Dealing with Divorce
We have found ourselves in the middle of a divorce epidemic. Studies show us that over 50% of
marriages (including Christian marriages), are ending in divorce (67% of all
second marriages). With this rising epidemic taking place before our eyes, and
dramatically impacting our culture, as well as the church, how is the Body of
Christ to interpret the phenomena? The best way to interpret this is obviously
through the lenses of Scripture.
What does the Bible say
about divorce?
A similar question to this
was posed to Jesus when the Pharisees asked him, “Is it lawful to divorce
one’s wife for any cause?” (Matthew
19:3) In other words, “Jesus, what is your interpretation of God’s Word
regarding the subject of divorce?”
Jesus’ responded to them
by saying, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning
made them male and female, and said, therefore a man shall leave his father and
his mother and hold fast
to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but
one flesh. What therefore God
has joined together, let no man separate” (Matthew 19:5-6).
Though the Pharisees were
trying to test Jesus in this passage, Jesus’ response to their question gives
us some very clear insight as to how God truly feels about marriage and
divorce.
The first thing that I
want to point out in Jesus’ response, is His exhortation to husbands to hold
fast to their wives, because God has
designed the husband to be the protective leader of the marriage. Holding fast
would mean to take great care in how you lovingly lead, serve, nurture, and
bless your wife. When a husband is doing all that he can to hold fast in this manner, his marriage will be incredibly
blessed. Unless of course the wife is not following Jesus, and has a different,
and more important agenda going on in her life other than her marriage.
When looking at Matthew
19:6, we read that Jesus gives the Pharisees a very clear answer to their
question about divorce. He answers the Pharisees question by saying, “What
therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” God has not given any man permission to separate a
husband and wife from one another. God has not given the husband permission,
the wife permission, their parents or closest friends, a divorce lawyer or a
judge. Because God has joined the
husband and wife together through a Covenant He created, man is not permitted
to terminate the covenant.
Because God is the only
one who is lawfully allowed to separate a marriage relationship, He has given
us three provisions for doing so.
1. Death (Romans 7:2)
The Bible tells us in
Romans 7:2, “For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband
as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of
her husband.”
Here we read that death
releases a person from their marriage contract, and frees the living spouse up
to marry again.
2. Sexual immorality -
(Matthew 5:32; cf. 19:9)
Jesus tells us 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.”
In this verse Jesus tells
us that divorce is also permitted in cases of sexual immorality. The Greek word
here for sexual immorality is porneia, and refers to any sexual intercourse that is contrary to the moral
standards of Scripture. This could refer to adultery (Lev. 18:20; Jeremiah
3:9), prostitution (1 Cor. 6:13, 18), fornication (John 8:41), as well as any
kind of sexual intercourse outside of marriage, including homosexuality (Rom.
1:26-27; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; 1 Tim. 1:10; Jude 1:7), incest (1 Cor. 5:1-13), and
bestiality (Exo. 22:19; Lev. 18:23; 20:15-16). It is safe to say that in our
culture, inappropriate magazine’s, websites, and cable channels would also fit
into this category (cf. Eph. 5:11).
3. Abandonment by an
unbelieving spouse (1 Cor. 7:15)
The Bible tells us in 1
Corinthians 7:15, “But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother
or a sister is not under bondage in such cases.”
Death, sexual immorality,
and abandonment of an unbelieving spouse, are the three permissive areas that God
has given to us to end a marriage covenant between us, and Him.
This of course has
introduced an interesting dynamic into the Body of Christ, due to the fact that
there are many who have been divorced outside of these permissive areas of
Scripture, which leaves us with an important question to be answered; can
divorced Christians remarry?
To answer this question, please read: What does the Bible say about Remarriage?
RELATED ARTICLES
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To answer this question, please read: What does the Bible say about Remarriage?
RELATED ARTICLES
1. Christian Marriage
