No April fools joke. Your definition of fornication is not the same as how I perceive fornication in the bible. How I perceive the biblical interpretation of this couple is that they are married in the eyes of God. Their fornication would be for them to be unfaithful to one another by going out with someone else.
There is a lot of confusion out there regarding this issue. There are millions of people both Christian and Gentile that have multiple relationships before they settle down to one person. That is stupid!! What is marriage? A legal document? Standing before the justice of the peace or a preacher? So all the past relationships are considered fornication and this person that is to be "Married" will correct all the sins of the past?
That is EXACTLY how we think. We think that the guy that is foot loosed fancy free with several women who finally meets a girl that he decides to marry is okay now because he is so called "getting married". What about the first woman he married "biblically"? And then fornicated with the second and so forth before he decided to "settle down"?
This is just one example of our warped understanding that has crept into the Churches everywhere that is watering down our standards (biblical principles).
"What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body." 1 Corinthians 6:16-18
It's interesting to note that the latter portion of this verse seems to use fornication in regards to a personal sinful habit that is common in this world today amongst single people. Enough said.
Yes, they could have used restraint, I agree. However, he did say that he loved the girl and love is hardly a thing you can control especially two young people. When I was his age, the flesh raged, dear Lord, I couldn't control it. Not all men are built the same, I mean look at Solomon. I suppose if I got in a monastery and whipped myself into subjection perhaps.
We know that "Faith worketh by love". If we love our children we won't think twice to throw ourselves out there even if it might cause damage to ourselves. Love just does. If we love someone we will do all kinds of stupid things. Even those that love Jesus would be looked upon as "out of step" with society, or they've "fallen off the deep end" because the things they do out of love is radical.
Sean is feeling condemnation from his actions because of his own heart condemning him, but God is not condemning him. His own beliefs condemns him.
I know a woman that has her beliefs so tight that it's strangling her faith. She believes that if she cut her hair by an inch that she is sinning. One time she had to because of the split ends. She wrapped it in a bun, slapped a hat on it and came in the Church paranoid wondering if anyone would notice. Her belief condemned her when she failed.
Thus, our "laws" that we believe we uphold and then we break them brings condemnation.
"For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh."
Our own standards that we have come to believe is the very thing that is condemning us. And yet God removed such things so we wouldn't come under condemnation. Even when we sin, we should feel a conviction but not condemnation. If we are condemning ourselves it's not coming from God. It's coming from the standard of holiness that we have believed to be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and it's not.
Why do you think Paul said, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?". God forbid!!
Now I am going to say something radical here which I doubt anyone would agree.
Has anyone considered that God might be in this?
For example the lineage of Jesus, it goes through a lot of shady relationships. One of them is Tamar who dressed herself up as a harlot to deceive Judah, they were not married, yet Judah called her more righteous than himself. And the line of Jesus passes right through her.
Am I saying by this example what Sean did was right, NO! But what I am issuing here is the possibility that God just might have been involved.
Why? Because He sees what we don't see. He may see that Sean needs to settle down NOW or he'll get mixed up in other things that he shouldn't if he wasn't settled down. Marriage may be the thing to settle his flesh. It does say, it's better to marry then to burn.
My Mother told me once, if your going to be in the same room with a girl, open the door and be next to the opened door so that others can see that your not shut in with her. I took that advice and there was a situation where that did come up and I did what she said. I am glad that I did.
I agree with you in that they should not have spent so much time alone, but that is not what happened, and we have to look at it from what happened and not from what should have been done. I admire your relationship with Jase, I think how you guys have come along is great, but not everyone comes through that way, it would be nice.
