A question about preachers?

Question

Let's say a man who has never married gets married to a woman who has been married twice before him and they both are living in sin. Then one day they both get saved and sometime later God calls the man to preach. Some churches do not believe in a man becoming a preacher because of the wife's past. Can you please help me in this and please give scripture as to what God says on this subject? I have done some looking but not come up with much. Thanks

Answer 1

i believe if god forgives them, then all is forgiven

Answer 2

The scriptures give a variety of responses to divorce and remarriage.

More than one person called to preach and prophecy has had problematic marriage situations...Moses, David, Hosea....and, of course the patriarchs were polygamous. Later on in the New Testament, a set of ideal qualifications were established for ministry -- interestingly, these rules would have excluded most of the Old Testament great ones.

Basically, the question you ask is a murky one. We have the concept of forgiveness for all past sins at the same time we have the rules about divorce and adultery. Have a look at the urls below for pages that will discuss the scriptures you are looking for --also I think you are looking for the guidelines for preachers, elders, etc. in 1 Tim. 3-13.

Hence, the situation is how you report it --some churches take a hard line against ordination in the face of past failed marriages, while others are more tolerant. What happens is that there are different understandings of the various scriptures as well as different understandings of how forgiveness operates --some see it as a clean washing of the slate, while others note that while the sin is forgiven, consequences remain.

Bottom line, different denominations interpret the scriptures in different ways, which accounts for the differences you are seeing.

Answer 3

There really is not much in the bible specifically on this subject. I believe that God just wnats our hearts to be pure before HIm and, that He is no respector of persons and; That the gifts are without repentance which means; God will use anyone who is willing to be used, as long as their heart is pure in that area! He know a persons heart better than we do. I believe that God will allow the person's situation to be used as a testimony for all the good things He has done in their lives. Here are some scriptures:Deuteronomy 10:17, Rom 11:29,Act 10:34. I hope that this helps!

Answer 4

If they both were ignorant of the scriptures regarding marriage and divorce and both become saved after the fact - then they start on a clean slate and are bound to each other. If they divorce after that - then the law applies and they have no excuse. The real question comes when only one is saved and the other is not.., in which case I have no proper answer without praying about it.

Answer 5

If it's the woman who was married before, I would say that it's okay. If the man and the woman have both repented and truly accepted Jesus, then the man is okay to preach.

However, if the man is the one who's been married before, I would say it's wrong. It says in Titus 1:6 that an "elder" or "overseer" (depending on the translation) must be the husband of one wife.

I hope this answers your question.

Answer 6

Check out the Book of Hosea. Hosea was a prophet of God whose wife was a prostitute.

Enough said on whether a wife's past should keep a man from being a preacher.

Answer 7

I do not know a scripture exactly but I believe that the situation is possible because there is something as repentence and the wife may have repent to God about her past.

Answer 8

i believe that we try and run our own life and go thru alot of changes. when u get god in ur life and heart,he directs ur life the way it suppose 2 be all the time. GOD SAID COME AS U ARE! HIS ARMS ARE ALWAYS OPEN.when u accept CHRIST in ur life u are a new creature no matter what u done. GOD FORGIVES ALL THE TIME THANK HIM 4 HIS GRACE.without a story theres no glory. GODS WORD ALSO SAIDS JUDGE NOT!!!!!!!!!