Love of God – Commandments – Marriage
What is the definition of the “Love of God” relative to being in “us”?
‘keeping His Commandments’ as it is written in verse below:
“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.
For this is the love of God, that we should keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:2 – 3, NASB)
The Pharisees did ‘not’ have the ‘love of God’ because they taught instead the ‘commandments of men’ rather than the ‘commandments of God’ as it is written in verses below:
“But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” – Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 15:9, NASB)
“but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.” – Lord Jesus Christ (John 5:42, NASB)
The verse above is Spoken in the context of ‘believing Him first’ (John 5:38) followed by believing in the prophets (e.g. Moses’ writings, John 5:46) & in ‘His Own Direct Words’ in the New Testament too (John 5:47) and all these must be read in the context of ‘leading to Christ’ ultimately only’ (John 5:39):
“You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.” – Lord Jesus Christ (John 5:38, NASB)
“‘Ye search the Writings, because ye think in them to have life age-during, and these are they that are testifying concerning Me;” – Lord Jesus Christ (John 5:39, YLT)
““Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.
“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.
“But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (John 5:45 – 47, NASB)
Example for ‘teaching the commands of men instead of that of God’:
Christ taught “no” remarriage for ‘any type of divorce’ for ‘marriages done in His Name’ (Law).
The Pharisees or religious leaders at that time ‘twisted’ to allow divorcees to remarry as it is written (described) in verses below (it’s disallowed both ways and even some parts of Christianity has twisted it greatly):
“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.” – Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 16:18, NASB)
Consider the following ‘affirmation’ of this Command by apostle Paul speaking the ‘same’ thing as Christ for such ‘divorced or separated’ to ‘remain unmarried’, meaning “no” remarriage after divorce (Paul adds that these being ‘separated or divorced’ could ‘reconcile’ again among themselves only):
“But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband
(but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.” – apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 7:10 – 11, NASB)
In Deuteronomy 24:1 – 4, God is not endorsing any divorce to remarry but is describing a law in such a case of “indecency” (Deuteronomy 24:1) where a “woman remarried after divorce by her own indecent choice & not by God’s Will” (Deuteronomy 24:2) and further the command is for the “decent-divorced not remarried first husband to never receive her again” (Deuteronomy 24:3 – 4) as these conditions are all described in Verses quoted.
Christ knowing that the Jewish religious leaders have manipulated (as some Christian Scholars do likewise too today) with those verses to allow the divorced to remarry and is the reason ‘why’ He mentioned it clearly that such an interpretation is wrong forbidding it in Luke 16:18 clearly. The remarriage in Deuteronomy 24:2 is described as done by a ‘indecent woman’ and thus it is ‘wrong’ but God in His Mercy protects the ‘decent first husband’ by teaching that clause in such a situation to ‘not’ remarry her even if she returns (Deuteronomy 24:3 – 4).
The above are for “Christian” marriages (in ‘the Lord’).
There is a clause for when a non-believing person who is already married before receiving Christ but now becones a Christian & is ‘separated’ or ‘left’ from the marriage by the unbeliever (condition found in verses below).
Only in such a case, that ‘believer’ is said to be ‘not’ bound (and perhaps can ‘remarry’ though not encouraged):
“But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her.
And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away.
Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace.” – apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 7:12, 13, 15, NASB)
*Please notice that apostle Paul mentions which of these are the ‘Lord’s Commands’ and ‘which are his’ clearly.
An example of ‘apostle Paul’s opinion’ is the verse below and he clearly mentions that it is from him & not the Lord (regarding choosing ‘not’ to be married)
“But this I say by way of concession, not of command.
Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that.
But in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is (‘not married’); and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.” – apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 7:6, 7, 40, NASB)
Please also observe that apostle Paul mentions that the main thing is to “obey” (or ‘keep’) the “commandments of God” while discussing these in this ‘same’ chapter:
“Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.” – apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 7:19, NASB)
P/S: Remarriage
Remarriage is clearly allowed for someone who spouse has “died” (physically) but ‘only in the Lord’ (to another ‘believer’) as it is written too (it’s a different case from the above ones):
“A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.” – apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 7:39, NASB)
