Alumbrados – The Illuminated

A Greek Study

1 Timothy 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

1 Timothy 3:12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

Titus 1:6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

The NRSV translates these verses as “married only once,” while the NIV has “the husband of but one wife,” which makes it sound even more like it is teaching a man is forbidden to have more than one wife at a time (although he may have married and divorced several times). What does the original Greek say?

The Greek word translated “one” in the above verses is “mia” and these other 6 verses in the bible use the same word “mias” meaning “first”

Mark 16:2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

(the meaning is obvious)

Luke 14:18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

(this could mean, the first thing they began to do was to make excuse)

Luke 17:34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.

(clearly meaning, the first shall be taken)

Luke 22:59 And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean.

(which could mean, after the first hour)

Acts 24:21 Except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing among them, Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day.

(could mean the first thing of importance in his preaching was resurrection)

Hebrews 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

(could mean, the first chance he got, he sold his birthright)

Please Note

From the verses above, we can see that the word translated ONE could be interpreted as FIRST, and so:

1. A man must remain with his FIRST wife. He cannot understand it to mean everything is ok, to divorce and re-marry, even several times, so long as he remains with one wife alone, at any given instant.
2. This “first wife” must actually be his true wife, that is, she must have been a virgin at the time (even if she has intermitted with sex with others after that, he MUST get her back with him).
3. We cannot prove that a man should ONLY have one wife from the verses in Timothy and Titus. The verses do not forbid polygyny in any sense.

“Husband of One Wife” therefore means (Still the) Husband of FIRST Wife…!

WHAT ABOUT WOMEN? – COMPARE:

1 Timothy 5:9 Let not a widow be taken into the number under

threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,

Here a different Greek word used for ONE – “enos”. Which is

found in the next verses, which show how it should be

interpreted for women to be the wife of ONE man. It has a

different meaning:

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will

hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the

one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and

mammon.

Matthew 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these

little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do

always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

Luke 10:42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen

that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he

will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the

one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and

mammon.

Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for

to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the

times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

Acts 17:27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might

feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every

one of us:

Acts 21:26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying

himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the

accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an

offering should be offered for every one of them.

Romans 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are

together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good,

no, not one.

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the

world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for

that all have sinned:

Romans 5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift.

For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more

the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man,

Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

Romans 5:16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the

gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free

gift is of many offences unto justification.

Romans 5:17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by

one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and

of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus

Christ.)

Romans 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment

came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the

righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto

justification of life.

Romans 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were

made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made

righteous.

Romans 9:10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had

conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;

1 Corinthians 4:6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure

transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye

might learn in us not to think of men above that which is

written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against

another.

1 Corinthians 10:17 For we being many are one bread, and

one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many

members, and all the members of that one body, being many,

are one body: so also is Christ.

Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the

promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as

of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Galatians 3:20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but

God is one.

Ephesians 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined

together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth,

according to the effectual working in the measure of every

part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in

love.

2 Thessalonians 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for

you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth

exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward

each other aboundeth;

1 Timothy 5:9 Let not a widow be taken into the number under

threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,

Hebrews 2:11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are

sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to

call them brethren,

Hebrews 11:12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him

as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude,

and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

Revelation 6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the

seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the

four beasts saying, Come and see.

Revelation 8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying

through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe,

woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other

voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to

sound!

Revelation 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls:

every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city

was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

Due to secrecy about things done in private, and a lot of misinformation, there is a poor understanding in the church of the sin of fornication. Fornication is prevalent in society today and it effects church members more than any other sin. Many are involved in pre-marital sex. Can people be declared married without formally signing a marriage contract? What is right and wrong? Whenever there is fornication involved in a Pastor, in many cases it is a matter of serious discipline often called “moral failure”, whereas slander for instance, is not a matter for a church leader to be called to step down from the ministry. I do believe that all sins, fornication, slander and others, should be treated the same, and I do not feel it is always necessary for a Pastor to step down from the ministry, especially as I have said there is a lack of true biblical understanding on what constitutes fornication. As long as he is willing to make changes to correct the situation, I find it perfectly reasonable for such a pastor to be reinstated. We will attempt to investigate:

1.       Why the sins of fornication are common

2.       Why they are seen as so serious

3.       What cases of fornication allow for a divorce 

4.       How we and our members can remain free from the sin of fornication

1. Why Are The Sins of Fornication So Common?

Mainly because there is such a low standard of morality both outside and inside the church, because there is so little communication on the topic. It is no longer taught clearly that a person should remain a virgin until he is ready to commit for life with a person. And it is not explained or understood what to do if a person is not a virgin any longer. In fact, virginity is so seldom preached. What could be the reasons? Is it because there are too many people who this teaching will affect, so we should not even bother to purge out the church? Or possibly, is the Pastor himself guilty of not keeping his virginity with the woman he is married to? Or was his wife not a virgin and now he cannot preach it, otherwise he would find himself guilty and embarrassed?

Could this be the reason why we hear news of marriage problems among Pastors? If they are not so honest at home or to urge their church to virgin purity, is it surprising if God should withdraw his sustaining influence on the Pastor’s marriage? I hear so much said about how difficult marriage is for many Christians. And then there are the sad cases of marital break up and divorce in Pastors.

2. Why Are The Sins of Fornication Seen As So Serious?

Fornication is seen almost as bad as grand theft, or even murder in some cases, deserving years of punishment or total banishment. The church is scared of this sin. They do not know how to cope. How to handle it, how to discipline, what effect it will have. What direction to give to a Pastor who commits fornication. Is divorce the solution?

THERE HAS BEEN A MAJOR MISUNDERSTANDING

The rule adopted by most bible authorities, or disciplinary committees, is that if a person being married then has sex with someone outside of that marriage, then that person’s spouse has a right to divorce him. This is THE major misunderstanding. The Bible does not ever warrant such a divorce. We will see why soon. We need to look more closely at the scripture used to back this up to see what it means, but before we do:

THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS MAY ACT AS A WAKE-UP CALL:

· “You will bring more disgrace to the ministry, being divorced, than all the other benefits you might bring by the divorce”

· “If you lose your home, you will lose your ministry”

· “The whole church is dependent on your home life”

· “If you ever lose your wife and become divorced, no-one will ever listen to you again”

· “All the Christians will be looking at your children – if your children become rebellious and get into trouble (as what often happens in a divorce situation) THEN who is going to listen to you?”

3. What Cases of Fornication Allow for A Divorce?

Matthew 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.    

Matthew 19:9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.    

Jesus is talking in the context of Moses’ Law. This Law of Moses allowed divorce on two conditions

1.       If the woman was not a virgin

2.       If the man found some other uncleanness in her, or he just did not like her

Jesus gives the final rule, by saying you can’t just drop your wife for any arbitrary reason, except for fornication. Firstly, these verses are about a man divorcing a woman. They are not about a woman divorcing a man, which is quite common today. So what is the remaining reason why a man may divorce a woman according to the law of Moses? IF SHE IS NOT A VIRGIN.

This is the only way we can warrant divorce according to this passage of Scripture, applicable to those who are under the law of Moses. This leads us to ask, does the condition of virginity apply to us today, who are under the gospel? This brings us to the correct definition of fornication:

1.       Fornication respects a disvirgined woman as understood above

2.       Fornication comes from the Greek word “porno” and therefore respects a woman exposed in sex, obviously not a virgin.

THEREFORE WHERE THE BIBLE EXPECTS US TO STEER CLEAR OF FORNICATION IT IS THE SAME REQUIREMENT AS IN THE LAW OF MOSES

To prove this further, the early Christians were confused as to whether they should keep the law of Moses, and out of all of his laws, there were only four things left for Christians to keep according in the Law of Moses:

Acts 15:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.    

Fornication is one of those things, fornication in the same sense as required by the law of Moses. Under the gospel therefore, fornication still must be stopped, and in the same sense as in the law of Moses. The only difference in the gospel is that people are no longer stoned for fornication, but rather asked to repent, and go back to the original situation.

JESUS AIMS TO STOP FORNICATION

To understand the main question therefore - What type of divorce the Bible warrants in Jesus’ teaching “whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication” we need to understand that Jesus means TO STOP FORNICATION, and to not allow it to continue in perpetuity.

Men have authority and must take responsibility in this situation, and MEN are mostly to blame. Therefore to have sex with a disvirgined woman is fornication which must be stopped. Or to have left a woman that a man has disvirgined – to leave her to fornicate with another man – this must be stopped. It is fornication for her to go onto another man once she has lost her virginity.

Let us look at the case of a man and his virgin. There are many ways of being formally married in society, and even in the church, but the real marriage takes place at virginity:

1.       If a woman who gave her virginity to her man then goes and has sex with another man - will separation or divorcing her stop the fornication? NO. The seperation and divorce will allow the fornication to continue. The woman must return back to her husband she gave her virginity to.

2.       If a man then goes and has sex with another woman – will separation, or in the case where formal marriage took place - will divorcing him stop the fornication? NO again. The divorce will allow the fornication to continue. The man must return to his virgin wife.

3.       But if a man is married formally to a woman who is not his virgin, whether they are married on paper or not, she has already been disvirgined – it is fornication to stay together as married. Now listen to me. There are some marriages God does not bless, and this is certainly one. It is an act of FORNICATION to have a non-virgin as wife, and in this case — will divorce stop the fornication? YES. Divorce will stop the fornication. Then they must divorce. Why must they divorce if everything is going rosy and well? Everything is NOT going rosy and well. Many people are guilty, guilty GUILTY. Another party has been abandoned, now FAR AWAY, and they try to smooth it over with smiles and a false happiness. Unless that outside party is DECEASED, that marriage is preventing the lost outside party of LONG AGO from being reconciled to God in this very marriage – I repeat what Jesus sternly says Matthew 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.     This Scripture is saying clearly that it is causing adultery for a man to have sex with a virgin and then to leave her to another man (remember Christ’s rule is in the context of the virginity law of Moses). And It is adultery for a woman to have sex with one man, then to go onto another man,

It may be her second marriage, or at least the second time she has slept with someone – doesn’t the bible teach us that she should not go about looking for a second husband? From what I see around me in the church at large, I really wonder if women pick up on this point at all, especially as it relates to women:

1 Corinthians 7:11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.    

Often, this Scripture is quoted to support remarriage - 1 Corinthians 7:15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace. What does it mean, that a brother or sister is not under bondage, and called unto peace? Does it mean they can remarry? It does not say that.  This Scripture is still subject to the previous quote 1 Corinthians 7:11  ”let her remain unmarried” Do not put something in the Scripture which is not there.

Where no solution can be reached, the woman must remain single until they are reconciled. Now there is no instruction for the man to remain single. But he is in great danger of judgment if he takes another woman who is a virgin. Often providence rules in these situations, God causes the man to not have more than one virgin, and his second wife is often not a virgin. In this case, we assume he too must remain single, or be reconciled. If his second wife is a virgin, then he is accountable to God for two women, and he is answerable for the many difficulties which will arise out of this situation.

1 Timothy 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;    

The meaning of the Greek is the husband of FIRST wife. And not as incorrectly interpreted to mean that he is free to abandon his wife as long as he has only one wife at a time.

To repeat, There are many ways of being formally married in society, and even in the church, but the real marriage takes place at virginity. Your wife is the one who gave her virginity to you, and you as a man are accountable to her, whether you were formally married, whether you yourself were a virgin at the time, or whether you masturbated or had sex beforehand. The true meaning of virginity rests with the woman. We never hear of the Virgin Joseph. Only the Virgin Mary.

4. How Can We And Our Members Remain Free From The Sin of Fornication?

The pastor needs to preach and to support virginity. It will not be solved by shying away from the problem. We need to accept the biblical principle of purity, and live by it. We have to be so strict in our congregations to preach it and get members to return to the right husband and wife, or to remain single, or to enforce church discipline and dis-fellowship them.

New people obviously first have to be won to Christ before we can have any influence over them, or exercise any discipline in their case. They are brought in mostly ignorant of their situation. But long-standing Christians seeking church membership and especially leadership in any capacity must be disciplined.

This principle of virginity needs to be explained especially to young people who are still virgins.

A Pastor, if found committing fornication on one, or several occasions, when counselling women, may fall into temptation. Therefore he is not safe to stand as a pastor and is seen as a risk to husbands sending their wives to him. But we are convinced that if he is given the correct idea of fornication, and he repents and returns to his wife, he can be delivered and trusted again.