Divorce is not an option for Christians

[~Shalhevet~]

We are not God and do not know others heart or motive.

Amen.

[nikki1]

judging? that is what we are to do, starting with ones own self.... the Bible does not tell us not to judge, but to judge righteously..... and how would one do that?

for if we can not judge the small things on this earth, how are we going to judge the angels?

What measure is a person using to judge? me? I try to stick with the Word of God, for that is the strictest measure there is, thus, it will also be what is use to judge me.... even if I do not use it to judge, it will still be used to judge me.......

before I start hounding my neighbor to pick up the trash in his back yard, I need to ensure the trash in my back yard is picked up and that the trash that is in his back yard is not something that blew over from my back yard..... (plank and speck issue...)

You are exactly right. We are to judge ourselves and no one else.

[~Shalhevet~]

Christians are to judge behaviour or sinful activity. How else are we to determine who these people are if we do not look at sinful activity and make some sort of judgment on it and the person(s) involved in it? Far to often, I see Matthew 7:1 misinterpreted and taken out of context.

It is God's right alone to judge, not ours. It is one thing to point out on person's wrong. It is another to judge that person and tell them they are going to hell. That is judgment. What you are referring to is simple spreading of the doctrine, which is correct to do. If someone is doing something wrong, you tell them. But don't judge that person. That is God's job. If I am wrong, please correct me.

Jesus is warning against judging someone else when you yourself are sinning just as bad or even worse, and this is the kind of judgment Jesus is talking about in Matthew 7. If a believer sees another believer sinning, it is his duty as a Christian to confront the person on it. Jesus said in

No person here can be without sin. Therefore, let he without sin cast the first stone. Nobody is without sin = nobody should judge another.

Again, if I am wrong, please correct me.

[~Shalhevet~]

Right or wrong, I just want everyone here to be nice to each other. That's all.

[Believer1997]

I am all too sure that you will indeed be corrected if you are wrong - but not from me.... I understand what you are saying. I have read those Scriptures many times and as for me.... I have been blessed richly by God and given far more mercy and grace than I ever felt I deserved, thus, even as a Christian - and saved by Jesus - I do not feel worthy to make judgments against another. Judging comes far too easy for some people and I do not feel worthy enough to do that and in most instances don't think anyone else is, either. We will all be judged eventually by the One who is Worthy to judge. Blessings.

[JCISGD]

Right or wrong, I just want everyone here to be nice to each other. That's all.

I think you are a sensitive and sweet soul, and perhaps we all need to temper our speech here and allow the more sensitive to be a yardstick. I for one am hearing the Holy Spirit through you. Blessed to have you here on Worthy.

I do think though that defending doctrine can appear to be harsh in the written form. It would be tedious perhaps though to preface everything with smiles and niceties. Paul did have a sharp arguement with Barnabas, but i might be just trying to justify myself there .

[Botz]

Right or wrong, I just want everyone here to be nice to each other. That's all.

I think you are a sensitive and sweet soul, and perhaps we all need to temper our speech here and allow the more sensitive to be a yardstick. I for one am hearing the Holy Spirit through you. Blessed to have you here on Worthy.

I do think though that defending doctrine can appear to be harsh in the written form. It would be tedious perhaps though to preface everything with smiles and niceties. Paul did have a sharp arguement with Barnabas, but i might be just trying to justify myself there .

I agree....and nicely put JCISGD.

[~Shalhevet~]

Right or wrong, I just want everyone here to be nice to each other. That's all.

I think you are a sensitive and sweet soul, and perhaps we all need to temper our speech here and allow the more sensitive to be a yardstick. I for one am hearing the Holy Spirit through you. Blessed to have you here on Worthy.

I do think though that defending doctrine can appear to be harsh in the written form. It would be tedious perhaps though to preface everything with smiles and niceties. Paul did have a sharp arguement with Barnabas, but i might be just trying to justify myself there .

Yes I am quite sensitive. A weakness of mine. . You are probably right about written form. I may be looking into posts too much. I just don't like seeing other people get hurt.

[nikki1]

Christians are to judge behaviour or sinful activity. How else are we to determine who these people are if we do not look at sinful activity and make some sort of judgment on it and the person(s) involved in it? Far to often, I see Matthew 7:1 misinterpreted and taken out of context.

It is God's right alone to judge, not ours. It is one thing to point out on person's wrong. It is another to judge that person and tell them they are going to hell. That is judgment. What you are referring to is simple spreading of the doctrine, which is correct to do. If someone is doing something wrong, you tell them. But don't judge that person. That is God's job. If I am wrong, please correct me.

Jesus is warning against judging someone else when you yourself are sinning just as bad or even worse, and this is the kind of judgment Jesus is talking about in Matthew 7. If a believer sees another believer sinning, it is his duty as a Christian to confront the person on it. Jesus said in

No person here can be without sin. Therefore, let he without sin cast the first stone. Nobody is without sin = nobody should judge another.

Again, if I am wrong, please correct me.

Blessings,

I think I have already clarified what I believe to be true and what the scripture says. Have Christians gotton so politically correct that they are afraid to tell another Christian they are sinning? ? God forbid. That is not hypocritical judging, or judging one's soul. There is a righteous kind of judgment that we as Christians are called to do, using discernment of course. Jesus himself tells us this in John's Gospel

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgement 7:24 This is not a hypocritical judgment. I hope you can see the difference here. We are to speak the truth in love. Ephesians 4:15. This is not judging, but rather pointing out the truth with the hope the believer indulging in sin will come to repentence and restoration in his/her fellowship with Christ. Yes we are to proclaim what God's word says about sin when we see it, using biblical principals, and this is not judging one's soul and saying the person is going to hell.

Nikki

[Miss Elly]

Yeah I know.

I see so many basically what I would classify as victims, who feel guilty about the fact that their marriage ended, and a blessing from a Pastor saying no this was a biblical divorce that we as the Church condone based on scripture. It would really free some people.

On the other hand, some people need to be told by the Church that no, you cannot re-marry your lover who you left your husband or wife for, no matter how many times you voice repentance, as true repentance means you do not continue in the sin.

Both are needed and our Churches seem to fail across the board in this area.

Well... I do not want to open up a 'can of worms' but in my particular case - our Pastor was a close family friend to whom I confided the awful details of the abuse (physical, verbal, emotional, etc.) and he essentially looked at me and said "Make it work - it's the woman who sets the tone of the household". He did come to visit me twice when I was in the hospital recovering from a severe beating.

Wow, that is horrible.

Yeah there is the issue of the qualifications of a pastor to even start to do that work, and his or her knowledge or ignorance in your case of the dynamics of domestic violence. I wonder if you had died and been killed ( leading cause of death for women in the US is being beaten by their husbands or boyfriends), if he would have felt any guilt or responsibility?

It's a shame that many pastors are so shallow spiritually. Before they try counseling, they had better get in touch with the spirit of God and be led on what to say. Better yet, say very little, just pray about the situation.

Some of you may think this is terrible, but I know of two women who begged God to kill their husbands. Neither of the wives could or would leave the marriage. One's husband was as mean as satan himself and she feared for her life and safety. She prayed and prayed about the situation. Finally she got so tired of being abused, she prayed for God to take his life and God did. He dropped dead some time later. That shows me that God is not pleased about wife beaters and if they will not repent, he can choose to take them out rather than let his beloved children suffer. He will not answer a prayer he does not want to answer. She did not rejoice because her husband died and no doubt went to hell, but because she was free from beatings and theats of death.

Another's husband fought her about going to church, he would break dishes, torment her, etc. etc. She would pray to Jesus to help her husband to relent and he would. But the emotional distress went on and on, the spirits of hell in the man constantly harrassed her. Finally she said, Lord, you know if my husband is ever going to repent and if he is not, then deliver me by his death because I cannot take it anymore. That very night her husband thought he was dying and turned to God in repentance. It is a fearful thing for unbelievers to touch God's children, because his ears are open to their cries and he will punish evildoers unless they repent. Don't shoot the messager if you do not agree with this, I'm just telling you what I know.

Edited November 5, 2009 by Miss Elly