Dear brother Wilson:
Before anything else, I would like for it to be made crystal clear what I fear about this discussion and what I hope will/will not be accomplished.
I accept without question your honesty and sincerity, but fear that you are plunging headlong into a divisive attitude that will cause brethren to be splintered and divided needlessly. Note that I say "needlessly." I make no apology for "contending for the faith" (Jude 3), but when we attempt to bind opinions and judgments upon others that the Lord has not bound, we will surely divide from one another. Let me illustrate.
While we are committed to observing the Lord's supper scripturally, some brethren went beyond the divine order and bound their opinion that there could only be one container. They divided brethren. Others decided that it was sinful to have Bible classes. They divided brethren. Some have opposed women teachers. They divided brethren. This has happened altogether too many times. In each case, those who bound opinions felt that they were being sound, conservation and faithful - but they were not. They were binding where God did not bind - just as sinful as loosing where God did not loose.
You are doing the same thing, however unwittingly you do it. While faithful brethren agree to "one man, one woman, for life, with one exception," you are binding opinions and judgments beyond that, which cause division. Some have bound that the word "adultery" must be in the divorce decree. They divide brethren. Some are binding opinions that result in a race to the courthouse. They divide brethren. You are binding that there is only one cause for divorce. This is not the will of Christ, and you are dividing brethren. If you want to hold an opinion that there is only one cause for divorce (fornication), you will have no problem from me, so long as you hold that opinion to yourself. However, you are binding where God did not bind and are causing division needlessly. It is evident that men like Jeff Belknap and others have settled on a course of action that imitates the divisiveness like the cases set forward above and unless you change your direction, you will certainly align yourself with Belknap and those determined to splinter brethren asunder.
Additionally,
you are causing faithful preachers to be branded as false teachers when such is
not true and this has the capability of hurting the cause of Christ because
their work is hindered. This is no small thing and I hope you will think
carefully and consider what I have to say before it is impossible to repair the
damage you are doing. You may hold any number of opinions and judgments that
differ from your brethren without sinning, but when you bind those opinions on
others and damage others' reputations, you are causing damage that may never be
repaired. The fact of division hinders belief in Jesus Christ (John
Please let me note that I have no intention of setting up a defense of brother Bobby Holmes. He is quite capable of defending what he preaches and I do not need to prop up his arguments. In your letter to me, you spent a great deal of time and space (17 pages) in dealing with material that I did not offer, directing your material toward him and not what I sent you. At the same time, you did not address the material that I did send so I will not respond to your charges against brother Holmes.
Also, correct me if I am wrong, but it seems evident to me that you have been coached in your response to me by someone else other than yourself. I would like to ask you whose material you included other than your own.
Now, I want to address the fact that you did not answer my material.
First, we are not in disagreement about what the Bible teaches about
divorce and remarriage. Your arguments about Matt. 19 are beside the point and
needless. Where we disagree is concerning the Bible teaching about divorce. I
gave two concrete passages (more if you note the parallel passages in the other
gospels) that prove exactly what I teach. How can one be a false teacher when
one teaches exactly what Jesus taught? I asked you:
"How is it possible to do what Jesus instructed us to do, leave your husband or
wife for the sake of the
The response you did make assumes that the person who obeys Jesus commits a sin. Are you aware that your answer condemns yourself? You are a divorced person and the divorce is not for the cause of adultery. According to your own doctrine (it is sinful to divorce for any cause other than adultery), you are living a sinful life (as long as you remain divorced) and should not be received into the fellowship of any congregation. (This is according to your own doctrine, not mine!). It makes no difference, in your view, of what you do to resolve the situation - remain single or be reconciled, you sinned when you divorced (or had someone divorce you) and will continue in sin as long as you remain divorced. Your own doctrine condemns you. How can brethren fellowship you?
But
we need to be clear about the teaching of the Lord in Luke 18:29-30. Nothing in
the immediate or wider context denies what Jesus taught. If Peter's wife had
hindered him from serving the Lord, he would have had to sunder the marriage to
go to heaven. If not, why not? Your argument is ridiculous when you assume
(page 13f) that Peter "had left all," and conclude that this means Peter's wife
was faithful. This begs the question. If Peter's wife hindered him from going to
heaven, could he do what Jesus taught? This is not hyperbole, as you
suggest. Jesus was warning his disciples that the
Your use of Luke 14:25-27, 33 certainly strengthens my position, not yours. Yes, it was a command (your emphasis, p 14, para. 2) that disciples "hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters" compared to Christ. If it came to a choice between a disciple and his relatives, Christ must come first. This agrees with Luke 18, it enforces Luke 18. This passage teaches what I believe, not what you believe.
Brother
Wilson, you have assumed (but not proven) that all divorce except for the cause
of fornication is sinful. Therefore, you are assuming (again) that a Christian
at
I Cor. 7:10-11 does not cite a hypothetical case! It was an actual case of a divorce and the cause is not stated! The marriage was sundered! We can know for sure that at least one person in that situation was not in sin because they were told to "remain unmarried" (i.e., stay as your are!) or "be reconciled." Would the apostle Paul tell a sinner to "stay as you are?" Could a Christian in a divorced situation in which they were in sin remain in sin? I will sign my name to a proposition that denies that. But you are forced to that conclusion. Since every divorce (not for fornication) is sinful, you have Paul telling a Christian to stay in a sinful situation as an option. But you are putting words in Paul's mouth and having him say something that he didn't say.
Who said that "the victim is not culpable?" (Your words on page 15, para. 4). Be careful or you will disagree with Jeff Belknap! He says that the victim is culpable since the innocent party cannot remarry when the guilty party puts away the innocent by getting to the court house first! Your own doctrine makes the innocent culpable by making the disciple guilty for sundering the marriage for the kingdom's sake (Luke 18).
You describe what Jesus commends in Luke 18 as "personal choice" (P. 15, para. 5). You say, "our service is a personal choice (Jos. 24:15) not contingent upon any other persons' actions or decisions." Kelly, you are just wrong as can be, and foolishly so. Disciples, especially women, were treated like chattel and not protected by the law. Likewise, I have personally known of situations where it was physically dangerous for a woman to remain in a marriage while serving Jesus. The only protection they had was to sunder the marriage and get a civil divorce. It was that or suffer death. Don't you understand that a person can become so discouraged and disheartened over years of religious abuse that they can lose their faith - thus, lose their souls. In order to go to heaven, they would have to sunder the marriage. That is exactly what Jesus commended! It is not just "personal choice."
Questions:
Finally, you dismissed Romans 14 as out of context as to what "constitutes a lawful divorce." Please understand that I was not making such an application. Romans 14 applies to "authorized liberties" about which some brethren disagree (eating meats, observing days, etc.). I have given a lawful right for a person to sunder a marriage "for the kingdom of heaven's sake" (Luke 18; 1 Cor. 7). There are applications of the biblical principles about which some disagree (what's in the divorce decree, etc.). While agreeing on what the "faith" teaches about marriage, divorce and remarriage, there must be some room for private opinion and judgment about some applications of that principle. We do the same for baptism (must baptism be in running water, can a candidate wear a plastic cap to cover her hair, must the baptizer be a Christian?, etc.). Unless we can learn to leave private opinions and judgments as they are and not bind them upon our brethren, we will continue to split and divide until we "bite and devour" one another. I am appealing to you to see the difference, to recognize that you are binding where God has not bound, and are causing needless division in the body of Christ.
I continue to pray that God's will be done and that we endeavor "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
Brotherly,
Tom Roberts
15801 Spring Crest Cir
Email:
tmr65@juno.com;
tmr1935@msn.com