Pam Padgett ... teacher
Before retiring, I worked with a man who identified himself as a Christian. One
day this man told me very excitedly that he was getting married. (His wife left
him for another man several years before.) Initially I was very happy for him.
But then he told me that the woman he was marrying was divorced. I told him
that he couldn't marry her without committing adultery. He brushed this off,
saying they had already talked with a pastor about this and had been told that
there was no problem. So, I went home and wrote out scriptures that deal with
this issue and left for him, including
Matthew 5:32 But I say
unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of
fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that
is divorced committeth adultery.
He sent me an email saying he
had read what I left, but went on to try to justify marrying this woman. His
attempts to justify this were based on man's "wisdom", not what God has told
us.
I recall
my mom telling me as a child (early 1960s) that this one particular woman
couldn't marry because she was divorced. I'm sure she told me this because this
is what she had been taught by the Catholic church, since I never saw my mom
read the Bible when I was a child. About 10 years ago my younger sister
remarried after being divorced. By that time, remarriage after divorce was much
more widely accepted by society than in the 1960s. I've never heard my mom say
anything about this being wrong, although I spoke to my sister warning her that she
would commit adultery if she remarried.
The foundation upon which we are standing in our doctrines makes a difference. My mom was standing on the foundation of the Catholic church
doctrines, while I was standing on the foundation of what we're told in the
Bible. What is in the Bible stays the same, regardless of what is accepted
by society or what the "wisdom" of man thinks. Jesus Christ, the Word made
flesh, is the sure foundation.
1 Corinthians 3:11 For other
foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ.
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(Comments by Cathy Varner ... Member of Body of Christ ...
When I read the part about the Bible being our foundation
regardless of what society accepts, I was reminded of Hebrews 13:8. Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.)
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