Posted by Slippy_Slider on May 26, 2008 at 14:13:37:
In Reply to: Better To Teach From Holy Scripture posted by Rx on May 21, 2008 at 20:58:00:
Rx
I want to come back on your comments regarding the above.
First is to say that there is a limited 'understanding' of what is written when you are 'communicating' via e-mail/discussion forums - often things written in this medium can be "mis-interpreted"...........
I am fully clear and aware of and am in agreement with the 'teaching' on singleness/marriage (I think you are suggesting) as I know that Marriage is Spiritual and not simply a bit of paper (i.e. sleeping with someone outside marriage leads to a spiritual union and in that sense is marriage). But based on the discussion on the forum, Marriage seems to be referred to as BOTH spiritual AND a bit of paper (sometimes both and sometimes either) and it is not always clear what people are refering to as 'Marriage' in their discussions. The friends I referred to were in relationships with people a long time before they came to know the Lord. Many of these people have since received Deep Prayer/Deliverance Ministry so that their slate is now clean (for the want of a better word) and many are either now married (to someone else who they met as a Christian)or have remained single.
Many of those people who have remained single, have lived fruitful lives as single fulfilled Christians in full time Christian Ministry (many who are now in their 50's or 60's - so I am not talking about spring chickens here). These guys have made mistakes in the past but have received deep cleansing from Jesus and their past has been dealt with and they have been cut from it and set free. They are not 'hung up' on singleness and the issues that go with it and are more concerned with ministering Gods Grace in Churches, the Mission field etc than to wrestle with single issues like this (I am sorry for the way this is worded (a problem with Discussion forums like this) but I hope this conveys what I am trying to say.)
I also know many married Christians who have committed adultery (either physically or by simply looking at someone). In fact, I should imagine that MOST people have committed adultury with their eyes. I know from personal experience, having been at the receiving end of unwanted attention from somone who is married, that doing this with JUST the eyes can be just as damaging as anything physical.
I agree that the Church has a lot of wrong teaching on this issue (or rather my own experience is that it teaches the correct values, but still accepts 'sinners' with open arms - walking a very fine balance between Grace and Truth).
Abortion is a huge issue and many people - the church, singles and marrieds alike have a lot to answer for this. This isn't a simple as it sounds from what you have said and I am just glad that God can see the whole picture, because we can't.