Q: Someone told me that if a married couple - one is not righteous and in darkness but is a christian, can that person hold up the other one blessing and the things that god has for other person? where in the bible can I find this answer? 2 A pastor once said that he holds all our blessing (meaning the people in the church) and only he can give them out where in the bible can I find this? (sic)
A: Thank you for your questions. Your premise is off on your first question. If someone is a Christian they are righteous and in the light. "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30)." A Christian is righteous, holy and redeemed because of their faith in Jesus. From God's perspective we are never unrighteous. "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (Ephesians 5:8)." Prior to a Christian coming to faith in Christ, they were spiritually dead to God in sin. A condition often described as darkness. Now, we who are in Christ are in the light because of our faith. Jesus is the light of the world and His Spirit indwells us. Therefore, we are children of light. If in a marriage, one spouse is a Christian and the other is not, the Christian spouse does not have any control over any blessings meant for the unbelieving spouse. However, the Apostle Paul gave advice on this situation in 1 Corinthians 7.
"To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband (1 Corinthians 7:12-14)." Paul clarifies that what he says here is coming from his own judgment and opinion. It is not any command of the Lord. However, it does make some sense. Notice how he qualifies his remarks by saying that if the unbelieving spouse wants to stay in their marriage with the believing spouse, then a divorce should not take place. Not only does a couple avoid the unpleasant experience of divorce, as well as any children involved, but the unbelieving spouse may be influenced to come to faith in the Lord by being married to a Christian. The popular Christian author Lee Stroebel, who wrote "The Case for Christ," is an example of this type of circumstance. His wife became a Christian when he was an atheist. He was led to investigate the claims of Christ because of the effect the Lord was having on his wife. In doing so, the evidence he was confronted with forced him to accept Jesus Christ as his savior. That is a tremendous blessing experienced by staying married to his wife.
As far as your question about the pastor holding the blessings of the church is concerned, this is complete heresy. There is no place in the Bible that says a pastor holds the blessings of his congregation. Honestly, this a manipulative ploy by this pastor in order to control the lives of those attending his church. I was once told that I needed to be under the "authority" of a pastor. Again, this is nonsense. First, all blessings come from God. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3)." If you are in Christ, you already have every spiritual blessing because you have God indwelling you. And with God indwelling you, He has met the desires of your heart for unconditional love and total acceptance in Himself. Secondly, for a pastor to say they hold the blessings meant for a congregation means that he is teaching some kind of law. After all, the only blessings he could claim to be holding are physical blessings. Most often they are supposedly received through the "obedience" of the congregation to whatever agreed upon system of behavior they live under. Quite honestly, shame on any Christian who allows themselves to be controlled by another so-called believer, pastor or otherwise.
Christians are told to "test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1)." Also, the Bible says, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15)." Any discerning Christian can quickly spot error being taught when they are familiar with the truth. And we can only be familiar with the truth when we are allowing the indwelling Holy Spirit to discern the Word of God for us. "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14)." Any pastor, teacher, leader, fellow Christian or organization that claims to hold the blessings for the body of Christ or that they are the ones who discern truth are false prophets who should be avoided. Remember, if anybody claims to be speaking truth, they received it from the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that indwells you. Trust Him to lead you into all truth. Grace and Peace.
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