Fornication: What Does It Mean? Part 1

In my experience a great deal of the divorce and remarriage debate centers on the definition of “fornication” in Matthew 19:9. The “no divorce” advocates argue that the use of fornication proves that Matthew 19:9 is addressing espoused (engaged) couples and not married couples. This is based on the idea that fornication can only be committed by a person who has never been married. I think that it is clear from the context of Matthew 19 that is not the case, but let that be as it may, I want to focus on the definition of fornication from both the English and the Greek.

ENGLISH:

“voluntary sexual intercourse between two unmarried persons or two persons not married to each other.”[1]

It is clear from this definition that fornication is not limited to people who are not married at all, but also to people who are not married to each other, although they may be married to someone. Anytime two people who are not married to each other have sexual intercourse it is fornication. Married people can commit fornication by having sex with someone with whom they are not married.

When a married person has sex outside of their marriage it is both fornication and adultery. It is fornication because they had sex with someone they were not married to, and it is adultery because the sex violated a covenant.

“voluntary sexual intercourse outside marriage”[2]

Here fornication is defined as, “voluntary sexual intercourse outside marriage.” The question that must be asked is, can a married person have sexual intercourse outside of their marriage? The answer must be yes. If a married person has sex outside of their marriage they have committed fornication.

“sexual immorality in general, esp adultery”[3]

This dictionary includes adultery in its definition of fornication. All adultery is fornication, but not all fornication is adultery.

GREEK:

The following are quotes from Greek scholars defining fornication. Greek scholarship virtually unanimously includes adultery in the definition of “pornea,” the Greek word for fornication.

“sexual intercourse in general…used of adultery.”[4]

“harlotry (including adultery and incest); figuratively idolatry: - fornication.”[5]

“in Matt. 5:32 and 19:9 it stands for, or includes, adultery”[6]

“it is plain that Matthew represents Jesus in both places as allowing divorce for fornication as a general term (porneia) which is technically adultery.”[7]

OTHER TRANSLATIONS:

“And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” Matthew 19:9 ESV

“I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” Matthew 19:9 ISV

“And I say to you, That whoever leaveth his wife not being an adulteress, and taketh another, committeth adultery. And whoever taketh her that is divorced, committeth adultery.” Matthew 19:9 Murdock

“And I say to you, Whoever shall put away his wife, except for lewdness, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoever marrieth her who is put away, committeth adultery.” Matthew 19:9 Webster

“And I tell you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except her unfaithfulness, and marries another woman, commits adultery.” Matthew 19:9 WNT

“And I say to you, that, whoever may put away his wife, if not for whoredom, and may marry another, doth commit adultery; and he who did marry her that hath been put away, doth commit adultery.” Matthew 19:9 YLT

CONCLUSION:

It is undeniable from the Greek that fornication includes adultery. It is also certain that the English word fornication is not limited to sex between two people who have never been married, but includes married people who has sex with someone other than his/her spouse.

Matthew 19:9 correctly uses the term fornication as an exception to the divorce and remarriage law, because sex outside of the marriage bond (i.e. fornication) is a valid reason for the innocent person to divorce and remarry.

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[1] "fornication." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 24 Sep. 2010. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fornication).

[2] "fornication." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Harper Collins Publishers. 24 Sep. 2010. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fornication).

[3] "fornication." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Harper Collins Publishers. 24 Sep. 2010. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fornication).

[4] Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1977), p. 532

[5] James H. Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1992), p. 364

[6] W.E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishing), p. 465

[7] Robertson’s Word Pictures, Quoted from E-Sword version 9.5.1, Retrieved 09.24.10, http://www.e-sword.net/

Equal With God

Philippians 2:6 KJV Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

I submit this post at the risk of being thought a theological imbecile, but here it goes any way. Most of you know that I have been involved in a few public debates and have moderated a few others. The foremost subject that I enjoy hearing discussed is the Godhead. I also enjoy preaching and teaching it as well. So here are some thoughts on this verse.

I will not try to analyze the entire text as that would be entirely too time consuming for the purpose of this thread. I also understand that this is an incredibly tedious text with a lot of grammatical nuances.

One of the great grammatical nuances of this text is the word “form” translated from the Greek “morphe.” This is a topic of must discussion on all sides of the Christological debate. Does it mean nature as translated by the NIV , or does it means external appearance only? There is credible scholarship on both sides of this debate. While that would be an important and interesting discussion, that is not the intent of this post.

Then you have a great battle in theological circle as to how the phrase “equal with God” should be translated. In an attempt to explain this passage, depending on one’s Christological view, other translations are cited that give quite a different shad of meaning to this text than the KJV does.

Allow me, for the purpose of this thread, to assume that “equal with God” is the best and most accurate rendering of this passage and give some possibilities of this verse of scripture from a Oneness perspective.

TRINITARIAN ARGUMENT

I am making the following statement based on debate experience and not an official statement from official Trinitarian doctrine found in the Councils or elsewhere. The argument is frequently forwarded by Trinitarian debaters that the word “equal” necessarily infers two persons in the Godhead. They argue that, In order to determine equality you must have separate items for the purpose of comparison. You cannot have equality with only one thing. I think you understand the point without me having to belabor the point. So, the argument is, for Jesus to be “equal with God” he must be a separate person.

GRAMATICAL RESPONSE

The Greek word for “equal” is “isos” . This is the same word that is used in Acts 11:17 as “like” gift. This like gift is the one that fell at the beginning (Pentecost) in Acts 11:15. So Peter is defending the conversion of the Gentiles in chapter 10 by say that the Holy Ghost that they, the Gentiles, received is the same Holy Ghost as the one he received on the day of Pentecost. He uses “isos”, not as a term of contrast, but a term of identity. The isos/like/equal gift indentifies the gift of Acts 10 as the gift of Acts 2.

ATTRIBUTE OF ESCLUSIVITY

God asked the question in the Old Testament, who is like me or my equal (Isaiah 40:25 & Isaiah 46:5). Then He answers his own question by saying that he has no equal and that none is like him I(Isaiah 46:9). God has no equal and there is none like him, so that if you find one who is equal with God you have found God and not another.

Let me illustrate it as follows. A fingerprint is an attribute of esclusivity. No one has a fingerprint that is equal to mine. If you find a finger print that is equal to mine, you have found my finger print. Because it is something that belongs only to me, equality in this way would be identity, not contrast.

To further illustrate this point: what if someone with a prior criminal record committed a murder and left his fingerprint somewhere at the scene of the crime for CSI to find? While they may not know at the scene of the crime who the perpetrator, once they get back to the crime lab and run the fingerprint the crime lab data base and they find a fingerprint in the database that EQUALS the one at the crime scene they have indentified the murder. So again equality is proof of identity in this case.

When you run the fingerprint of God through the data base of scripture you are going to come up with Jesus. Since only God is what God is and Jesus is equal with God he must be God. Jesus possessed and possess every essential attribute of deity. Truly He is EQUAL WITH GOD!

Pardon the elementary nature of this post and thread.

Trip To Jamaica

I am really excited about the upcoming trip to Kingston, Jamaica. I am going for a week of doctrinal teaching and preaching. I will be presenting on the Oneness of God as well as other related topics: I am going to be preaching about the Church. I plan to teach one of the evenings about doctrine itself. I want to give a biblical definition of doctrine and discuss its essential value to the church.

It is an increasingly popular attitude among Christians to reject doctrine. There are those who teach against teaching doctrine. Ironically to teach against doctrine is a doctrine; it is the "anti-doctrine" doctrine. It is impossible to escape doctrine. So, we seek to teach doctrine that is in line with the Word.

I look forward to meeting the congregation in Kingston as I have never been there. I also look forward to being in their beautiful city and worshiping with the Apostolic saints of Jamaica.

Library: Glen Carbon, IL

I am at my favorite library here in Glen Carbon, IL. I am hoping to print off a set of notes for a lesson that I want to teach at my father-in-law's church tonight. I also sent a friend the forward to a book that he wrote. The title is, "Calling on the Name of Jesus." It is going to be a great book. It is a response to the modern Church of Christ view of silent (no formula) baptism. They argue that nothing has to be said when someone is baptized.

Jason does an excellent job rebutting this view. His book was birthed out of years of study in preparation for a number of debates over the last two decades. I think that he does the best job of any of the Oneness Pentecostals in defending the baptismal formula in public debate. I am excited about people getting to read this book.

You can also listen to the Weatherly-Reeves debate on the baptismal formula online. http://www.hwy65churchofchrist.org/Debates/ReevesWeatherlyDebate/tabid/98/Default.aspx

October 11-19 I will be preaching a youth conference in Kingston, Jamaica. I have never been to the Caribbean, so I am very excited about going. I am really looking forward to the worship services; I love the Jamaican way of worshiping. I will have several preacher friends going with me to keep me company, although they will not be a valid substitute for my wife.

I will really miss my wife. I will be gone for a total of 11 days on this trip. I will especially miss her while in Jamaica. The reason that I will miss her so much is I expect those days in Jamaica to be some of the best days that I have ever had, and I always like to share those times with my wife.

I am going to be doing a lot of doctrinal preaching (by request): Theology and Ecclesiology, as well as other topics. I look forward to preaching to those hungry young people as they seek to know God better.

I met the pastor of the church in Kingston while we were both preaching a conference together in the New England states. I also look forward to again seeing some of the other Jamaican pastors that I met in that conference. Can barely wait! I will be posting pictures here and on Facebook while I am there.

Preaching: Best Job Ever

Here are the Top 10 most gratifying jobs and the percentage of subjects who said they were very satisfied with the job:

Clergy—87 percent percent

Firefighters—80 percent percent

Physical therapists—78 percent percent

Authors—74 percent

Special education teachers—70 percent

Teachers—69 percent

Education administrators—68 percent

Painters and sculptors—67 percent

Psychologists—67 percent

Security and financial services salespersons—65 percent

Operating engineers—64 percent

Office supervisors—61 percent

(Read full article @ http://www.livescience.com/health/070417_job_satisfaction.html)

Doing Flips?

It's 5:45 am on Air Tran flight 623, from DFW to BMI, when a group of school kids on a history trip to Washington D.C. board the plane. One of the young ladies is seated next to me; I am in the middle seat in the row, and she is seated next to the window. Early on I became aware that this was her first time flying. She is approximately 13 years old, and very nervous. She is holding a pink elephant of the stuffed animal variety very tightly.

As we take off and get in the air, every time the plane banks for a turn she becomes visibly afraid. It was in one of those turns that I look at her and said, "just wait till they do the flips." With wide eyes and fearful heart she replies, "they're gonna do flips?" Then with remorseful heart and a giggle in my voice informed her that I was only joking.

Our Foster Son

My wife and I took in a one month old baby boy this morning around 11:30 am. We have fallen in love with him already and its only 5:23 pm. He has been abused by someone, not sure who or how. He has fractured ribs, and two broken legs. It is amazing how a 1 month old with broken legs can walk into your heart. While we don't know what the outcome of his case will be, so far as adoption is concerned, we feel blessed to have the opportunity to love and nurse him back to health.

We have had three little girls, and still have the first one that was placed with us, but this is our first boy and we are excited about having him. It was especially exciting to have my parents in town when we got him. They are also taken by his story and have fallen in love with him.

He is a chunk. At a month old he is wearing the same size diapers that our 17 month old foster daughter is wearing. At this rate, in a couple weeks or so we will be sharing suits. He has a prophet's name, so maybe if I let him wear my suits I will get a prophet's reward. I don't mind though because he has some really cool pj's that I can't wait to wear!

COGIC Timothy Wright Jesus Jesus Jesus Praise Break Gospel Music

Victory Over Betrayal

John 13:1-4 ESV

1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him,

3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,

4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.

Jesus nearing his passion, having loved his own until the end and ready to ascend to the Father, is seated at supper with his disciples. Judas, his betrayer, is also at the table. Jesus knew that the devil had already put it in his heart to betray him, and that Judas would carry out the will of the devil. Jesus response was most incredible. Instead of being distracted by the betrayal of Judas, he pushed forward toward his mission of redemption.

Jesus keeps three things in mind that empowers him to keep a proper perspective on his mission with his betrayer in his midst. Verse 3 says that Jesus knew: The Father had given all things into his hands. He had come from God. He was going back to God.

These three revelations will keep you through betrayal. If you can keep in mind that your betrayer, like Jesus' betrayer, can only betray your trust, but never what the Father has given you, where you have come from or where you are going, you will get victory over betrayal.

A Memorable Memorial Day

On a day when most Americans, at least the ones with good sense, are grilling out I am eating at a vegan restaurant. It is un-American I tell you! While normal Americans are eating hotdogs, pork steaks, steaks and hamburgers, I am stuck eating tofu. It is neither American nor Christian.

But, that is what I was more than willing to do for my father, who is a strict vegan. Actually it was not all that bad. Some of it is really good. While I still prefer a beef burger over soy, it can be made to taste really good. They also have a burger patty made out of nuts that is excellent.

The first vegan restaurant that I ate at, Spiral Diner & Bakery, I said to the smiling, light-loafered waiter, "I'll take a ribeye medium well." His liberal, new age grin swiftly disappeared and in return I garnered a very intolerant glare. I think possibly the Lord may have wanted me to stand up and yell, "Long live George W. Bush," but instead I allowed my allergic reaction to pain to lock my jaw. Being that my dad is so weak and frail from not eating meat, he would not have been able to help me fight my way out of the mess that I would have gotten into. :)

John Gill: The Pearl of Great Price

Matthew 13:45-46 ESV

45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,

46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

"This parable may be understood of Christ's seeking, finding, and purchasing his elect: for, certain it is, that he has sought after them; which implies, that they were lost and going astray; expresses his great love to them, value for them, and desire after them; in doing which, he took much pains, and used much diligence: and certain it also is, that he finds them in redemption, and in effectual calling; and that they are to him a pearl of great price; as very precious to God, so highly esteemed of by Christ, as his portion, his inheritance, and his jewels. He has also parted with all he had for the sake of these persons; he became poor, emptied himself of everything, even gave himself a ransom for them, and so made a purchase of them, with the price of his own blood:"

This post was inspired by a sermon my father preaches called, "God's Jewels." (See: www.acfw.org)

The Necessary Risk of Maturity

Christian maturity, like infant maturity, comes with inherent risks. It is inevitable that a maturing infant is going to fall and scratch a knee, bloody a nose, or possibly worse in many attempts to walk. But the damage caused by trapping the child in perpetual infancy is much worse than bloody noses or scratched knees. It is not the normal course of life for a child to advance in age, but not maturity. It is better for the child to experience all of the hurts and pains of life than to mentally remain an infant while physically becoming an adult.

When it comes to our walk with God, let us mature, even at the risk of a few mistakes. It is better that we fail on our way to spiritual maturity than to perpetuate spiritual infancy, and never fall down and scrape our knees. Let's grow up in Christ in all things, and allow the Spirit to mature us.

Hope Is Rude

How dare hope ignore my decision to quit? Hope's assiduous insistence on my believing that my future is bright can get annoying. Hope refuses to listen to my calm, collected and evidence-based case proving my fatalistically determined fate of failure. Hope is rude! Instead of just accepting my demise, it is peskily insistent that I believe for greatness.

The other thing that can be annoying about Hope, when you have determined to quit, is its sneakiness. You think that you have convinced Hope that there is no hope, and you are content with being despondent, then out of no where you are blinded by the glimmer of possibility and all you can see for a moment is a bright future. But, then you have to calmly remind yourself that you are a loser. The only problem is, Hope does not give up so easily.

Hope always finds a way, like the woman with the issue of blood, to crawl and claw its way through the crowd of fear and unbelief and touch the hem of Jesus' garment. The Holy Spirit produces hope in the life of the believer. It is impossible to have the Holy Spirit and not have a hope that continues to resurface in your spirit. While the sinner may have to struggle to get a hold of hope, the believer has to fight to resist hope. Hope is a natural characteristic of the Spirit-filled life (like Grace, Hope is not a blue-eyed blond).

Great Song

The End Is Better

So often it is easy to get caught up in the negativity of the present that it blinds us from seeing the brightness of tomorrow. I say this from experience. It is not my natural emotional outlook to be an optimist; I have a natural proclivity to pessimism. Apart from the working of the Holy Spirit in my life I would probably be a very depressed person. I hate uncertainty. I am the type of person that likes to know how it is all going to unfold; and if I don't know, I assume that it is going to be bad.


With that being said, one must through the power of the Spirit adjust his carnal thinking to harmonize with the promises of scripture. Scripture readily reveals the magnificent plan of God for the life of the believer. As the Prophet Jeremiah said, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11)." The believer must always remember, that in spite of my present circumstance or condition, I have a future!


My favorite text is Ecclesiastes 7:8:

"Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit."

The writer says, "Better is the end of a thing than its beginning." My past dare not boast, "I am his greatest days." My present dare not say, "Your greatest days are now." For my future is the time that God has chosen to be my best. What I must learn is to be patient. The proud in spirit insist that he have everything now, by being unable to wait he misses the better that is reserved for the last. If the end is better, then truly the patient is better than the proud; for it is the patient, not the proud, that can endure to the end to receive the better.


It is God's method to progress toward the better. God is never regressive, but always progressive. The entire message of Hebrews can be summed up in one word, better. The message of "better" in the book of Hebrews is that the New Covenant, with all is parts, is better than the Old Covenant.

• Christ is better than the Angels-Hebrews 1:4
• Christ is better than Melchisedec-Hebrews 7
• Christ gave us a better hope-Hebrews 7:19
• Christ was made a surety of a better testament-Hebrews 7:22
• Christ has a better ministry, for a better covenant, based on better promises-Hebrews 8:6
• Christ was a better sacrifice-Hebrews 9:23
• Christ is a better resurrection-Hebrews 11:35
• Christ had better blood-Hebrew 12:24

God did not give his best in the beginning, he saved his best for last. This is illustrate again in marriage feast of Cana; the wine at the last was better than the wine at the beginning (John 2).


The Christian walk is one of increasing illumination. Your walk with God should be better today than at any point in your past. "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day (Proverbs 4:18)." Keep walking, it will get brighter!

Subtlety: The Forgotten Power of the Holy Spirit

When most think of the "power of the Holy Spirit" what comes to mind is rushing mighty wind, cloven tongues of fire and speaking with tongues. Some think of casting out devils, laying hands on the sick, or one of the nine gifts of the Spirit. While these may be manifestations of the "power of the Holy Spirit," there is a power of the Spirit in the believer's life that is quite forgotten, the power of subtlety.

This is the power of the Spirit that is overlooked because it works, at times, when I am unaware of its presence. It is not audible or visible, and is often undetectable, especially to those around me. It is a work of the Spirit that brings glory to no one but God.

It is the power of the Spirit that gradually and slowly sanctifies me in practical and ordinary ways. It is at work when I find myself saying no to things that I used to say yes to. It is that small change in attitude toward a situation that normally disturbs me. It is the will to resist the seduction of besetting sins. It is inner peace about a situation that had been ruling me in fear.

It is the Spirit working change in me that I did not realize happened until after the fact. It is not flashy or glamourous, but dynamic none the less. God help us remember that you are at work in us in the mundane, not just the mighty. It is this power of the Spirit that worked for Elijah: not in the strong wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in a still small voice.

Gifts of the Spirit

So many times when Pentecostals think of the gifts of the Spirit our minds immediately go to prayer lines, calling people out, prophecy or telling people their zip codes. This is not the way the gifts of the Spirit always work. One of the examples of the gifts in operation that has stood out in my mind over the years was in a revival at James Swindle's church. My father had preached a message and conviction was as heavy as I had ever felt it in my life. Dad had been burdened for a particular man that was husband of one of the ladies in the church, and he was in that service.

After preaching dad began to repeat the phrase, "yes you can, I said you can (I already hear the Obama jokes flying at me now lol)." This man's wife told someone after church that her husband had just leaned over and said to her, "I can't live it," and was immediately greeted with my father saying, "yes you can, I said you can." Needless to say, the Holy Ghost won the battle, and the man prayed through and is still serving God today. That man had no doubt that God was calling him and had his number. That is the real gifts of the Spirit from which God and God alone gets the glory.

Johnny Carroll: Man of Dreams

My father, Johnny Carroll, has been blessed with a unique relationship with God. God speaks to him specifically and frequently, but not in the manner you might think; God often speaks to him in dreams. I cannot not tell you how many times that it has amazed me the way things God has shown him in dreams have come to pass. I would like to share a couple of those stories with you.

One the neat dreams that my father had was concerning a lady that would pray through in one of his revivals. One night my father had a dream that he, and some other church people, came across a shallow grave, and in that grave was a body. The grave was so shallow that you could see the outline of the person. So, my father began to remove the dirt with his hands, and very quickly uncovered a woman who was bound with rope. My father took a pocket knife and carefully began to cut away the ropes that bound her. In the dream the lady was short, with short dark hair.

Within a day or two a pastor called my father and asked him to come and preach a Revival. Of course my father told my mother and I the dream the next morning after he had it. So, when the first night of that revival came, in walked this lady, she was short and had short dark hair. My father immediately knew this was the lady that he had saw in the dream. She, like that lady in the dream, was bound with many ropes; ropes of cigarettes, and numerous other addictions. For 21 straight nights of revival my father prayed with her for at least 1 1/2 hours every single night, but my fathers faith never wavered because of what the Lord had shown him in the dream. On the 21st service she received the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Another time we were camping as a family and during the night my father had a dream that he and my mother were fishing. My father was catching the fish and was throwing them up on the bank where my mother was. After a while he asked mother, "how many do you think there is," and she responded, "about 20-25." He was amazed that she had guessed so low and said, "there is at least 50." He woke up immediately and the Lord spoke to him that the fish were souls, and the that he was going to give us a revival of about fifty souls.

So, when we got Bakersfield, CA, for the first three weeks or so dad didn't preach but just a couple sermons. In fact, Brother Dawson said that he was wondering if he could even preach. After the first three weeks or so revival began to break and about fifteen weeks later the dream had come to pass!

I could spend hours telling stories just like this. It was amazing growing up and seeing a man operate in a dimension of faith for souls that you only read of in great revival books of the past. God has blessed me to see this occur hundreds of times.

Coming Soon: dailytheos.com

Richard Tanner, of Cornerstone Apostolic Church, is launching a website designed to publish papers on various Apostolic issues: Theology, Devotionals, Men's and Women's issues. Richard Tanner will serve as editor and a contributing author. Other authors will include: Steve Pixler, Darin Plowman, Joe Fabion, John Carroll and many more. I will post another blog when the site has been launched. I will be writing mostly about Christology; my first article will be, "The Impeccability of Christ." I hope that you enjoy.