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Discussion Forum : General Topics : A call to.... Marriage?

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PJ
Member



Joined: 2003/7/29
Posts: 76


 Re:

Kevin,

I was gathering from you earlier post that the very fact that God did not stop us from marrying someone would mean that it must have been "God's will". I must have misunderstood. Just to clear things up, hear is where I stand...

I do not believe the it would be God's will for me to marry a non-believer or anyone with whom I would be unequally yoked. I think that it is my responsibility to be in prayer and seek the Lord and make the best choice accordingly.
However, if I were to make a huge mistake in my initial choice, regardness of how I might feel about it, it is now "God's will" to stick it out and make the most of it. Your right, divorce in not an option!
I'm thankful that my wife and I have "Stuck it out". Somedays it was only our committment God that held us together, but God has been faithful and now it is our love and enjoyment of each other that holds us together. With everything said, I will still say, choose wisely!

PJ

 2003/8/28 12:50Profile









 Re:

PJ,

I totally agree with you about it not being God's will for you to be unequally yoked. I guess my thinking on marriage is that it's not a matter of is marrying this person or that person "God's will" to marry. I see these types of decisions left up to us BUT they are conditional dependent on the "revealed" will of God, which is His Word. God is NOT going to come and divinely stop a marriage with an audible voice or anything else. Or at least it is highly unlikely and I have never heard of such a case. He has given us all we need that pertains to life and godliness. We have His Word and the Spirit within. If you choose a mate based upon criteria set forth in the Word of God and love your wife even as Christ loved the Church that is all that is really required. Too many people make trying to find out the will of God some kind of mystical something or other and that is not how God works. He leaves our destiny for the most part in our own hands. We can choose what profession to pursue, what training we need to pursue that, and even who we marry. We are to use the Word of God and listen to the Spirit within to make right choices. If we make a bad choice it does not negate the work of God in our lives. Paul says if you marry you do not sin. It is very obvious that the choice is ours to make but within the boundaries established in God's Word. This is what separates us from an unbeliever because they do not consider God in the equation. This is what the Bible calls "piety".

Kevin

 2003/8/28 15:28
PJ
Member



Joined: 2003/7/29
Posts: 76


 Re:

Kevin,

I think we are thinking alike, just didn't realize it.
To many people are always wanting to know God's will for their lives when HELLO! we have a book called the Bible. People expect God to reveal some specific purpose or direcition for their life while ignoring God's general purpose found in his word. If peole will make the Bible the ultimate guide for their life, they will find that the specific details fall in place, or maybe I should say, "work out" as according to Romans 8:28.

PJ

 2003/8/28 16:00Profile









 Re:

PJ,
Glad we could talk this through and see we are both on the same page! I agree totally with your last post! :-D

Kevin

 2003/8/28 16:10
Zapthycat
Member



Joined: 2003/8/5
Posts: 75
Livermore, CA

 Re:

I wish to thank you all for your input. Truly your thinking is along the same lines as mine... "if God has called you to it...". I guess in my own carnal way I was looking for a straight up answer *OTHER* than simply being submitted to him and listening to his voice. It's a hallmark of humans to rather have a straight up answer, even if it is difficult, rather than to be submitted and have a relationship to an invisible God. It takes sensitivity to be hearing from God, whereas it only takes ears and eyes to hear what a fellow human might tell us.

On a side not, my 3 favorite heros of the Bible... John the Baptist, Paul the Apostle, and of course, Jesus the Christ.... none of them were married. Great prophets like Elijah and Jeremiah were not married. There is no record of any of the 11 apostles besides Peter being married (which isn't to say they weren't).

On the flip side, great men like Samuel the prophet, Moses and Isaiah, were married, Hosea was even commanded to marry a prostitute, as were maaaaany others.

So basically, I still just don't know. I guess I'll have to find my own personal answer, from my God which still speaks to us personally, regarding our personal problems and dilemmas. :)

Thanks again, and God bless you all,

J. Wilson




_________________
J. Wilson

 2003/8/29 3:08Profile









 Re:

I just found this on the Light Magazine webpage and thought I would post it as it fits the discussion.

Kevin


IS IT APPROPRIATE for a follower of Christ to marry?

This is a recurring question posed by many readers of Light Magazine. It is one which many of us must have pondered, at least when initially embarking on our journey towards God’s kingdom.

The guidance laid down for us is arguably conflicting. The Apostle Paul wrote to the 1st Century believers at Corinth: ‘Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman’ [I Corinthians 7.1].

What do we make of this statement? It certainly implies we shouldn’t marry. In fact it is rendered in the NIV as ‘It is good for a man not to marry.’ However, the next verse goes on to say: ‘Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband’ [I Corinthians 7.2].

God, recognizing our weak nature, has given us a choice on this matter. We may marry for human reasons. Although, this statement is qualified by the Apostle Paul:

‘I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn’ (to burn with passion – NIV) [1 Corinthians 7.8,9].

In these two verses Paul tells us that it is better not to marry but if celibacy is difficult for us then it is better to marry than to resort to fornication. It is better for us to remain unmarried in order to devote our lives more fully to serving God.

But what of Christ’s views on this matter? When questioned by his disciples on the related issue of divorce his reply was very similar to the words of Paul: ‘For some are eunuchs because they were born that way: others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it’ [Matthew 19.12 NIV].

The foregoing may imply that marriage is a ‘bad thing’. Far from it, for we read in the first book of the Bible that God instituted the concept of marriage with Adam and Eve: ‘Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh’ [Genesis 2.24].

Most of the prominent Old Testament figures were married. In fact Isaac was instructed by God to take a wife: ‘Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the LORD hath spoken’ [Genesis 24.51].

So, is it appropriate for a follower of Christ to marry? The Scriptural answer is ‘yes’. However, we do have a choice - to remain single and devote our lives to God or to marry and try to devote our lives to God given the other distractions that are inevitable with that status. On the surface of it these are simple choices. The former being by far the simpler but only if you are of a disposition to cope with it, therefore the more difficult. The latter is the easier choice but certainly the more complex.

Finally and most importantly, marriage is used in the Bible to symbolise the relationship that exists between Christ (the bridegroom) and the believers (his bride in prospect) [Ephesians 5.22-33]. This is a pattern for the perfect harmony that will exist when the true bride of Christ is united with him at his second coming to establish the kingdom of God on earth [Revelation 19.7-9].

Correspondence Editor

 2003/8/29 10:25





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