January 18, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Divorce and Salvation

January 18, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Divorce and Salvation

Matthew 28:18-20 – New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission

¹⁸ “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Divorce and Salvation

Matthew 19:1-12 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. ² Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³ Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

⁴ “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ ⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

⁷ “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

⁸ Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. ⁹ I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

¹⁰ The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

¹¹ Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. ¹² For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

Where did Jesus go after he “had finished saying these things” (verse 1)?

Who followed Him (verse 2)?

In your opinion, what is the testing that comes in the question “is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason” (verse 3)?

What question did Jesus ask the Pharisees (verses 4 and 5)?

Who joined the two together (verse 6)?

Who can separate (verse 6)?

How did the Pharisees try to make Jesus an opponent of Moses (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what was “not this way from the beginning” (verse 8)?

What does a man “who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman” do (verse 9)?

Who ask “if this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean by “not everyone can accept this word” (verse 11)?

Who should accept this word (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 19:1-12 show us about the Great Commission?

Malachi 2:10-16 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ “Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?

¹¹ Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god. ¹² As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove him from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings an offering to the Lord Almighty.

¹³ Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. ¹⁴ You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.

¹⁵ Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

¹⁶ “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty.

So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.”

How does Malachi establish our similarity (verse 10)?

Who has been unfaithful (verse 11)?

How was the “sanctuary the Lord loves” desecrated (verse 11)?

In your opinion, why would bringing offerings to the Lord Almighty not prevent punishment of the man who married a woman who worshiped a foreign god (verse 12)?

Why do people “weep and wail” (verse 13)?

Who is the Lord a “witness between” (verse 14)?

How is the “wife of your youth” additionally described (verse 14)?

What “does the one God seek” (verse 15)?

In your opinion, how does the “man who hates and divorces his wife” do “violence to the one he should protect” (verse 16)?

What is Malachi’s final instruction (verse 16)?

In your opinion, how does Jesus, in His statement about divorce in Matthew 19:1-12, build upon the position that Malachi established in Malachi 2:10-16?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Malachi show us about the Great Commission?

1 Corinthians 7:10-17 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ “To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. ¹¹ But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

¹² To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. ¹³ And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

¹⁵ But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. ¹⁶ How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

¹⁷ Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.”

What command is given (verse 10)?

How should a wife who is separated from her husband act (verse 11)?

What is commanded of husbands (verse 11)?

In your opinion, why does Paul say “I, not the Lord” (verse 12)?

In Paul’s instruction, who should determine if the believing husband and the unbelieving wife should continue to be married (verse 12)?

In Paul’s instruction, who should determine if the believing wife and the unbelieving husband should continue to be married (verse 13)?

What is the result for the children if the believing and unbelieving spouses continue in marriage (verse 14)?

How has God called us to live (verse 15)?

What might the believing spouses accomplish (verse 16)?

How should each person live in “whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what is the difference in the way that you understand the message about marriage that is presented in the negative (don’t do) in Malachi 2:10-16 and in the positive (do do) in 1 Corinthians 7:10-17?

In your opinion, how does Paul giving the choice of whether or not there should be a divorce or not to the unbeliever in the marriage in 1 Corinthians 7:10-17 help us to understand about the people who Jesus said had “hard hearts” in Matthew 19:1-12?

In your opinion, what does this passage from 1 Corinthians show us about the Great Commission?

    

2 Peter 3:10-18 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. ¹⁶ He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

¹⁷ Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

What will come like a thief (verse 10)?

How should we live (verse 11)?

What should we look forward to (verse 12)?

Where does righteousness dwell (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why should we make every effort to “be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him” (verse 14)?

What does “our Lord’s patience” mean (verse 15)?

How did Paul write (verse 15)?

What do the “ignorant and unstable people distort” (verse 16)?

Where do we want to “be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from” (verse 17)?

What should we grow in (verse 18)?

In your opinion, how does the believing spouse staying with the unbelieving spouse as instructed in 1 Corinthians 7:10-17 a demonstration by the people of God of the patience of the Lord means salvation that Peter talks about in 2 Peter 3:10-18?

In your opinion, how is Malachi saying to “be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth” in Malachi 2:10-16 expanded on by Peter when he says “be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless” in 2 Peter 3:10-18?

In your opinion, how does is Peter talking about the “Lord’s patience” and “salvation” in 2 Peter 3:10-18 help those who have had difficulty with command of Jesus “Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” in Matthew 19:1-12 or any other command find hope and peace?

In your opinion, what does this passage from 2 Peter show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 19:13 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)