Bible Questions and Answers
1. What, according to Scripture, is the real deal concerning divorce and remarriage?
Malachi 2: 26--For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that He hateth putting away...
I Corinthians 7: 10--And unto the married I command, YET NOT I, BUT THE LORD, Let not the wife depart from her husband: 11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let NOT the husband put away his wife.
15 But if the unbelieving depart let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.
Matthew 19:...8--Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say unto you, Whosoever put away his wife, EXCEPT IT BE FOR FORNICATION, and shall marry another, committeth ADULTERY: and whoso marrieth her which is put away committeth adultery
So--divorce and remarriage is not acceptable except for adultery and abandonment due to spiritual incompatability; in cases of abuse, it is needful and a matter of common sense to flee such a situation as soon as possible. If your spouse has done these things to you, and you divorce, you are then free. But not for the stupid petty reasons that most people use. Breaking covenent is no small deal with God.
2. My husband cheated on me with someone from his past. This person knew me, and that we were married and had children together, but they both continued with their relationship behind my back. Now they are together. Will God deal with this, or is it one's personal happiness that matters?
As loving and forgiving as God is, He is also just and eventually deals with all unrepented sin. However, it is not up to us to decide when and how He does it. God is gracious to all, and gives us all, no matter how shamelessly sinful we are, space to repent and turn away from our sinful ways. For it is not His desire that ANY should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). This is why sometimes it seems like nothing ever happens to some people despite the wrongness of what they do. God even gave Jezebel space to repent. When she did not, after her window of grace closed, then came swift and sure judgment (Revelation 2:20-22). Even repented sin does not make us immune from the consequences associated with what we did, because even though David genuinely and hurtfully repented of his affair with Bathsheba, and the deliberate arrangement of her husband's death (yes, she was married!), he yet had to spend the rest of his life regretting his choices (Read the account in 2 Samuel 11-12). For this reason, it is incumbent upon us to live as blameless before God as possible ourselves, despite what choices others may make--even those that adversely affect us. We cannot control what other people do, but we can control what we do and how we choose to respond to what others do to us. This is the thing for which we will be held accountable, not what the other guy does. So as Jesus commanded in Matthew 5 and 6, we must forgive others [no matter how it hurts or breaks our pride] in order to remain in right standing with God. Don't worry about those who offend you--their day of reckoning is coming. But that's God's problem, not yours.
It is up to God to administer judgment (Matthew 7:1, Romans 12:19, Galatians 6:7, Romans 12:20-21) Remember--all of this goes for you, too!
3. Does God care how I dress? Is it really that important to him?
It's not so much that God cares how you dress, as how the way you dress affects others. In and of itself, your dress code is not an issue as far as God is concerned, because He looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). But understand that it is what's in your heart that manifests on the outside. If you like to wear provocative or revealing clothing, what are your reasons? Who do you seek to impress with your showing of flesh or your bodily outline? Would you, as a Christian like to be responsible for causing someone to sin by looking on you with lust, because of the way you dress? (Matthew 5:27-28) Or, as a muslim woman rightly put it, "Why would any woman want to be some man's piece of meat?" ( taken from CNN God's Muslim Warriors) Is this the degree of value that you place on yourself? Or is your body all you feel that you have going for you? God does not go into specifics when it comes to a dress code, all He asks is that we dress with modesty (1 Timothy 2:9), and to dress in a way that is gender-appropriate (Deuteronomy 22:5). Considering how He blesses us, that should not be too much to ask.
4. Before I received Christ in my life, I was a prostitute, selling my body to make money to feed my family. The problem is, I still don't have a job--no one will hire me, and my kids have to eat. Will God have a problem with me returning to the streets, if it is to provide for my family?
Before you came to the Lord, you were subject to the ways of the world, and relied on the world system to meet your needs. Now that you have come to the Lord, you have come under a totally different jurisdiction--the ways of the world no longer apply to you, being a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 17). Whereas you once trusted in your own resources to meet your needs, the Christian learns to trust God to supply their needs, and live a holy life that is without compromise. You must abandon, then, your old way of living and thinking, and center your life's choices around the will of God. For He said if you seek Him first, He would add all the other things to you (Matthew 6:33). It is always hard at first, having been used to operating in your idea of control. But by virtue of having recieved the Lord now, you are no longer your own (1 Corinthians 6:20). But because you belong to Him, He then has the responsibility, and has in fact promised to take care of you. So stop relying on your own means, and allow Him to be God in your life. Prostitution is paid fornication (in some cases, adultery)--a lifestyle with which God is displeased. And if you are willing to deliberately sin--even to support your family, that also makes you an idolater, because you would put the needs of your household before doing what is right in the sight of God. There are better ways to receive resources to support your family. you do not have to degrade yourself, or put your life at risk. You may, however, have to swallow your pride and accept something you're not totally happy with for the time being until God chooses to reward your faithfulness in the little things. If you are still considering turning back to your vomit, remember that "no man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62). These are hard sayings, but if we want what God has for us, we must meet the requirements.