom feels for his bride. That love is so great the bridegroom would even DIE for his betrothed; AND JESUS DID, FOR YOU, AND ME!
Think about this: (1Cor. 3:16-17) “Know ye not that ye (not the church house) are the temple (shrine) of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth (residence) in you? If any man defile (shrivel, wither, spoil) the temple of God, him shall God destroy (to waste, to ruin); for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” How much sin, while you live in your physical body, will it take to break the spiritual union between you and Jesus and cause Him to not want you any more?
This scriptural illustration of Bridegroom and Bride illustrates perfectly the spiritual, soul passion Jesus feels for His Church (the called out ones) composed of individuals; YOU. That is how Jesus feels about each individual Christian; YOU. Are you living in a way that is worthy of His love? Are you taking your Christianity too lightly? Stop a bit and think about it. Maybe you didn’t really understand? There’s no hurry; you may even want to pray about your Bridegroom/Bride relationship.
Whatever you do; don’t give up, continue reading this commentary, (Heb. 13:1-22 esp. V.5-6) because Jesus does not give up on us easily.