IRRELIGION
Do not be fooled,
organized religion--when the religion is
irreligion--is dangerous. Today, some
churches are condoning homosexual
practice. Relatively, the tolerance of
remarriage after divorce is not so
blatantly immoral; it is in the guise of
"natural" lust! Even Billy
Graham, a famous evangelist whom I once
revered, advised a pernicious lie,
"God never meant for people to be
divorced, but if you are already
divorced, ask God to forgive you, to
cleanse you, to straighten you out and
make you a good wife or a good husband to
your present spouse, if you have
one."1
What undermining, wicked advice!
That is like saying, "If you are
already living in sin, give God some lip
service, and ask Him to help you continue
in your sin."
In regard to this
subtle deviation, the Bible clearly
states, "The wife is bound by the
law for the length of time her husband
lives ... " (1 Cor. 7.39), and
"So then, if she be married to
another man while her husband lives, she
shall be called an adulteress"
(Romans 7.3). Such immoral activity is
condemned: "Now the works of the
flesh are manifest, which are [adultery],
fornication ... that they who do such
things shall not inherit the kingdom of
God" (Galatians 5.19-21).
A divorced woman has
two, and only two, alternatives: (1) she
may remain divorced without ever marrying
again, or (2) she may be reconciled to
the husband (1 Cor. 7.10, 11). Except for
the death of a spouse, it is either first
or none. God forbid anyone to direct
otherwise, amen. A man is permitted to
marry once (monogamy), but not to remarry
(1 Cor. 7.27).
Many other preachers
and teachers have promoted irreligion.
Television, radio, and the postal service
are broad channels for influence. Jim
Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart were involved
in scandals at the same time they were
ministering to the public (by the way, I
do not hold any grudges against any of
these men whom I have mentioned). The
point I want to make is that people
should be on guard against listening to
leaders or advocates of an organized
religion and contributing money to them
without knowing whether what they teach
is true or not and not knowing how such
people live.
In God's sight, there
is only one body of believers, and its
sole source of authority concerning truth
and morality is the Holy Bible. All of
the members of the body are different
individuals with various gifts. We need
to become well acquainted with the
written word of God and pray that the
Lord will work in our hearts so that we
will be more useful for Him. If you know
the Bible well enough, He will do just
that!
Br. Ken
1 Billy Graham, "Marriage,
Your Home and You," Decision,
June 1986: 2.
(This
is not a personal letter. This brief
sermon has been revised; "What undermining, wicked
advice!"
is a replacement. I had been impressed by
Kenneth
Copeland,
a fascinating speaker, and probably
picked up one of his expressions at the
time of this writing, as you may see in
the original, although I don't really
know what his ideas concerning the rebuke
of remarriage are. I came a long way
since then, especially through biblical
language
studies, and made it a point to become
more learned and personally genuine. May
God bless his people that they recognize
their growth in Him as they prosper.
Amen.)
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