Some good responses here on this thread. To take this into a bit of a tangent in this case would Jesus's forgiveness have to do with an understanding of the situation, that the marriage was doomed to irreconcilable differences that would only cause more pain, or is Jesus' forgivness unconditional? How much is forgiveness about understanding the situation and why even though something would be a sin because its against holy law but there are mitigating circumstances taht make that necessary or is all forgiven because that is the nature of God's love to forgive all?
that's a great question, and I kind of think it goes around in a circle. I think Jesus forgiveness is unconditional, but you mentioned the understanding of a situation coming into play. I think almost all sin has some sort of area where there can be understanding. Very few people do something wrong just for the sake of doing something wrong. They do it because they a. they mistakenly don't see the harm in it. b. they believe they are doing the right thing. c. they are choosing the lesser of two evils or they are using an ends justifies the means rationale. In general people just don't go out and do something bad because they feel like being bad that day, or they can't wait to be cruel etc. So I think in almost every situation of sin, there is a circumstance which can be understand if with enough compassion and empathy. None of it excuses the sin that was committed, but it does put it in a different light. I believe that Jesus' forgiveness is unconditional, but it was given with the awareness that it almost always is involved in a situation with extinuating circumstances. Which brings me to repenting. Asking for forgiveness doesn't mean somebody has repented. Not asking forgiveness doesn't mean somebody has repented. They have truly repented when their concience tells them they have done something wrong, and they listen to it. Again having empathy and a greater understanding and compassion of those that were hurt by the sin, aides in bringing about greater repentence. Merely saying "sorry" to God doesn't really cover it.
Yeah.. it's kinda like stealing a loaf of bread to survive... You know that it's a sin. And after you do it, you feel bad for sinning and you repent. But you knew what you were doing when you did it, and you don't really regret it. I believe that forgiveness will come to those who ask for it, repent, and try to change their ways. If a person does that, the circumstances don't matter to God. Moses was a murderer.
That's not necessarily a sin. Morality is not a list of do's and don't-do's. Each situation is unique and one must figure out the right actions to make.
Not according to Christianity. "Thou shalt not steal" doesn't have an asterisk next to it saying, "(unless you're trying to feed your family)". It's still a sin. Sinning for good reasons is still sinning.
Wrong. It's not a sin. It's only a sin if it's an offense to god. The reasons of your actions is what is important, not the label.
How can you tell if it's an offense to god or not? You might be right, but you assert with more authority than is warranted.
Wrong. God wants us to have faith that we will find a way (through him) to feed our family without stealing. It's a sin. i.e. ... disciple: "Jesus - we don't have enough fish and bread to feed this crowd." Jesus: "That's okay. Just go steal some from that rich guy down the street. It won't be a sin, because he has plenty and the people here are gonna starve." right? wrong. You are flat-out wrong.
I am not saying you are right or wrong. But at the same time Jesus warned not to be too concerned with the letter of the law and that the 'spirit' of the law is more important.
yeah, but jesus ramped up the law. think adultery is just cheating with another woman...nah...if you're lusting after her, you're commiting adultery. think murder is killing someone? nah...if you're harboring hate in your heart for someone, you're a murderer. But God is more merciful than I can begin to imagine.
I'm not wrong. Morality is a thought process. It is determining right and wrong based on values, understanding and motives. It is not brain-dead obedience to "rules". That would be a sin. Is it a sin to cut off your hand for no reason? Yes. But if you have to cut your hand off to save your life or the life of others it would not be a sin. It would be a sin not to. It's the same thing.
You are so incredibly wrong! Morality, values, and motives differ from person to person. To a murderer, chopping someone's head off seems like the moral, right thing to do. But it's still a sin in the eyes of God. If you cut off your hand to save others, God says you're still sinning because you should have saved others with your faith in God, not with cutting off your hand. And if you commit sins, even for good reasons, they're still sins in the eyes of God.
... and then he made the law obsolete for Christians. The law makes us aware of our sin, and he emphasized that for sure, and then his sacrifice on the cross meant that through him Christians would no longer subject to the law (and note that this doesn’t mean that there are no consequences for willfully going against God’s will). Indeed we couldn’t keep the law if we tried, so Christians are required to live by the New Covenant, not the old one. How divorce ties into this is a more difficult question, mind you. I agree with others in that I don’t believe that it’s in keeping with God’s will. In a desperate situation one can always leave, which isn’t a sin, but is there a point where one can in good conscience get a divorce? I guess for me that would ultimately be between the individual and God, at least as I'm thinking about it now, but if these people were in my Christian community I would encourage them, and do what I could to help them, to do everything in their power to work it out. As a footnote, a good passage whenever discussing legalism is the story of Jesus and the disciples walking through a grain field on a Sunday harvesting some of the wheat, which is against the law. See Lord of the Sabbath in these links: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=12&version=31 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=48&chapter=2&version=31&context=chapter http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=49&chapter=6&version=31&context=chapter
Is it a sin if that was the easy way out? We as a whole might undervalue people's lives when they do immoral things, murderers, drug addicts, prostitutes, etc..., but the Big Guy upstairs might not. Sacrificing an essential body part is in that same vein.
1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. There, a New Testament verse that's easy to understand. Rule: don't make something simple- complicated.
