Question from Sunday, August 19, 2012

If you know something you did in your past was not the right thing to do and you don't repent but want to how do you change your heart?  Sins from out past can severely debilitate our ability to grow spiritually if we are not careful.  Most people have a past they regret, or at least a particular sin they regret.  In order for someone to be truly repentant over a sin, they need to experience what the Bible calls, "godly sorrow."  The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 7 writes to the church in Corinth about a particular situation that was similar to the one you address.  Here's what he said in 2 Corinthians 7:9-11, "...yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter."  Worldly sorrow simply says, "I am sorry for what I have done, but I'm not sorry enough to change."  Godly sorrow says, "I recognize the gravity of my sin and wish to repent (which means turn 180 degrees in the other direction) and conquer this sin once and for all through the power of the Holy Spirit."  If you want to really change your heart, then consider if you have been experiencing godly sorrow or worldly sorrow up to this point. If you are experiencing godly sorrow, God will justly forgive and forget about it.  1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  Satan wants nothing more than for you to carry that guilt and think you will never be forgiven.  As long as you feel that way, Satan has you convinced your sin is too big for Christ to forgive.  Luke 15 contains three parables from Jesus that indicate God's forgiving heart and desire to bring someone back to wholeness.

Question from Sunday, August 12, 2012

Where in the Bible does it say its OK to remarry after a divorce?  It doesn't.  The only time we see the idea of getting remarried mentioned in the Bible, is in 1 Corinthians 7:39 which says, "A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives.  But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord."  Having said that, the concept in Biblical times was that once a certificate of divorce was granted, you were free to remarry.  The Jewish leaders during Jesus' time had taken the Laws of Moses that discussed certificates of divorce and broadened them to apply to all kinds of situations.  This allowed for a male dominated society to divorce their wives for about any reason they wanted.  But then Jesus comes on the scene and sets the record straight.  In Matthew 5:32, Jesus said, "But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery."  The Greek word for "marital unfaithfulness" is porneia.  Porneia means sexual immorality.  Sexual immorality is any sexual sin that violates sex between a married man and a married woman.  So Jesus narrows the grounds for divorce to sexual immorality.  Some believe the Apostle Paul also allowed for divorce in the event one spouse deserts the other in 1 Corinthians chapter 7.  By desertion, they mean, after strongly attempting to work out a marriage, the spouse who wanted to stay in the marriage is free from that marriage and free to remarry if the other spouse leaves them.  However, the deserting spouse commits adultery if they remarry.  I'm not sure I agree that desertion is grounds for divorce, but I'm simply presenting it here.  For now, my belief is that remarriage is only permitted in the event sexual immorality was the basis for the divorce and if a spouse has passed away.  In our culture, this topic is very hotly debated.  My advice is to take a more conservative approach to remarriage rather than a liberal one.  It's like the old adage, "better to be safe than sorry."