Jay Saunders Supporter

When I first came to Jesus with my girlfriend, we were living together out of wedlock, but as the holy spirit took charge of our lives, we decided to get married.

Be patient with new converts and let the holy spirit work. Changing themselves from a sin dominated life to a righteousness dominated life by the power of the Holy Spirit takes time. 

Now if we are talking about Christians living this way after being converted years ago, this can not be tolerated and the bible says to break fellowship with those who practice habitual sinful behavior knowingly.

The bible clearly states that someone should speak to that person privately that is practicing a damnable sin. If that counsel is rejected, the same person should chastise them again accompanied by a witness. And after that if a change or repentance does not occur then all fellowship with them should cease.

Mathew 18:15-20: Correction steps in the body of Christ

Bad company corrupts good morals.1 Corinthians 15:33

November 07 2017 • 6 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jack Gutknecht Supporter Arizona Bible College graduate and Dallas Seminary graduate

I heard this advice decades ago, and I agree with it:

If a couple is currently living together and requests to be married within the church, they should be counseled to abstain from intercourse and live separately FOR ONE YEAR until the wedding.

I know that sounds rigid, but I think it would be for the best.

July 04 2023 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Brother Paul Supporter Paul's message in Eph 2 was to believers:

Greetings, Jack Gutknecht 

Your reply takes me back 2000 years, and that is where the clues lie. John 2:1-11, is to us, a treasure trove of information, but if we do not read the context in accordance with the culture, we will probably miss what is hidden.

The first wedding recorded in the NT was at Cana in Galilee, and as we know it was the start of Jesus ministry in John’s Gospel. To fully understand this event, this parable, we must go back 2000 years and understand the culture at that time.

Now we may question, why must understand the culture and wedding procedure at that time, that is a good point to note, a good place to start, but we must all understand all these things, they are intricately linked.

Greetings all,
JOHN 2:1-11 often titled ‘Water Turned to Wine’.

The true meaning of this text is so often missed, often clouded, I believe, by too much emphasis on the two obvious items in the script.
-	The changing of water into wine and
-	Mary’s words ‘Do whatever He tells you’

Although these are both very important items in the story, there is a far greater message here.

Let us start by look at the massive differences regarding a wedding in Cana in Galilee, at the time of Jesus, and a wedding today, we will see they are poles apart. If we think betrothal is like engagement, and think marriage is like what we do today, then we will never understand the length and breadth, of wisdom and truth, expressed in this parable. 

First let us consider the lead up to betrothal and marriage in the culture of the day:

-	Man meets woman, they get to know each other, and their like for each other becomes love for each other. 
-	They want to get ‘betrothed’ (engaged to be married, but with the marriage vows at the betrothal stage).
-	The man offers his future bride a cup of wine, if she accepts his offer, she is accepting his proposal.
-	They would then go to the city gates, where the law makers hung out, there they would make their vows to each other, and are then legally betrothed. (We call it getting engaged, but in Cana, their vows are the equivalent of being married. They are promised, in law, to each other)
-	The couple then go back to their parents, they remain apart; they don’t see each other again for approximately one year.
-	The young man returns to his father’s house and ‘prepares’ a room for himself and his future bride.
-	The young woman returns to her mother’s home, and with the help of her maids in waiting, they start to make and ‘prepare’ the dresses etc for the big day. Meanwhile she must ‘keep watch’, she has to be ready, because she does not know when her bridegroom one will come for her.
-	When the bridegroom returns for her, they are married and the wedding feast begins. 
-	But it cannot happen until the father says ‘Son go get your bride’.

The ceremony at Cana in Galilee, was not just the miracle of turning water into wine, (Note: 6 jars – each holding 20 - 30 gallons, if all were turned into wine – that would be the equivalent to 900 bottles holding 750ml, of the ‘best wine’.)

The message to us is not the fact Mary said, ‘Do whatever He tells you’; no no, the message in the parable was about the invitation to us, to be part of the wedding feast. We must be, betrothed to Jesus, joined into to the Body of Christ, the ekklesia. 

The parable is about, the ‘Wedding Feast of the Lamb’, and what a Wedding Feast it is going to be for all who are grafted into the vine, into His ekklesia; for all who take up their cross daily and follow Him, for all who remain on that narrow path to the narrow gate, for all who remain in Him, Jesus Christ our Lord, our Saviour, our All.

One last point, so why was there so much wine? The parable is referring to the new wine and the wedding feast of the lamb, it is expressing for us that everything will be plentiful, more than we can ever imagine in this life.

That should make our heart sing and jump for joy!

In His Love, \o/

July 09 2023 • 8 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report