Divorce/Remarriage??? What does the Bible say?
Divorce/Remarriage??? What does
the Bible say?
"Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery. (Matthew 5:31-32 NKJV)
So He said
to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries
another commits adultery against her. And if a
woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."
(Mark
10:11-12 NKJV)
"Whoever
divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her
who is divorced from her
husband commits adultery. (Luke
16:18 NKJV)
Example:
Tim and Susan are married. Susan had an affair in the relationship. Tim divorces Susan because of her marital unfaithfulness.
Scenario 1: Tim marries another woman name Sally. Sally was never married before. Sin or no sin? Adultery or no adultery?
Scenario 2: Tim marries another
woman name Sally. Sally was married before but is now divorced. Sally is
divorced because she committed adultery against her husband in her previous
marriage. Sin or no? Adultery or not?
Scenario 3: Tim and Sally gets
married. Both Tim and Sally were previously married and both of them divorced
their spouse due to the fact that their spouse both committed adultery against
them in their previous marriage. Sin or no? Adultery or no?
Summary:
Is the sin based upon the one who committed the adulterous
act in the marriage which would lead to the divorce? Therefore would the sin be on the one who
committed the act and as a result should not remarry or he or she will be committing
adultery? And is the one who did not commit the adulterous act free to remarry
without it being accounted to him or her as sin/adultery?
Maybe a valid point/ Just my thoughts and opinion:
I think it is just this simple... If you are married and get a divorce because of infidelity, you should not remarry period. I think 1 Corinthians 7:10-12 supports this point: "Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife. But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. "
The Answer:
The answer lies in defining the word "adultery." What is an adultery?
Adultery according to Easton's Bible Dictionary is
— conjugal infidelity.
An adulterer was a man who had illicit intercourse with a married or a
betrothed woman, and such a woman was an adulteress. Intercourse between a
married man and an unmarried woman was fornication. Adultery was regarded as a
great social wrong, as well as a great sin. Now go back to the scripture verses and reread them with this definition of adultery in mind.
Therefore
Marriage is to be regarded as a covenant relationship. So much so that even if
you get a "divorce," you are still married to that person until death
do you part. A divorce is simply one of
the party dismissing the other party or separation from each other. You are
still married because of the covenant/vow that you spoke before God and to each
other.
This reveals
to us God's character. He is a covenant keeping God. He is faithful! Whenever he makes a covenant he never goes
back on the deal. He is faithful to it and remains faithful even when the other
party decides to (divorce) dismiss or walk away from the covenant. I believe
God desires us to do the same. He wants us to remain faithful to the covenant
that we make with each other in marriage regardless of what your spouse does
wrong and even if they divorce you, you are still to remain faithful and not
remarry.
Last point it is very important to pay attention to this:
Matthew 19:3-9 NKJV The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" (4) And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,' (5) and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH' ? (6) So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (7) They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?" (8) He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. (9) And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."
Conclusion
It is
important to note that from the very beginning God intended that a marriage
covenant be established between a man and woman for a lifetime. Divorce was
never intended by God. It is important to note what Jesus said in verse 8, that
Moses permitted divorce because of hardness of hearts. Which means that you can
always work out your marriage with your spouse regardless of what has happened
if you will not allow your heart to become hard (callous, unforgiving, unrepentant,
etc.).
Furthermore,
God is married to the backslider. Even all the more we should realize that just
because we think something is invalid does not make it invalid. Everything has
to be judged according to the word.
Marriage is something that was established and ordained by God,
therefore man's thoughts, opinions, and or actions cannot invalidate it, negate
it or cause it to become invalid. WOW! That's why He said What instead of
Who... The what being the institution of marriage... "What God has joined
together let no man separate or the KJV says put asunder." A lie has crept into the church which is basically making people believe that God has one perfect person for you to marry. And if you don't marry that one perfect person then you can get a divorce. LIE! I think based upon the fact that the institution of marriage is ordained by God. It is the act of marriage that is to be revered and not the who. When you make a vow before God to be joined in a marriage covenant with another divorce should not be an option. In doing so you are honoring God and what he has established which is the covenant of marriage.
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