Cheating With Rules
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1. Introduction: An Attack on The Family 2. The Power of Words 3. Works of The Flesh 4. Infidelity Allowances? 5. Conclusion: Defending The Faith |
Introduction: An Attack on The Family
We ask the blessing of your Spirit on our fellowship, to impress minds and hearts. In Yahshua’s name we pray, amen.
But last week I saw something on the news that really struck me as having a profound spiritual lesson, because it makes something very obvious to the truly spiritual-minded, and in such a dramatic way, that I think it really ought not to be missed. So what I am going to do is tell you what I saw, lay some foundation, and then point out the connections.
The news report I saw was essentially this: An author, a woman who used to be either a prostitute or a “professional mistress” (not that there is a significant difference between the two) has written a book with a very controversial premise. She claims that the traditional model of marriage (one man and one woman for life) is failing, but that there is still value, financially, emotionally and otherwise, in long-term relationships. One of the biggest obstacles to a secure married relationship is infidelity, generally on the part of the husband. Therefore, here’s the conclusion she draws: women who want to keep their husbands need to allow them to have other women – but within boundaries or rules on which they have both agreed.
What this woman is saying is that rather than going around lying to our spouses, a better solution to the problem is to have us negotiate infidelity, and in so doing the wife is “empowered” (a very loaded word) by having a measure of control over the previously uncontrollable urges of her mate to stray.
Now before we get into the implications of this, I just want to point out that this is just the latest in a string of attacks upon marriage as defined by Yahweh in the Bible. I heard recently that in California a judge has overturned a ban on homosexual marriage in that state, and although it is being appealed, it is indicative that the judicial system of the United States is so corrupted that even the majority’s vote on an issue can be overturned if the minority is further away in principle and practice from the Biblical pathway.
As we have seen in a number of previous studies, the marriage, the traditional family, is Yahweh’s own creation. He owns it. He has given it the “mark” of His own approval. He instituted it in Eden, before sin, and intended for it to be a hedge and a barrier against temptation and loss after sin’s entrance. Satan knows that children raised in a loving family have a much firmer grasp on the true character of the Godhead, for as Paul writes in Ephesians 5, the relationship between a man and his wife parallels both the Father’s relationship to the Son, and the Son’s relationship to the Church. And because the Enemy knows this, he has, from the very beginning, launched a relentless campaign against this most basic social unit.
We may name here casual divorces, polygamy and adultery among his earliest attempts. Two of these continue to be very effective. Polygamy is not so much a factor any longer, but the effects of ancient polygamy (Abraham’s two wives and their children) continue to cause much pain, suffering and bloodshed even these thousands of years later in the violent conflict between Jews and Arabs in some parts of the world. And to these three, Satan has added an even more subtle attack; that is, to redefine the very term “marriage” as a legal rather than a spiritual union – and, if we see marriage as a legal arrangement with, for some people, some spiritual benefits, rather than primarily a spiritual union with, for some people, some legal benefits, then we are agreeing to governmental control over one of Yah’s own institutions.
In general, except for a few unusual circumstances, CSDAs do not see the need for marriage licenses. In a number of states, a marriage is recognized, even by the government, without asking its permission. It really ought to be that way, and also for the running of Churches. One of the reasons we are being persecuted by the mainstream Adventist Church is because they, unlike us, have rejected one of Protestantism’s most basic principles: that the Church ought not to seek the aid of civil government for religious disputes or purposes. But just like marriage, a country’s government ought not to have any control over these primarily spiritual matters, and the fact that in the U.S. the government does have that control is one of the things that marks it as a non-Christian country with very different views of marriage, church membership and certainly the start of an individual human life than the Scriptures do.
Are there any questions at this point?
Ironically, Israel probably comes the closest, because they at least recognize the Sabbath... but then again they have various other problems that make them decidedly non-Biblical in their approach. But this is the last and most wicked generation; as it was before the flood “The whole world lieth in wickedness.” (cf. 1John 5:19) So no surprises there.
Not to go on too long about this… I just want to point out a couple things before we move on. For example, just like many of the people in various Churches, many of the people in the U.S. with this system, they identify themselves as Christians, at least nominally, and as I indicated before, the majority of individuals even in a relatively liberal state like California, voted for the gay marriage ban. But all that means exactly nothing… if the judicial branch of the government, upon the opinions and rulings of one fallible, human judge, can define the institution of marriage in such a way that it becomes a right granted and regulated by the government, rather than created and arbitrated by Yahweh Himself.
What I would like to emphasize here is that marriage was instituted by Yahweh. He defines it, He describes it, and He has told us in no uncertain terms what it is. For us to take it upon ourselves to change its rules, or redefine its borders is really to set ourselves up in a place of equality with Him, and according to Scripture, this is the very spirit of anti-Christ.
We read, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” (2 Th 2:3, 4)
Now it’s true, when Paul wrote this, he was thinking of a particular individual, and one that Seventh-day Adventists have traditionally, and correctly, interpreted as the head of the Roman papacy. But let’s read what the apostle John writes, that our understanding of the principle here may be full: “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” (1John 2:18)
There may be one representative figure of the anti-Christ principle, but there are many, many individuals who are actuated by that principle, and by that spirit, and we may know it by the fact that this spirit does not recognize the authority of the Father through the Son, and that it places itself “above all that is called God.” Now if someone were to stand up and say, “I am above God, I will go now and sit in a temple,” nobody would take that person seriously… nobody would follow such a person unless they already had deep spiritual and psychological problems. But what we are talking about here is deception, and deception so cunning that even the elect are not above the temptation to be led astray.
Satan’s works are subtle. The ways that man places himself above God are subtle, and that may be the subject of another full study at some point. But here is one way: if we take something that Yahweh has said, and we not only deny it, but we actively work to redefine it according to our own rules, how can this not be the same spirit that Paul describes? How can this not be anti-Christ? And if you think that this might be a matter of taking a small thing and blowing it even slightly out of proportion, I want you to think about the social problems, and even the criminal problems, that influence society today, and look at the home lives, look at the families, of the offenders. In the vast majority of cases, you will see just how great a fire this little spark has set ablaze. The way we view human marriage, I assert, is a big factor in the way we are going to look at our relationship as a people with Yahweh.
The family, as an institution of the Creator, designed to be society’s most basic unit of human interaction, must be protected at all costs, against even the most subtle interference and alteration, or grave consequences follow. Adventists believe that man as a corporate people took two blessings away from Eden when he was forced to depart: the weekly Sabbath, and the institution of marriage. It seems to me, and with increasing clarity, that these are the two things that Satan most obviously hates, and has tried with utmost endeavor, to destroy or corrupt.
Are there any questions so far?
The Power of Words
I remember going to a regular Bible study a while back when I was a student with a group of people, all members of the same church – except for me. It was an interesting experience, and they were constantly amazed by how well I knew the Bible, although it seemed to me that some of the most basic and important records (like Elijah’s confrontation with the priests of Ba’al) ought to be general knowledge in the Christian community. But there was one girl with whom I spoke with more regularly, because we had a mutual friend in college classes with me.
We spoke about a number of things, like the rapture, predestination, and the victory message. While she agreed with the verses, and really couldn’t find an argument against what I was saying, she never did step into it. But once she may have come really close to understanding the concept of victory, and it was because someone else, not me, mentioned that the act of committing a sin was just like committing an act of treason against a country’s king. We read, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” (1John 3:4) Since righteousness is our King’s “law,” and sin is an act of unrighteousness, we are really betraying our king and our country by sinning.
Now that idea, while true, doesn’t grab me as powerfully as some of our other teachings about the nature of sin and righteousness. But for some reason, it really affected her and, unless I am mixing up my memories of her with someone else – it was almost 10 years ago – she said that this word, “treason” really put a new perspective on what I had been saying to her all along.
The principle here is a simple one: Some words have more power over us than others, and certain people are more sensitive than others to individual terms. But if we, as a Church, are to be of “one mind” about doctrinal matters, then we are going to have to be in agreement with Yahweh, and each other, about the meaning and impact of certain things.
I think we should all agree, for example, that “marriage” is a key term in the Scriptures. Above and beyond the obvious emotional benefits to the individuals directly involved in it, we find in marriage and parenthood (because we have all had parents) our first experience with Yahweh. If it is a negative or even absent experience, we suffer for the rest of our lives because of it. This is the reason why Yah, in the Scriptures, has placed such an importance on the concept. And if we trust that He truly knows best, then it seems to me we have a responsibility to support and defend that concept as a matter of religious obligation, not just as preference, and to promote the right idea of marriage in our teachings and our actions. We need to identify this word just as Yahweh does, and be clear in what we mean.
Works of The Flesh
“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1Cor 6:18, 19)
So let me give you the secret that I think Satan has tried to hide from religious leaders down through the years, which is why evangelists and preachers caught in sexual sins are just so very common.
The great secret is this: adultery, more than any other sin, immediately unfits someone for being an effective vessel of Yah’s glory to the world. Now again, why is that? Do you have any ideas?
But moreso I’d think it’s that “they become one flesh” concept.
We know that all sins lead to death. The wages of sin is death, we know this. But while all sins are equally “bad” in terms of the ultimate impact on the individual (i.e., the loss of everlasting life) not all sins have equally destructive consequences. For example, suppose I had a secret sin… like I was addicted to alcohol. But, I didn’t drink to the point that I was visibly drunk, and I was somehow able to obtain my liquor without letting a lot of people know about it. Obviously, I am doing something I know is wrong, and it would be sin. But at the same time, I could still give Bible studies, and visit Churches, and spread the Gospel, and maybe even bring people to Christ. We read that Judas, just like all the other apostles, taught and preached, performed miracles, cast out demons, and so on. In fact, he was one of the most respected of Yahshua’s followers – he was clearly doing quite a lot “right,” at least openly.
But there are some sins that involve the “body” as Paul writes, in a way that completely negates the function of the Spirit in that temple. And yes, it has a lot to do with what Jody and Luke were saying. Adultery is one of them. And you might think, “Well, some of those televangelists carried on affairs, and kept on preaching, for years before their infidelities were discovered.” This is true, but there is something that needs to be considered here, and it is this, the impact of the discovery itself. And I don’t just mean the open discovery either. If there is adultery, at least two people already know about it, the husband (or wife) and the other woman or man.
If a preacher is found with some sin, like drinking, or smoking, in his life, the ministry can potentially recover from that. But adultery is generally (or, at least it used to be) such a scandal that the work of that individual ends immediately and permanently. And the person with whom the adultery was committed inside of a supposedly “Christian” context… how can that person ever recover at all? These days, as I said, the ministry may even be able to recover from that… but this is just evidence of Satan’s final work of completely destroying the standards of Christian life.
And again, someone might say, “Well, adultery is bad, but what about murder? Isn’t that even worse?”
Well, it would certainly end a preacher’s career, yes, but it is much less useful to Satan, because adultery is a lot easier to orchestrate than murder, and for a variety of reasons. Thus, in terms of usefulness and practical impact, I would have to say that sexual sins are the worst; and interestingly, it was these very sins that Ellen White singled out specifically as those that could potentially lead the Adventist Church into its ultimate “Babylon Fallen” condition. She was speaking, not only of the spiritual kinds of adultery, but “cleansing the camp” from actual adultery and fornication as well. These are the absolute most useful to Satan for the disruption of the Great Commission of spreading the Gospel of Christ.
Inspired sources all seem to agree on this matter completely. Sexual sins do something particularly destructive to the body, the spirit and the ministry, and they are much more readily available than a similarly damaging sin like murder.
Now, adultery won’t prevent someone from becoming converted and saved, of course. When I say it is one of the worst, if not the absolute worst, of sins for the Christian to commit, it is not something that prevents salvation either, any more than any other sin of the flesh. But it is a serious matter. We read this interesting passage from Scripture that is relevant to this discussion. It is the entire third chapter of the Book of Hosea, but when I say “entire” I mean all five of its verses:
“Then said Yahweh unto me, ‘Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress,
according to the love of Yahweh toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love
flagons of wine.’
“So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer
of barley. And I said unto her, ‘Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot,
and thou shalt not be for another man; so will I also be for thee.’
“For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without
a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim; afterward shall the
children of Israel return, and seek Yahweh their Elohim, and David their king; and shall fear
Yahweh and His goodness in the latter days.”
Let me know when you have read that.
But some have said, “Adultery and fornication will not always destroy a church and a ministry, because even a prophet married a harlot.” But that is not the full story. Hosea married a woman who had been a harlot, but immediately after paying the bride price for her he said, “thou shalt not play the harlot.” If you read chapters 1 and 2, you read that after the marriage, she bore the prophet sons, but she may not have entirely put away her adulterous ways yet. Even so, we read at the end of Chapter 2 and on into Chapter 3 that I just quoted, that she, as a symbol of Israel itself, would return to faithfulness. This is not a book to indicate that adultery and fornication are in any way acceptable, for as it records, one must cease these things entirely, and be faithful, in order to be accepted.
Infidelity Allowances?
A woman who “allows” her husband to cheat is not being empowered as a wife, what she is doing is admitting a kind of defeat. And what this author is doing, and I think she actually says this, is publicizing the idea that men are “hard wired” to be unfaithful. They cannot help themselves, and so the wise wife will simply seek to channel this inevitable course of events in such a way that it will be the least destructive for herself and her family.
Now looking at this story, most people will probably realize the many and various errors in thought that went into those conclusions. Christians in particular should be horrified at the very idea of allowing such a devastating practice to have any influence on marriage. We would have to entirely reject the teachings and principles of Yahshua to believe such a thing is inevitable in a wedded union.
But Christians in particular need to consider this, and very carefully: Unless they believe and practice true victory over sin, just exactly as we teach it, and unless they are genuinely born again according to the Biblical model, aren’t they treating Yahweh exactly that way?
In fact, haven’t they reversed the roles? What the Christian who is “saved in sin” is doing is making Yahweh the “wife” and themselves the unfaithful husband who “can’t help but cheat.” And let me tell you: that is exactly what they say! They actually admit, openly, almost proudly, that they are doing this.
The revulsion they would show for planned infidelity in marriage is amazingly absent from their perceptions about spiritual fidelity. They will say, “We all sin.” They will say, “We should not sin, but the flesh takes over sometimes and we just do… but God always forgives us and takes us back.” Or, “Sometimes we lose our grip on Christ, and we sin, but this is why we all need to be forgiven.” But I will say something that may seem strange to some: forgiveness is not the issue here, not at all.
The fact that Yahweh forgives sins has nothing directly to do with the walk of sanctification. That is like saying, “The door of my house is large, therefore the furniture within must be comfortable.” Forgiveness is the “door,” the way to be reconciled to Yahweh and begin the sanctified life. When we find unknown sins, confess them and put them away, forgiveness is the entrance into a deeper level of intimacy with the Father and Son. But forgiveness for known sins is never once mentioned in the Scripture as being applicable to an already-converted Christian.
Does the Bible indicate to us that Yahweh acts like the women this author is describing? Has He made “allowances” for us to cheat? Has He concluded, as so many Christians have, that we are “hard-wired” to sin? Does He negotiate infidelity?
No. Not a word of it. The Scriptures do not make excuses, or occasion, for sin. In fact, we are told exactly the opposite, and we are given both principles and clear instructions to avoid even the situations in which sin would be likely to arise and tempt. I am giving a fairly detailed setup for a fairly simple concept, but I think it can be really effective if we can demonstrate to people (like the use of the word “treason” for that one individual I mentioned) just how destructive and terrible the “sinfulness of sin” actually is. If we can explain to them that being “born” again really means that… a re-start to life, and with new hard-wiring, then maybe we can make some people understand, and accept, the Gospel of Yahshua the Messiah.
If we treat Yahweh the way an adulterous husband treats a defeatist and abused wife, are we His friends? Are we His children? Are we born again, after the Spirit and not after the flesh? Not according to the Scriptures.
And in fact the reason why most supposed Christians DO treat Yahweh the way we are discussing is because they have been told by Satan, and accepted the lie, that they are hard-wired to cheat. It is impossible for them to truly be faithful to their Husband (not wife, we must reverse the roles and put them back in their right order) because they must first believe it is even possible to do so.
They will devise many excuses, like not wanting to seem proud or presumptuous, or like not understanding the passages that appear to the unlearned to conflict with such a claim. They will come up with quite a variety of reasons why they cannot speak the words of Christian testimony, but it all comes down, ultimately, to a lack of belief, or rather, belief in the wrong thing. They believe that they are “hard-wired” to cheat, and that Yahweh has essentially accepted this about us, thus taking us back each time we inevitably sin like the spiritual doormat women are now being asked to be.
But the truth is better than this. Yahweh is better than this.
Are there any questions here?
Conclusion: Defending The Faith
You know, I have read that verse a lot of times, but it wasn’t until this study that it struck me just how powerfully that verse proves the victory over sin to be a true doctrine. The objections to the victory message ALL come down to the idea that the Christian cannot really prevent himself from sinning, either because of the flesh, or because our minds are not renewed to the point we would cease choosing to sin. They will say, or believe on some level, “No matter how holy you are, there is always SOME way for Satan to get you through your flesh.”
But this verse here plainly shows that to be a false doctrine, and that our ability to be Christians depends not on our own efforts, but on the fact that “God is faithful.” There is NO temptation that is specific to any one man. There is NO temptation that is above what we are ABLE to bear, because Yah will simply not allow it. If we are committed to Him, He Himself will ensure – with infinite power and wisdom – that we are never going to experience a temptation that makes it impossible to remain faithful to Him. A good Husband protects and defends His wife. We have no need for excuses.
Some may say, “Well, Hosea’s wife was unfaithful for a while, but became faithful. Doesn’t that mean that eventually we will cease to sin, but not now?” That is not what that parable was intended to represent. It showed that Yahweh continued to reach out to a people that had made themselves not His by their infidelity. In fact, we read this, “Now when [Hosea’s wife] had weaned Loruhamah [which means “no mercy”], she conceived, and bare a son. Then said Elohim, ‘Call his name Loammi; for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, “Ye are not my people,” there it shall be said unto them, “Ye are the sons of the living God.” Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.’” (Hos 1:8-11) That word, the name of the son, means “not my people.”
According to this passage, adulterous Israel was not, in that state, Yah’s people. They had been, and they would be again; He was not ready to violate the covenant with them at that time, because He was seeking to draw them back, but they were not His people in that state, and that’s a very powerful statement. Had Israel been destroyed by a disaster, or a military strike, its people would have perished, and not just in a physical sense. Because they persisted in infidelity, Yahweh did eventually abandon that broken covenant, and called a new people unto Himself, (Jer 18:9, 10; Zech 11:10; Mat 21:33-46) but that had not yet happened in Hosea’s time.
So Israel did fall, and in the same way, the Christian who is not living victory over sin is not capable of standing in the judgment of this last generation, because for that person, who is not relying entirely on Yahweh, there are indeed temptations that would prevent him or her from being faithful. They have no intimate knowledge of the Father and Son, and it is because they do not “love” Him in the sense that a faithful husband loves a wife, and a faithful wife loves a husband. Despite their claims, despite, perhaps, their own judgment of themselves, it is their faithfulness that demonstrates their love, and just as we as Christians have a responsibility to defend the right definition and model of marriage, and thereby to defend our faith as a whole, so we as Bible- believers have a responsibility to rightly demonstrate to the world just how closely the concepts of human marriage and spiritual marriage (which leads to salvation) are connected.
Are there any final comments or questions before we close?
Because people don’t have the correct understanding of what a marriage means, like you said.
Yahweh does everything through covenants, through formal agreements, and we just don’t see that being taught anywhere else.
Any other last thoughts?
As we depart form this meeting may we be empowered by your power as never before, to stand upon on the Sure Covenant in the power and strength of Yahshua we pray. Amen.
