God Does Not Pursue Forever Either! - Divorce Minister
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels….'”
– Matthew 25:41, NKJV
Somehow evangelical theology has become so twisted as to promote a distorted picture of God.
This picture states that God is always in pursuit of those who have rejected Him and His ways. It is a model of God’s relationship with humans used to guilt adultery victims into taking back their soul rapists or forces them into being stuck in perpetual pursuit of their cheater. Hosea is often misapplied here to support this heretical idea.
Such a teaching forgets that God takes our choices seriously.
He does not force us to follow Him. And He will hold us accountable for our decisions to reject His ways as these words from Jesus make vividly explicit.
God does not pursue the unrighteous indefinitely!
And saying the “right” things does not protect one from damnation as this parable–i.e. “The Parable of the Goats and Sheep” from Matthew 15–illustrates. The goats wondered why they were being sentenced to damnation, and Jesus makes it clear that such a sentence follows from failing to worship Him in deed caring for “the least of these.”
A cheater and his/her supporter can have all the “right” religious verbiage. However, as “The Parable of the Sheep and Goats” from Matthew 25 clearly teaches, verbiage without the actual care will only earn one a ticket to the everlasting fire of Hell.
God loves the world (see John 3:16). However, Jesus is making it clear in this parable that He will still judge and damn some members of the world for their choices and actions of rejecting Him and His ways.
A fuller and more accurate theology regarding God’s relationship with humans takes this reality into consideration. It teaches us that God loves us too much to dismiss our decisions to reject Him in our deeds. True, God is a God of reconciliation (see 2 Cor 5:19); however, even God refuses to reconcile with those who have rejected Him in the end.
God’s grace and God’s holiness are character traits that must never be disjointed. Yes, God extends His mercy and grace to sinners like you and me. However, He requires holiness of His people. And He will reject those who have rejected Him in the end as His holiness dictates.
Those faithful spouses who choose or accept divorce are no different, in my opinion, than God accepting the rejection of those who refuse to live as His followers. Yes, it is sad. But such a rejection does not mean God or the faithful spouse is lesser because of it.
It just means the adulterous individual is unrighteous and has chosen darkness over walking in the light.
