.> > I always thought it was "twice and you're out" -- that is, you can > repent of adultery once, but not twice. I suppose this is based on D&C > 42:25-26: "But he that has committed adultery and repents with all his > heart, and forsaketh it, and doeth it no more, thou shalt forgive; But > if he doeth it again, he shall not be forgiven, but shall be cast out." >. I have had occasion to consider this scripture, and interpret it quite differently. It teaches an important principle, but not the one proposed here, IMHO. It does NOT read: But he that has committed adultery ONCE and repents with all his heart, and forsaketh it, and doeth it no more, thou shalt forgive; But if he doeth it TWICE, he shall not be forgiven, but shall be cast out." You have to read it that way to get the result that a person can only be forgiven once for adultery. (And even then it has a tortured logic, because how can the first repentance be acceptable if the specific conditions have, by definition, not been met? But more about that later). In my personal opinion this scripture is teaching the rather obvious principle that if the person goes back into this sort of serious sinful behavior that person did not truly repent of the first instance. Notice the "forsaketh it, and doeth it no more" condition on the first repentance. The second or subsequent adultery makes a mockery of that. So in consideration of forgiveness for subsequent adultery the earlier sinful behavior comes into play. The person comes before the Lord (and any appropriate disciplinary council represent the Lord) with the whole burden of ALL instances of adultery (or any other serious sin) when dealing with that subsequent sin, because the first or prior instances were not truly forgiven, nor could they be, because the conditions of the first repentance were not met. This is how I have understood and taught this scripture in a number of very real disciplinary situations including those where I was warning an offender about the consequences of falling back into transgression.
I am not conversant with any actual numerical melt down on the possibility of repentance from adultery. Tom ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. FREE! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/create/index2.html --^----------------------------------------------------------------
