Scarecrow
Member
In speaking about matters of doctrine in which things themselves have no intrinsic evil, but rather that they can be used or misused, one of my favorite Christian teachers published an article that I found very interesting. One paragraph in particular stood out in that it pointed out that numerous religions have elevated their perceptions of things as evil and therefore justified constituting a law prohibiting such things. The examples were given of groups that prohibit dancing, makeup, and the like. He pointed out what the Apostle Paul taught about eating meat that was sacrificed to idols. The meat in itself is not either good or bad, but that it had been sacrificed to an idol and then sold in the market bothered some and they felt it was wrong to eat it while others feasted on it without concern. It dawned on me that the same thing had happened to marriage, monogamy has been elevated to the status of law where indeed there is no law. It is startling to me that the obvious lack of such a law and the numerous examples in the scriptures of polygyny have somehow been overlooked by the churches, and the truth has been replaced by law which contradicts what is clearly evident in scripture. It dawned on me how what was written in the article actually applied to us and the understanding we have been given. Here is the paragraph I am talking about:
“At the same time, when these adiaphorous matters are elevated into the status of law, and people become convinced that God requires them to follow a certain path, the Bible gives instruction on how we are to be sensitive to them. It is not a matter of Christian liberty to bash or to ridicule those who have these scruples. We are called to be sensitive to them. We are not to offend unnecessarily those referred to in the Bible as weaker brothers. On the other hand, sensitivity to the weaker brother stops at the point where he elevates his sensitivity to become the law or defining rule of Christian behavior.”
Is it just me or did anyone else just go “wow!”? Those who have not had the Holy Spirit reveal the truths of Biblical Marriage to them are actually weaker brothers. I now understand why they are so sensitive to the issue. But at the same time I agree that my sensitivity to them stops at the point where they have constituted a law where no such law exists.
“At the same time, when these adiaphorous matters are elevated into the status of law, and people become convinced that God requires them to follow a certain path, the Bible gives instruction on how we are to be sensitive to them. It is not a matter of Christian liberty to bash or to ridicule those who have these scruples. We are called to be sensitive to them. We are not to offend unnecessarily those referred to in the Bible as weaker brothers. On the other hand, sensitivity to the weaker brother stops at the point where he elevates his sensitivity to become the law or defining rule of Christian behavior.”
Is it just me or did anyone else just go “wow!”? Those who have not had the Holy Spirit reveal the truths of Biblical Marriage to them are actually weaker brothers. I now understand why they are so sensitive to the issue. But at the same time I agree that my sensitivity to them stops at the point where they have constituted a law where no such law exists.
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