Divorce and Remarriage are Sins

God never allows divorce under any circumstances. The confusion over this matter is in Matthew where God says "except for fornication." Matthew was written to Jews who had the custom of betrothal, the betrothal was treated as binding as a marriage even though the couple didn't live together, they often were betrothed to one another from childhood.

The Jewish people required a certificate of divorce from the betrothal or engagement for sexual immorality. This was not speaking about marriage.

The other gospels don't have the exception clause because they were written to Gentiles who didn't have this custom.

IN the KJV of the bible the word "fornication" is used in the Matthew passage, meaning before marriage.

Matthew 19:9 "And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery."

In the account of Joseph discovering that Mary was with child during their betrothal, he was going to "divorce her quietly", because even though he was betrothed to her, he didn't want to hurt her. In those days stoning was the penalty for fornication and adultery. Joseph was not yet married to Mary but was going to "divorce her, from the betrothal or engagement. Joseph was referred to as Mary's husband before they were married during the betrothal.

Matthew 1:18-25 "18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to …"

Matthew 1:19 "And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly."

God does allow separation in cases of severe conflict or abuse, but never divorce. He says that if we divorce we have only two options, to remain single or to be reconciled.

Matthew 7:10 "10 But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband 11 (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife."

I always wondered why the exception clause was not in the other gospels, when I prayed about it, God opened my eyes. I never believed in divorce for adultery because of the character of God, our permanency in salvation when God made us into a new creation as being a picture of our oneness in marriage when GOD makes us one, we are no longer two. It is a spiritual work of God that we cannot undo. Once we have become one with the Holy Spirit in salvation, that salvation can never be severed.

Then of course there is the matter of which sin is the unforgivable sin. There is only one and that is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 12:31-32 says, "And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come."

Any man who lusts, God says he has committed adultery. The act is not worse than the thoughts of man although they carry bigger consequences.

Matthew 5:28 "but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

We know that divorce for adultery is not true because God equated our thoughts of it the same as if we had done it. God counts our thoughts above the act, because the act cannot happen without the thoughts first.

God wants us to stand by the person He made us one with, until death. We can pray, love, forgive and hope for reconciliation. Anyone who is prideful enough to think they can throw away their spouse for adultery, must consider themselves "sin free." All of us sin, sometimes in big ways, but that does not sever the bond, the glue that God used to make us one.

God told us to remain single after divorce or be reconciled. There were no other choices. Why? Because two people who are made one by God cannot undo what God did, just as we cannot undo our salvation when GOD makes us a new creation.

Divorce is a sin, those who have divorced can repent and obey God by remaining single until God makes a way for them to be reconciled. Reconciling is not always possible because of the pressures of our culture that cause a spouse to seek another person to live with. When that happens, God says it is adultery.

Rom 7:1-3 "Do you not know, brothers and sisters--for I am speaking to those who know the law--that... a married woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives?.. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive."

Mark 10:2-9 (KJV) And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, "Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?" tempting him. And he answered and said unto them, "What did Moses command you?" And they said, "Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away." And Jesus answered and said unto them, "For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."

Luke 16:18 ""Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery."

Many people in the apostate church sit in the pews every week believing they are not sinning as they sit next to their adulterous spouse in remarriages. Those who resolve to remain single are pressured by others in the church to find a spouse, they seem to just hate to see anyone without a spouse. Those who pressure divorced people to remarry will be accountable to God for their lies that come from the mouth of the devil.

Remember God told the truth all the time and gave that truth to us through His Word. Man is a liar, taking those truths of God twisting them to mean what they want to justify their own sin.

Pretenders love to suck others into their lies, they hate to sin alone. They hate to see a righteous man obey God when the culture is against him. May those who have been divorced remain faithful to singleness according to God's Word. May those who are being pressured to remarry after divorce stand up to those who encourage them to disobey God, with God's Word as their authority!