Be Cautious of False Teachers

I have recently been watching someone on the internet that is trying to explain some of the harder or awkward passages. He pretends that he is having a conversation with the Apostle Paul about what he had written. There were a few that intrigued me and made we me want to go back to some of the Greek. Then I ran across a few of his theological explanations that left me feeling very nervous. One particular one was concerning divorce. It isn’t a topic we like to discuss, and I know that there are many that want remarriage but wonder what God’s word says concerning that. The one explaining rightly said that there was a time where divorce was far too easy. A wife could be divorced for simply burning the meal. He then tried to explain that when God was talking about people not getting divorced was simply to protect the women from being mistreated. He made it sound like divorce wasn’t a big deal and seemed to indicate that we shouldn’t be so concerned about it. The problem is that God said, in the Old Testament, that He hates divorce. We read in Matthew 19, “Jesus replied, ‘Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning...’ There is a big difference between what God allowed and what was God’s design. Divorce was not in God’s design. Then, there are only a few reasons in the New Testament when divorce is allowed... not required. These reasons are for marital unfaithfulness and if an unbelieving spouse walks away. It isn’t stated in the Bible, but I would really struggle to think that God would be ok with an abusive relationship. Note that walking away from a marriage is different than divorce, and a long way from remarriage. God tells us earlier in Matthew 19, “...at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So, they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate." To say divorce is acceptable is to deny God’s word. Be careful of false teachers who tell people what their itching ears want to hear. We live by God’s truth, not loopholes. Father, You have given us marriage as a wonderful bond between a man and woman. Draw the husband and wife closer to You. Amen