Christians: Please answer.?

Question

I was watching live from liberty today (w/ jerry falwell) and there were a few questions i wanted some answers to.

*he stated that if u had, had a divorce, you should not be a deacon or pastor of the church.

*pornography is a sin

*alcohol is a sin.

I know christian people who have / do all three does this mean they are sinning? May they not go to heaven?

Also ive never had a straight answer on if u sin and then repent, sin again, repent again, sin again, etc. Are u really forgiven?

Answer 1

Hello my good friend!
So glad to see you're seeking the Lord.
The first point about a deacon, is his churches' position and NOT necessarily the Bible viewpoint.

The next two points are not activities a follower of Christ would do and still be able to please God.
Given enough time, I could make a clear case from Scripture that they indeed are sinful, and to be avoided.

Now for your last point. I can't believe no one has given you a straight answer.
Here it is... Yes.
If / when you sin and you are truly sorry and repentant before God asking for His forgiveness, He will forgive you. You have His Word on it. Check out 1st Jn 1:9 etc.

But you knew there was a "but" coming.
And here it is... If your heart is right before God you will not want to sin over and over again.
In fact, if you are His child, it will tear at your heart when you sin and you understand that it was/is your sin that nailed Him to the cross.

A GREAT preacher once made this statement...
"I sin all I want to...
I just don't want to." (A.Rogers.)

So I hope this helps.
And I avoided telling you anything about going to Hell.

Answer 2

I will try to answer your questions as best as I can.

BTW: Jerry Falwell does not speak for all Christians.

1. Most churches are against divorce. Some churches are stricter than others on this. Many CHURCHES do not allow divorced people to hold a leadership role in the church. Not all churches are like this. I am a woman and divorced. My church is small and does not actually have deacons. However I do hold a leadership role in the church.

2. The bible says we are not to be sexually indiscriminate. I don't know if that includes pornography. I do know that if pornography interfers with life or a marriage it is a sin. We should not idolize anything above God. However to me this only applies if someone is addicted to pornography. Again Jerry Falwell (although maybe a good man) does not speak for God or for all Christians.

3. Alcohol would be the same as pornography. An addiction is a sin (and an illness). A social drink is not a sin. There is nothing biblical against social drinking.

Yes the cycle of sin, repent, sin, repent does go on. However we are only forgiven if we truly repent. God knows if you are really sorry or not. And he is forgiving even if we make the same mistake again and again.

Answer 3

A born again Christian's sins, past, present and future, are all covered by the blood of Christ. Yes, I can sin and repent and sin and repent. And there are a couple of things in particular I'm stuggling with; overeating and using the Lord's name in vain (cursing). There is a difference between really wanting to stop doing this sin, and being weak and failing, and doing it over and over and not caring, thinking, "oh I'll just ask for forgiveness", and God knows the difference. I am unhappy with my weakness, and God knows my heart.

When it comes to what Jerry Falwell says about not being a deacon or pastor of a church if you've been divorced, I would say it would be up to the individual church. Nothing in the bible makes that judgment that I know of.

I would agree that pornography is a great sin and is tearing families apart. I would not agree that alcohol is a sin unless it is causing trouble for that person. A glass of wine now and then, what's the problem there? The bible says do not be drunk, it doesn't say never drink.

Answer 4

Spiral,
. All three are sinful acts. The church that allowed such a person to become a deacon would also be sinning by not following GOD's WORD. The preacher may have a divorce as long as it were a scriptural divorce. That is, if his wife had been unfaithful to him. Continual sins are not a good thing. We can not judge the person who does such a thing but Christ will do so at the Judgment. GOD's Forgivness of a Christian is for sins that are not generally intentional in nature. However, we are not to judge others according to the scriptures. That will be done at the time our FATHER has chosen and by HIS JUDGE, Jesus Christ. Have a great evening and a wonderful Lord's Day!
Thanks,
Eds

PS...
I am NOT a Jerry Falwell fan.
When we "repent" of a sin it means to "turn from" that sin.

EDIT:
Searcher,
I believe that you are wrong about remarriage at all. Please read 1 Timothy 3:12 A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well. I do not see anything about being "OK" to remarry after a spouse's death written anywhere for a Deacon of Christ's Church.


.

Answer 5

First thing: Whenever you ask God for forgiveness and mean it, (not like asking for forgiveness while knowing you're planning to do the same thing the next day,) then no matter what, He will forgive you. Anybody that's forgiven by God's grace can go to heaven, Promise!!!

About divorces and being pastors, my youth pastor went through a divorce, and he's a wonderful pastor who I believe God planned for him to be our pastor. The situation, his wife cheated and left him, without a goodbye, and it wasn't really his fault. Some people that are pastors but have a really rocky marriage or marry, get divorced, and then start again, I don't think they could pastor well and be of aid to people's problems in the church when they're going through so much messiness in they're own marriage. Marriage, sometimes it's one person's doing to another person, other times it's irresponsibility, and we don't need irresponsible pastors leading our churches.

About pornography: polluting your minds with disgusting, unrealistic, sinful, sexual images that don't belong in there, is a sin. Plain as that. Whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is honorable, we ought to think upon those things. A stupid video of two people "doing it" doesn't fit that description, and it'll ruin your relationships.

Alcohol, the bible says drinking as bit of alcohol isn't a sin. Jesus even drank a bit himself, and had all of his disciples do the same at communion. It does say clearly that getting drunk is a sin though.

Answer 6

DIVORCE There was a woman that Jesus talked to and She had 5 husbands and the man she was with was not married to her .But after she and Jesus talked she went and preached to the people and the whole town believed upon the lord Jesus.
Pornography is a sin because of it's filthy nature. It is not art.
No where in the bible does it say not to drink. But it is a sin to get drunk. It in fact says that a drunkard will not enter the kingdom of heaven. BUT this does not include those people that at least try to break the habit. God is talking about those people who love booze and drugs and don't care if they ever break the habit. If you have vice and want to stop just say the rosary, after 14 yrs it cured me!!!
Will the people that do all three go to heaven? Sure these things are not the unforgivable sin. They just need to believe upon Jesus and repent of their sins and they are good to go.
Street talk? Yup , repetitive sinning is forgiven as long as you are not trying to jack God around. He is highly intelligent and knows a snow job when He sees one. If each time you have fallen you have done your best to resist then he will forgive you upon sincere repentance. But like I said you can't blow any smoke up his behind , he knows your deepest darkest thought. But He also knows where your heart is. Now I hope this has been a straight enough answer. And you can take that to the bank.

Answer 7

First, we all sin.
I think the question of divorce should be taken on a case by case basis. If a person is a victim of divorce: the partner just decided to look furthur afield, I don't think the abandoned victim should be punished for that! And they should be able to get married, and serve God in any way they are apt.
Pornography? Would you like your husband to spend his time looking at porn? Would you like your daughter to portray herself in porn? It's a sin.
Alcohol is not a sin. Drinking too much at a time is a sin. And developing a dependence is a sin.
Finally, I sin and I repent, I sin and I repent again, and again, and again. And yes, I am really forgiven. But if you really love God, you don't repent lightly. You really try to do better. You can't be happy just floating along without changing at all.

Answer 8

Well, yes these people you speak of are sinning, and everyone sins. If they repent of their sins and ask God to come into their heart , the yes they will go to heaven. The point is that on judgement day each person will have to go before God and be held accountable for every sin in their life. You can't just keep repeating the same sin over and over again and not be sorry for it. If you are able to sin and not feel bad about it or repent of it, then I believe you are not truly living for God. I hope I was of some help to you and didn't confuse you too much.
God Bless You

Answer 9

Dear spiraxxx,

I'll do my best to answer each of your questions.

*A good church will seek to follow the Bible and the Bible in 1 Timothy lays out the requirements for a deacon and a pastor (overseer). i think a lot of it has to do with first- whether the divorce occurred while they were non-believers, or what not. The Bible says that a deacon or overseer should be the husband of one wife (it means that he should be a faithful one woman man), so it's really up to an individual church- but it seems like Dr. Falwell is taking that to mean that he should not be divorced. (i honestly don't find Dr. Falwell to be the best Bible teacher) but hope that clarifies that first issue.

*Pornography is a sin as well as alcohol. It is no secret that it is a sin that many people (even believers) in our society struggle with. i think the key with recognizing that something is a sin- is how do you deal with it? Basically does that person agree with God that pornography and being drunk (alcohol itself is not sinful- but being controlled by it and drunk is sinful) are not things that are pleasing to God. For some people when they first come to Christ they struggle with these things and with help from God and others can overcome them.

If you sin, repent, sin, repent, ... the truth is that's between you and God because God sees your heart. And to repent means to turn away. i know when i first became a Christian i struggled a lot with cussing and it took a lot of prayer and a lot of help from brothers and sisters in Christ to overcome it- but the whole time i knew that i wanted to do what pleases God... i hope that's a sufficient enough answer- if you want to email me directly and share your specific situation- i'd be more than happy to listen, share my thoughts, and pray for you.

Hope that helps.

Kindly,

Nickster

Answer 10

Elder/deacon/pastors ... are to be “above reproach” (1 Timothy 3:2). If the divorce results in a poor testimony for the man in the church or community, it may be the “above reproach” qualification that excludes him rather than the “husband of one wife” requirement. An elder/deacon/pastor is to be a man that the church and community can look up to as an example of Christ-likeness and godly leadership. If his divorce detracts from this purpose, perhaps he should not serve in the position of elder/deacon/pastor.

Pornography ... the three main categories of sin are: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). Pornography definitely causes us to lust after flesh, and it undeniably is a lust for our eyes so yes, it's a sin.

Alcohol ... God commands Christians to avoid drunkenness (Ephesians 5:18). The Bible condemns drunkenness and its effects (Proverbs 23:29-35). Christians are also commanded to not allow their bodies to be “mastered” by anything (1 Corinthians 6:12; 2 Peter 2:19).

You can sin and still go to heaven. As for sin, repent, sin, repent ... the word repent means to turn from sin so one must be sincere to be forgiven.