Before going on with arguments, let us acknowledge that the Holy Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments declare marriage a holy matter, something that God has ordained.
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Is a pastor purer to God if unmarried? Is this what makes people pure under the New Testament? Is it the New Testament in human purity or the New Testament in Christ’s blood?
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Regardless of wording, Daniel paints the “king” whom Melancthon infers to be an antichrist as one who exalts himself above all people, all gods, all law.
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Contrast the hardness of humans with the mercy of God. Humans invent divorce and laws like celibacy — even forcing divorces upon those already married so that human regulation will be kept, even when it is in open defiance of God’s command.
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There are those who are able to truly and consistently practice control of the flesh. But if they are not able, if they have not been empowered with restraint by God, then they should marry. This is God’s plan for us — with good reason.
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Do you imagine that you are able to be virtuous in your own strength? Of course, we must rely on God’s strength, not our own. Yet we are not to rely upon his strength alone. We must also depend upon his plan.
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God has already provided the answer; and it is a splendid solution. So, if anything, people should pray for common sense. God has blessed men and women with the sweet fellowship of marriage and the comfort and peace of the marriage bed.
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Paul does not say here that he wishes all were celibate. Rather, he speaks of his gifting from God’s Spirit to keep himself under control. He would prefer that all were like himself, self-controlled in matters of sexual appetite.
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Since the fall of Adam, the temptation to sin in general has been difficult but the struggle with lust may be at the top of the list. Self-control is a hard habit to master.
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Evidently, the notion of celibacy had been raised with Paul by the Corinthians. The apostle gives a conditional response. There are some who have received special graces from God, so that they may be celibate.
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Natural love existed between men and women even when their nature was still pure. God told Adam and Eve to “be fruitful and multiply,” which of course, happens in but one manner.
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In the wisdom of God, there are both male and female, the one for the other. He formed man from “the dust of the ground,” then breathing into him “the breath of life.”
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Eating, drinking, marrying, and other such natural privileges and rights are good; God has blessed these things for our use. Yet a problem occurs when we enjoy (or over-enjoy) these rights without thanks to God.
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God has built into nature — indeed, into our natures — the union of men and women. But this built-in right points to the glory of the regenerated nature that we have in Christ.
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This is human reason at work again. Scripture says one thing, but we come up with our reasons for not believing what the Word says. Men and women are made for one another...
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“Reason cannot establish anything sure about God.” But if we rely upon what is written, if we look to Scripture for our answers, we see quite clearly that God created men and women for the purposes of partnership and filling the earth with people.
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God provided man a helpmate, a female helper and companion. This is God’s will and plan for his creation — a good and godly arrangement.
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Some people just have to be right — even at the expense of being very wrong. Cultures, whether religious or political, never seem to change in this regard.
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There it is; this is the problem. When we base our positions on traditions, we end up with opinions. When our beliefs come from God’s Word, how can we do anything but oppose human opinions that are contrary to his Word?
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It is an irony. One would think that priests would be the ones to marry. After all, Paul tells us that marriage is a symbol of the relationship that Christ has with his Church.
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One cannot put on an alb and cincture, yet live like an unbound infidel, and think that putting on an extra robe will cover the hypocrisy. More laws and traditions are not needed.
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The authors of the Roman Confutation acted as if the shameful lives of so many priests were of little concern compared to the issue of priests being permitted to marry.
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There have always been and still are priests, popes, pastors, and bishops who will have nothing to do with the commands and law of God. Scripture is not their guide; indeed, they teach the people that some verses of the Bible are true, while others are fairy tales
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I am always impressed by the steady hands of those who pour from a chalice into a small, individual communion cups. I am no less impressed by those who can hold the cup to the lips without spilling, and for those lips to receive without dribbling.
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I am always impressed by the steady hands of those who pour from a chalice into a small, individual communion cups. I am no less impressed by those who can hold the cup to the lips without spilling, and for those lips to receive without dribbling.
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The focus of the Lord’s Supper should not be the office of the minister, but Christ alone. With him as our focus, we easily see that there are indeed offices or orders in the Christ’s Church but that we “are all one in Christ Jesus.”
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All of God’s people are to be given both kinds in the Lord’s Supper — both the bread and the wine, his body and his blood. The reason for this usage is simply this: the Lord himself commands this practice for the forgiveness of sins.
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Just because someone wants it to be a certain way, does not make it so. If someone commands authority, this does not necessarily make his demands right. The dictates of an entire culture do not stamp a matter with divine approval.
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If we are to seek first the kingdom of God (Matt 6:33), what is it that we should desire? The simplest answer is that we should seek Christ.
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Who is elevated or remembered in such a distinction between clergy and laity? Is it Christ? Or is it the clergy who are given the greater dignity?
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