Archives - Redeeming God

This is a guest post by Nils von Kalm. He resides in Melbourne, Australia, and has a passion for showing how the Gospel is relevant to everyday life. Married to Nell, he writes about theology for a living and is an avid reader. His thoughts on life can be found on his website called Soul Thoughts.

If you would like to write a guest post for this blog, check out the guidelines here.

Until recently, I always had a nagging suspicion that the more explicitly “Christian” one’s work is, such as being a pastor or working for a Christian organization, the more pleasing to God it would be.

I had always told myself that you don’t have to be doing specifically “Christian” work to be doing the work of God, but deep down I had my doubts.

After listening to a few people from the Theology of Work project talk about this, I am now convinced that our work does not have to be specifically what we call “Christian” to be godly.

For me it is a matter of theology. It goes to the heart of what we really think the kingdom of God is all about. After all, Jesus spoke about the kingdom more than anything else in the gospels, so it obviously has huge importance.

What is the Kingdom?

Is the kingdom of God about getting people saved and doing a bit to help the poor along the way? Or is all of life, all our creativity, and all our God-given ability, something that can please God and be useful for the kingdom?

I am convinced it is the latter.

[Read more…]

I’m Moving to Dallas

By Jeremy Myers

2 Comments

I’m moving to Dallas!

No, not that Dallas. Been there, done that.

I’m moving to Dallas, Oregon.

It’s a small little town in Oregon, about an hour south of Portland with a population of about 16,000.

We don’t really know what to expect, and my wife and girls are leaving behind a lot of good friends here in New York. But we are excited for what this next phase of life holds for us.

By the time you read this, we will already be on the road.

A trip from New York to Oregon is about 3000 miles. That is almost as far as you can possibly go and still stay within the continental United States. Pretty much the only way you could go further is if you started in Maine and went to California.

And I am driving it all… pulling a U-Haul trailer… with a Toyota minivan… and my wife, three daughters, and two cats are coming with me.

Yes, cats. In a car.

[Read more…]

Solved: Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh

By Jeremy Myers

Is Adultery the Unforgivable Sin?

By Jeremy Myers

233 Comments

Related to the view that divorce is the unforgivable sin, some people believe that adultery is unforgivable.

Note, of course, that adultery is different than premarital sex. Most Christians believe that God does forgive people for premarital sex. This doesn’t mean that such behavior is okay, for premarital sex is physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually destructive. There is forgiveness and restoration for such sin, but it often comes with numerous long-lasting consequences.

So adultery itself is when a married person has sex with someone who is not their spouse. But even here, most Christians believe that there is forgiveness for adultery. Most believe that if a married person commits adultery, they too can be forgiven by God and the marriage can be restored. However, just as with premarital sex, there are lots of long-term and destructive consequences for engaging in adultery. Even though God forgives adultery, this does not mean He erases the consequences that might come from adultery. The danger of the sin of adultery is not that God cannot forgive it, but that adultery destroys marriages and destroys lives.

Nevertheless, there is a specific form of adultery that many Christians think God does not, will not, and cannot forgive. Some argue that there is a type of adultery which can never be forgiven.

This type of adultery is the one that comes as the result of divorce and remarriage.

Adultery and the Unforgivable Sin

Some people believe that although God makes allowance for people to get divorced (Matt 19:1-10), such people may not get remarried as long as their ex-spouse lives. Why not? Because marriage lasts as long as both the husband and wife live. If someone gets remarried after a divorce, then, according to this view, that person is living in a state of constant adultery.

The logic for this view is drawn from Matthew 19:9 where Jesus says that anyone who is divorced and marries another commits adultery. People who hold this view further state that since a person who is divorced and remarried is living in a state of adultery, they can never properly confess or repent of this sin unless the get re-divorced and then re-marry their first spouse. Of course, then the person has two divorces instead of one, and … well … the “sin” only amplifies in seriousness.

The underlying premise behind the idea that adultery is unforgivable is based on the belief that in order for a person to go to heaven when they die, they must not have any unconfessed sin in their life. But if a person is divorced and remarried (which leads to adultery), then even if they confess of this sin, they are still living in this sin, which means they can never fully confess or repent of it.

Do you follow the logic there?

Though a person who has been divorced and remarried may be sorry for what they have done, they cannot ever fully repent of this sin because they are living in a constant state of adultery. In this way, divorce and remarriage becomes the unforgivable sin because the one who does this is in a constant state of sin.

So those who believe that adultery is unforgivable are not basing this view off of the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 12:31-32 about the unforgivable sin, but are basing their teaching off the belief that if a person dies in a state of unconfessed sin, they will not spend eternity with God.

Let us see how we can know that adultery is not the unforgivable sin.

Why Adultery is not the Unforgivable Sin

As with the view that divorce itself is unforgivable, the idea that adultery is unforgivable is based on a faulty understanding of God’s grace and the infinite forgiveness that is in Jesus Christ.

When we remember that there are two kinds of forgiveness, one which is unconditional and freely given to all, and the other which grants release and deliverance from the enslaving power of sin, we see that this idea that God does not forgive ongoing adultery is false. God does forgive adultery … all forms of adultery. Nevertheless, there are ongoing consequences to adultery, many of which God wants to deliver us from, but He can only do so if we confess and repent of our sin, and seek to work with Him to restore the broken relationships in our lives.

Aside from the theological truth of the infinite forgiveness of God, numerous Scripture passages clearly refute the idea that adultery is not unforgivable.

First, pretty much all of the forefathers of Israel had numerous wives. While many try to explain this behavior as a practice that was normal at that time, we cannot explain away the fact of God’s original plan for marriage was that it should be between one man and one woman (Gen 1:24). Therefore, even though the culture might have allowed a man to have more than one wife, the instructions of God did not.

So when Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob took more than one wife for themselves, they were committing adultery. The same thing can be said for nearly all the kings of Israel, who were specifically commanded to not take multiple wives for themselves (Deut 17:16-17). Yet even King David, a man after God’s own heart, had multiple wives (2 Sam 11:4; 1 Chr 3:1-9). And nearly all Christians believe that we will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and Solomon in heaven. There is also the possibility that Moses got divorced and remarried.

When we get into the New Testament where the prohibition against adultery is more clearly and frequently stated, there are numerous examples of Christians who commit adultery and yet are still considered eternal children of God.

One example is in 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 where a man sleeps with his father’s wife, and yet Paul clearly identifies him as a brother in Christ who has been led into serious sin (1 Cor 5:11). When confronting the rampant sexual immorality that was present in the Corinthian church, Paul does not threaten them with hell and everlasting destruction, but with the theological truth that as believers in Christ who have been raised with Him, we should not behave in such a manner (1 Cor 6:12-20).

Scripture is clear that while adultery is a sin, it is forgivable, for people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David lived in a lifelong state of adultery, but they were forgiven and accepted by God. There were even adulterers in the early church, and they too were forgiven and redeemed.

Adultery is forgivable. Adultery is not the unforgivable sin.

This doesn’t mean that we can just commit adultery all we want though, for remember that even though God forgives us of this sin, there are long-term and devastating consequences to adultery which can affect our lives, our family, our finances, our health, and our emotional and spiritual well-being. These are some of the reasons God instructs us to not commit adultery. It is not because He will send adulterers to hell, but because adultery is so destructive and damaging for the real joy and pleasure God wants us to experience in life.

If you have committed adultery, do not think that God has rejected you. He has not. He loves you, accepts you, and forgives you.

But at the same time, healthy and loving relationships are achieved only in the way God designed them: when they are between two people who love each other and are committed to each other no matter what. This is the sort of relationship God wants for you if you will let Him lead you toward it. (Go read the post about the woman caught in adultery.)

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Fear not! You are forgiven. You are loved.

Fill out the form below to receive several emails from me which explains how you can know that you are loved and forgiven by God.

(Note: If you are a member of RedeemingGod.com, login and then revisit this page to update your membership.)

Is Divorce the Unforgivable Sin?

By Jeremy Myers

37 Comments

Some believe that divorce is the unforgivable sin.

This view is not as common as it once was. After all, a large percentage of Christians have been divorced. Common “sins” such as divorce usually make poor candidates for the unforgivable sin since such a position would disqualify many Christians from eternal life.

However, there are still some who believe that divorce is unforgivable.

Why some believe Divorce is the Unforgivable Sin

The logic of this view is primarily based upon Malachi 2:16, where God says, “I hate divorce.”

Those who quote this verse usually overlook the fact that Scripture lists other sins which God also hates, such as pride, lying, and discord (Prov 6:16-19).

Nevertheless, divorce is singled out as particularly bad, because it is thought to be a sin that people cannot properly repent of, for if someone gets divorced and then repents of it, they are still divorced. The sin still remains. For this reason, people think that divorce is unforgivable because it can never properly be repented of.

Refuting the View that Divorce is the Unforgivable Sin

There is much to be said against the idea that divorce is the unforgivable sin.

First, as with most views about the unforgivable sin, those who hold this view reveal a deep misunderstanding about the grace of God and what was accomplished by Jesus on the cross for the sins of the whole world.

An improper understanding of the grace and forgiveness of God is the root cause of most of the wrong views about the unforgivable sin.

The topics of God’s infinite grace and forgiveness will be looked at in later posts, and so nothing more will be said about it here except to say that God’s grace covers even divorce.

God Forgives Divorce

The idea that divorce is unforgivable is also disproven by various Scriptures.

For example, it is critical to recognize that God Himself is a divorced person. In Jeremiah 3:8, God gives Israel a certificate of divorce. In other words, God divorced Israel.

One could argue that God was not exactly married to Israel the same way that a man is married to a woman, but against this it could also be argued that the covenant relationship God has with Israel is far stronger and far more binding than the relationship shared between a husband and wife.

Some might also say that it was okay for God to divorce Israel because of her numerous acts of infidelity to Him, and infidelity is the one basis by which divorce is allowed (cf. Matt 19:9). Of course, Jesus says that the only reason for this allowance was because of the hardness of people’s hearts (Matt 19:8). Ideally, not even marital infidelity should result in divorce, as in God’s eyes, the marriage union lasts as long as both people live. This is even more true of God, whose patience and long-suffering are nearly without limits. Yet the limit was reached, and God gave Israel a certificate of divorce.

So God is a divorced person.

There is also evidence in Scripture that Moses was divorced. First, we learn from Exodus 18:2 that Moses had separated from his wife, Zipporah. This likely had something to do with Zipporah’s disgust at having to circumcise her sons (Exod 4:24-26). After Moses leads the people out of Egypt, Jethro, Zipporah’s father, tried to get the two of them back together, but was unsuccessful, for later in the Pentateuch we learn that Moses had married an Ethiopian woman (Num 12:1).

One wonders if the allowance by Moses for the Israelites to divorce and remarry was because he himself was divorced and remarried (Matt 19:8).

Regardless, everybody expects to see Moses in heaven, and in fact, at the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses is one of the two heavenly beings that speaks with Jesus (Matt 17:1-4).

So divorce is not the unforgivable sin. If you have been divorced, there is grace and forgiveness for you.

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Fear not! You are forgiven. You are loved.

Fill out the form below to receive several emails from me which explains how you can know that you are loved and forgiven by God.

(Note: If you are a member of RedeemingGod.com, login and then revisit this page to update your membership.)

Have I committed the Unforgivable Sin?

By Jeremy Myers

33 Comments

Most Christians have wondered at one time or another if they have committed the unforgivable sin.

I remember being terrified as a child that I had committed some unknown sin which would separate me eternally from God, and so several times a day, I would ask God to forgive me of all known and unknown sins, and would once again ask God to save me and give me eternal life. I was scared that I had committed a sin which was unforgivable.

What bad things had I possibly done as a youth? Nothing too serious. I fought with my siblings, stole candy from the supermarket, and disobeyed my parents.

But there were a few particular sins which terrified me most. They were terrible and I hesitate even to write them here, as I have never told anyone about them before. But to show you that I too have struggled with the unforgivable sin, let me share one of my more terrible sins.

My Most Terrible Sin

As a teenager, I remember kneeling at my bed late one night, and praying to Satan that he would come into my heart.

This is a terrible thing to pray for, but let me explain my rationale. I had been told as a child that one became a Christian by asking Jesus into their heart, which I had done. In fact, as I indicated above, I had done this numerous times.

But one day, someone told me that God was stronger than Satan, and once Jesus was in your heart, nothing could remove Him; not even Satan.

So I decided to test it.

I once prayed to Satan that he would enter my heart.

I also prayed that if he was successful, he would make me the antichrist.

I figured that if I was going to go down in flames, I might as well make it count.

I remember waiting for something to feel different, but nothing seemed to change, and so I decided that Jesus must have been successful in keeping Satan out of my heart.

Have I Committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Nevertheless, even though I did not feel Satan enter my heart, for many years afterwards I had an unshakable fear that maybe Satan had been successful, and since he was the great deceiver, I would not know that he ruled my heart until I actually became the antichrist. So I began to pray night and day that God would keep me from becoming the antichrist. One of my greatest fears at that time was that I would grow up to be God’s greatest enemy on earth.

You can imagine that among the theories on what the unpardonable sin is, one of the top contenders is asking Satan to kick Jesus out of your heart and take up residence there himself so that you can become the antichrist. If there is any unforgivable sin, this is it.

If anyone has committed the unforgivable sin, it is me.

If I had gone for counseling from a pastor who warns others about the unforgivable sin, I believe he would have told me I was doomed forever; that there was no forgiveness for me.

In fact, such a pastor would probably also say that since I committed the unpardonable sin, what I write in these posts about the unpardonable sin is not from God, but is the heresy of a reprobate heart darkened by Satan’s lies.

I hope that after you read these posts, you will feel differently.

I hope that you will come to see how much God loves you and forgives you. I have seen this for myself, and frankly, I cannot imagine how it would benefit Satan to teach others that God is loving and forgiving.

I hope that these posts will help you determine for yourself — in the light of Scripture and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit — that you also have not committed the unforgivable sin.

The content of these posts contain some of the things I have learned over the years about the unforgivable sin, and how I gained freedom and deliverance from my sins of the past. Like me, I trust that as you also will come to to an understanding of God’s infinite love, grace, and forgiveness.

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Fear not! You are forgiven. You are loved.

Fill out the form below to receive several emails from me which explains how you can know that you are loved and forgiven by God.

(Note: If you are a member of RedeemingGod.com, login and then revisit this page to update your membership.)

Gospel for the Middle

By Jeremy Myers

2 Comments

Frank Viola has raised an interesting question this week on his blog in a post called “The Gospel for the Middle.”

He writes about a man named Fielding who lives with his wife and two children in a remote part of Maine. There are no decent churches within a one-hour drive, and while Fielding is interested in the things of God, he is not a reader. He doesn’t use the Web either. He’s a man who works with his hands, both for his career and for recreation. He’s an “outdoorsman.” He hunts, he builds, he does manual labor, etc. In his spare time, he helps his elderly parents with various building projects.

He sent this email to Frank Viola:

When I’m with my cousin once a year, I want to learn more about God. But when I come back home, and I’m around everyone else, my mind is off of God, and I am back to working, raising my kids, and helping my parents. Someone needs to come up with a solution for people like me . . . people who are in the middle. (By “in the middle,” Fielding means someone who believes in Jesus, but who isn’t fully absorbed in the faith yet either. They simply don’t know enough nor do they have any spiritual support system around them.)

Fielding and his wife don’t personally know any Christians. None of their extended family or coworkers are believers either. And the nearest churches (which are an hour away) are not recommended.

Question: What advice would you give to Fielding and his wife?

[Read more…]

Why I Own a Rosary

By Jeremy Myers

7 Comments

I am now the proud owner of a Rosary.

Yes, a Catholic Prayer Rosary.

No, I am not Catholic. I don’t even know how to “use” a Rosary.

But my prayer Rosary is one of my most prized possessions.

Here is how I came to own it:

My wife and I were running errands the other day, and we noticed a hitch hiker. So we picked him up and took him to where he was going. His name was Anthony Rodriguez. We had a great chat about his travels and his family while we drove him to where he was going…. the homeless shelter.

When we got there, he handed us a rosary he had made. He said that he stood on the side of the road for two hours before we picked him up, and his rosary was all he had to give us. We tried to tell him it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted.

His gift was a gesture of kindness and gratitude from someone who had so little to someone who has so much. And for that, I will always cherish my Rosary and remember Anthony Rodriquez every time I see it.