Question from Sunday, August 12, 2012

Where in the Bible does it say its OK to remarry after a divorce?  It doesn't.  The only time we see the idea of getting remarried mentioned in the Bible, is in 1 Corinthians 7:39 which says, "A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives.  But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord."  Having said that, the concept in Biblical times was that once a certificate of divorce was granted, you were free to remarry.  The Jewish leaders during Jesus' time had taken the Laws of Moses that discussed certificates of divorce and broadened them to apply to all kinds of situations.  This allowed for a male dominated society to divorce their wives for about any reason they wanted.  But then Jesus comes on the scene and sets the record straight.  In Matthew 5:32, Jesus said, "But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery."  The Greek word for "marital unfaithfulness" is porneia.  Porneia means sexual immorality.  Sexual immorality is any sexual sin that violates sex between a married man and a married woman.  So Jesus narrows the grounds for divorce to sexual immorality.  Some believe the Apostle Paul also allowed for divorce in the event one spouse deserts the other in 1 Corinthians chapter 7.  By desertion, they mean, after strongly attempting to work out a marriage, the spouse who wanted to stay in the marriage is free from that marriage and free to remarry if the other spouse leaves them.  However, the deserting spouse commits adultery if they remarry.  I'm not sure I agree that desertion is grounds for divorce, but I'm simply presenting it here.  For now, my belief is that remarriage is only permitted in the event sexual immorality was the basis for the divorce and if a spouse has passed away.  In our culture, this topic is very hotly debated.  My advice is to take a more conservative approach to remarriage rather than a liberal one.  It's like the old adage, "better to be safe than sorry."