Did your kids ever whine or complain about one of your rules? Have you heard the excuse that so-and-so’s mom or dad doesn’t have that rule? Or they name all the kids that are allowed to do what you are forbidding? Did all that whining ever change your mind? It’s a tactic that’s been used for generations and it’s not just isolated to the child/parent relationship. I, as the parent, set the rule, and what other parents allow for their children does not change my rule. The same is true for God. Man has made many concessions throughout history to allow for more worldliness among God’s people, but just because man has conceded on it or allowed it, does not mean that God does. Jesus had an opportunity to teach this truth in Matthew 19.

“When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went down to the region of Judea east of the Jordan River. Large crowds followed him there, and he healed their sick. Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: ‘Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?’
‘Haven’t you read the Scriptures?’ Jesus replied. ‘They record that from the beginning “God made them male and female.”’ And he said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” (Matthew 19:1-6)

The Pharisees were often trying to trap Jesus with what they thought were clever questions, but it turns out you can’t trap the One who created the mind you used to come up with the trap. Jesus makes clear the Scriptures’ explanation of God’s stance on divorce. Divorce was not part of God’s design for man. In Malachi 2:16 God directly states that He hates divorce. Jesus answers correctly and makes God’s stance on divorce very clear.

“Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?” they asked.
Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended.” (Matthew 19:1-8)

Since Jesus revealed God’s stance on divorce, the Pharisees then think they can trap Jesus into negating the law of Moses since Moses allowed for divorce. But it turns out, man’s concession does not change God’s position. Man may make concessions to get around God’s original intentions, but this does not change God’s stance. Today more than ever—or maybe it’s just faster than ever—man seems to be making more and more concessions when it comes to God’s way. Whether that’s allowing openly gay pastors or censoring sermons or hosting celebrations of sin in the church, man is making concessions for all kinds of things that the culture today says are acceptable. Just as it was 2,000 years ago, man’s concession does not mean God allows it and it does not change God’s stance on the matter. It’s easy to take man’s concession over God’s high standard, but that way sounds an awful lot like a wide road, not a narrow one. Just because man allows it doesn’t mean it was God’s original intention. Don’t choose the easy concession of man. Aim for God’s high standard, regardless of what man allows.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.