Total Commitment (Luke 16:18)

Okay... it is one of those days when Jesus is going to make a lot of people mad. And he is going to make them mad at me too for not skipping over this teaching.  But in this blog, I am not skipping over any of Jesus' teachings - I am going chronologically through the New Testament hitting everything.  But the fact that Jesus wasn't politically correct - and my desire to soften his teaching - is why my post is already 2 and 1/2 hours late.  But if I am going to be a follower of Jesus and a teacher of his way, I can't pick and choose from what I like and don't like.  I have to trust that Jesus is right.

Luke 16:18   "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Once again, Jesus is pushing the standards higher.  It no longer matters what the law allows us to do.  It matters what is in our hearts.  And Jesus has already told us that following him is about self-sacrifice and putting God and others first.  So in the verse in Luke, divorce isn't okay just because you don't get along or have fallen out of love or have irreconcilable differences or because of any number of other reasons.

And this concept doesn't just apply to divorce - it applies to every part of our lives.  The fact is that the law allows us to do things that are not okay with God.  And for us to follow God we can not live by the law alone - we have to live with the Holy Spirit's guidance.  It is the only way for us to know where God is leading us.  The law can't tell us who to marry, what house to buy, what job to take.  Only the Spirit can do that. Matthew captures more of Jesus' words (below) and gives a valid reason for leaving a spouse: marital unfaithfulness.  But I think there are others too... like abuse - like abandonment.  Only the Spirit can make it clear to you what God wants you to do.

Live by the Spirit's guidance and not by the law!

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The other gospels weigh in...

Matthew 5:31-32   31 "It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.'  32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.