Divorce and Remarriage

jerickson314 · Post by **jerickson314** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 6:03 pm

One one of the other boards, I was involved in a thread involving divorce and remarriage.

Several of the people say that if we expect homosexuals to cease being involved in homosexuality, we should also expect those who have been divorced and remarried to cease being married/sexually involved with their new spouses.

The case is that Jesus called this "adultery", and that therefore it would seem to be a continual sin for the relationship to continue.

I think the argument was intended to say that we should accept homosexual sin, but I see obvious problems with that interpretation.

What would you all say?

(I am beginning to see on the new board why you changed the purpose of this one. I've already got people thinking I am a nut case and treating me like a two year old just because I believe in an inerrant Bible and OEC.)

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 9:34 am

I'd say they're right as well, you're not supposed to divorce, it's equally a sin to engage in homosexual acts and to commit adultery, so they didn't refute anything, they just pointed out homosexuality is just as sinful as adultery and that both have to be put to a stop.

ochotseat · Post by **ochotseat** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 2:32 pm

Dan wrote:I'd say they're right as well, you're not supposed to divorce, it's equally a sin to engage in homosexual acts and to commit adultery.

You're against divorce even on the grounds of abuse or adultery?

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 5:32 pm

ochotseat wrote:
Dan wrote:I'd say they're right as well, you're not supposed to divorce, it's equally a sin to engage in homosexual acts and to commit adultery.
You're against divorce even on the grounds of abuse or adultery?

No.

Jesus made it clear that in those circumstances divorce is acceptable.

jerickson314 · Post by **jerickson314** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 6:35 pm

These people go beyond that. They say that continuing in a second marriage after a divorce is itself sin, and that to repent the marriage must be dissolved.

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 6:51 pm

jerickson314 wrote:These people go beyond that. They say that continuing in a second marriage after a divorce is itself sin, and that to repent the marriage must be dissolved.

That isn't stated in scripture. They're making up arguments =P The only time a second marriage is sinful if the divorce was not justified by abuse or adultery.

jerickson314 · Post by **jerickson314** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 7:04 pm

Dan wrote:That isn't stated in scripture. They're making up arguments =P The only time a second marriage is sinful if the divorce was not justified by abuse or adultery.

Well, what about when the divorce was unjustified?

See

Matthew 19:9 (WEB) wrote:I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery.

The question is, what does it mean that the second relationship is "adultery"? Do these people have a responsibility to repent and leave their second marriages, or was the only sin the past act of divorce and remarriage?

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 7:18 pm

My interpretation would be that the marriage is void in God's eyes and that it must be nulled and repented for, because marriage isn't a one time thing, it's a lifetime commitment and so a marriage that is sinful is a constant sin. Marriage entails a perpetual relationship, not just a ceremony, therefore an invalid second marriage should be treated as adultery until it is ended.

kateliz · Post by **kateliz** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 8:40 pm

Isn't it that even if a divorce is justified, it'd still be a sin to remarry while your ex-spouse is alive?

If they're dead there's no issue. If you remarry while your ex-spouse is still living it'd be a sin.

If you do remarry while they're living, I'd think it'd be a sin to divorce that person since you joined together as one flesh, (assuming that you did.) That in itself would be a sin, despite the origin of the marriage being a sin.

Think about this: if it's a sin to marry a non-Christian while being a Christian, yet Paul(?) stated that you are to remain in such an unbalanced marriage if you're already in it, wouldn't He then tell you to remain in a marriage begun with a different sin?

That is, unless it's true that the beginning of the marriage can nullify the whole marriage, and Paul was in fact speaking of those who converted to Christianity while being already married.

But that'd be ludicrous because once you are married, having begun in sin or not, you have become one flesh and should not be separated because of this.

So if you're married, stay in it even if it began in sin. And if you're divorced and your spouse is still alive, don't marry again.

And I know what I'm about to say sounds stupid, but I don't know of anything in the Bible saying that battery is grounds for divorce. Could someone please aid me in this?

ochotseat · Post by **ochotseat** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 12:12 am

kateliz wrote: So if you're married, stay in it even if it began in sin.

No. They should divorce if the marriage is unhealthful.

kateliz wrote: And if you're divorced and your spouse is still alive, don't marry again.
And I know what I'm about to say sounds stupid

Don't say it then.

Remarrying may not be the best thing, but people have a right to be happy, including their children.

LittleShepherd · Post by **LittleShepherd** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 10:29 am

I don't see what's to be gained by divorcing in such a situation. You can't "fix" one sin by committing another. By that point you've already committed adultery, your first union has been severed in every way, and your second union has been cemented. Going through the divorce process and piling on more sins isn't going to help anyone. And if your particular church interprets Scripture in a way that says you can't be a deacon, well deal with it. It's not like there's not a million other things you can do for the cause of Christ.

Prodigal Son · Post by **Prodigal Son** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 10:58 am

so if someone gets divorced they aren't supposed to remarry? and so, never have sex again?

isn't that a little too much to ask? does anyone really do that? it's just not happening.

bizzt · Post by **bizzt** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 12:26 pm

Anybody watch Focus on the Family? Great Show!!

LittleShepherd · Post by **LittleShepherd** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 1:19 pm

Prodigal Son wrote:so if someone gets divorced they aren't supposed to remarry? and so, never have sex again? isn't that a little too much to ask? does anyone really do that? it's just not happening.

You're right that people don't adhere to the Biblical guidelines the way they should. It's not too much to ask, though. People are just selfish.

kateliz · Post by **kateliz** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 6:16 pm

Prodigal Son wrote:so if someone gets divorced they aren't supposed to remarry? and so, never have sex again?

You are free to remarry if your ex-spouse has died. Before then it's a sin, but afterwards it's not. There have been many strong saints in the past that have had spouses die on them and God saw to getting them remarried, wherein they enjoyed the priveledges of marriage once again.