Is she still my wife in God's eyes?? Please help.
I haven't seen any recent response from Jon G but I'll go ahead and reply anyway since the issue is still pretty fresh. A lot of people have said that yes, in God's eyes, Jon is indeed divorced so that may be why he's not responded recently. It certainly must feel like a relief to him hearing so many professing Christians confirm what really is the easy way out.
However, there is one notable exception from the responses I read:
Jesus said divorce was given to the people under Moses because their hearts were hardened, but from the beginning it was not so. Jesus advocated against divorce because of the destructive effect it has on the creation, and because in the beginning it was not so.
This principle of "from the beginning it was not so" is used adamantly against Same Sex Marriage. It's mind boggling why it isn't applied with the same consistent tenor to divorce.
Thank you, Michael, for being the lone voice of reason actually promoting Jesus' point of view. Although, you did leave off perhaps the most important part. Jesus finished him comments about Moses allowing those hard-hearted people to divorce by declaring, "What God has joined together, let
no person put apart".
No one. Not even the participants themselves have the right to break their commitment before God. That's what the record states as Jesus' position. There is no way around that. Many people have cited Jesus' comments about fornication as an excuse to justify divorce, but consider the whole of Jesus' teachings rather than just one verse at a time. If he says "no one should put asunder what God has joined together" then his comments about fornication being an excuse for putting apart must be a misunderstanding.
That happens a lot when it comes to the cost of morality and integrity; we become experts at misunderstanding when there is benefit in doing so. Here is the verse in question:
"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". (Matthew 19:9)
Let's assume the popular interpretation is correct; that if a woman cheats on her husband, the husband as the right to divorce her. But, look carefully; do you see the tail-end, there? Whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. He does not specifically say the divorced woman is committing adultery, but only that anyone who marries her does.
That makes no sense. Remember, what we are looking for is the spirit of what Jesus is getting at rather than the legalism of how words are positioned on paper. Look past the convenient loopholes to the spirit; he is saying that, aside from simple fornication, a divorce will ultimately lead to adultery because, what God has joined together, no man should put apart.
In God's eyes, that couple is still married regardless of whatever papers they sign (as though man can somehow override God's will through man-made laws; check out his battle with Pharaoh if you want evidence of that!). That being the case, any divorced couple who does "remarry" will be cheating on that person God still considers to be their spouse.
The response from the disciples confirms this. They, quite aghast, declare:
"His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry". (Mt 19:10)
They are essentially saying, "Wow, if there really is no divorce, it would be better not to marry"! These guys understood what Jesus was saying. You get one chance.
Consequently, Jesus goes on to confirm that it really would be better just to stay single for God, but he also recognized that not everyone could handle this elite calling. Marriage is not forbidden, but divorce is, and better than both is to stay single for God.
For anyone who would like more info, check out this video:
