I am in a debate with my girlfriend about whether or not it is okay if we live together before we are married.  From a biblical standpoint, what is your take on that situation?  Am I in the wrong for wanting to before we are married?  I am curious for your interpretation and advice on it from a biblical standpoint.

 

Thanks.

Sincerely,
First Or Last Month’s Rent

First Or Last Month’s Rent,

We receive this question almost every day, and it would be very easy for us to refer you to previous posts like "Living Together" and call it good, but we here at AYP believe that this question is posed so often because of a deeper problem than people just not knowing what to do about sex, marriage, and living arrangements.

The reason people don’t get married – but instead (outside of marriage) have sex, live together, have children together, and eventually destroy their lives – is because we spend our lives making up the rules as we go.  We live our lives by the “what-makes-me-feel-good-right-now” philosophy.  We have no real standard to live by other than what we feel at the moment.  Like Pilate, we ask, “What is truth?” (Jhn 18:38) because we don’t know where to find the right answers to life.  How can we know what is the right thing to do?  Only the Creator can give us a rulebook for life that allows us to comfortably say, “I’m making the right choice.”  Jesus is the truth, the way, and the life (Jhn 14:6).  All the answers to life are found in His Scriptures (2 Pet 1:3).  If we want our relationships, our families, our careers, and our lives to work, we have to use the manual.  Ask for the Bible and nothing else.  We here at AYP would be happy to help you begin that journey by showing you what God has to say about getting your life right with Him.  E-mail us at askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org.  And if you didn’t see it coming, getting your life right with Christ will involve not living together before you are married.

Did God cleanse all meats?

 

Sincerely,
Pass The Pork

Dear Pass The Pork,

Yes, under the New Covenant, all food is clean.  God sent Peter a vision of unclean beasts and told Peter to “kill and eat” (Acts 10:13).  Peter told God that he would never eat anything unclean (Acts 10:14), and God informed Peter that He had cleansed all meat (Acts 10:15).

Later on, the apostle Paul reiterates this idea and says that all meat is clean unless it offends your conscience (Rom 14:20).  So, feel free to eat pork, rattlesnake (if you dare), and clams without fear of sin.

I personally believe that consuming any amount of alcohol is sinful.  Yet, so many people argue with me on this subject.  I continue to hear that Jesus drank wine and that it was fermented.  I believe that Jesus was perfect, and I honestly do not believe that the Son of God would sit down at a table with his disciples and do this.  I believe that the wine the Bible speaks of is simply grape juice. Please explain this to me.  Am I right for frowning upon alcohol, or is it simply okay to drink...as long as it is not abused?

 

Sincerely,
Fomenting Over Fermenting

Dear Fomenting Over Fermenting,

The Greek word for ‘wine’ is ‘oinos’.  ‘Oinos’ simply means ‘grape juice’… sometimes fermented, sometimes not.  So whenever you see the word ‘wine’ in your Bible, it may be talking about fermented or non-alcoholic grape juice.  New wine is grape juice that hasn’t had the time to fully ferment; old wine is alcoholic and fully fermented.  This explains why in Lk 5:39 Jesus states that people would choose the old wine over the new wine.

We also have to understand that the wine that was drunk in Jesus’ day was made using the natural yeasts found on the outside skin of the grape.  When grapes are crushed, the grape juice mixes with this wild yeast and ferments the juice.  These natural yeasts will only ferment wine to about 13% alcohol content, not the 17% or higher of many wines found today.  Furthermore, most wine was diluted anywhere from one part wine with one part water to as much as one part wine with four parts water.  In fact, Roman soldiers were known to only drink a type of wine called ‘posca’ which was an especially diluted mixture of water, bitter herbs, and older wine.

We say all this to tell you that wine in Jesus’ day is not the same as today.  Just because Jesus turned water into wine doesn’t mean it was fermented wine.  The word ‘wine’ is too generic for one to automatically assume that it was highly alcoholic.  God never specifically condemns drinking wine, but He does condemn ‘strong drink’ (Pr 20:1), drinking parties (1 Pet 4:3), and drunkenness (Rom 13:13).  Almost all alcohol that is consumed today would fall into the category of ‘strong drink’ because our alcoholic beverages are artificially fermented to increase their alcoholic content, and they are rarely diluted with water.  We would all do well to heed the words of Pr 23:31-32 and avoid alcohol as much as is possible.

A congregation was told that Satan is in heaven.  I have always been taught that he is on earth, seeking whom he can devour.  Have I been taught wrongly for the last thirty years?

 

Sincerely,
Watching The Skies

Dear Watching The Skies,

Satan is definitely not in heaven any longer.  He once was, but Jesus cast Satan down.  Jesus once told His disciples (after they came back from a successful preaching journey) that He saw Satan being cast down like lightning from heaven (Lk 10:17-18).  Satan was permanently cast down to the earth because Jesus’ blood overcame Satan’s arguments against God’s people (Rev 12:9-11).  Satan was defeated by the blood of the Lamb… never to dwell in heaven again.

The Bible speaks of a ‘Mystery Babylon’ in the book of Revelation.  God says to "Come out of her my people lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues."  Several people believe that this refers to America and that christians should flee.  One verse says that Babylon will be destroyed and the "light of her lamp" will shine no more.  Some believe this is in reference to the Statue of Liberty.  I've watched videos, researched websites and government documents, etc. and have to agree that it is compelling, though I don't want to be one of those that are deceived either way.  Should christians flee at this time?  If so, where should they go?

 

Sincerely,
Fight Or Flight

Dear Fight Or Flight,

America has definitely made some very immoral choices in the last several decades, but no matter how bad it gets – America isn’t Babylon.  The book of Revelation deals with events that the apostle John said would, “shortly come to pass” (Rev 1:1, Rev 1:3).  The book of Revelation is an account of trials that the first century church was about to face at the hands of Rome.  It is a book of prophecy that applied almost exclusively (except for the last two chapters) to the brethren of the first century.  See the posts “Left Behind” and “I Was Told There’d Be Dragons…” for more details.

The mysterious Babylon of Revelation is, in fact, Rome.  We could spend a very long time explaining this topic, but here are a few of the biggest reasons why Rome is Babylon.

1. Rome fit the time period of the book.  John was writing to christians that needed to prepare for a great persecution from a world power.  The world power of their day was Rome.
2. Peter referred to the city of Rome as Babylon in 1 Pet 5:13.  Almost all commentators agree that Peter is referring to Rome.  Babylon was a well-known term used by christians to refer to the city of Rome.
3. Babylon was a city that had killed prophets, apostles, and saints (Rev 18:20-21, Rev 18:24).  Apostles only existed in the first century, therefore Babylon must be either Rome or possibly Jerusalem… but definitely not modern America.

This is only a short list of the reasons that Babylon is Rome and not any modern city or nation.  The list is short for sake of brevity, not for lack of further evidence.  Suffice it to say, America is never mentioned in the book of Revelation.  There may be a time when christians need to leave this country… but you won’t find that time specifically laid out in your Bible.