Quote:
Originally Posted by Praxeas
What do you mean it's instantaneous? His relationship or salvation? Sure. But is that person instantly ready to lead again over night? Are they instantly healed spiritually/mentally?
Restoration is not merely restoring their faith in God, but even that can take time to fully restore. But there is personal, emotional, mental things to deal with plus since the church is the organ God uses to put people in leadership (see Timothy and Titus), then it's up to the church whether or not they feel such a man or woman has really been restored.
You think a man that has been in adultery for 3 years or so can come back to a church, claim to have repented then demand a pastoral position all over night?
That kind of trust and healing takes time. There are standards in the bible for such leadership and once someone has failed it takes time to be restored to that kind of standard
Whether or not such a man should ever be allowed to lead again? That's a different issue. It's a trust issue. I can see in many situations where a man can be trusted again, but as I said it takes some time
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Our right-standing with God is instantaneous when we turn.
Do I think it should happen overnight? In most cases, probably not. Maybe in all cases. But Peter did much worse than adultery (my opinion) and was the featured speaker the day The Church was birthed just days later.
I'm not claiming to have the absolute answer here, but long, drawn-out times of "proving" are ridiculous and unscriptural, in my opinion.
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