Salvation: Divorce and Adultery...Will those who remarry go to Heaven?

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Paul says if an unbelieving spouse leaves, the believing spouse >is not bound<. The entire point of Christ saying “except for adultery” was to clarify that there are instances where divorce is biblical. There is no reason for a biblical divorce except to free The innocent party to remarry. Otherwise there would be no need for either the unbelieving spousal abandonment or the adultery exceptions. It’s not complicated but there are a few theologians and scholars who agree with you (notably John Piper) even though the majority do not.

While there are different exceptions for the divorce part, the only exception for the remarriage part is if the other spouse is dead (according to Romans 7:3). I would rather play it safe than be sorry. Most want to justify sin these days. I would rather be wrong in being more strict on these things vs. leading myself and or others down a wrong path that God did not make an allowance for (with 100% clarity).
 
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Carl Emerson

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While there are different exceptions for the divorce part, the only exception for the remarriage part is if the other spouse is dead (according to Romans 7:3). I would rather play it safe than be sorry. Most want to justify sin these days. I would rather be wrong in being more strict on these things vs. leading myself and or others down a wrong path that God did not make an allowance for (with 100% clarity).

While I appreciate your caution, your position does not give room for folks being led by the Law of the Spirit within regarding re-marriage.

My sheep hear my voice.

Legislating against the 'uncertain' can frustrate the will of the Spirit.
 
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NeedyFollower

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Until the Old Israel was divorced, the remnant incorporated into the New Israel, and Jerusalem fell.
And the prodigal son was unfaithful but it did not change the faithfulness of the Father . His ways are higher than our ways . The Father patiently waited as I believe we have for an example ( as the children of the Father ). Also the apostle Paul instructs us that if the unbeliever depart we are not bound ...but elsewhere if we are loosed from a wife , seek not a wife . And in 1st Corinthians 7:10 -11 . To the married I say ( yet not I but the Lord ) A wife must not separate from her husband but if she does she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband . And a husband must not divorce his wife .
I know this is debated along the context of the innocent party ..the one who has been cheated on or the one who has been left . They are counted as the victim as indeed it is so but is there any thing as an innocent party ? How is anyone innocent and a recipient of mercy and grace ?
 
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GaveMeJoy

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While there are different exceptions for the divorce part, the only exception for the remarriage part is if the other spouse is dead (according to Romans 7:3). I would rather play it safe than be sorry. Most want to justify sin these days. I would rather be wrong in being more strict on these things vs. leading myself and or others down a wrong path that God did not make an allowance for (with 100% clarity).
I can’t argue with you there. If a believer doesn’t feel they are specifically lead By the holy spirit to an understanding Of the scriptures that gives them freedom to remarry, it would be a big risk to do this.

Two things that still don’t track when saying the distinctions apply to divorce and not remarriage, is the scriptural concept of divorce dating all the way back to the Old Testament, as well as the understanding of the people receiving the scriptures (I.e. the audience) was that the purpose of allowing a divorce was always remarriage. There is still IMO no reason or logical progression to state exceptions that allow a biblical divorce if remarriage is prohibited. The concept of not remarrying seems to be logically connected to situations that do not flow from a biblical divorce. Also “not bound” is strong language. The verse doesn’t say “may divorce” or “is allowed to divorce” it reads not bound. To be prohibited from remarriage would necessarily indicate being still bound to the first marriage. I think the verse is quite clear. Again the idea in totality is not fully clear so I think perspectives on both sides need to be respected even in disagreement.

I believe there are other strong parallels including women wearing veils, men having long/women having short hair that are similar in that there is no scriptural reasoning to defend women NOT wearing veils, not a shred. However it’s generally accepted this is not the case. While it’s different in the case of remarriage/divorce because the language is stronger, I think it’s up in the air.
 
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NeedyFollower

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There is no clear teaching on what should happen to a spouse who has divorce thrust upon him or her in spite of their every effort to stay married. In this case the divorce has been done to them against their will. In this case, I don't believe that any sin has been committed, and the divorced spouse is not the one who has breached the contract. Therefore, there can be no restriction on that person in view of remarriage.

I think God is a little more intelligent and understanding in cases like this, and I don't see anywhere in Scripture that He punishes the innocent with the guilty.

If we use the example of someone having their home burgled. The burglary was done to them. They are the victim of the crime. We would not expect the victim to be charged with burglary. Yet, according to the attitude of some religious zealots, if they are consistent, the victim should be charged along with the offender.

In the area of divorce, the divorce has been done to them against their will, and so they are the victim, not the offender. If we treat victims of crime with compassion and do all we can to support and compensate them, why not treat the victims of divorce in the same way?

Actually, there are no restrictions in the Ten Commandments on a victim of divorce in the same way that there could be restrictions on the offender.

The problem is the religious zealots who add their own restrictions to the area of divorce and remarriage and formulate their own regulations in addition to the Scripture. They are the ones who would have left Rahab to be killed along with all the other inhabitants of Jericho because she was a prostitute; and would not have allowed Ruth to marry Boaz because she was a pagan Gentile. They also would have been ones who would have thrown the first stones at the woman caught in adultery; and would have totally condemned the Samaritan woman because she had been divorced and remarried five times and was in a de facto relationship.

Oscarr ..Jesus was also a religious zealot as was Paul . Jesus tells the church to be zealous and repent . Maybe the religious zealots see something which you may not see , for example that marriage is about Jesus and NOT about the person or persons being married . There are no innocent christians ....only guilty ones who have been forgiven but a loving God . Your analogy of the burglar sounds reasonable but only holds weight in christian theology if the burglar is breaking into another burglar's house . Now it makes sense . For we are all guilty . I am not without compassion but fear self-righteousness and the idea of the "innocent party " ....This is why the church is full of twice and thrice divorced people ....multiple levels of step children , step dads , step moms , step grandchildren ...It is all very confusing and God is not the God of confusion . Jesus does allow for divorce for fornication but Jesus was talking to Jews and fornication happened during the betrothal period prior to the wedding night when the marriage was consummated. Adultery had it's own penalty and in the eyes of the Jews ..it was not divorce .
We have to go outside of the bible to teach people they may remarry ....we may suppose Paul may have alluded to that but he does not say that and it contradicts his other saying when he instructs us to remain single ....making it confusing . And God is not the author of confusion . In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage .
Also , Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery ..he said go and sin no more . The woman at the well was not instructed to continue in her present course . We hope she had a change of heart after meeting Jesus . Culture places a high degree on both sex and marriage ...neither of which are part of the Kingdom of God but we still view things very carnally .
It seems to me that a believer who has lost their partner due to cheating or other forms of apostasy would be worried about their soul rather than how they were offended . It's just eternity . That's all .
 
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While I appreciate your caution, your position does not give room for folks being led by the Law of the Spirit within regarding re-marriage.

My sheep hear my voice.

Legislating against the 'uncertain' can frustrate the will of the Spirit.

How can one frustrate the will of the Spirit by following that which the Spirit had inspired man to write?
Romans 7:3 is inspired Scripture. Is obedience to laws in opposition to God? Imagine if we ignored the Law of gravity. Imagine if we ignored the Law on driving on the right side of the street here in the States. Imagine if one speeded really fast in a schoolzone while kids are crossing. Who needs laws, right? If we focus on law, that is bad and it is legalism.
 
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Carl Emerson

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How can one frustrate the will of the Spirit by following that which the Spirit had inspired man to write?
Romans 7:3 is inspired Scripture. Is obedience to laws in opposition to God? Imagine if we ignored the Law of gravity. Imagine if we ignored the Law on driving on the right side of the street here in the States. Imagine if one speeded really fast in a schoolzone while kids are crossing. Who needs laws, right? If we focus on law, that is bad and it is legalism.

You totally misunderstood what I was saying and assumed I was promoting lawlessness.

I was responding to your admission that...
I would rather be wrong in being more strict on these things vs. leading myself and or others down a wrong path that God did not make an allowance for (with 100% clarity).

Maybe I misunderstood you...

I thought you were saying that you preferred to take a legalistic position when the scripture was not clear on an issue.

If that was the case you would be running the risk of possibly frustrating God's will in the lives of others.
 
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You totally misunderstood what I was saying and assumed I was promoting lawlessness.

I was responding to your admission that...


Maybe I misunderstood you...

I thought you were saying that you preferred to take a legalistic position when the scripture was not clear on an issue.

If that was the case you would be running the risk of possibly frustrating God's will in the lives of others.

Romans 7:3 sounds clear to me. Why play games with it?
 
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Carl Emerson

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Romans 7:3 sounds clear to me. Why play games with it?

Romans 7:3 does not address the matter of a husband divorcing his believing wife.
It speaks of an unfaithful partner in a marriage committing adultery. This is not a 'go to' verse to dismiss remarriage in the case of believer being divorced by an unbelieving partner.

Your comment about playing games with scripture is rather disingenuous.
 
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You totally misunderstood what I was saying and assumed I was promoting lawlessness.

I was responding to your admission that...


Maybe I misunderstood you...

I thought you were saying that you preferred to take a legalistic position when the scripture was not clear on an issue.

If that was the case you would be running the risk of possibly frustrating God's will in the lives of others.
It is probably more frustrating the grace of God which is actually an insult to Him by requiring that people add works to their faith, which totally obliterates grace and puts them outside of Christ.
 
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Romans 7:3 sounds clear to me. Why play games with it?
To read in random verses of Scripture without appropriate exegesis to determine who Paul was writing to and why he was saying these things is actually playing games with Scripture and interpreting it according to personal prejudice.
 
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Romans 7:3 sounds clear to me. Why play games with it?
If we are going to talk about adultery, Jesus said that any man who looks on a woman in order to lust after her is committing adultery in his heart, which according to Him is just as sinful as committing the actual act. So if a married man looks at a woman who is not his wife and thinks, "She'd be great in bed", is an effective adulterer. And that would involve 95% of men at some time during their marriage, and the other 5% are committing the sin of lying.

I have a theory that those who are ultra-legalistic about people having to obey the commandments and who judge people for having low moral standards, are those who are hiding serious sin in their own lives which they are compensating for in the super legalistic spirituality.

Those who know and love the grace of God because they know that they are sinners dependent by faith on His grace, are usually gracious to those who are struggling with moral issues and who give more effort to encourage them to strengthen their faith in the finished work of Christ, than being an armchair "judge", Bible-bashing them with the commandments.
 
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Euodius

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And the prodigal son was unfaithful but it did not change the faithfulness of the Father . His ways are higher than our ways . The Father patiently waited as I believe we have for an example ( as the children of the Father ). Also the apostle Paul instructs us that if the unbeliever depart we are not bound ...but elsewhere if we are loosed from a wife , seek not a wife . And in 1st Corinthians 7:10 -11 . To the married I say ( yet not I but the Lord ) A wife must not separate from her husband but if she does she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband . And a husband must not divorce his wife .
I know this is debated along the context of the innocent party ..the one who has been cheated on or the one who has been left . They are counted as the victim as indeed it is so but is there any thing as an innocent party ? How is anyone innocent and a recipient of mercy and grace ?

While we all have a condition of sin, there is judgement of injustice both eternally and temporally. There is distinction among sins, as well as direction of sins. There certainly is a lot of grey in this world, but there are instances where there is a clear innocent and a clear guilty party in regard to the violation of the covenant relationship. Sometimes someone marries just to torture the other person. Sometimes evil is so great that it cannot be grasped by those who are looking directly at incarnate evil - so evil that you cannot recognize it until afterwards in your nightmares. "Charming" is a good word for it, because the evil is like a spell on you that makes you blind to it.
 
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To all:

After looking at the verses on this again, I am convinced that remarriage is only allowed if the previous spouse is dead. Remarriage (while the other ex spouse is alive) according to Jesus and Paul is forbidden.

Divorce & remarriage according to Jesus:

“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.”
(Matthew 5:31-32).

“The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?’
And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning “made them male and female,” and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.’
They said to Him, ‘Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?’
He said to them, ‘Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.’
His disciples said to Him, ‘If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.’
But He said to them, ‘All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given …’”
(Matthew 19:3-11).

Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.” (Luke 16:18).


Divorce and remarriage according to Paul:

“Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.(Romans 7:1-3).

“Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.” (1 Corinthians 7:10-11).


Following Jesus is not always easy.
Remember the disciples who could not bear Jesus' teachings and they walked no more with Him? (See: John 6:66).
 
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There is a soul tie to a person when a person has intimate relations with a person. When the person is alive, they are connected with them if they had physical or intimate relations. In other words, do not make a living three point connection.

15 "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!
16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.
17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him."
(1 Corinthians 6:15-17).​

The two shall be one.
It's not.... the three shall be one.
 
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There are countries where a person can marry an animal. Would a person not break off that marriage with an animal if they wanted to follow Jesus? Would it still not be an improper marriage in God's eyes? In 1 Corinthians 7: I believe the context of Paul saying to stay married is in reference to if you married an unbeliever before coming to Christ. Surely in these cases, you can continue to remain in the marriage (if the other spouse agrees to stay).
 
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Carl Emerson

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To all:

After looking at the verses on this again, I am convinced that remarriage is only allowed if the previous spouse is dead. Remarriage (while the other ex spouse is alive) according to Jesus and Paul is forbidden.

Divorce & remarriage according to Jesus:

“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.”
(Matthew 5:31-32).

“The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?’
And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning “made them male and female,” and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.’
They said to Him, ‘Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?’
He said to them, ‘Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.’
His disciples said to Him, ‘If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.’
But He said to them, ‘All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given …’”
(Matthew 19:3-11).

Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.” (Luke 16:18).


Divorce and remarriage according to Paul:

“Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.(Romans 7:1-3).

“Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.” (1 Corinthians 7:10-11).


Following Jesus is not always easy.
Remember the disciples who could not bear Jesus' teachings and they walked no more with Him? (See: John 6:66).

The harder calls are not always the right ones...

I appreciate your position on this, but do not agree that it is a clear cut as you present.

I have often referred to the many years of research into this topic by Prof. Bill Heth.

I suggest you read the two papers I have directed folks to, and then get back to me...

Here are the links.

Dropbox - heth_divorce_two_reasons.pdf - Simplify your life

Dropbox - ^heth-z3views-final-edited1'05 copy.pdf - Simplify your life

Some of these issues deserve a deeper consideration that most of us do not have the time to energy to apply.
 
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Carl Emerson

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There is a soul tie to a person when a person has intimate relations with a person. When the person is alive, they are connected with them if they had physical or intimate relations. In other words, do not make a living three point connection.

15 "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!
16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.
17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him."
(1 Corinthians 6:15-17).​

The two shall be one.
It's not.... the three shall be one.

Yes of course, that is why it is wisdom to deal with such possible soul ties from previous relationships before entering marriage.
 
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Carl Emerson

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There are countries where a person can marry an animal. Would a person not break off that marriage with an animal if they wanted to follow Jesus? Would it still not be an improper marriage in God's eyes? In 1 Corinthians 7: I believe the context of Paul saying to stay married is in reference to if you married an unbeliever before coming to Christ. Surely in these cases, you can continue to remain in the marriage (if the other spouse agrees to stay).

Yes of course but this does not address the issue of the unbelieving spouse divorcing the believer and becoming one flesh with someone else... Paul says in this case the believer is no longer bound to the marriage.
 
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Yes of course but this does not address the issue of the unbelieving spouse divorcing the believer and becoming one flesh with someone else... Paul says in this case the believer is no longer bound to the marriage.

No. Being bound means no longer obligated to continue in that marriage but that does not mean they can remarry another.

“And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.” (1 Corinthians 7:10-11).

Also see again Romans 7:3. A woman is an adulteress if she is married to another man while the other ex husband is still alive.
‭‭
 
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