And indeed, the issue is SIN and RIGHTEOUSNESS. Sin is, always has been, and always will be, of the devil.
Righteousness is, always has been, and always will be, of God. (Do you agree?) The "times" of the "Law" and of "Grace" are how God dealt (deals) with sin in different "times". Sin NEVER becomes Righteous. Righteousness NEVER becomes Sin. (Do you agree?)
In the "times" of the "Law", God was at His "strictest", being so strict that a man was to be stoned to death for not keeping the Sabbath perfectly! When the "times" of "Grace" by Jesus Christ entered in, surely you agree that God became less strict desiring "mercy, and not sacrifice" (Matthew 12:7). In these "times" of "Grace", we are no longer under the bondage of strictness of the "Law". The law was written on our hearts, being by LOVE.
But Sin is still always Sin, and Righteousness is still always Righteousness. Considering how strict God was in the "times" of the "Law", surely God would NEVER have "tolerated" Moses, Gideon, and David (all three with the Spirit of God upon them) all having more than one wife, if that was a sin. Instead, even, such a concept was even put INTO THE LAW itself! (Exodus 21:10, Deuteronomy 21:15-17.) And God was even a "co-conspirator" in such a concept when He "remembered Hannah" in 1_Samuel chapter 1, and spoke through Abigail and gave her to David (who had been married to Michal first) in 1_Samuel chapter 25. Indeed, because sin is ALWAYS sin, God would NOT have placed sin in His "Law", in the very "times" when God dealt with sin in His very strictest of ways! Thus, because it was acceptable in the stricter times of the "Law", having more than one wife had to be a righteous concept.
And then, the later "times" of "Grace" by Jesus Christ would not have made a righteous concept (which had been in the "Law") to become sin. Again, because God included the concept (of more than one wife) in the "Law" when He was His strictest (e.g., Sabbath-profaners were stoned to death), that concept (of more than one wife) had to be a righteous doctrine. Therefore, the entering in of "Grace" whereby God was less strict (thereby freeing us from the bondage of the "Law") would not make a righteous doctrine to suddenly become a "sinful doctrine".
And indeed, just as nowhere in Scripture can one find the change of the doctrine of the ((seventh-day)) Sabbath, the same is true regarding the change of the doctrine of Adultery. And in fact, both doctrines were changed by the ((great apostate)) "church", and were changed at about the same time in history.
Sin is always Sin. Righteousness is always Righteousness. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." (Hebrews 13:8) As God says in Malachi 3:6, "I am the LORD, I change not".
© December 4, 1996, The Standard Bearer
P.O. Box 765, O.O.B., ME 04064
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