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Does the Bible Ever Allow Divorced Christians to Remarry?
Are divorced believers ever allowed to remarry according to the Bible? Let’s examine whether they are and under what circumstances that they may remarry. In summary, divorced Christians are only allowed to remarry if one or both spouses committed adultery or major fraud by one partner against the other occurred before the wedding.
Now
Jesus said in Matthew 5:32: "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." The
key issue concerns the "exception clause" here. What is
"sexual immorality"? The Greek word "porneia" here
has a broad meaning, and doesn't just mean adultery or incest, but concerns all
sorts of general sexual sin. Indeed, it's the root word for "pornography"
in English. So then, the first and most important question to ask is
(although I know it's unpleasant): Did either your sister or
brother-in-law commit adultery, so that their union could be dissolved in God's
sight permissibly? Of course, it might be better for them (and any
children they may have) if they could work out their problems through
counseling, and reconcile.
Divorce
and remarriage for other reasons besides adultery wouldn't be permissible
within a Christian marriage for both parties excepting arguably obvious and
major fraud. But then this leads to two other exceptions which are based
on other texts. (Here, for example, it's assumed that Jesus in Matthew
was speaking to a Jewish audience so that all the married
people were of the same faith). One serious issue concerns how to
interpret I Cor. 7:15: "But if the unbeliever departs, let him
depart; a brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God
has called us to peace." This may authorize divorce from an
unbeliever, but does it authorize remarriage also? The "Bible
Background Commentary: New Testament"
has something strikingly interesting on this matter: "Paul addresses
the specific situation not address in Jesus' general principle that he has just
cited (7:10-11): the innocent party is free to remarry . . . 'Not under
bondage' or 'not bound' alludes to the wording of Jewish divorce documents,
which told he woman, 'You are free to remarry any man,' and further applied to
divorce the precise language of freedom from slavery. Being 'bound' would
mean that she was still married in God's sight; not being 'bound,' or being
'free,' meant that she was free to remarry" (p. 467). Hence, given
this historical information, it would be permissible for a Christian who got divorced from an unbeliever to
remarry within the faith, at least so long as he or she didn't drive away his
or her unbelieving spouse! (Notice the part about "willing to
live with him" or "willing to live with her" in verses 12-13).
Another
possibly ground for divorce and remarriage has to be raised, although I'm
decidedly more hesitant here, concerns fraud. Notice the situation
described in Deut. 22:13-21. If a woman who gets married isn't a virgin,
and the man objects, and the charge is proven true, he could get a divorce by (well)
her being executed! It can be argued there is a principle here in which
if (say) a man concealed from his wife that he had been divorced, had had
children by a prior relationship, or even was an alcoholic or criminal, that
she could get divorced from him if this is discovered early on and acted
upon. Admittedly, I'm not sure if this principle should be extended
beyond obvious matters of fraud related to prior sexual experience (i.e., the
man who says he's a virgin, but is actually divorced and has three children in another
state). Also, notice that today, if such fraud was discovered, the woman
wouldn't actually be executed! (Compare to John 8:2-12, the famous
incident in which the woman caught in adultery wasn't condemned to be executed
by Jesus, although He still said she had sinned). She would still be
alive, and thus (arguably) the man's wife still lifelong until one or the other
commits adultery.
I
do believe that marrying a person divorced on non-Biblical grounds would be
committing adultery. For example, and this does sound harsh, a woman
who gets divorced because her ex-husband was a wife-beater or chronic,
unrepentant alcoholic or drug addict, can't remarry based on those grounds
alone. True, typically many men guilty of such offenses often are adulterers
also, but until such an offense occurs (including after the divorce), his
ex-wife wouldn't be free to remarry. Hence, single, never married people
should be especially careful about marrying a divorced person. They have
every right, and a Biblical duty, to ask that divorced person about the
circumstances of his or her divorce if he or she doesn't volunteer this
information beforehand. It's our duty to follow Scripture and to believe
in faith that God knows best for us even when it seems to be very difficult to
follow. If a Christian couple got divorced, and neither committed
adultery, and there was no obvious fraud (especially concerning prior
sexual experience) in question concerning the original marriage, both
have to live celibately single the rest of their lives. Here they have
become eunuchs for the kingdom of God (Matt.
19:11-12).
Clearly
in some cases divorced Christians can remarry, such as when one or both
partners committed adultery or perhaps when major fraud has occurred before
their wedding, but in most cases they may not.
Eric
Snow
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Why does God Allow Evil?
Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Why
Does God Allow Evil 0908.htm
May Christians work on
Saturdays? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Protestant
Rhetoric vs Sabbath Refuted.htm
Should Christians obey
the Old Testament law? /doctrinalhtml/Does
the New Covenant Abolish the OT Law.htm
Do you have an immortal
soul? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Here
and Hereafter.htm
Does the ministry have
authority? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Is
There an Ordained Ministry vs Edwards.html
Is the United States the
Beast? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Are
We the Beast vs Collins.htm
Should you give 10% of
your income to your church? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Does
the Argument from Silence Abolish the Old Testament Law of Tithing 0205 Mokarow
rebuttal.htm
Is Jesus God? Click
here: /doctrinalhtml/Is
Jesus God.htm
Will there be a third
resurrection? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Will
There Be a Third Resurrection.htm
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