What Bible Says About Divorced People Marrying Again

God created marriage as an integral part of His programme to prosper His world and anoint flesh. His desire was; to visualize the relationship between Christ and His bride, the church building ¹ ; to meet men's and women's need for intimacy ² , and finally to populate the earth with people who reflect His image ³ . Because marriage is critical to God's mission of redeeming the world, Satan has made its devastation a priority. His strategy is to undermine the importance of spousal relationship, minimize the effect divorce will have on the family and seduce people to embrace an alternating lifestyle.

Because God loves u.s.a., He has provided clear instructions on how married couples can experience oneness and fulfill His vision for their union ^iv . By ways of His empowering Spirit and gospel of grace, He has provided non only the means needed to love and serve each other simply besides the forgiveness and healing needed when their marriages fall brusque or autumn apart. And through His church, He has provided a customs that can give counsel and support in restoring them.

Application Points

Biblical Grounds for Divorce

God'due south want and blueprint are for wedlock to flourish for a lifetime. Simply in a fallen globe, there will be cases when a person volition break their vows and desert their mate. The Lord addresses these circumstances in His Word, providing two articulate exceptions to His command to believers, not to divorce ⁵ .

• The first biblical footing for divorce is adultery. When Jesus was asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for whatever reason at all?". Jesus reiterated the thought of i human and one woman in a personal, purposeful, and permanent relationship. "For this reason, a man shall leave his father and female parent and be joined to his married woman, and the two shall become one flesh. And so they are no longer two, simply i flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." ⁶ Then Jesus states clearly the exception, "And I say to you, whoever divorces his married woman, except for immorality, and marries another adult female commits adultery." ^seven
• The second biblical ground for divorce is desertion by an unbelieving mate. The Apostle Paul states, "If the unbelieving i (mate) leaves, permit him leave; the blood brother or sis is not nether bondage in such cases, but God has chosen us to peace." ⁸ If a believer is married to an unbeliever and the unbelieving mate wants to cease the relationship (the give-and-take leave, chorizo, is a Greek term for divorce), the believer is not required ("under bondage") to preserve the marriage. It is of import to notation that desertion commonly entails the physical separation of a spouse by moving out of the marital home, but information technology can also include other forms of desertion of the matrimony, including persistent and unrepentant abuse and addiction.

In these cases, an offended mate has a biblical right to divorce their husband or wife. At the same fourth dimension, they should seek the Spirit's guidance and the wisdom of the Elders and Christian counselors in taking that footstep, cultivating a middle of forgiveness and an openness to relational reconciliation for the benefit of their family unit and to keep the door open to God's purposes in the time to come. Nevertheless, the aggrieved spouse may come to regard the matrimony every bit irreparably cleaved and pursue divorce. In this case, the elders of Fellowship volition be supportive of the aggrieved spouse'due south decision and government minister to him or her without reservation. If God confirms their decision, the church volition do everything in its ability to stand with them and their family.

Biblical Grounds for Remarriage

Whether a Christian who has divorced their mate on biblical grounds is free to remarry is a question of scripture. Their spiritual status has non changed in any manner in the eyes of the Lord or the church.

• Jesus gives permission for someone to remarry when adultery has taken place. "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries some other woman commits infidelity." ⁹ Here, the phrase "and marries another" raises the issue of remarriage. Jesus states that divorcing a mate on the grounds of immorality frees the offended mate to remarry without committing adultery.
• Paul upholds the thought of permanency in marriage ¹⁰ , whether it be to a believer or unbeliever, yet gives permission for a assertive mate to separate if deserted by an unbeliever. Paul states, "Yet if the unbelieving i leaves, let him go out; the blood brother or sister is not nether bondage (no longer bound) in such cases, but God has called us to peace." ¹¹ According to Paul, because desertion severs the marital bonds an abandoned believer is not allowable to stay in this matrimony. An implication of the marriage bonds being severed is that remarriage is possible, simply we must acknowledge that remarriage is not specifically addressed by Paul in this passage.

So, based on the above passages, remarriage following a biblical divorce for adultery seems explicitly permitted by Christ, and remarriage following a biblical divorce for abandonment by a non-believing spouse may be permitted equally an implication of the educational activity of Paul. The elders recognize that among orthodox evangelical churches at that place are conflicting interpretations of scripture apropos the possibility of remarriage in the case of biblical divorces. Equally such, we do not assert that any particular interpretation is bounden upon the consciences of our members.

At the same fourth dimension, the Elders urge every member who is contemplating remarriage, an act which will likely cut off any possibility of reconciling with a former spouse, to patiently wrestle with this possible step through prayer and study of these scriptures, seeking God's wisdom and direction and the counsel of pastors and elders. In this process, the Lord may affirm a life of singleness in His service which He commends as a expert thing and empowers some individuals to enjoy, or He may provide the peace that remarriage is what is best. Ultimately, if an offended mate chooses, in consultation with and the concurrence of the elders, to pursue either singleness or biblical remarriage, the church and its Elders commit to fully encompass, love and support them in that pursuit. This includes our pastors officiating at weddings of those pursuing a remarriage following a biblical divorce.

Simply information technology is our conviction, however, based on the articulate teachings of Jesus, that remarriage is not permitted in the case of an unbiblical divorce due to the continuation of the bonds of marriage in the optics of God. Still, while remarriage post-obit an unbiblical divorce is a sin, it is non a special category of sin that is beyond God'south merciful grace. Those in an unbiblical marriage should not chemical compound their mistake by divorcing their spouse, just should instead confess and apologize of their sin and bear fruit in their lives in keeping with that repentance.

Determining the Spiritual State of a Mate

Information technology is the responsibility of the elders to prayerfully discern and decide the spiritual state of the ii parties. The Apostle Paul writes that the church leadership is responsible to judge the spiritual nature of those in the church and for some causes, to remove any "and so-called brother" ¹² , who claims to know Christ just does not demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit. If the condition of a mate is unclear, the Elders volition plant a process to make up one's mind his/her walk with Christ through demonstrated faithfulness to biblical counsel. If further evaluation is needed a temporary separation or, in extreme circumstances, a permanent separation may exist required to demonstrate a person's genuine faith.

Information technology is incumbent on the church Elders not to allow anyone to be held earnest by the deliberate, sinful actions of a "and then-called brother." Our model in taking these steps is God Himself, who divorced faithless State of israel, saying, "And I saw all the adulteries of faithless Israel and sent her away and gave her a writ of divorce." ¹³

The Church building'south Responsibility Regarding Unbiblical Divorces

God gives clear directions on how the church building should reply to a hubby or married woman who divorces their mate without biblical grounds. His desire in taking these steps is to protect His church building, name, and mission and pursue the disobedient mate. So when a person pursues an unbiblical divorce, the church has two scriptural responsibilities.

• We are to protect the spiritual life of the church. The Apostle Paul states that the spiritual leaders of the church are to confront this behavior then that its presence in the body does not infect and touch on the church. ¹⁴
• We are to strive to restore the erring member. Jesus tells u.s.a. in Matthew xviii that the shepherd who has a hundred sheep will go and search for the i who has strayed. ^xv Our compassion moves us to pursue and restore the offending party. The remedy for an unbiblical divorce is the same equally it is for any other sin: for both parties to demonstrate godly sorrow, repent of their sin, confess it and once once again believe in the Gospel. One manifestation of Godly sorrow and repentance is a heart of contrition and a desire to make apology for the damage caused by the divorce. Every person who is repentant of the sin of an unbiblical divorce will be restored to the full life of the church, in celebration of God's wonderful grace.

Spiritual Consideration Resulting from Unbiblical Divorces

• The pursuit of the Offended Mate – For the believer who has divorced their mate without biblical grounds, a sign of true repentance will be the desire to restore the relationship with the person that has been divorced. This pursuit should seek to reestablish a spiritually healthy relationship. If the former mate is non remarried and is responsive, this pursuit should involve marital counseling to decide if God will restore the marriage.
• Remarriage of An Offending Mate – The biblical freedom to remarry is based on several factors including the individual's demonstrated repentance, their mate's marital status, and their grounds for divorce. The Elders will work with anyone considering remarriage to help them determine beforehand their freedom to remarry.

The issues of Divorce and Remarriage are often very complicated. To assistance resolve these, God's Give-and-take provides spiritual directives for our welfare in the messiness of our fallen world. The Church is to help each person pursue Him, His plan for their life, and to meet them become an agent of His grace, reflecting His forgiveness. Our position on these bug is non meant to address whatever members past actions or to bring any sense of shame for decisions made without understanding God's commands concerning spousal relationship. Our prayer is that all divorced and remarried brothers and sisters will gladly affirm these scriptural statements either because they believe their situation was Biblically legitimate, or because they now see that it was not, and are genuinely repentant as they look back.

^one Genesis one:26-28; ² Ephesians 5:21-33; ³ Genesis 2:24; ⁴ Ephesians 5:25-30; ⁵ Mark 10:ix; ⁶ Matthew 19:three,5,6; ⁷Matthew 19:9; ^viii 1 Corinthians 7:xv; ^ix Matthew xix:9; ¹⁰ 1 Corinthians 7:10-fourteen; ¹¹ one Corinthians vii:15; ¹² one Corinthians 5:nine-13; ^thirteen Jeremiah 3:viii; ^xiv 1 Corinthians five:vi; ¹⁵ Matthew eighteen:12-14

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Source: https://www.fellowshipar.com/about/our-beliefs/position-papers/divorce-and-remarriage/#:~:text=Jesus%20gives%20permission%20for%20someone,raises%20the%20issue%20of%20remarriage.

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