![\"couple\"](\"https:\/\/thegospelobserver.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/couple.jpg?w=676\")
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\u201cGo therefore and make disciples of all the nations\u2026teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age\u201d (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB).
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Contents:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1) Are We \u201cCommitted\u201d in Our Marriage? (R.J. Evans)
2) \u201cAs Long as It Doesn\u2019t Harm Anyone\u201d (Doy Moyer)
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-1-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
by R.J. Evans<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commitment is the cement which keeps the bricks of marriage in place. Sadly, many couples in our selfish, self-indulgent culture do not make a genuine commitment when they marry. I believe the Scripture gives four basic, clear principles that define the necessary commitment for marriage. Too many among us approach marriage concerned only with self \u2014 \u201cwhat\u2019s in it for me?\u201d Commitment demands something other than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Commitment between marriage partners begins with a deep trust in one another<\/strong> (1 Cor. 13:7). This means that we do everything possible to maintain trust. Nothing is done to violate the promise, the vow, or in any way destroy the priority of the two remaining \u201cone flesh\u201d (Gen. 2:24). Trying to make one\u2019s spouse jealous is foolish, juvenile, and can be a precursor to serious marital problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. A solid marriage demands deep devotion to one another<\/strong> (Eph. 5:22-25). This takes the commitment from a promise to a passion. It means that we cannot live the promise without total effort to meet the needs of our mate. It means that we would never abuse, use, or take advantage of our spouse. We protect and provide for one another \u2014 supplying each other\u2019s needs. When our spouse is sick, we care for them with deep devotion and loving concern. In such a marriage, we each fulfill our God-given roles (1 Cor. 7:1-9; Eph. 5:22-29; Col. 3:18-19; Titus 2:1-6; 1 Pet. 3:1-7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, a devoted husband or wife will not indifferently sit by and allow someone else to use, manipulate, mistreat, or take advantage of their spouse. This is especially true of a husband toward his wife since he is primarily her provider and protector (Eph. 5:25, 28-29; 1 Tim. 5:8). This principle is illustrated in Paul\u2019s attitude toward the Corinthians. He told them: \u201cFor I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ\u201d (2 Cor. 2:2). But then notice his deep concern for them in the next verse: \u201cBut I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ\u201d (V. 3). Likewise, he earlier gave them proper instruction, \u201clest Satan should take advantage of us\u201d (2 Cor. 2:11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. A happy home is where the husband and wife are dependent on one another <\/strong>(Gen. 2:18). Here there is developed a strong sense of mutual need and dependence. The husband and wife see the other as strength to their own weakness \u2014 a God-given complement (Gen. 2:18, 23). No one will be allowed to come between the husband-wife relationship \u2014 not parents, grandparents, children, in-laws, or friends. Also, jobs, hobbies, outdoor activities, sports, etc. should never be allowed to drive a wedge between a husband and wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. An unshakable determination to succeed is the standard equipment in the home that is outfitted for a lifetime of happiness.<\/strong> Just as the Apostle Paul pressed toward the goal of heaven (Phil. 3:14), the faithful couple presses on toward making their marriage a success. Nothing happens without complete effort. If we will make it work\u2026it will work. More than that, it will be to God\u2019s glory and our joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With these truths as our constant companions, the strong winds of adversity and trials will never blow our marriage apart. \u201cTherefore what God has joined together, let not man separate\u201d (Matt. 19:6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Via the bulletin of the Southside church of Christ, Gonzales, Louisiana, August 30, 2015 -2-<\/p>\n\n\n\n by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most prominent moral justifications heard today is that as long as the practice doesn\u2019t harm anyone, then it is right and should be allowed. The primary argument this is being used for today is gay marriage, to no one\u2019s surprise. However, it carries broader applications, and those applications aren\u2019t just about politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe practice is not harming anyone, so you need to let them do what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doesn\u2019t that just make sense? How can we not agree with that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, the argument from \u201cno harm\u201d makes assumptions not only about what \u201charm\u201d is or is not, but also about who should or should not perceive something as harmful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We might notice that when people talk about what doesn\u2019t \u201charm\u201d anyone, they don\u2019t really define what they mean. They assume that everyone\u2019s on the same page, and proceed to argue from their assumptions. Interestingly, some of the same people will argue against all religion on the basis that they believe religion \u201charms\u201d people, showing that \u201charm\u201d is often a matter of perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHarm\u201d means to injure or do damage to something. Something good can harm something bad, and something bad can harm something good. Truth will injure the false, and what\u2019s false can damage the cause of truth. The issue shouldn\u2019t be so much, \u201cdoes it cause harm?\u201d but rather, \u201cis it right or wrong?\u201d What we should always be concerned about is doing what is right, and \u201cno harm\u201d isn\u2019t to be equated with \u201cright.\u201d \u201cHarm\u201d is too fluid of a concept to be anchored to \u201cright\u201d or \u201cgood.\u201d If what\u2019s good harms what\u2019s bad, then that\u2019s as it should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is there such a thing as universal harmlessness? Is there really a practice that is totally and completely harmless to everyone and everything in all circumstances? When people say that a practice \u201cdoesn\u2019t harm anyone,\u201d are they making some universal statement of truth? Or are they focusing on a particular circumstance? Are there bigger issues that we ought to think about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What of something considered harmful to one group or person, but not another? Do we ignore part of the equation in order to push an agenda? Who gets to decide that? Who is the authority on what harms people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are different kinds of harm, including physical, emotional, and moral harm. These seem most obvious, but let\u2019s also consider the idea that something can be subtly harmful overall because it chips away at and destroys the structural foundation of a society. When it comes to matters like living together apart from marriage, having children apart from marriage, easy divorce, or gay marriage, we are looking at practices that challenge the infrastructure of the family, which in turn harms the structural foundation of our society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By redefining marriage or family, against both God\u2019s revealed will and all conventional wisdom of many thousands of years, we are naive if we think that there is no harm to the structural foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, the worst of all harms is spiritual in nature. Sin is always the real harm, so if something is sinful, as defined by God, then it is absolutely harmful to the ones who practice the sin as well as the surrounding society. We all ought to desire avoiding that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRighteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people\u201d (Prov. 14:34).<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we take something that is sinful, then argue that it is acceptable because it doesn\u2019t cause anyone \u201charm,\u201d then we have misunderstood the true nature both of what is harmful and the consequences of sin. We are no different from those who called good evil or evil good (Isa. 5:20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than asking whether something is harmful, we need to ask whether some- thing is right. \u201cRight\u201d isn\u2019t defined by our own selfish perspectives, but by a Creator who ultimately knows what is most beneficial or harmful to all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, the gospel addresses the situation in that it calls on us to repent of sin while offering forgiveness and reversing the eternal effects of what sin does to us (Acts 3:19). When we deny the harm that sin causes, then we deny the power of the gospel to overturn our sinful condition. This will result in irrevocable and permanent harm to us, and none of us can afford that. This is why we need to diligently teach the truth that will set us free from sin (John 8:31-32). This isn\u2019t about taking a political position; it\u2019s about reaching a lost world that needs to come home to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Via Search for Truth,<\/em> November 15, 2015, Volume VII, Number 16 \u201c\u2026\u2019I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?’\u201d (Jn. 11:25,26). 1) Hear <\/strong>the gospel, <\/strong>for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30,31). \u201cGo therefore and make disciples of all the nations\u2026teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age\u201d (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB).\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013 Contents: 1) Are We \u201cCommitted\u201d in Our Marriage? (R.J. Evans)2) \u201cAs Long as It Doesn\u2019t Harm Anyone\u201d (Doy Moyer)\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013 -1- Are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":895,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894\/revisions\/895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAs Long as It Doesn\u2019t Harm Anyone\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What does it mean to \u201charm\u201d?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2) Believe <\/strong>in the deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent <\/strong>of sins <\/strong>(Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith <\/strong>in Christ <\/strong>(Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized <\/strong>in water for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
6) Continue in the faith<\/strong>; for, if not, salvation can be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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<\/strong>Tebeau Street
CHURCH OF CHRIST
<\/strong>1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA\u00a0 31501
Sunday <\/strong>services: <\/strong>9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 5 PM (worship)
Wednesday: <\/strong>7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist\/editor: <\/strong>Tom Edwards (912) 281-9917
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com<\/a>
http:\/\/ThomasTEdwards.com\/go<\/a><\/strong> (older version of the Gospel Observer website, but with bulletins going back to March 4, 1990)
http:\/\/ThomasTEdwards.com\/audioser.html<\/a><\/strong> (audio sermons)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"