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Biblical advice on divorce and remarriage
Learn from the Law In the last law Jesus elaborated upon, we learned that adultery is a serious sin. It is not difficult to deduce that adultery often leads to divorce. But did you ever think of it the other way? Jesus did. In this teaching, Jesus said divorce often leads to adultery. Let's take a closer look. In this section of scripture, Jesus is offering an antithesis to Pharisaical teaching. The Pharisees had twisted and taught that a man could divorce his wife for any and every reason of displeasure. These reasons ranged from the trivial to the tawdry. Men treated women like livestock, and Jesus was going to call this cattle drive to a halt. Jesus said kingdoms of man may permit divorce for any and every reason, but the kingdom of God created marriage, holds marriage in the highest regard for God's glory and man's good, and therefore severely restricts the reasons for which a marriage may be terminated. Jesus offers only one reason. The Greek word is "pornea." In its various biblical contexts, this word defines serious, habitual sexual sin. What we learn from the law is that when you make a marriage vow, you make the second most serious commitment of your life. There is no reason to break it, except if your spouse is involved in a series of serious, scandalous, sexual sins. Therefore, if you divorce for any other reason and remarry, you are guilty of adultery - and, apostasy - for you have broken faith with your spouse and with your God. Live by the spirit Apostasy is the sin of walking away from a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. It is breaking a vow. It is failing to keep your commitment. What does this have to do with divorce? Everything, since "divorce" and "apostasy" are virtually synonymous in Christ's teaching. The key to locking your marriage vows is the same key that keeps you chained to your commitment to Christ. What keeps a genuine Christian from apostasy? The holy spirit. What can keep you from breaking your marriage vows? Not the law, as great as it is, but the same holy spirit of God. Learn from the law, but live by the spirit and you will not dishonor God and disrupt the lives of countless individuals with the serious sin of divorce. This does not nullify the so-called "escape" clause. If you are a Christian and your spouse is running around committing sexual sins, then you have a right to a divorce. But did you know that only a small percentage of divorces are because of blatant adultery or other sexual sins? Most people divorce over money. Others over perceived "unhappiness" or "incompatibility." We have become a culture of Pharisees in many more ways than one. The remedy is making a serious spiritual commitment to Jesus Christ before you make a serious marital commitment to your spouse, then keep them both. Feed your spirit with regular worship and the word of God, with prayers and spiritual songs, and with the love of God. Then you will love your neighbor the way you are supposed to, beginning with your number one neighbor - your spouse. Practice real righteousness If you've never been divorced, don't be a Pharisee and get puffed up with pride. To read any part of the Sermon on the Mount and then boast about how you have obeyed God is to miss Jesus' point entirely. You may not be a murderer, but when you've been unjustly angry at another person you are just as guilty. You may not be an adulterer, but if you've had lust in your heart you are just as guilty. You may not have been divorced, but if you make that a matter of spiritual pride and look down on others, you are just as guilty. Furthermore if you've never been divorced, don't ever go looking for loopholes to justify a divorce. That's what the Pharisees did, and Jesus shot them down at every turn in these texts of the Sermon on the Mount. Don't ever use the Bible like a buffet to take what you like and leave what you don't. Don't ever use it as leverage to do the least. Always look to scripture to find ways to do the most you can for God, for your spouse and family, for your church and for the people of the world. Then, if you have been divorced, and it was partially or totally your fault, then know this: divorce is not the unpardonable sin. Be like that woman in John 8 and "Go, and sin no more." God can and will forgive your past, make you a strong, spiritual person in the present, and secure for you a God-honoring and glorious future. Make the marriage you are in now work by giving it wholly over to holy scripture which reflects the character of our holy God. And finally, if you've never been married, realize the seriousness of the situation before you make that vow. Actually, the sacred seriousness of a vow is where Jesus is going in the next verse, but we will save that for next Sunday.
Learn from the law. Live by the spirit. Practice the righteousness that God requires.
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