epistemaniac
Senior Member
loving each other only fulfills the law if it is done lawfully...
that is, it is God's word that defines "love" for us... a person may say that it was "love" that drove him from his wife into the arms of an adulterous affair, but that doesn't really make it "love" at all... we must avoid the situational ethics formula which stamps anything done "in the name of love" as some fulfillment of the law if it in fact breaks the law...
its not a question of whether or not we personally "accept" all divorced and remarried Christian as living in God's law, rather it's a question if God does... does God "accept" the person who claims to be a Christian but beats his wife repeatedly? does God accept the person engaged in constant adultery? the thief? the murderer?
I am not saying that divorce and remarriage doesn't raise some thorny questions, it does. But this fact alone ought not prevent us from holding the marriage covenant up as highly as we can, as high as God does. And there is no question that marriage is devalued in our society, people are getting divorced for all sorts of selfish reasons. But Jesus says "But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery." (Mat 5:32 ESV) Then it seems to be the case that God does not recognize the divorce or the remarriage of persons who are wrongly divorced. Yes, they did not live up to God's expectations. But that is only part of the story, the other part is that He considers the remarriage of those who are unlawfully divorced as not being, itself, lawful. And thus, the 2 persons who are now "married" are not really married at all despite the fact that they may have gone through some civic ceremony where man was joining together what was already joined together elsewhere (to other persons) and thus the person conducting the civic ceremony never had the authority to "put asunder" what God had joined together in holy matrimony. Otherwise Jesus would never have called the resulting remarriage "adultery", as whichever spouse was wrongly divorced from their former spouse is in fact still married to their former spouse, regardless if they went through some second (or third, or fourth......) formal wedding ceremony or not. In the context of a person who is a Christian, they should be reconciled to their spouse, and if not, then they should remain unmarried.
1Co 7:10-11 ESV To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (11) (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife."
On a personal note, I should have added that thankfully my wife continued to attend church during our separation, and she heard a sermon about the covenant nature of marriage, was convicted of her sin and sought to be reconciled with me, and I was only too happy to do so. I realize that this does not always happen and that can make things hard, but then again, we were never promised that the Christian life would be easy, only that He would be with us through it all.
"The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to
Chorus:
Cause I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to
It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone
So When the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
And I will go through the valley If You want me to"
-- Ginny Owens, If You Want Me To
blessings,
ken
its not a question of whether or not we personally "accept" all divorced and remarried Christian as living in God's law, rather it's a question if God does... does God "accept" the person who claims to be a Christian but beats his wife repeatedly? does God accept the person engaged in constant adultery? the thief? the murderer?
I am not saying that divorce and remarriage doesn't raise some thorny questions, it does. But this fact alone ought not prevent us from holding the marriage covenant up as highly as we can, as high as God does. And there is no question that marriage is devalued in our society, people are getting divorced for all sorts of selfish reasons. But Jesus says "But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery." (Mat 5:32 ESV) Then it seems to be the case that God does not recognize the divorce or the remarriage of persons who are wrongly divorced. Yes, they did not live up to God's expectations. But that is only part of the story, the other part is that He considers the remarriage of those who are unlawfully divorced as not being, itself, lawful. And thus, the 2 persons who are now "married" are not really married at all despite the fact that they may have gone through some civic ceremony where man was joining together what was already joined together elsewhere (to other persons) and thus the person conducting the civic ceremony never had the authority to "put asunder" what God had joined together in holy matrimony. Otherwise Jesus would never have called the resulting remarriage "adultery", as whichever spouse was wrongly divorced from their former spouse is in fact still married to their former spouse, regardless if they went through some second (or third, or fourth......) formal wedding ceremony or not. In the context of a person who is a Christian, they should be reconciled to their spouse, and if not, then they should remain unmarried.
1Co 7:10-11 ESV To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (11) (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife."
On a personal note, I should have added that thankfully my wife continued to attend church during our separation, and she heard a sermon about the covenant nature of marriage, was convicted of her sin and sought to be reconciled with me, and I was only too happy to do so. I realize that this does not always happen and that can make things hard, but then again, we were never promised that the Christian life would be easy, only that He would be with us through it all.
"The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to
Chorus:
Cause I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to
It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone
So When the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
And I will go through the valley If You want me to"
-- Ginny Owens, If You Want Me To
blessings,
ken
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