The Holy Spirit distinctly and expressly declares
that in latter times
some will turn away from the faith,
giving attention to deluding and seducing spirits
and doctrines that demons teach,
Through the hypocrisy and pretensions of liars
that in latter times
some will turn away from the faith,
giving attention to deluding and seducing spirits
and doctrines that demons teach,
Through the hypocrisy and pretensions of liars
whose consciences are seared (cauterized),
Who forbid people to marry
(1 Timothy 4:1-3)
Turning to 1 Corinthians 7:
1 Now as to the matters of which you wrote me. It is well [and by that I mean advantageous, expedient, profitable, and wholesome] for a man not to touch a woman [to cohabit with her] but to remain unmarried.
Notice the people Paul is addressing here are UNMARRIED. As we'll see through verse 7, they are clearly HETEROSEXUAL people he is addressing:
2 But because of the temptation to impurity and to avoid immorality, let each [man] have his own wife and let each [woman] have her own husband.
3 The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights (goodwill, kindness, and what is due her as his wife), and likewise the wife to her husband.
4 For the wife does not have [exclusive] authority and control over her own body, but the husband [has his rights]; likewise also the husband does not have [exclusive] authority and control over his body, but the wife [has her rights].
5 Do not refuse and deprive and defraud each other [of your due marital rights], except perhaps by mutual consent for a time, so that you may devote yourselves unhindered to prayer. But afterwards resume marital relations, lest Satan tempt you [to sin] through your lack of restraint of sexual desire.
6 But I am saying this more as a matter of permission and concession, not as a command or regulation.
7 I wish that all men were like I myself am [in this matter of self-control]. But each has his own special gift from God, one of this kind and one of another.
Paul now ordains marriage for a second group of UNMARRIED people:
8 But to the unmarried people and to the widows, I declare that it is well (good, advantageous, expedient, and wholesome) for them to remain [single] even as I do.
9 But if they have not self-control (restraint of their passions), they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame [with passion and tortured continually with ungratified desire].
If the 2nd group of people Paul addressed in verses 8-9 were heterosexual, they would have been included in the 1st group.
Many people respond to this by saying the 1st group of people Paul addressed were already married. Verse 1 (above) and now verse 10 (below) prove that Paul doesn't address MARRIED people until this point in his letter.
10 But to the married people I give charge--not I but the Lord--that the wife is not to separate from her husband.
Many people respond to this by saying the Apostle Paul only ordained marriage for UNMARRIED NON-HETEROSEXUAL people in the Church at Corinth, but in verse 17 below, Paul says, "This is my order in ALL the churches."
11 But if she does [separate from and divorce him], let her remain single or else be reconciled to her husband. And [I charge] the husband [also] that he should not put away or divorce his wife.
12 To the rest I declare--I, not the Lord [for Jesus did not discuss this]--that if any brother has a wife who does not believe [in Christ] and she consents to live with him, he should not leave or divorce her.
13 And if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he consents to live with her, she should not leave or divorce him.
14 For the unbelieving husband is set apart (separated, withdrawn from heathen contamination, and affiliated with the Christian people) by union with his consecrated (set-apart) wife, and the unbelieving wife is set apart and separated through union with her consecrated husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean (unblessed heathen, outside the Christian covenant), but as it is they are prepared for God [pure and clean].
15 But if the unbelieving partner [actually] leaves, let him do so; in such [cases the remaining] brother or sister is not morally bound. But God has called us to peace.
16 For, wife, how can you be sure of converting and saving your husband? Husband, how can you be sure of converting and saving your wife?
17 Only, let each one [seek to conduct himself and regulate his affairs so as to] lead the life which the Lord has allotted and imparted to him and to which God has invited and summoned him. This is my order in all the churches.
Many people say we should not listen to Paul's teaching because he supported slavery. Not true:
21 Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let that trouble you. But if you are able to gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.
22 For he who as a slave was summoned in [to union with] the Lord is a freedman of the Lord, just so he who was free when he was called is a bond servant of Christ (the Messiah).
23 You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for by Christ]; then do not yield yourselves up to become slaves to men [but consider yourselves slaves to Christ].
Many people say we should not listen to Paul because he would have supported ex-gay conversion therapy. Not true:
24 So, brethren, in whatever station or state or condition of life each one was when he was called, there let him continue with and close to God.
Many people say we should not listen to Paul because he would have told LGBT people to commit to lives of celibacy. Not true:
37 But whoever is firmly established in his heart [strong in mind and purpose], not being forced by necessity but having control over his own will and desire, and has resolved this in his heart to keep his own virginity, he is doing well.
Many people say that verses 8-9 above spoke of widows (women whose husbands had passed away). Actually, it's a reference to Isaiah 54 wherein God refers to single barren women as "widowhood." Paul doesn't speak of women whose husband have passed away until this point:
39 A wife is bound to her husband by law as long as he lives. If the husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she will, only [provided that he too is] in the Lord.
40 But in my opinion [a widow] is happier (more blessed and to be envied) if she does not remarry. And also I think I have the Spirit of God.
If Paul meant to define "widows" in verse 8 as simply "women whose husbands had passed away" he would not once again address them in verse 39-40.
Turning now to 1 Timothy 4:1-3
1 The Holy Spirit distinctly and expressly declares that in latter times
some will turn away from the faith,
giving attention to deluding and seducing spirits
and doctrines that demons teach,
2 Through the hypocrisy and pretensions of liars
whose consciences are seared (cauterized),
3 Who forbid people to marry...
Who is being forbid to marry today?
At no time in human history have each specific element of this prophecy been fulfilled as we see it in the gay marriage debate today.
Some say the Gnotics. While the Gnostic Christians of Paul's day indeed forbid some people to marry, we see the Holy Spirit specifies "in latter times" in verse 1. That would rule out the Gnostics.
Some say the Catholic Church policy on celibacy for priests. While the Catholic Church indeed requires priests to take vows of celibacy, the priests do so by their own choice. Nobody is "forced" into the priesthood. This follows Paul's own teaching that unmarried men can better focus on serving the Church, without being constrained to also tend to practical aspects of married life. Clearly the Church is within the teaching of Paul in this regard, and the priests who so choose to enter the priesthood follow Paul's teaching to do so only as they have personally resolved in their own heart. This would rule out the Catholic Church's teaching on priests.
Who is doing the forbidding?
We see the Holy Spirit goes on to say those who forbid people to marry in the latter times would do so through "hypocrisy and pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared." The 2012 Presidential GOP lineup shows this prophecy fulfilled in stark detail, as one candidate who had been divorced and remarried 3 times was actually being considered over candidates who support marriage equality.
We see this prophecy being fulfilled in precise detail as amendments have been added to ballots across the country designed specifically to "forbid people to marry."
They are largely supported by those who call themselves Christians, who not only disregard Paul's ordination of gay marriage (or as Paul said, had fallen away from the faith), but also through their very own hypocrisy and pretense, (as manifested in the skyrocketing divorce rate and rampant adultery among heterosexual couples in our modern age). They also continue to disregard the Holy Spirit's warning against such and (as we see defined in 1 Timothy 4:1-3) have been "seduced by doctrines demons teach."
For a theologically thorough examination of these findings, please review: "Chapter 2: God Ordained Gay Marriage" and please send this post to everyone you know, whether they support gay marriage, or whether they forbid people to marry.
The only way to prick the conscience of a professed Christian is with the very Scriptures upon which their conscience is based.
If they still oppose gay marriage after reading this, we can only pray that God have mercy upon their soul.
Learn how to respond to other religious arguments against LGBT people in only 10 minutes with this Quick Reference Guide!
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