On Divorce and Remarriage
By Elizabeth Prata
In tweeting the about transgenderism, an angry person – obviously not a believer – challenged me with this-
you’re the reason baptists churchs are removing “baptist” from their names. How many divorced adulterers u take money from #hypocrite
He has a partial point. We make much of the homosexual and the transsexual, rightly holding up the doctrines of the Bible that speak to sexual sin, but often overlook the same doctrines that speak of divorce and unrighteous re-marriage. In those cases the remarried Christian is seen by God as an adulterer. Isn’t unbiblical divorce and adultery sin, too? Of course it is.
We all know the famous “God hates divorce” from Malachi 2:1. His command regarding divorce is reiterated in 1 Corinthians 7:10–11:
But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife is not to leave her husband. (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband is not to divorce his wife.
He still hates divorce. But God did give some wiggle room for an allowable divorce. Not a desirable divorce, but an allowable one: of the spouse is unfaithful (Matthew 5:32), and if the spouse abandons the other spouse. (1 Corinthians 7:15).
Speaking of persistent sin, if there is someone getting a divorce on unbiblical grounds, for example, this is how MacArthur handles divorce as written in Grace Community Church’s Distinctives this way. His church’s distinctive is based on the Bible verses about divorce:
“Believers who pursue divorce on unbiblical grounds are subject to church discipline because they openly reject the Word of God. The one who obtains an unbiblical divorce and remarries is guilty of adultery since God did not permit the original divorce (Matt. 5:32; Mark 10:11-12). That person is subject to the steps of church discipline as outlined in Matthew 18:15-17. If a professing Christian violates the marriage covenant and refuses to repent during the process of church discipline, Scripture instructs that he or she should be put out of the church and treated as an unbeliever (v. 17). When the discipline results in such a reclassification of the disobedient spouse as an “outcast” or unbeliever, the faithful partner would be free to divorce according to the provision for divorce as in the case of an unbeliever departing, as stated in 1 Corinthians 7:15. Before such a divorce, however, reasonable time should be allowed for the possibility of the unfaithful spouse returning because of the discipline.”
But how often does a local church practice discipline like that? Discipline grows a church, doesn’t shrink it. (Acts 5:11-14). I think many churches have become somewhat like the world in that regard. They pull out the stops to prevent homosexuality from entering but have allowed other sins like divorce to become commonplace.
Mark Jones at Reformation 21 “Why is Heaven Forever?“
God’s people are united to their husband, Christ, by faith. This indissoluble union begins when we place our faith in the one who is “chief among ten thousand.” A significant implication emerges from this truth: Heaven is eternal because we are married to Christ, and God hates divorce. God would first have to sin by dissolving our union with Christ before Heaven could end. When God sins in this manner then Heaven will end.
Further Resources
Grace to You – The Truth about Divorce
Ligonier – The Last Step of Church Discipline
