Divorce/Remarriage

We believe the two reasons for a biblical divorce are adultery and abandonment:

  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?”  19:4  And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’   19:5  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’? 19:6  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”  19:7  They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”  19:8  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.  19:9  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.”

  We believe Jesus was saying that divorce that does not result from adultery, will result in adultery, if remarriage to another person takes place. The following verse safeguards against adultery in the context of divorce/remarriage:

  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.  7:11  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.

  We believe the other biblical allowance for divorce and remarriage is when one spouse abandons the other.  The spouse who does not do the abandoning is permitted by God to remarry another believer.

  1 Corinthians 7:12  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.  7:13  And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him.  7:14  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.  7:15  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.

  If a spouse dies, the widow or widower may remarry another believer.

  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.

  We believe the evidence of Scripture is that people commit adultery when remarriage is experienced, outside of the boundaries of a biblical divorce.  There are lasting consequences for an unbiblical divorce.  Although the Bible gives the reasons for a biblical divorce, the Bible does not command that a divorce take place, but that divorce “may” take place when within the boundaries of the Scripture. Many people have experienced unbiblical divorces with grievous consequences. God promises forgiveness to all who genuinely confess and repent of their sin of an unbiblical divorce and adultery.

  1 John 1:8  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  1:9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  1:10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

  Proverbs 28:13  He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.