Participants: Yvonne Lewis (Host), Tom Shepherd
Series Code: HPOV
Program Code: HPOV000048A
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00:16 Hello and welcome to Heaven's Point of View.
00:18 My name is Dr. Yvonne Lewis 00:21 and our special host for this Series 00:24 on Love, Marriage, Sex, and Divorce 00:26 is Dr. Tom Sheperd who is a Professor at Andrews University, 00:32 he's a Professor of New Testament Interpretation 00:35 and he's the Director of their Programs: 00:38 their Ph. D. and Th. D. Religion Programs 00:41 so we are so thankful and grateful 00:43 that you have been sharing this wonderful information with us 00:47 and we're down at the very end of this Series 00:50 and it's just been so insightful because we found out 00:55 what does the Bible have to say about these various areas 01:01 on Love, Marriage and Sex and Divorce, 01:04 so last time... we were talking about 01:07 well... you were talking about... 01:10 because I wasn't here for that one, 01:12 you were talking about 01:13 the Christian that's married to the unbeliever. 01:16 Tom: Right. 01:18 Can you just recap a little bit of that? 01:19 Sure, the Christian was married to the unbeliever 01:23 who was willing to stay in the marriage. 01:26 Now, first we should notice... just reiterate that 01:30 how in the world did this situation come to pass? 01:33 Because, 01:35 nowhere in the Bible did we see 01:37 the Scriptures affirming marrying an unbeliever. 01:41 In fact, it's just the opposite, right? 01:43 Yeah, yeah, you're not to have linked up with them, 01:46 you're not to have concord with that which is apart from God. 01:49 Hmmm... hmmm... 01:51 It's sad that too many times people don't 01:54 recognize this or take it into account, 01:58 it's like they let their heart lead instead of their mind 02:01 or their faith and people should realize that 02:06 marrying an unbeliever is... putting yourself... 02:08 you'll be unequally yoked, you'll not be able to... 02:10 when... you're going in one direction 02:12 and the other person is going in another direction 02:14 and, of course, the time when this really shows up 02:16 is when children are born. Yvonne: That's right. 02:18 Because the believer want to raise their child 02:20 as a believer, of course, 02:22 and the unbeliever... does not care about that... 02:24 is not interested in it and can resist it 02:27 and it can be... it can be pretty challenging. 02:30 So, what Paul describes in 1st Corinthians 7 02:33 is actually the case of a person who became a Christian 02:40 after they were married, yeah... so... 02:43 here were two unbelievers that were married 02:46 and then one of them became a Christian. 02:49 You know that actually happened to me, 02:51 because when I married my husband, 02:54 I was out of the church and then I came back... 02:57 shortly after marrying him, 03:01 so, I guess, he was probably wondering, 03:03 "Well, who is this person?" 03:04 Because... you're a different person 03:06 from the one that you were before, 03:09 and that's a... it's a real scenario 03:11 and it's a real situation... 03:13 because you can't blame the unbeliever 03:16 because he didn't marry... 03:17 he didn't sign up for that, you know what I mean? 03:20 And then you can't blame the believer because 03:23 you are following God's leading so it is a very real situation 03:29 and... as you said... the children... 03:31 it can put the children in the middle, so... 03:34 Oh yeah, very much... and so Paul is describing here 03:37 what are Christians supposed to do? 03:41 It's really kind of three steps, 03:42 the Christians married to each other, 03:44 then the Christian married to the... willing unbeliever, 03:47 now the last one is the 03:50 Christian married to the unwilling unbeliever... 03:54 or willing unbeliever... Hmmm... hmmm... 03:57 so I know, from your background, 04:00 I wonder if you have any suggestions 04:01 about how people can cope with... 04:03 if they're married to an unbeliever 04:05 how can they... how can they make it work? 04:07 How can they help draw people to Christ 04:10 and keep things going well? 04:12 Well, I'm divorced, 04:14 so I don't know if I'm the one to answer that 04:17 but seriously... one thing that you can do 04:20 is... you really have to put yourself 04:22 in the position of the unbeliever... 04:25 just to kind of... understand their perspective on it 04:30 so that you're not feeling like "well... " 04:32 you're not feeling self-righteous, you're not... 04:35 you are really trying to understand their position 04:37 and, of course, you have to pray 04:40 and you have to ask God to be sensitive to the situation 04:44 and ask God for His leading and how to deal with 04:47 the situation because... 04:49 there are places you no longer will go to, 04:51 there are things you will no longer do 04:53 and so that can... Tom: It creates a tension... 04:56 It creates a tension which can pull you apart. 04:58 So, I guess the key is to really seek God 05:03 on how to be... in those specific situations 05:07 and try to understand your spouse's position 05:11 without compromising yours. 05:13 Right, it goes back a bit 05:15 to what we said in previous programs 05:17 about how the Christian is to relate to the unbeliever 05:23 and that they are... they sanctify the unbeliever, 05:28 they're helping to draw them but they're also... 05:33 God has placed His seal even over this marriage 05:37 that was entered into before the person even became a Christian. 05:41 I'm reminded of the words in 1st Peter 3, 05:45 where Peter describes a Christian woman 05:49 married to a pagan man 05:51 and in probably the same kind of circumstance 05:54 where she became a Christian after... 05:56 after their marriage... sometime after their marriage 05:58 and he talks about... 06:00 he really presents the woman as an Evangelist, 06:03 but a silent Evangelist. 06:05 Yvonne: Silent... yes... 06:06 She says... it says... "without a word... " 06:08 so, when you think about communication 06:11 and you ponder... now, which would be more powerful 06:15 to win somebody through the spoken word 06:18 or to win them without saying a word. 06:20 That's right. 06:21 And you really come to the conclusion... 06:23 it seems to me that... 06:24 without a word... is a stronger... 06:26 you know, there's more power there 06:28 and so, here's Peter presenting these women as Evangelists. 06:32 That's right, that's right. 06:34 Winning their husbands... being one... 06:36 actually is a way he describes it, 06:38 God, of course, is the one who draws them. 06:40 Yes, you know that poem that says, 06:42 "I'd rather see a sermon than to hear one any day... " 06:45 And I think that that's important, 06:47 the way you live your life 06:49 without compromising your values 06:52 but you live... you live as a Christian person 06:55 and I think that that can either win your spouse 06:58 or actually push them away. 07:00 I appreciated your focus and your emphasis there 07:02 on the idea of taking their perspective... 07:05 you're not suggesting that you act like a non-Christian 07:08 but you're saying, "try to understand their mindset 07:12 and where they're coming from" 07:13 and that goes along with the whole idea 07:15 of... in marriage... that you are "other-centered" 07:18 that you are seeking to fulfill their needs 07:22 and to think about their needs. 07:24 Okay, well, so I think probably now we can turn 07:27 to 1st Corinthians 7 and read the last part of the section 07:31 which is 1st Corinthians 7 verses 15 and 16. 07:35 Okay, it says, "But if the unbeliever departs, 07:39 let him depart, a brother or a sister 07:41 is not under bondage in such cases. 07:44 But God has called us to peace. 07:46 For how do you know, O wife, 07:48 whether you will save your husband? 07:50 Or how do you know, O husband, 07:52 whether you will save your wife?" 07:54 All right... so... this passage we have to understand... 07:58 sometimes this passage is called "the Pauline privilege. " 08:02 Hmmm... 08:03 It presents the counter situation 08:06 from what we described in the previous program 08:08 where the unbeliever was willing to stay in the marriage 08:11 and in that situation, 08:16 the Christian is not to try to get out of the marriage. 08:18 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... Tom: The Christian is to stay... 08:20 Paul does not ever describe the Christian 08:23 as the person initiating separation or divorce 08:29 he's... along the lines of what Jesus said that... 08:34 "What God has joined together, let man not rend asunder. " 08:39 So, here he... in verses 15 and 16... 08:44 he doesn't mention willingness, 08:46 he doesn't even mention unwillingness. 08:49 He just describes the unbeliever... 08:51 we could say, 08:53 "the unbeliever voted with their feet," 08:55 you know... they departed. 08:57 Yvonne: Right. Tom: The unbeliever departed. 09:00 The verb that is used here is the verb... 09:03 the Greek verb, "Chórizó" which... in the active voice 09:08 it means to divide or to separate 09:11 in the passive voice, it means to separate 09:14 and it's actually one of the common words for divorce. 09:16 To be separated... you see... 09:18 divorce from one another, 09:20 it was a common Greco-Roman term that they used for that, 09:24 in these verses it's in this, 09:26 what we'd call, middle-passive voice 09:28 where it can be that it's describing actually 09:32 a divorce that's taken place, the unbeliever has departed 09:37 it seems, the unbeliever initiated the divorce, 09:40 okay, so in such circumstances, you know, 09:45 the question would be, 09:46 "Well, how is the Christian supposed to respond?" 09:48 Right... 09:50 The way Paul calls for the Christian to respond 09:53 to this departure is stated in three phrases, 09:57 all right, the first is... he says... 10:03 "let him or her depart. " 10:05 Yvonne: Just let them go. 10:08 Tom: Let them go... Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 10:09 So with these words, Paul indicates that a Christian 10:12 is not to stand in the way of a divorce. 10:14 All right... now the Christian did not initiate the divorce, 10:19 notice, that the action is being taken 10:21 by the unbeliever, not by the believer, okay. 10:25 So, the Christian didn't initiate it 10:29 but does not have to resist it or counter it. 10:33 So that's the first thing that he says. 10:36 Let them depart... then he says, 10:40 "In such cases, the brother or sister 10:43 is not... " what does your version say, 10:46 mine says, "enslaved... " 10:47 What verse is it? Verse 15... 10:52 Verse 15... "A brother or a sister is not 10:55 under bondage in such cases... " 10:58 Is not "bound... " the verb, here, is the... 11:01 well, it's a little interesting to use it in terms of marriage 11:05 but it's "douloi" which is a common word... 11:07 for "to be a slave... " 11:09 or to serve as a slave, now, we mustn't get the idea 11:13 that necessarily Paul is saying here, 11:14 "Marriage is slavery" 11:16 That's what it's kind of sounding like here... 11:19 that... marriage... bondage... is it slavery? 11:22 There are some people who kind of get that way... 11:25 they feel that way... the verb here is, 11:28 in the passive voice... and in the perfect tense, 11:32 the brother or sister is not enslaved by such things 11:35 and then we have to kind of unpack that... 11:39 the third thing that he will say is that we're called to peace. 11:42 So, first we need to unpack this idea of not being enslaved 11:48 okay... the parallel that helps us 11:51 a lot in this, is Romans chapter 7, 11:55 verses 1 to 6, it's written by, of course, 11:58 the same man, the Apostle Paul, and so, we want to read 12:03 Romans... turn over to Romans 7. Yvonne: Okay. 12:06 Now, Romans 7 is one of the most fascinating chapters 12:10 in the book of Romans. 12:11 Now why so... why do you think so? 12:13 Oh, well, he's talking about the law. 12:14 See, 12:16 in Romans 5, 6, 7 and then on into 8, 12:19 he has three great powers that he describes: 12:22 death, sin and law. 12:24 Hmmm... 12:26 And how the Christian is set free from death... 12:29 by the death of Jesus... Jesus takes Adam's place 12:32 the Christian is set free from the "rule of sin" by baptism. 12:40 Hmmm... 12:41 A lot of people think that you have to... 12:43 we'll give a little commercial for the book of Romans here, 12:47 but some people think that... 12:50 that you have to work towards dying to sin, 12:53 Paul actually says that happened at your baptism. 12:55 When you were baptized, you died to "sin as a master," 12:59 and the rest of Romans 6 says, 13:02 "In order that you may fight sin... as an enemy. " 13:06 So, that's why baptism is such an important thing to do. 13:12 Oh absolutely, absolutely, 13:13 people don't understand this well enough, 13:15 baptism is so crucial that it is a change of "Masters" 13:20 you change from Master Sin to be with Master Jesus. 13:25 And it points you to a new direction. 13:27 The old goal was Satan's way, now you're going... 13:29 you're on a different team, you're going the other direction 13:31 and if you're fighting with sin, 13:33 it's really one of the illustrations 13:36 that you're a Christian because the pagan... 13:38 the person's who's not a Christian, 13:40 doesn't fight for sin, they embrace it, you see. 13:41 Right. 13:43 So the fight with sin... you don't... 13:44 Paul argues not towards death but from death, 13:47 you die to sin as "a Master" 13:49 so you can now fight "sin" as an enemy. 13:51 That's chapter 6... one of my favorite chapters. 13:52 Yvonne: Yes. Tom: Chapter 7 though... 13:54 he has to explain 13:56 what is the Christian's relationship to "Law" 13:58 and Paul's doctrine and teaching on Law 14:04 is very nuanced and very complex 14:06 and most people try to simplify it too much 14:09 but he... he has quite a few things, 14:11 he really doesn't say the Law is bad 14:14 the Law is holy, just and good. Yvonne: Right. 14:15 but the Law... promises life 14:20 but it proves death to you because you're a sinner 14:22 so the problem is actually "sin" not "Law. " 14:24 Right. 14:25 So he talks about sin being removed 14:27 and the person now living by the Spirit 14:29 fulfilling the just requirements of the Law. 14:31 But he takes like... two chapters to explain that. 14:34 One-and-a-half... something like that... 14:36 but in chapter 7 verses 1 to 6 14:39 he has this illustration from marriage. 14:41 Yeah... yeah... 14:43 And it's also confusing a little bit... 14:45 so we'll read it, read Romans 7 verses 1 to 6. 14:47 Okay, "Or do you not know, brethren... 14:49 for I speak to those who know the law, 14:51 that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? 14:54 For the woman who has a husband 14:57 is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. 14:59 But if the husband dies, 15:01 she is released from the law of her husband. 15:04 So then if, while her husband lives, 15:07 she marries another man, 15:08 she will be called an adulteress; 15:10 but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, 15:13 so that she is no adulteress, 15:16 though she has married another man. 15:18 Therefore, my brethren, 15:20 you also have become dead to the law 15:23 through the body of Christ, 15:24 that you may be married to another... 15:26 to Him who was raised from the dead, 15:28 that we should bear fruit to God. 15:31 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions 15:34 which were aroused by the law were at work in our members 15:37 to bear fruit to death. 15:39 But now we have been delivered from the law, 15:42 having died to what we were held by, 15:44 so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit 15:47 and not in the oldness of the letter. " 15:50 Yes, of course, now this is a passage 15:53 that gets Adventists kind of... you know... 15:55 "going", because he's talking about the law 15:58 and he's talking about dying... about married to another... " 16:02 like that... Yvonne: Right... 16:03 The key that you have to understand 16:05 I'll just give a little capsule on that... 16:08 the key that you have to understand is 16:10 that when Paul talks about "death," here, 16:12 he's actually kind of linking back into chapter 6 16:15 we said that... when you die... that sin is a master 16:18 because... when people try to make this... 16:21 this is like an example or a metaphor or something 16:24 and when they try to make it walk on all fours, 16:26 it doesn't walk too good. 16:28 They say... all right... so there's a husband 16:33 and then there is a woman 16:35 and then there's a second husband 16:37 right? Yvonne: Right. 16:38 Who is the first husband and who is the... 16:40 and who is the woman and... so, first they'll say... 16:43 "Well, the first husband is the law... 16:45 and the woman is us 16:46 and then the second husband is Jesus... right?" 16:48 Yvonne: Hmmm... Tom: That's what they'll say. 16:50 But the problem is... when you get down to verse 4, 16:53 Paul says, "Likewise my brothers, 16:55 you also have died to the law through the body of Christ. " 16:59 It wasn't the law that died, it was you... 17:02 it was you who died... not the law... 17:04 Yvonne: Yes. So, he's actually kind of 17:06 linking back into chapter 6 17:07 and some people who look at this 17:09 metaphor... this example... and they'll say, 17:10 "You know... an illustration is supposed to make things clearer" 17:14 and they'd feel like... 17:17 "Ah... he didn't make it clearer, really... " 17:19 so... they kind of fault him a bit 17:22 but if you follow the way he's writing, 17:25 and you listen to what he says, clearly what he says 17:27 and you remember that those are the things he talked about 17:29 in chapter 6... it's okay... 17:31 Yvonne: It's line upon line... precept upon precept. 17:33 Yeah, it's a good illustration, 17:35 all right... but, of course, we're talking about marriage, 17:37 and so we want to notice here, that there are certain terms 17:41 he doesn't use exactly the same words 17:42 that he does in 1st Corinthians... 17:44 but he uses many terms that are quite parallel to this, 17:50 okay, so, here's the thing... he uses the term 17:54 "being bound," he uses the term "being free" 17:57 he uses the term "being enslaved" or... 18:01 you know... serving... in another marriage, 18:04 so it seems most likely, from this... 18:07 the way Paul describes things here in Romans 7 when he says, 18:12 "The law is binding on a person as long as they live, 18:15 for a married person... 18:17 the woman is bound by the law to her husband 18:19 but if her husband dies, 18:20 she is released from the law of marriage, 18:23 okay, so, he's giving this kind of example, 18:26 the terminology he uses is so parallel to what is happening 18:30 in 1st Corinthians 7 than verse 15 18:34 that when Paul says that the person is no longer bound, 18:41 he's probably indicating 18:44 that the person is no longer married 18:47 and the former unbelieving spouse, 18:50 is... you know... has left... 18:52 and therefore, the divorce has taken place 18:55 and since that... 18:57 you know, if you go back to Romans 7... 18:58 in that case, 19:00 the believing spouse who did not initiate the divorce... 19:04 the other person just left... and departed 19:07 they are now free to remarry, okay. 19:11 Now you can imagine that that kind of idea 19:15 raises a lot of questions. 19:17 Yvonne: Yes, yes... 19:18 Because Jesus said that you can marry if the other person 19:24 commits adultery, 19:25 but Paul doesn't mention adultery, 19:28 he just talks about the unbeliever leaving 19:31 okay, so that's some of the kinds of questions raised here, 19:35 is Paul opening the door to something more 19:39 and that's why they call this "the Pauline privilege" 19:43 there's the question of the unbelieving spouse 19:46 and is this a situation that Jesus had not described. 19:49 Hmmm... hmmm... 19:51 Because Jesus is describing... it seems like... 19:52 He's always talking about believers 19:54 who are married to one another, all right? 19:56 Yvonne: Yes... Tom: So Paul says... 19:57 "Well, now, what about... with the unbeliever?" 19:59 And his counsel is: 20:00 "Look, if the unbeliever wants to stay, 20:02 good... don't leave... 20:04 don't try to break up the marriage... you're the Christian 20:07 you're the one that's supposed to help solidify marriage. " 20:10 But what if you do all that you can 20:13 and this other person just deserts you? 20:16 Are you stuck single for the rest of your life? 20:20 I would think... 20:22 Paul has presented his argument about marriage... 20:24 the married Christian in three steps, 20:26 the first step is: 20:27 two Christians who are married to each other. 20:29 He says, very much like Jesus' words... "stay together," 20:32 you know, "if you depart... 20:34 if you separate from one another... stay single" 20:37 that's his kind of counsel... we talked about that before... 20:40 "The Christian married to the willing unbeliever... " 20:43 you're again... supposed to build the marriage 20:44 and not try to depart... 20:46 but now the Christian married to an unbeliever 20:48 who has departed or divorced them... 20:50 it's the third thing that he talks about, 20:52 it's this third or final scenario that gets our attention 20:56 in relation to the teaching of Jesus, 20:58 perhaps the phrase that Paul uses may help to explain 21:02 how these things fit together 21:04 and that's where we come to the question of these words, 21:07 "we are called to peace. " Yvonne: Hmmm... 21:10 It seems in this context that before the separation, 21:15 there was no peace, 21:16 or the peace was disrupted... 21:19 or the peace was under oppression, you know, 21:22 it was... it was... it was... it was... there was strife... 21:26 And, I think you know how some of these things can happen 21:29 in people's homes. Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 21:31 It's interesting that both the terms, "enslaved and called" 21:36 the person is no longer enslaved, 21:38 we are called in peace... are both in the Perfect Tense, 21:41 now, you need to understand 21:42 the Perfect Tense in Greek a little bit, 21:44 it goes like this, the Perfect Tense has two ideas, 21:48 a past action came to completion 21:52 it actually came to completion in the past, 21:55 but there are ongoing results from that action... 21:59 that's the Perfect Tense, right... and... 22:01 actually in translating it, 22:03 you can either focus on 22:05 this past action coming to a completion, 22:07 or to the ongoing results... the consummate of "perfect" 22:11 or "insensitive perfect" if you like the terminology 22:15 so this is a... a person is no longer enslaved 22:20 they were... they were bound... 22:22 but now that's changed and there's an ongoing result, 22:27 they are no longer enslaved, they're called to peace, 22:32 and the call... now, let me put it this way... 22:35 which happened first? 22:37 The divorce or the call to peace? 22:41 That's a trick question, maybe... 22:44 but if we look at the text, okay, 22:46 let's just read the text again, 22:48 verse 15, "But if the unbelieving 22:51 partner separates, let it be so, 22:54 in such cases, the brother or sister is not enslaved, 22:57 God has called you to peace. " 23:00 Did God call you to peace before that person divorced you? 23:06 Yes, yeah, "the call to peace" preceded the divorce. 23:14 Right? the call to peace is when you became a Christian, 23:17 that's when you're called to peace. 23:19 All right, and interestingly that "call to peace" 23:22 for this unbeliever who... for whatever reason 23:26 was unwilling to accept the gospel, 23:29 that person made strife, 23:31 so the "call to peace" in their life 23:34 ended up creating strife for everybody. 23:36 Yvonne: right... 23:37 Yeah, so, when they left... when they left... 23:40 the unbelievers came back to peace, 23:43 the true brightness of peace could shine forth in their life, 23:46 okay, so this, this new state of peace 23:49 is really the proper state for the Christian, 23:51 that's the one that God called you for. 23:53 It's kind of like the default setting. 23:55 The default setting... that's right. 23:56 Now I believe that this speaks 23:58 very strongly to the question of abuse... physical abuse. 24:01 Physical abuse is breaking the peace, 24:04 the Christian is not called to stay in an abusive situation, 24:08 all right... Yvonne: I'm glad you said that. 24:10 Yeah, they're not called... and pastors, teachers, 24:12 Christian friends are actually... 24:13 have a responsibility to step in and help 24:15 so the people will not face this. 24:17 Now, we kind of running out of time here in this Series 24:20 so, I guess we'd better rush on, 24:22 could you read verse 16 for us one more time. 24:24 Sure, sure, "For how do you know O wife 24:26 whether you will save your husband 24:28 or how do you know O husband 24:29 whether you will save your wife?" 24:31 So what does that mean? 24:33 Well, there's really... kind of... two different ways 24:35 that this is taken, in some ways, 24:36 it's taken pessimistically or optimistically. 24:39 The pessimistic view is, "You are not likely to save them 24:42 you should stay away from them 24:44 and not expect them to be converted. " 24:46 All right, that's the pessimistic view. 24:47 How do you know? "There's not much hope. " 24:50 The optimistic view is "Don't give up, 24:53 how do you know? They may come back 24:56 and they may be saved. " 24:58 So, probably, the optimistic view is the more likely one here 25:03 and the New Living Translation helps to see this... 25:06 put this across, it says, "Don't you wives realize 25:08 that you're husbands might be saved because of you? 25:11 And don't you husbands realize 25:13 that your wives might be saved because of you? 25:15 How wonderful to do that. " 25:17 So, let me summarize the Pauline teaching about divorce. 25:23 First, Paul affirms marriage, he affirms marriage, 25:28 Christians are to stay together 25:29 and they are to seek reconciliation 25:33 if they have issues of fighting with one another. 25:36 Christians are to remain with a willing unbeliever 25:39 and Christians are not bound by the unbeliever 25:42 who is divorcing, 25:44 Christians are to be redemptive in their work, 25:46 this is Paul's... kind of... overall teaching... 25:49 so, we see when we put together 25:50 what Paul said and what Jesus said, 25:52 we end up with a beautiful teaching 25:55 that's makes very clear... gives clear lines about how... 25:58 how Christians are supposed to relate to this, now, 26:01 we don't have time to go into any details 26:04 but the Adventist church has taken a position 26:07 on the question of divorce, it's found in our Church Manual, 26:10 it's quite a nuanced statement 26:12 and it's in line with the teachings of Scripture. 26:15 It says that we affirm marriage and equality there 26:19 that sexual relations with someone outside of your... 26:22 other than your spouse is grounds for divorce 26:25 so are sexual perversions like incest, 26:27 child sexual abuse and homosexual practice 26:30 and abandonment of the unbelieving spouse 26:33 is also a valid reason for divorce 26:36 and the person who is unfaithful is subject to church discipline. 26:41 Divorce is such a sad and tragic perspective 26:46 that I hate to end on that note in these programs, 26:50 so I want to kind of recap briefly... 26:53 I'll start with divorce and work my way backwards. 26:56 Okay... good... 26:57 Okay, first of all, God hates divorce, 26:59 God hates divorce... the only valid reasons for that 27:03 are very few for divorce by a Christian... 27:05 and that's unfaithfulness. 27:06 Sex is only for marriage and it's a blessing there 27:11 and it's meant to enhance our relationships. 27:13 Marriage is about mutual sacrifice. 27:16 About 100 percent... 100 percent 27:19 you are sacrificing to help the other person 27:21 and love is this wonderful teaching of the Scriptures 27:25 of God's love... self-giving love... 27:28 that was just like the love of God for our world, 27:31 the love of Jesus that builds and enhances marriages today. 27:35 That's some rich stuff, that is rich. 27:40 Thank you so much for sharing 27:42 all of these wonderful insights with us, 27:45 I know that our audiences are going to be blessed 27:49 as a result of all of these teachings 27:51 and so we thank you very much. 27:52 And that's certainly my prayer. 27:54 Yes... and we want you to continue your study, 27:57 continue to study what the Word says 27:59 about these relationships 28:01 so that your relationships can reflect the character 28:05 of our wonderful loving Savior Jesus Christ. 28:08 Thank you for joining us. |
Revised 2016-04-28