THE DANGER WITH UNGODLY COUNSEL

 
1 JOHN 2:15-17 (AMPC)
“Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.
 
16 For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh [craving for sensual gratification] and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one's own resources or in the stability of earthly things]–these do not come from the Father but are from the world [itself].
 
17 And the world passes away and disappears, and with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in his life abides (remains) forever.
 
Dear people of God, I belong to a social media group where occasionally someone presents a personal issue and asks for advice from members.
 
While this may appear right, the danger with such groups is that one can receive ungodly counsel from majority of the members and damn his or her soul when acted upon.
 
I saw a typical example of this 2 days ago when someone posted a message asking for advice on his marital life.
 
According to this person, he was married but also having great financial difficulty taking care of his spouse. His wife’s colleague in the office, a widow, counselled her to leave the husband despite pleas from him and his family and started committing adultery with other men.
 
Then a year and a half ago, this man managed to overcome depression and entered a relationship with another lady, a single mother.
 
The new lady’s uncle helped to set the man in business and things have picked up for him financially since then.
 
However, he wants to marry his single mother lady but his wife has suddenly showed up to state that she wants to come back since they are not officially divorced.
 
The man says his church is not helping matters as they insist that he should take his wife back.
 
This is the issue he needed advice for and I was utterly shocked to see the responses from the majority of advisers in the group.
 
This is a summary of some of the comments and advice given:
 
(1) Ignore the church’s teaching
(2) Change church and get married in a church that would accept his decision to marry the other woman
(3) Divorce the wife
(4) Go ahead and marry the other lady
(5) Invite the wife to move in and then move out with the other lady
(6) The wife is a gold digger and would kill him if she returns
(7) Invite the wife and then kill her
(8) The question he is asking is unnecessary and he should go ahead and marry the other woman
(9) Would the church accept if the same thing happened to them?
(10)              This man maybe still has feelings for his wife and now wants to dump the other woman who helped him for his wife since he has made money, which is why he is here asking for advice
(11)              The woman committed adultery against the man so that is grounds to divorce her
(12)              How can you abandon someone who stood by you since an helped you stand financially for a woman who abandoned you for 4 years?
 
 
Dear friend, some of the respondents outrightly used immoral and ungodly language to insult and condemn the man’s church for their stand on this matter.
 
The question is, which of these responses represents God’s view on this matter?
Absolutely none.
 
None of the respondents made any reference to the fact that the man himself committed adultery against God and his wife in starting a relationship with the strange woman.
 
 Now, this is what God’s Word says on such issues:
 
 
(1) God hates divorce – Malachi 2:15-16
(2) God does not permit adultery – Matthew 5:27-28
(3) God does not permit unforgiveness – Matthew 6:14-15
(4) Pursue peace with everyone and holiness without which no one would ever see God – Hebrews 12:14
(5) God only permits one spouse for one’s lifetime – 1 Timothy 3:2;12
(6) God only permits re-marriage when one’s legitimately married spouse dies – 1 Corinthians 7:39; Romans 7:2-3
 
When you compare God’s Word with what the respondents to the sought advice stated, it leaves one with a real concern that many souls are completely devoid of the spirit of God and this is very dangerous.
 
And many of these respondents would profess Christianity and claim to be church goers but they allow their emotions rule them as against God’s Word, the final arbiter on every issue.
 
Are they not aware that everyone of us would account to God for our utterances whether written or spoken or even our thoughts? – Romans 14:12.
 
As a Christian who represents Christ as ambassador, I just could not watch people mislead someone and so I gave my advice to the man based solely on God’s Word, which is godly counsel. I showed him his error from God’s Word, how to correct himself and reconcile with God if he was really interested in his eternity, heaven and hell.
 
Dear friend, never make the mistake of seeking counsel from people who have no idea about God’s Word in the Holy Bible because that is a very dangerous road that leads to eternal damnation of one’s soul.
 
This is also why everyone who professes Christianity must study God’s Word in the Holy Bible to know what it says and do exactly what it says.
 
Anything else is just a recipe for disaster.
 
My sincere prayer is that the good Lord would show mercy to all these “lost souls” in dire need of genuine repentance and salvation that only the Lord Jesus Christ can provide.
 
After the ongoing Great Tribulation, Jesus Christ is coming to take ONLY those who are qualified according to His righteous standards in the Holy Bible.
 
Are you living a genuine life as His disciple? Are you ready for Him? Come to Jesus today, for tomorrow may be too late for you.
 
May the good Lord bless you as you heed His Word today, act on it and share with others in Jesus’ Most Holy Name, Amen.
 
Gabriel Ama.