CAN A CHRISTIAN MARRY, DIVORCE AND REMARRY?

A_Thinker · Sep 22, 2018

There is not a whit of scripture which states that marriage is for the weak.

Marriage is a gifting by by God. Celibacy, also, is a gifting by God. Let every man live according to his own gifting by God.

Matthew 19:4-6

"He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."

Matthew 19:10-12

"The disciples said to him, 'If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.’

Jesus replied, 'Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.'"

Marriage is used to illustrate the nature of the relationship between Christ and the Church. Marriage illustrates the relational ties which are espoused by God.

Ephesians 5

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Righttruth · Sep 23, 2018

A_Thinker said:
There is not a whit of scripture which states that marriage is for the weak.

Marriage is a gifting by by God. Celibacy, also, is a gifting by God. Let every man live according to his own gifting by God.

Matthew 19:4-6

"He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."

Matthew 19:10-12

"The disciples said to him, 'If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.’

Jesus replied, 'Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.'"

Marriage is used to illustrate the nature of the relationship between Christ and the Church. Marriage illustrates the relational ties which are espoused by God.

Ephesians 5

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

1 Corinthians 7:9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion

A_Thinker · Sep 23, 2018

Righttruth said:
1 Corinthians 7:9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion

To have such self-control is a gift ... and to partake in marriage is a gift.

If you will consider it, God did not design humankind to practice such self-control. He designed (and commanded) humankind to marry ... and to "Be fruitful and multiply". So any departure from that design would require a special giftedness, as Jesus stated.

Paul also said that it was EASIER to remain unmarried. From his words here, ... it doesn't sound like he thinks marriage is for weak people.

Marriage requires a special grace ... of giving oneself to another ... and to any children which are produced. Your life is no longer your own, and you have greatly expanded your sphere of existence. So now, not only do you do battle for yourself in the world, ... you also do battle for those in your family.

I spent my first 20 adult years as a single, ... and I've now been married about 20 years, ... so I know that there is a special and unique service to God involved in BOTH lifestyles. Those who live to the glory of God is either lifestyle is particularly gifted, as the scriptures affirm.

1 Corinthians 7:17 Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. Such is the rule I lay down in all the churches.

It is a particular error to try to establish one type of giftedness over another. This is such as the Corinthians were doing, and for which, Paul corrected/condemned.

If Paul established any type of giftedness as being superior to the other, it is in the gift of LOVE. (1 Corinthians 13).

Let us all live excellently in that gifting.

NeedyFollower · Sep 24, 2018

Righttruth said:
Matthew 7
13 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Yes ...being a follower of Christ is difficult . One translation I read had it as the WAY is hard and few be that find it and the broad way was described as easy .

Righttruth · Sep 24, 2018

NeedyFollower said:
Yes ...being a follower of Christ is difficult . One translation I read had it as the WAY is hard and few be that find it and the broad way was described as easy .

Only dead fish go with the current.

Righttruth · Sep 24, 2018

A_Thinker said:
To have such self-control is a gift ... and to partake in marriage is a gift.

If you will consider it, God did not design humankind to practice such self-control. He designed (and commanded) humankind to marry ... and to "Be fruitful and multiply". So any departure from that design would require a special giftedness, as Jesus stated.

Paul also said that it was EASIER to remain unmarried. From his words here, ... it doesn't sound like he thinks marriage is for weak people.

Marriage requires a special grace ... of giving oneself to another ... and to any children which are produced. Your life is no longer your own, and you have greatly expanded your sphere of existence. So now, not only do you do battle for yourself in the world, ... you also do battle for those in your family.

I spent my first 20 adult years as a single, ... and I've now been married about 20 years, ... so I know that there is a special and unique service to God involved in BOTH lifestyles. Those who live to the glory of God is either lifestyle is particularly gifted, as the scriptures affirm.

1 Corinthians 7:17 Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. Such is the rule I lay down in all the churches.

It is a particular error to try to establish one type of giftedness over another. This is such as the Corinthians were doing, and for which, Paul corrected/condemned.

If Paul established any type of giftedness as being superior to the other, it is in the gift of LOVE. (1 Corinthians 13).

Let us all live excellently in that gifting.

Please read 1 Corinthians 7 completely thoroughly and Luke 14:26

A_Thinker · Sep 24, 2018

Righttruth said:
Please read 1 Corinthians 7 completely thoroughly and Luke 14:26

I have read them many times ...

Righttruth · Sep 24, 2018

A_Thinker said:
I have read them many times ...

How about this one:
1 Corinthians 7: 29 But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none;

A_Thinker · Sep 25, 2018

Righttruth said:
How about this one:
1 Corinthians 7: 29 But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none;

Yes ... I am familiar with it.

I am also aware that Paul considered Christ's return imminent ... almost 2,000 years ago. And he prefaced the passage you cite

1 Corinthians 7

25 Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.

26 I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.

27 Are you bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.

28 But and if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Yet, such shall have trouble in this life; that I am trying to spare you.

29 But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none;

A_Thinker · Sep 25, 2018

Righttruth said:
How about this one:
1 Corinthians 7: 29 But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none;

So then, this has to be correlated with Paul's other teachings on marriage.

Ephesians 5:25-28a

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;

1 Timothy 5:8

"But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever."

1 Thessalonians 4:10b-12

10b "But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, 12 so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need."

Righttruth · Sep 25, 2018

A_Thinker said:
Yes ... I am familiar with it.

I am also aware that Paul considered Christ's return imminent ... almost 2,000 years ago. And he prefaced the passage you cite

1 Corinthians 7

25 Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.

26 I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.

27 Are you bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.

28 But and if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Yet, such shall have trouble in this life; that I am trying to spare you.

29 But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none;

Don't avoid this:

38 So then both he who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.

Righttruth · Sep 25, 2018

A_Thinker said:
So then, this has to be correlated with Paul's other teachings on marriage.

Ephesians 5:25-28a

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;

1 Timothy 5:8

"But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever."

1 Thessalonians 4:10b-12

10b "But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, 12 so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need."

Don't forget this:
1 Corinthians 7:32 But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
33 but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife,
34 and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
35 This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.

nanookadenord · Sep 25, 2018

Righttruth said:
Don't forget this:
1 Corinthians 7:32 But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
33 but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife,
34 and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
35 This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.

Don't you forget this:

Genesis 2
18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit fore him.” 19Now out of the ground the Lord God had formedf every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adamg there was not found a helper fit for him. 21So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he madeh into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”i

24Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

And this:

Proverbs 18
22He who finds a wife finds a good thing
and obtains favor from the Lord.

And this:

Proverbs 19
14House and wealth are inherited from fathers,
but a prudent wife is from the Lord.

All of us can go back and forth all day with these. Paul seems to be talking about what he would want for men, yet God himself made a help meet for man. The woman.

God is for marriages. Paul, not sure what his deal was other than maybe he was just biased as an unmarried man. So in his bias, he stated what you have quoted here and on other threads.

**I am not against Paul. Just want to make that clear.

A_Thinker · Sep 25, 2018

Righttruth said:
Don't avoid this:

38 So then both he who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.

All from the section he prefaced thusly ...

1 Corinthians 7

25 Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.

26 I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.

A_Thinker · Sep 25, 2018

nanookadenord said:
**I am not against Paul. Just want to make that clear.

RightTruth may well be a Pauline christian ...

NeedyFollower · Sep 25, 2018

A_Thinker said:
RightTruth may well be a Pauline christian ...

Hi Brother ...I have been following your discourse with your and my brother RightTruth ...I am a Gentile believer so according to most Bibles I have read , Paul was sent by Jesus Christ to the gentile believers ...otherwise we are under the law still for it is our brother Paul , a sanctified vessel of the Lord Jesus who first preached grace to us and also instructed us both in milk and meat . ( Let those who are spiritual or prophetic acknowledge that the words I write to you are commandments of the Lord . ) 1st Corinthians
14:37 ...even Peter acknowledged Paul's understand when Peter disassembled from the gentiles in error when the Jews came up from Jerusalem . So , was Paul sent by Jesus Christ ? Paul mentioned in Galatians 1:11 that the gospel he received , he received by revelation and it was not after man . I believe and I think we can all agree that Paul had a heart after God and suffered for his beliefs ..more than any of us ...and Paul was of course correct in his looking for the return of the Lord Jesus in his life time .( Watch and pray always for you know not the day nor the hour ..etc. ) And we have the parable where Jesus said the wicked servant said in his heart that the Lord delayed his coming and began to eat and drink and be drunken and started smiting his fellow servants ....he was cut off and assigned his portion with the unbelievers ( so it follows that he was a believer for it did not say "other unbelievers ) I am big believer in marriage but it is solely for the gospels sake and of course Paul was right ..it is easier to serve the Lord with less attachments but I do believe celibacy is a gift as is salvation . My fear is we have become " Americanized " as regarding the Christian life ...we should be raising our children up as part of the preisthood of believers with the understanding that the may return at any time ...there will be a last generation ...at least that is what Jews , Christians and Muslims all believe .

NeedyFollower · Sep 25, 2018

Righttruth said:
Only dead fish go with the current.

It is difficult to bring forth fruit meet for ( turning around ..aka repentance ..aka changing your mind ...going a different direction . ) The pursuit of this life is not the pursuit of God ..a man can not walk two directions at once ...Christians are like little sheep going a different direction than a thundering herd of 300 million buffalo more or less ...we will get trampled but some will stumble on our dead bodies and turn also ...the difficulty is being dead .

Righttruth · Sep 25, 2018

nanookadenord said:
Don't you forget this:

Genesis 2
18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit fore him.” 19Now out of the ground the Lord God had formedf every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adamg there was not found a helper fit for him. 21So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he madeh into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”i

24Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

And this:

Proverbs 18
22He who finds a wife finds a good thing
and obtains favor from the Lord.

And this:

Proverbs 19
14House and wealth are inherited from fathers,
but a prudent wife is from the Lord.

All of us can go back and forth all day with these. Paul seems to be talking about what he would want for men, yet God himself made a help meet for man. The woman.

God is for marriages. Paul, not sure what his deal was other than maybe he was just biased as an unmarried man. So in his bias, he stated what you have quoted here and on other threads.

**I am not against Paul. Just want to make that clear.

Don't forget the new covenant we have with Jesus. So one should not take shelter in the shadow of the OT!

Righttruth · Sep 25, 2018

A_Thinker said:
All from the section he prefaced thusly ...

1 Corinthians 7

25 Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.

26 I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.

So you listen to Paul when it is convenient for you and discard when it is not (not ear tickling)!

Righttruth · Sep 25, 2018

NeedyFollower said:
It is difficult to bring forth fruit meet for ( turning around ..aka repentance ..aka changing your mind ...going a different direction . ) The pursuit of this life is not the pursuit of God ..a man can not walk two directions at once ...Christians are like little sheep going a different direction than a thundering herd of 300 million buffalo more or less ...we will get trampled but some will stumble on our dead bodies and turn also ...the difficulty is being dead .

Matthew 7
13 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

CAN A CHRISTIAN MARRY, DIVORCE AND REMARRY?

Well-Known Member

Regular Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Regular Member

Regular Member

Well-Known Member

Regular Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Regular Member

Regular Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Regular Member

Regular Member

Regular Member

Similar threads