Divorce and Remarriage

[Presbyterian Continuist]

No. I believe Christians should live by the word of God. Obedience isn't living under the law. Paul is the one who uses the law, not me. I just take scripture at its word. In means what it says and says what it means. We are delivered from the curse of the law, but now we can fulfill the law through Christ, where as before it was impossible though our own effort.

The wording of scripture is not that we fulfill the Law. It says that the Law is fulfilled in Christ. What this means is that we are justified by faith in Christ alone and this fulfills the Law as far as our salvation is concerned. If we try and fulfill the Law in any way it will be through our self effort. We are to establish ourselves through faith in Christ first, and once that is done, we can then approach everything else from the foundation that we believe in the One whom God has sent. If we try and deal with the demands of the Christian life and then try and come up to Christ, we will be so involved in trying to keep the commands that we may never come up to Christ.

The Christian life isn't difficult, it's impossible, but with Christ all things are possible. Romans 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. Romans 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Paul's definition of "walking in the flesh" is trying to be holy through keeping commandments. This is seen in his words to the Galatians where they were fooled by false teachers into keeping the Mosaic Law in order to be saved. Paul asked that after they began in the Spirit (faith in Christ alone) are they now trying to continue in the flesh (keeping the Law)?

Our foundation is faith in Christ alone. Once we establish faith in Christ, it will be the equivalent to keeping the Law. Christ kept the Law for us and then died on the cross for us, taking the punishment we would have received for our failure to keep the Law. That is why we have faith in Christ alone for our justification.

Paul uses the law and keep in mind that this is NT, to teach a doctrine on the marriage covenant.

Corinthians is the only place where Paul taught this. He did not teach this in any other of the churches. This was because the Corinthian men were divorcing their wives merely because they believed that the single life brought them closer to God. They believed that marriage hindered their walk with God, so they divorced their wives. Paul taught about marriage to correct this problem. He did not deal with the effects of adultery, domestic violence, or desertion because they were not the problems that he was aware of in the Corinthian church.

Paul does this twice. If you murder, are you not condemned by the law? If you steal, lie or commit adultery, are you not judge by the law? James 2:8:13 8If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. 12So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. Jesus made us free from the curse of the law, because it is written, the man that sinneth shall surely die. But through Christ we can receive forgiveness. Look at Ananias and Safira. They dropped dead because of one sin and this is in the NT Church. Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins... Under the grace, we are held to a much higher standard and the consequences are far greater. In the OT, they didn't have the Holy Spirit like the Church of the Lord Jesus does. Do you think that the Church is held to a lower standard. In the OT it is written, thou shalt not kill, but John said that if you hate your bother you're a murderer. I let scripture speak for itself. It says what it says and you can take it or leave it, but you will answer to God. The bible is filled with scriptures that tell us what and what not to do. The standard is higher.

The scriptures you have cobbled together make a case for keeping the Law as Christian believers. My view is that when a person establishes faith in Christ alone, he will walk worthy of the calling he has received in Christ. This is what being born again and a new creation is all about. We have a new law in our hearts, so that the genuine believer chooses to live a holy life because it is in his new heart to do so. If a person needs to have commandments required of him by others, then either those others are legalistic religious hypocrites and false teachers preaching another gospel, or the person has "got religion" but has not be genuinely converted to Christ.

My view is that if anyone feels that they have to live by a set of rules in order to be a genuine believer, then it could be argued that the person's faith is not strong enough in Christ and His work on the cross to assure themselves that they are truly saved and that they believe that they have to follow a set of rules in order to assure themselves that they are right with God. But the truth is that the more they try to follow the rules the more they will fail and their assurance and faith will become weaker.

If you say that you are saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ and yet feel condemned or you are condemning others because they are still not keeping various aspects of the Law, is this because you do not believe that Jesus was not punished enough on the cross, that He did not take all our sins, past, present and future, on the cross with Him? That God did not pour our all his wrath on Jesus and that there is a little left over for believers who fail to keep all the commandments? Does this mean that Jesus is not a complete Saviour, and that we need something more than just faith in Him? Does this mean that we are not saved by grace through faith and it is not a gift of God, but in order to maintain our salvation we have to earn our way somehow?

So Paul was lying when he wrote. "Who shall lay any charge to God's elect? It is God who justifies and Christ who died for us." So, if when person fails to keep the Law, and if God or Jesus doesn't lay any charge against them for it, then who else has the authority to do so, unless they are an arrogant religious hypocrite who is using the Law to control others? Is Paul lying when he says that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ? When he said it for those who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, he meant that those who are trying to keep commandments or aspects of the Law are those who are walking after the flesh and therefore bringing condemnation upon themselves. But those who are walking in faith in Christ are those who are walking in the Spirit and therefore there is no condemnation on them.

As you said, a person who commits murder or adultery is condemned by the Law - if he is depending on the Law to justify him. But the person who is depending on Christ to justify him, he cannot be condemned by the Law because he is not depending on it, nor is he basing his justification on it. Actually, a person who is genuinely in Christ, will choose not to commit murder or adultery because the new heart in him will give him much better choices, and that there will be no need for anyone to tell him not to do it.

 

[John Ortiz]

Galatians 5
16This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Ephesians 4King James Version (KJV)

Ephesians 4
4 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

I know we are not justified by the law, but if I am saved, in me there will be this new nature. If I am saved I will walk right before God. The bible tells you to put off the old man. If you're truly saved, you can do whatever God tells you to do. We are commanded to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. I know I can't save myself, but if I'm saved, in me there's this power to do God's will. I must will to do God's will. I can choose to walk in sin or walk in the Spirit. I must make that choice. All I did was quote what Paul said about marriage and you want to use the law argument to make it of none effect. The bible teaches that only death can end a marriage. Everybody uses Matthew 5:32 to justify remarriage. Fornication and adultery are not the same. Fornication is sexual intercourse between two single people. Jesus used two different words for a reason. If you were engaged to a young lady that claimed to be a virgin and you found her no to be so, you could annul the marriage. Fornication in the NT always refers to people widowed or never married. Adultery is never use for never married or widowed people. The bible itself makes distinction between sexual sins.
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? 1 Corinthians 6:9 Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

So, what you are actually saying is that all divorced and remarried folks are still dead in their sins and are on their way to hell? That is what the scriptures you have cobbled together seem to indicate.

In your reference where you say that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God, are you implying that divorced and remarried people do not have the righteousness of Christ that was given as a free, unearned gift when they got converted?

Are you also saying that only sinless folks are truly justified? I thought that because Jesus took all our sins on himself when he died on the cross, that made it possible for all those who believe in him are justified.

Also, the scripture says that if even just one little sin is committed, it means that the whole law is violated. So, because that involves 95& of all Christian believers, and the other 5% are liars, through the scriptures you have quoted, no one is justified, and all are on their way to hell, including yourself; because we all have sinned and are still breaking the Law in many ways.

So it doesn't matter whether a person steals a pen from his workplace, commits murder, adultery, is divorced and remarried - it's all the same. So if you have sinned in any way, even the smallest sin, you are in the same boat as a divorced and remarried person. God makes no distinction between one sin and another.

Therefore, unless you are absolutely perfect and are keeping the law in every respect without even one small breach, you are in no position to bring any charge against anyone else who is falling short of sinless perfection.

Actually, I'm off your hook, because I married a widow!

But I might be on your hook because yesterday was a windy day and I walked behind a young woman wearing a short skirt that blew up, and I enjoyed viewing the scenery! And we all know what Jesus said about that!

The difference between a genuine believer and a religious hypocrite is that a genuine believer is not afraid to talk about their sins, failures and shortcomings because he knows that he is forgiven, and that there is no further guilt or punishment for sin because Jesus took it all, and that He is a complete Saviour for all those who believe in Him. A religious hypocrite will hide his own sins, faults and failings because he is afraid of the punishment it might bring on him, but he will be quite forthcoming in condemning the sins of others and uses scripture (out of their normal context) to do so.

Actually where Paul is talking about the works of the flesh, he is talking about unconverted people, not believers in Christ. In Ephesians he says that some of them were like that, but now that they are converted to Christ, they are no longer. If we could become sinless by ourselves. there would have been no need for Jesus to come and die for us. But He did, and those who believe in Him have traded their unrighteousness for His righteousness which is a free and unearned gift, and not because we have improved our morals.

 

[r4.h]

I'm glad you asked.

If you look carefully at I Corinthians 7, you will see Paul first introduces the overall subject of how necessary marriage is, and how it is supposed to work, in verses 1-6.
But then he says each person has his own gift from God, as pertains to marriage. And then, he addresses 4 separate groups.
1. the unmarried and widows. (verses 8 and 9.)
2. the married (verses 10 and 11.)
3. "the rest" (verses 12-24.)
4. virgins (verses 25 and 26.)
And verses 27 to the end are the conclusion, where he speaks of life-focus, he reiterates his main points, and he wraps up loose ends.

Now, look carefully.
What Paul spoke to one group, did not apply to the other groups!
That is why he addressed each group separately.

Who are "the rest" Paul addressed beginning in verse 12?
Obviously, they were married, but not to believers.
Therefore, what was spoken to "the married" in verses 10 and 11 do not apply to "the rest" who were married to unbelievers!

That answers your question, I believe.
But let us continue our study of this chapter...

What was spoken in the middle of this chapter, about circumcision, servanthood, and "if you may be free, use it rather" ...was actually spoken in the context of a very orderly instruction manual about marriage... and it was spoken directly to those married to unbelievers. Circumcision and servanthood were only illustrations of being married to an unbeliever.

Paul says it's okay to let the unbeliever depart, if he or she isn't happy while married to you!
(In fact, the OT Law [and in the NT, "sin is the transgression of the Law"] allows for a woman to divorce a neglectful, abusive husband.)
Therefore, "if thou mayest be made free" was probably a direct reference to what was allowable under the OT Law, in obtaining a divorce. (And God did not allow separation without divorce papers. Deut 24:1-2.)

To "virgins" Paul had "no command from the Lord." (verse 25)
Yet, he had a command from the Lord to "the unmarried and widows."
Therefore, "virgins" are not included in the first group, the "unmarried".

Who are these "unmarried" who were neither virgins, nor widows??

Notice, that these are logically divided groups. It would be illogical to group virgins with those who were once married, but who now found themselves single. The logical thing would be to group all those who were once married, but who now found themselves single, in the same group. And that would include the divorced.

Did the 1st-century church have divorced people among them? You bet they did! Historians tell us that divorce was very easy to obtain, and it was common, both among the Jews, and among the Greeks and Romans. Roman women were said to divorce yearly, trading off husbands as if they were costumes of fashion.

Therefore, the early church had a LOT of divorced-and-remarried people in them! Yet, in all of the NT, there is not one instruction on how to treat this as a special situation, and needing careful instruction as to how to get back to the original partners... of course not. Because that would have been an abomination to God, as He instructed in Deuteronomy 24:4.

Now, go read 1 Corinthians 7:8-9.
This was spoken to divorced people.
I know. That idea would disturb quite a few religious devils in traditional churches.
But it's the Scripture.

And in Paul's conclusion, he reiterates what he said in verse 9.
Here it is without punctuation or verse divisions (they did not exist in the original.)


The Greek word translated loosed both times in the above passage obviously means divorced, not death. The literal meaning is "broken."
There is another Greek word translated loosed", in Romans 7:2, but in that case, it's talking about death. That Greek word means "dissolved." So if Paul intended to tell only widowed people they were free to remarry, he would have not used the word he chose.

Therefore, 1 Corinthians 7:27-28 says very clearly that if a divorced person remarries, he has not sinned.


Edited on 2-24-17, to add:
I forgot to mention something else the Lord opened my eyes to, in this passage.
Remember the rule of Scripture interpretation that says "let the context define the terms"?

Do you see how the term "unmarried" is defined, in 1 Corinthians 7:11 ?
Therefore, the same definition applies to 1 Corinthians 7:8 !

To clarify: A woman separated from her husband, is called "unmarried."
Therefore, the term "unmarried," as used in the immediate context, must include separated and divorced people. Which means when Paul spoke to "the unmarried and widows" he was including divorced people. And the command to these, is that it's better to remarry, than to burn.

hi

Did the 1st-century church have divorced people among them? You bet they did! Historians tell us that divorce was very easy to obtain, and it was common, both among the Jews, and among the Greeks and Romans. Roman women were said to divorce yearly, trading off husbands as if they were costumes of fashion.

 

[r4.h]

Did the 1st-century church have divorced people among them? You bet they did! Historians tell us that divorce was very easy to obtain, and it was common, both among the Jews, and among the Greeks and Romans. Roman women were said to divorce yearly, trading off husbands as if they were costumes of fashion.

hi PJ, im not saying there wasnt but i dont think historians would not portray the church acuratley.
Have you read what the apostle Johns disciple (Justin Martyr i think) wrote and those they call the early church fathers? they unanimously call divorce remarriage as adultery.

The disciples themselves were shocked at Jesus standard which was as you say at a time when Jews were divorcing for "any reason" and remarrying. So shocking they considered marriage so narrow it was too risky and better not to marry. Matt 19:10
Then Jesus points to those who remain celibate for God as those who can receive His teaching on it.

 

[bcbsr]

I did an extensive study on that chapter myself. (see 1Corinthians 7 Bible study guide)

Here's part of it.

Now about virgins: (those never married)
I have no command from the Lord, but I have advice.
In view of the Lord's coming it's best to stay single.

[Parenthetical Idea -
contrasting advice to virgins with commands to others
(Xref 1Cor 7:10,11; 1Cor 7:39)]
Though the married are not to seek a divorce
And though the divorced are not to remarry. But if you, a virgin man, marries, you have not sinned;
and if she, a virgin woman marries, she has not sinned.
But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

In this case the "you" in "you have not sinned" is referring to male virgins first of all because if he's saying that it's not sin for the divorced to remarry, he would have been contradicting both himself and what Jesus said, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery" Luke 16:18 And notice also that up to this point he's made sure to speak both to men and women in each category he's been addressing.

Category Men Women
vs 8-9 Spouses died "Unmarried" (Widowers) Widows
vs 10-11 Married considering divorce Wife Husband
vs 12-16 Married with non-Christian spouse If any brother has a wife who is not a believer if a woman has a husband who is not a believer
vs 25-28 Virgins if you (masculine) marry,
you have not sinned if a virgin (feminine) marry,
you have not sinned Whereas if he were addressing the divorced in saying "you have not sinned" by marrying, and then going on to tell female virgins the same thing, he would have left out male virgins. Implying that male virgins sin by marrying - which is not consistent with the context.

So to summarize up to this point:

Virgins & Widows Marriage is optional Advises staying single
Married Don't initiate divorce Allow unbelievers to leave
Divorced Stay single or Seek reconciliation