Text: II Thessalonians 1:3-10<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. Without a doubt people make a mess of their lives<\/p>\n A. One of the hardest things about studying with people these days is the tangle they\ncreate in their families\n
1. You have people who have married and divorced serval times<\/p>\n
2. They have kids by multiple partners, some to whom they never married<\/p>\n 3. Often they know their lives are a wreck, in part that is why they want to\nlearn God’s word.\n
4. Yet, sometimes the news is not one they want to hear<\/p>\n
B. Some wonder whether God’s laws should apply to the past.<\/p>\n 1. Won’t it be easier just to say the laws take effect when you become a\nChristian?\n 2. Some have stated, such as in the case of divorce and remarriage, that all\npast sins are removed, thus once you are baptized, it doesn’t matter if your\ncurrent marriage wasn’t proper if you were a Christian, it only becomes\nlegitimate now that you are a Christian.\n
II. Sin only exists in the presence of law<\/p>\n
A. Sin is the breaking of law – I John 3:4<\/p>\n
B. Sin isn’t charged when there is no law – Romans 5:13<\/p>\n 1. Yet sin existed in the world. It didn’t suddenly appear when Moses came\ndown from Mount Sinai – Romans 5:14\n
2. Paul’s charge is that all have sinned, from Adam on down – Romans 5:12<\/p>\n 3. Therefore, the implication is that law existed for people who didn’t have\nthe written law.\n C. Paul charged that both the Jews, who had the written law, and the Greeks, who did\nnot, were under sin – Romans 3:9\n
1. That means they both had law<\/p>\n
D. We should explain that law doesn’t create sin, it defines what is sin – Romans 7:7<\/p>\n
1. In science we have a law concerning gravity<\/p>\n a. Gravity existed long before someone came up with the Law of\nGravity\n b. The Law of Gravity defines how gravity operates, but it does not\ncreate gravity.\n
2. In the same way, God’s laws define right and wrong<\/p>\n
a. The law didn’t make murder a sin, it defined it as a sin.<\/p>\n
b. But murder was still wrong when Cain slew Abel.<\/p>\n
3. But sin dies without law – Romans 7:8<\/p>\n a. Before we were aware of law (when we were children), sin was\nunable to destroy us – Romans 7:9\n b. This is the time when people have no knowledge of good and evil –\nDeuteronomy 1:39\n c. However, we grow up. We come to realize that there are right and\nwrong actions and that it applies to us – Romans 7:10-13\n E. How could the Gentiles be held accountable to a law they did not receive? –\nRomans 2:12-16\n
1. Even without a written law, they acted by standards<\/p>\n 2. People know that murder is wrong. They may excuse it certain situations,\nbut they still say it is wrong to murder.\n
3. Stealing is wrong. Lying is frowned upon.<\/p>\n 4. As soon as someone says that some action is wrong, they are\nacknowledging that there exists a standard of right and wrong.\n
5. What Paul argues is that people couldn’t even keep their own standard.<\/p>\n
F. Now, apply what we have learned to the subject of divorce and remarriage.<\/p>\n 1. Does Luke 16:18 make remarriage after a divorce into adultery? Or, does it\nmore clearly define what was already wrong?\n 2. When Jesus discussed this, he appealed to what has always been true –\nMatthew 19:8\n
III. The standard to which all are accountable<\/p>\n A. Returning to Romans 2, Paul noted that those under the law are judged by the law\nand the Greeks, who were without law, are judged by what they understood.\n B. Notice, however, that the standard for both Jew and Greek has changed – Romans\n2:16\n C. It is a consistent message. There was a tolerance for ignorance in the past that has\nbeen removed – Acts 17:30-31\n
1. Notice the world, not just Christians, are judged by Christ <\/p>\n
2. We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ – II Corinthians 5:10<\/p>\n
D. Jesus is now the standard by which we are all judged – John 12:48<\/p>\n
E. This is why we seek to teach others – II Corinthians 5:11<\/p>\n 1. Even though they might not realize it, even the ignorant are accountable to\nthe laws of Christ\n
2. We understand this and seek to rescue people from their ignorance<\/p>\n
3. Because one day judgment will come – II Thessalonians 1:7-9<\/p>\n
a. Vengeance is taken on the disobedient<\/p>\n
b. But it is also on the ignorant!<\/p>\n
F. Ignorance of the law will not save a person<\/p>\n 1. If it did, then we best destroy all the Bibles because the knowledge that is\nthere is “killing” people.\n
2. But the truth is that people are already dead and dying. <\/p>\n
3. The gospel exists to lead men out of their sins<\/p>\n G. In other words, a person is held accountable to the standard that stealing is wrong,\nwhether they read it in the Bible or not.\n
1. Adultery remains wrong, whether society accepts the standard or not.<\/p>\n
2. Just as it only through the gospel people are saved – Romans 1:16<\/p>\n 3. It doesn’t matter if one’s particular denomination says baptism isn’t\nnecessary. We are not judged by a denomination’s view of truth. We are\njudge by the one truth.\n
IV. But, but, but … <\/p>\n A. What is difficult to accept is in regards to those who made such a mess of their\nlives in their ignorance that the mess isn’t fixable\n> 1. There are some who married, cheated on their spouses, married others and\nupon learning the gospel are shocked to find that they had lost the right to\nmarriage because of their past sins.\n
2. Jesus told his disciples that it won’t be always easy – Matthew 19:10-12<\/p>\n
a. Some will reject the truth<\/p>\n b. But others, seeing the value of heaven, will forego sexual relations\nto get there\n
B. But, it seems so unfair!<\/p>\n 1. But those so arguing state that these same people have sins that need to be\nremoved so that they can reach heaven.\n 2. Why do they decide that some violations of the law need to be remedied,\nbut not others?\n
3. You can’t subdivide the law – James 2:8-12<\/p>\n C. In our example, is the remarriage to a divorced person (not for the cause of\nfornication) causing adultery?\n
1. Is it only adultery for Christians, or is it also adultery for non-Christians?<\/p>\n
2. If you say only for Christians, then why did John tell Herod – Mark 6:18?<\/p>\n 3. No, there is only one law and what is adultery for one, is adultery for\nanother.\n 4. If adultery exists, can a person be save without repentance from sin? – Luke\n13:3\n
a. But repentance means to turn away from sin – Acts 26:20<\/p>\n
b. How can a person be saved without leaving his sins? <\/p>\n c. I Corinthians 6:9-11 – Notice that some had been adulterers in the\npast, but had left their sins. The very thing we are discussing!\n
D. Let’s put it on a different circumstance<\/p>\n 1. Suppose someone for Massachusetts marries a person of the same gender,\nwhich is currently legal there.\n 2. Can that person be baptized and be considered saved while remaining in\ntheir homosexual “marriage?” \n 3. If you claim this is wrong, then why do you excuse the adulterer in the\nsimilar situation?\n
V. Be Holy – I Peter 1:13-19<\/p>\n
A. In former days, people did many sins in ignorance by following after their lusts.<\/p>\n
B. But such is no excuse to remain in them.<\/p>\n
C. God demands holiness from His people.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Text: II Thessalonians 1:3-10 I. Without a doubt people make a mess of their lives A. One of the hardest things about studying with people these days is the tangle they create in their families 1. You have people who have married and divorced serval times 2. They have kids by multiple partners, some to whom they never…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32],"tags":[66,167,177,54],"class_list":["post-30735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-adultery","tag-divorce","tag-law","tag-obedience"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43905,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-changing-american-household\/","url_meta":{"origin":30735,"position":0},"title":"The Changing American Household","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Source: Nathan Yau, \"Change in Common Household Types in the U.S.,\" FlowingData.com \"In the 1970s, the most common household type in the U.S. was a married couple with kids. But over time, as people\u00a0wait longer to get married\u00a0and\u00a0have fewer kids (if any), it's grown more common to live alone or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Issues"","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38653,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-get-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":30735,"position":1},"title":"Why Get Married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Genesis 2:18-24 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Society\u2019s attitude toward marriage has changed drastically over the last few decades. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Fewer people are marrying while at the same time homosexuals are demanding the right to marry. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve been told in recent years: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cMy parents divorced. I don\u2019t want to put\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Suicide-Rate-by-Marriage-Status-1990.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Suicide-Rate-by-Marriage-Status-1990.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Suicide-Rate-by-Marriage-Status-1990.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42431,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/were-adam-and-eve-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":30735,"position":2},"title":"Were Adam and Eve married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello! This might be a dumb question but someone brought it up today at school and it was a little confusing. If premarital sex is a sin, Adam and Eve weren't married, and they had sex. So is that why we are all born in sin? Answer: Actually, it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15140,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-the-reason-denominations-want-married-preachers-is-because-they-confuse-the-office-of-an-elder-with-that-of-the-preacher\/","url_meta":{"origin":30735,"position":3},"title":"Isn’t the reason denominations want married preachers is because they confuse the office of an elder with that of the preacher?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I wanted to make a comment about\u00a0requiring preachers to be married. I have taken note that the denominations do not generally adhere to scriptural church leadership, and instead of a plurality of elders, they have a board of deacons and one 'elder' or 'pastor,' who also serves as the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7556,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-tell-you-about-a-way-to-get-married-without-government-involvement\/","url_meta":{"origin":30735,"position":4},"title":"Can I tell you about a way to get married without government involvement?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I noticed a guy wrote\u00a0a piece about marriage claiming he didn't need a piece of paper. He is right by all means; all you need is two witnesses and you can be married by American law. But if you do get a marriage license, you put your kids under\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45508,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-only-way-to-have-sex-is-if-one-is-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":30735,"position":5},"title":"Is the only way to have sex is if one is married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening, I'm sure you get a lot of questions that are related to sexual intercourse and the like; however, it is difficult to fully grasp and understand the word of God when it doesn't match the heart's desires. 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