Matthew 5:31-32
Marriage is very important to God. He designed marriage to be a reflection of
Himself. He uses marriage as an
illustration of His relationship with the church. God’s intention is that one man be married to
one woman until they are separated by death.
Marriage is to reflect the love of God, the faithfulness of God, the
patience of God, the grace, mercy and forgiveness of God as well as many other
attributes of God. In essence, God
designed our marriages to bring honor and glory to Himself. This is one of the reasons that God hates
divorce. God only permits divorce
because of the hardness of men’s hearts, but it is never God’s desire that a
marriage end in divorce. However, we
live in a sin cursed world with sin cursed people where obedience to God’s will
is not always a reality. Divorce is a
sin and just like every other sin it can be forgiven by God. Jesus died in order that our sins might be
forgiven and we might be reconciled to God.
God forgives, sin but sin has consequences. This is a very controversial subject with
godly men who know and love God’s that have vastly different beliefs on this
subject. Whenever this happens with an
issue, it should remind us of the need to be humble in the positions we take
and the way we take those positions. Unfortunately,
we all know people who have been divorced which then leads to questions about
remarriage. It is important for us to
consider the principles that Jesus taught on this subject.
THE CONCESSION OF DIVORCE: Divorce was instituted because of
the hardness of men’s hearts. It was
never God’s intention for divorce to be a reality in human relationships. God planned for marriage to be the inseparable
union of a man and a women for as long as they both live. However, due to sinful hearts, marriage is
not an easy thing. When you put two
sinners together under the same roof conflict is inevitable. This conflict often led to people sending
their spouses away. In the culture
during the days of Moses, men would often view their wives as property. If a man was not pleased with his wife, he
would frequently send her away, usually back to her original family. This would leave the woman in a very
difficult position because she was legally married but no longer living with
her husband. If she were to start a
relationship with another man her first husband could come at any time and
accuse her of adultery which was punishable by death. This is why Moses legislated laws concerning
divorce. If a man sent his wife away, he
must do so formally and in writing and in so doing he was releasing her from
the marriage commitment and relinquishing all of his rights and privileges a
husband. Once divorce was instituted it
began to be abused to the point that men were divorcing their wives for any and
all reasons. Jesus confronts this action
by stating God’s view on this practice.
THE CONSEQUENCE OF REMARRIAGE: Jesus affirms that those who
divorce and then remarry commit adultery.
He had just finished teaching on the subject of lusting being adultery
in our hearts and now He reveals that remarriage is adultery even when a bill
of divorce had been signed. The only
exception to this was in the case where there had been unfaithfulness in the
marriage. This is where the controversy
begins to heat up on these issues. There
are those who say that remarriage after divorce is permitted in the case of
adultery, abandonment by an unbeliever and in cases where the divorce occurred
prior to salvation. There are others who
say that remarriage is always adultery no matter what the circumstance. They claim that the exception permitting
divorce is limited to the betrothal period as we see in the example of Mary and
Joseph. There are excellent Bible scholars
on both sides of this issue. My position
is as follows: First, do everything
possible to prevent divorce in the first place.
I will never counsel a couple to get a divorce no matter what has
happened in the marriage, they have an opportunity to reflect the mercy and
forgives of God and I will do all that is in my power to help them accomplish
that. Second, If divorce has already
occurred; I will do all that is my power to help restore the marriage. Third, if restoration is not possible my
counsel would be to remain single as long as the other spouse remains
alive. Forth, I will not perform
marriage ceremonies of divorced people.
This, from my perspective, is the safest position because it eliminates
the possibility of adultery. However, I
recognize that there are many people who hold to a different position and that
I could be wrong. In light of this, my
fifth position is not to exercise church discipline on couples who remarry
after having been divorced in one of the three conditions mentioned above. If another minister or the justice of the
peace marries them I would limit the ministries they could perform buy not
discipline them. This is the closest I
have been able to come to balance on this issue.
APPLICATION: Recognize that God’s design for marriage is for
it to be for a life-time. Forgive any
offenses that occur in marriage as a means of demonstrating the character and
grace of God. Give great importance to
marriage and don’t get divorced for any reason.
Always see for reconciliation of the relationship. Know that our marriages are more about God
than they are about us. Be humble in our
positions of controversial issues.
Comments
Post a Comment