What does the Bible say about divorce and remarriage

GuysThe topic of divorce and remarriage is important in the Kingdom of God.

Let’s take a simple direct look at what the Bible says:

Luke 16

18 “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.

Luke 16:18

No exclusion:

no allowance for adultery, fornication or anything. According to this verse nothing annuls the marriage or legitimizes divorce or remarriage.

Divorce is adultery

Remarriage is adultery

Mark 10

2 The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him. 3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.”5 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.6 “But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,8 ‘and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.9 “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”10 In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. 11 So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 “And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Mark 10:2-12

The argument has one clear conclusion: 9 “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Divorce and remarriage is adultery.

The magistrate, the divorce lawyer and the husband are all men – thus Jesus does not permit them to end the marriage regardless of the background (adultery abandonment or abuse)

No exclusion: Not adultery fornication or anything

Matthew 5

27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 31 “Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 “But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality (porneia) causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

Matthew 5:26-32

Please note: The exception clause about fornication refers to the husband causing the wife to commit adultery, it does not negate the simple statement in part 2 of the verse “and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.”

It also means that in the case of an innocent wife, where the wife did not commit fornication then the husband’s divorces her causes her to commit adultery.

This is hard, but this is what the text is saying. The greater point is always that marriage is sacred and very important to God. It is not about personal happiness per se.

Secondly, it is critical to note the word translated “sexual immorality is the word “porneia” in the Greek and always means fornication. Married people cannot commit fornication, when they commit sexual immorality it is adultery. Thus, Jesus is referring to what the women did before marriage. We must understand that under Moses terminating an engagement (betrothal) was also called divorce. The fornication Jesus is referring to is the case where the girl had fornicated before her betrothal, and that just like Joseph planned with Mary, he could in that case divorce his betrothed upon discovering her fornication. The point is that Jesus is NOT saying adultery annuls the marriage and sets the innocent party free to divorce and remarry. We must believe all the verses related to the topic not only the one we reading today or that we think creates a loophole.

Remember “Scripture interprets scripture” NOT “easy verses cancel hard verses”

Matthew 19

3 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 fornication (porneia), and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” 10 His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But He said to them, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: 12 “For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”

Matthew 19:3-12

The typical human arguments for remarriage after divorce are:

“God is happy when I am happy”

“God does not want me to be alone”

“I can’t go without sex”

In Matt 19 we see clearly that Jesus’ solution is the gift of celibacy. Please note the solution of celibacy follows the cry of the disciples: ”If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

1 Corinthians 7

10 Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. 11 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. 12 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. 13 And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. 15 But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. 16 For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?

1 Corinthians 7:10-16

39 A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. 40 But she is happier if she remains as she is, according to my judgment—and I think I also have the Spirit of God.

1 Corinthians 7:39-40

Only death annuls a marriage

Verse 15 does cancel all the statements in Matthew. Remember scripture interprets scripture. Not “choose the verse you like and reject the other ones”.

Since Matthew and Luke are true and not are not changed or contradicted or cancelled by Corinthians, it means that what Paul is saying here is that the departing of the unbeliever does not interfere with the believer’s salvation and relationship with God. If the abusive spouse departs then the believer can carry with normal Christian life in the Lord. This normal Christian life in the lord excludes divorce and excludes remarriage.

Deuteronomy 24

1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, 2 “when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 “if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, 4 “then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Deuteronomy 24:1-4

Even under Moses, the second marriage after divorce “defiles” the woman. Even after divorce, she was not free to remarry.

The critical question is do we stick to scripture or to human happiness. By the way, the only way to lasting human happiness is to stick to scripture.

God does want us to be happy, but only after and while we believe and obey His Word.