Biblical Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage...

[Guest LadyC]

this appears to be another "divorce is the unpardonable sin" thread.

when we turn our lives over to Christ, our past is wiped clean. our sins are forgiven. they are remembered no more. i thank God for BLESSING me with my current husband. (although there have been times when it almost felt like a curse instead of a blessing!) bottom line is, GOD brought mark into my life. HE had a purpose for us. the sins of my previous life, including my first marriage/subsequent divorce, has been forgiven, and forgotten. i am so grateful for this grace in which i now stand.

[tsth]

One other item that is interesting. When Jesus was discussing the issue of divorce, He cites Genesis 2. There is an added measure He instructs with that was not in Genesis. Note what He added to the message of marriage:

Genesis 2: 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man." 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Matthew 19:3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?" 4 "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' 5 and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? 6 So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

In His Love,

Suzanne

[tsth]

this appears to be another "divorce is the unpardonable sin" thread.

when we turn our lives over to Christ, our past is wiped clean. our sins are forgiven. they are remembered no more. i thank God for BLESSING me with my current husband. (although there have been times when it almost felt like a curse instead of a blessing!) bottom line is, GOD brought mark into my life. HE had a purpose for us. the sins of my previous life, including my first marriage/subsequent divorce, has been forgiven, and forgotten. i am so grateful for this grace in which i now stand.

I know that there are many in this day and time who are divorced, but that doesn't mean that we neglect correct teachings for the next generation coming up behind us.

Couldn't you agree that we still need to teach the next generation differently?

In His Love,

Suzanne

[ParanoidAndroid]

I also agree with the general sentiment of LadyC and Cobalt. However, one must be careful when making such assertions because the same argument has been made to justify homosexual relationships in a Christian context. It's a fine line.......

[FighterforJC]

this appears to be another "divorce is the unpardonable sin" thread.

when we turn our lives over to Christ, our past is wiped clean. our sins are forgiven. they are remembered no more. i thank God for BLESSING me with my current husband. (although there have been times when it almost felt like a curse instead of a blessing!) bottom line is, GOD brought mark into my life. HE had a purpose for us. the sins of my previous life, including my first marriage/subsequent divorce, has been forgiven, and forgotten. i am so grateful for this grace in which i now stand.

Yes, you've accepted the grace, you are forgiven. This is not a "divorce is the unpardonable sin" thread. But grace is never a license to do what is sinful. I'm sure you now have God's blessing on your new marriage. Stay married to that guy. You do NOT have the license to divorce this guy and then remarry.

[Marnie]

this appears to be another "divorce is the unpardonable sin" thread.

when we turn our lives over to Christ, our past is wiped clean. our sins are forgiven. they are remembered no more. i thank God for BLESSING me with my current husband. (although there have been times when it almost felt like a curse instead of a blessing!) bottom line is, GOD brought mark into my life. HE had a purpose for us. the sins of my previous life, including my first marriage/subsequent divorce, has been forgiven, and forgotten. i am so grateful for this grace in which i now stand.

That's what I am seeing as well. Got to keep those divorced/remarried people in their place, and help them remember they are second-class Christians. :rolleyes:

Yes, I have noticed at Worthy, two subjects keep coming up with amazing regularity: evolution and the divorce/remarriage issue. It's like y'all are obsessed with those topics here!

It's amazing to me that there can be so many experts on Christian divorce/remarriage here when theologians have been debating both Christ's and Paul's teachings for centuries, and then reconciling it to what the OT teaches. As always, I feel these experts have missed the point all together and confuse Biblical teaching with their Church's doctrine. It's far too easy to quote Paul's teaching and build a whole doctrine around a verse or two without considering the historical and cultural context of his day.

It's very easy to make stern proclamations and say no remarriage is possible for the believer until you yourself have experienced a broken marriage. I wonder how many times a Christian wife has been advised to stay with her husband by somebody who has no knowledge of her beatings or humiliation? Or how many unfortunate women have endured a lifetime of pain, both physical and mental, because she thought she was doing the right thing by staying with her caveman-of-a-husband, while he took advantage of her and her faith?

Threads like this just irritate the heck out of me.

[Guest LadyC]

this appears to be another "divorce is the unpardonable sin" thread.

when we turn our lives over to Christ, our past is wiped clean. our sins are forgiven. they are remembered no more. i thank God for BLESSING me with my current husband. (although there have been times when it almost felt like a curse instead of a blessing!) bottom line is, GOD brought mark into my life. HE had a purpose for us. the sins of my previous life, including my first marriage/subsequent divorce, has been forgiven, and forgotten. i am so grateful for this grace in which i now stand.

I know that there are many in this day and time who are divorced, but that doesn't mean that we neglect correct teachings for the next generation coming up behind us.

Couldn't you agree that we still need to teach the next generation differently?

In His Love,

Suzanne

suzanne, please help me understand what exactly you're asking. do you mean shouldn't we teach the next generation that divorce is unforgivable, and that under no circumstances can a divorced person who obtained a divorce outside of biblical exceptions ever remarry? should we teach our kids that even if they turn their lives over to God after a divorce, they are still bound forever and ever to their first spouse, and that if they choose to remarry after submitting their lives to God that they will be living in a constant state of adultry? (and pair that with the fact that God says that those who live adulterous lives will never enter heaven...)

absolutely NOT.

or do you mean that we should teach our children and grandchildren how crucial it is that they not enter into marriage lightly, that marriage is a commitment that requires a lot of work, that the emotional "in love" stuff is fleeting and that true love is overcoming trials, that divorce is not an "easy out" and shouldn't be considered an option, unless it falls within the biblical guidelines?

absolutely YES.

[Carol R]

Hi,

I was divorced before I became a christian, after being a christian for a while I wondered if i was able to remarry, I was pointed to some scriptures in the new testament and told no I was not free to remarry until my ex was dead.

I was not best pleased i can tell you. that wasn't what i wanted to hear. I went home read the scriptures and prayed about it. Guess what God said the same thing I had been told. I was still not pleased but eventually agreed to do it Gods way.

I prayed that if I never remarried then that would be fine as i planned to follow the Lord all of my days. Oh what peace it has brought me. Am i lonely, NO, Am i fullfilled, YES God meets my every need. Oh and my ex died last year, very sad for my son, but it hasnt changed anything for me. Now I am free to remarry if I want to or meet someone. To be perfectly honest I don't think God is planning for me to remarry.

Carol R

[Guest LadyC]

because the same argument has been made to justify homosexual relationships in a Christian context.

oh, no it can't. a believer who has submitted to Christ and married another after a divorce can not begin to be compared to a person who says "i'm a believer, so God will bless me in my homosexual relationship". God said marriage is between a man and a woman, He has never allowed for homosexual shacking up, or for that matter, ANY shacking up. even if gay marriage becomes legal, it is still not recognized as marriage in God's eyes.

Stay married to that guy. You do NOT have the license to divorce this guy and then remarry.

i've been married to mark for nine and a half years. we've been through hell and back together. i've lived through times of severe emotional abuse, poverty, his addictions to porn and meth, and through times of unforgiveness between him and my children. and through it all, i've held to the knowledge that God brought us together for a purpose, and if i bail out when the going gets rough, i'll miss out on the tremendous blessing that God has in store for us.... not to worry, i have no intentions of ever getting a divorce, unless he commits adultry.

[ParanoidAndroid]

because the same argument has been made to justify homosexual relationships in a Christian context.

oh, no it can't. a believer who has submitted to Christ and married another after a divorce can not begin to be compared to a person who says "i'm a believer, so God will bless me in my homosexual relationship". God said marriage is between a man and a woman, He has never allowed for homosexual shacking up, or for that matter, ANY shacking up. even if gay marriage becomes legal, it is still not recognized as marriage in God's eyes.

Hi LadyC,

I'm going to quickly go back and write a slightly different version of Cobalt's earlier post: Gotta keep those homosexual Christians in their places, and help them remember that they are still second-class Christians. The same comment, except in a slightly different context. I've seen it written so many times on other message boards, when homosexuals want to justify their relationships as loving and caring and therefore right.

I agree that it is not right, and I know comparing remarriage to homosexuality is not accurate either. But the argument is roughly the same, just with less biblical basis and ignoring the many passages that specifically condemn it (the behaviour, not the individual).

I was just offering a suggestion to be careful when using that argument......... that's all. As I said.... a fine line.....

~ Paranoid Android

Edited July 18, 2007 by ParanoidAndroid