Views: 2<\/p>
[Note:\u00a0 <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1<\/strong>\u00a0 page.]<\/span><\/p>\n Many grievously misunderstand the nature of revelation\/inspiration. Some aver that only the words of Jesus (those in red letters in some Bibles) are authoritative, and the remainder of the writers reflect their personal human opinions. The 1970s militant feminists labeled Paul\u2019s doctrine relating to the God-given respective roles of men and women (e.g., Gen. 3:16; I Cor. 11:3; Eph. 5:23; 1 Tim. 2:11\u201312; et al.) as the mere opinionated rantings of a disillusioned, male-chauvinist, woman-hating bachelor\u2014unworthy of credibility; He was not Jesus!<\/span><\/p>\n Some brethren are not far behind the aforementioned attitude toward revelation\/inspiration, though for different reasons. Years ago, a brother where I preached made a Wednesday night \u201ctalk\u201d in which he commented on various expressions in 1 Corinthians 7. He alleged that Paul\u2019s statement, \u201cTo the rest say I, not the Lord\u201d (v. 12), was uninspired human opinion, which we could choose to ignore. It fell my lot to correct his error before the assembly was dismissed. I did so by pointing out as gently as possible that all Paul was saying was that the Lord had not specifically addressed <\/strong>the situations, which he was about to address (vv. 12\u201315), but that Paul\u2019s words on the subject were nonetheless inspired.<\/span><\/p>\n Other brethren view Paul\u2019s words here (particularly v. 15) not as mere opinion, but as \u201cexpanded revelation\u201d relative to Jesus\u2019 teaching in Matthew 19:9 regarding divorce and remarriage. Whereas He gave one<\/strong>\u2014and only <\/strong>one\u2014Divinely allowable cause for divorce and remarriage (viz., fornication on the part of one\u2019s spouse), Paul allegedly allowed desertion by an unbelieving spouse as a second cause, thus an \u201cexception to Jesus\u2019 exception.\u201d While Jesus promised the apostles that the Holy Spirit would give them additional revelation (John 16:13, et al.), He could not have had in mind contradictory <\/strong>revelation.<\/span><\/p>\n Paul wrote: \u201cYet if the unbelieving departeth, let him depart: the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us in peace\u201d (1 Cor. 7:15, ASV). Such brethren argue that not under bondage <\/em>refers to the \u201cmarriage bond,\u201d which\u2014since one is no longer \u201cin bondage\u201d to it\u2014desertion gives one the Scriptural right to remarry, whether or not the deserting spouse had\/has committed fornication. Let me demonstrate that this is not the case:<\/span><\/p>\n This passage contains no so-called \u201cPauline privilege\u201d that grants a second Scriptural ground for divorce and remarriage. Jesus teaches that when a marriage dissolves apart from the cause of fornication, neither party has the right to remarry unless and until the one abandoning the marriage has committed or commits fornication (Mat. 19:9). In such a case, only the innocent <\/strong>spouse has that Scriptural right. There remains one<\/strong>\u2014and only <\/strong>one\u2014Scriptural ground for divorce and remarriage\u2014fornication on the part of one\u2019s spouse. Neither desertion nor any other cause of the dissolution of a God-ordained marriage (Mat. 19:6) constitutes an additional Divinely ordained ground for remarriage.<\/span><\/p>\n Paul was not <\/strong>merely offering an uninspired optional \u201copinion\u201d in 1 Corinthians 7:12\u201315, nor was he extending an additional exception to Jesus words (Mat. 19:9). All <\/strong>of the New Testament (as is the Old) is God\u2019s revelation via inspired men. Thus the words of Paul, John, Peter, and the other New Testament writers are as authoritative as the words of Jesus. The Holy Spirit, Whom the Lord Jesus told the apostles He would send upon them from the Father, supplied those words (John 14:26; 16:13; 1 Cor. 2:10, 13; 14:37; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20\u201321; 3:15\u201316; et al.).<\/span><\/p>\n [Note: <\/strong>I wrote this article for and it was published in The Lighthouse, <\/em>weekly bulletin of Northpoint Church of Christ, Denton, TX, August 10, 2014, of which I was editor.]<\/span><\/p>\n Attribution: <\/strong>From TheScripturecache.com<\/em>, owned and administered by Dub McClish.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Views: 2[Note:\u00a0 This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1\u00a0 page.] Many grievously misunderstand the nature of revelation\/inspiration. Some aver that only the words of Jesus (those in red letters in some Bibles) are authoritative, and the remainder of the writers…<\/p>\n\n