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DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE

“Divorce was never God’s intention for man.  His ideal is that one man and one woman remain married until their union is broken by death (Roman 7:2,3).  Jesus made this clear to the Pharisees by appealing to the divine order of creation (Matthew 19:4-6).

God hates divorce (Mal. 2;16), that is, unscriptural divorce.  He does not hate all divorce because He speaks of Himself as having divorced Israel (Jer. 3:8).  This was because the nation forsook Him to worship idols.  Israel was unfaithful.

In Matthew 5:31, 32 and 19:9, Jesus taught that divorce was forbidden except when one of the partners had been guilty of sexual immorality.  In Mark 10:11, 12 and Luke 16:18, the exception clause is omitted.

The discrepancy is probably best explained as that neither Mark nor Luke record the entire saying.  Therefore, even though divorce is not the ideal, it is permitted in the case where one’s partner has been unfaithful.  Jesus allows divorce in this case, but He does not command it.

Some scholars see 1 Cor. 7:12-16 as teaching that divorce is acceptable when a believer is deserted by an unbeliever.  Paul says that the remaining person is “not under bondage in such cases,” i.e., he or she is free to obtain a divorce (for desertion).  The present writer’s opinion is that this case is the same exception granted in Matthew 5 and 19; namely, the unbeliever departs to live with someone else.  Therefore, the believer can be granted a divorce on the scriptural grounds only if the other party commits adultery.

It is often contended that, although divorce is permitted in the New Testament, remarriage is never contemplated.  However, this argument begs the question.  Remarriage is not condemned for the innocent party in the NT – only for the offending person.  Also, one of the main purposes of a scriptural divorce is to permit remarriage; otherwise, separation would serve the purpose just as well.

In any discussion of this topic, the question inevitably arises, “What about people who were divorced before they were saved?”  There should be no question that unlawful divorces and remarriage contracted before conversion are sins which have been fully forgiven (see, for example 1 Cor. 6;11 where Paul includes adultery in the list of sins in which the Corinthian believers had formerly participated).  Pre-conversion sins do not bar believers from full participation in the local church.

A more difficult question concerns Christians who have divorced for unscriptural reasons and then remarry.  Can they be received back into the fellowship of the local church?  The answer depends on whether adultery is the initial act of physical union or a continued state.  If these people are living in a state of adultery, then they would not only have to confess their sin but also forsake their present partner.  But God’s solution for a problem is never one that creates worse problems.  If, in order to untangle a marital snarl, men or women are driven into sin, or women and children are left homeless and penniless, the cure is worse than the disease.

In the writer’s opinion, Christians who have been divorced unscripturally and then remarried can truly repent of their sin and be restored to the Lord and to the fellowship of the church.  In the matter of divorce, it seems that almost every case is different.  Therefore, the elders of a local church must investigate each case individually and judge it according to the Word of God.  If, at times, disciplinary action has to be taken, all concerned should submit to the decision of the elders.”[1]

[1] MacDonald, William, Believers Bible Commentary, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995, pp. 1221-1222.

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