Jesus Teaches On Marriage and Divorce

Jesus Teaches On Marriage And Divorce

Jesus

 

 

Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers
God will judge. - Hebrews 13:4 (KJV)

He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to
put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. 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 19:8-9 (KJV)

Before proceeding to answer the questions below, let me lay out some fundamental
biblical principles that relate to questions concerning divorce and remarriage.

Principle #1

Marriage is a Divine institution that is honorable among all people (whether, Jew
or Gentile, believer or unbeliever) according to Hebrews 13:4. Thus, if the civil
magistrate wickedly redefines what God declares to be a lawful marriage (e.g. same-sex
"marriage"), or tyrannically redefines what God declares to dissolve a marriage
(e.g. divorce upon the ground of "irreconcilable differences"), such civil laws
are null and void.

Principle #2

Although Christians are commanded not to be unequally yoked and although to do so
is a grievous sin (1 Corinthians 7:39), nevertheless, the union of a believer and
unbeliever (or a union of two unbelievers) does not make a marriage null and void
(1 Corinthians 7:12-13).

Principle #3

It is not a lawful "second marriage" that is contracted (but rather an unlawful
and adulterous relationship), when a previous lawful marriage has not been dissolved
upon scriptural grounds (Matthew 5:32; Matthew 19:9; Mark 10:11-12).

Principle #4

When a previous lawful marriage is dissolved upon scriptural grounds, a lawful second
marriage may be contracted upon scriptural grounds (Deuteronomy 24:1-4).

Principle #5

The biblical grounds upon which a marriage may be lawfully dissolved (thus allowing
a lawful remarriage) are the following: (1) Death (Romans 7:2-3); (2) Fornication
(Matthew 5:32; Matthew 19:9); (3) Willful Desertion that cannot be remedied (1 Corinthians
7:15).

Principle #6

When civil magistrates overturn Divine institutions (like marriage), it is the duty
of church courts not to comply with such wicked laws, but to uphold the institutions
that God has established and to render ecclesiastical judgments to individuals,
couples, and families that are soundly based upon God's Law (Mark 7:9).

Upon the basis of these biblical principles, I proceed to answer the following questions.
It should be noted that in the responses below, the term "lawful" means "scripturally
lawful" i.e.  agreeable to the Law of God as revealed in Holy Scripture.

Question #1

If Spouse A pursues and obtains a civil divorce that has no biblical grounds, is
Spouse A considered (by God) to be committing adultery in all future sexual relations?

Greg Price's Response

If Spouse A pursues and obtains a civil divorce that has no biblical grounds, there
is no lawful dissolution of the marriage according to Scripture. Spouse A (being
the guilty party in obtaining an unlawful civil divorce) has no biblical right
to dissolve the marriage; therefore, the bonds of marriage lawfully continue. Any
sexual relations outside of that marriage (on the part of Spouse A or Spouse B)
are adulterous in nature, because the marriage has not been lawfully dissolved on
biblical grounds.

However, a lawful dissolution of the marriage occurs if Spouse A or Spouse B should
die. Moreover, a lawful dissolution of the marriage may occur if Spouse B (being
the innocent party, who did not consent to the unlawful civil divorce) obtains
through the ecclesiastical court a judicial ruling that recognizes sincere attempts
to have been made over a period of time to urge Spouse A to return to the marriage
(yet without success), and that rules that Spouse A has deserted Spouse B (without
remedy). Then Spouse B may seek an "ecclesiastical judgment" that recognizes the
dissolution of the marriage on the biblical ground of a desertion that cannot be
remedied. In which case, since the marriage is now lawfully dissolved on biblical
grounds, either party may be lawfully remarried.

In addition, if Spouse A after separating from Spouse B or divorcing Spouse B (without
biblical grounds) should engage in sexual relations, this is adultery (for the marriage
has not been lawfully dissolved), and this also becomes a ground for a lawful divorce
and remarriage, which Spouse B may likewise pursue with an ecclesiastical court.

Question #2

Would this remain the case if Spouse A gets married again (in the eyes of the state)
to someone other than the spouse B who was unlawfully (in the eyes of God, according
to the Bible) divorced through a civil divorce?

Greg Price's Response

It would yet be the case that Spouse A was committing adultery (even if a civil
divorce is obtained), for without biblical grounds (namely, death, fornication,
or willful desertion that cannot be remedied), a divorce is unlawful, null, and
void. Since the marriage is not dissolved upon biblical grounds, any sexual relations
outside of that marriage between Spouse A and Spouse B are adulterous sexual relations.

Question #3

If spouse A repents and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, at a future date, and
becomes a Christian (if spouse A was not a Christian previously), would a new marriage
(in the eyes of the state) then be lawful in the eyes of the Lord -- or would spouse
A still be considered to be committing adultery on an ongoing basis (even though,
according to the state, spouse A would be considered as being married a second time)?

Greg Price's Response

Marriage is neither constituted nor dissolved based upon the state of a person's
soul, for marriage between a man and a woman is honorable among all people (Hebrews
13:4). There are indeed biblical grounds upon which a marriage is lawfully constituted
(whether one is a believer or unbeliever), and there are biblical grounds upon which
a marriage is lawfully dissolved (whether one is a believer or unbeliever). Since
marriage is a Divine institution for all human beings (regardless of the state of
their soul), the same Divine regulations apply to believer or unbeliever alike (whether
in regard to lawfully establishing a marriage or lawfully dissolving a marriage).
Thus, if Spouse A becomes a Christian, a new "marriage" (even one that the civil
courts would recognize) would still be an adulterous relationship, if the previous
lawful marriage between Spouse A and Spouse B has not been lawfully dissolved.

Question #4

If the second marriage noted above is not lawful in the eyes of the Lord, would
a new Christian be required to get a divorce to avoid further adultery? If not,
why not?

Greg Price's Response

If the lawful marriage between Spouse A and Spouse B has not been lawfully dissolved,
they are yet lawfully married. A "second marriage"(even one that the civil courts
would recognize) is then not lawful, but is adulterous. If the "second marriage"
(between Spouse A and Spouse C) was hypothetically to be considered a lawful marriage
without having lawfully dissolved the marriage between Spouse A and Spouse B, Spouse
A would then be married to Spouse B and to Spouse C at the same time (a clear violation
of Mark 10:11-12). Thus, as long as the actual, lawful marriage between Spouse A
and Spouse B remains, there cannot be a lawful marriage between Spouse A and Spouse
C. Consequently, the "second marriage" cannot continue, because it is not a lawful
marriage, but is rather an adulterous relationship. In order for there to be a lawful
second marriage constituted on biblical grounds, one of the two following possible
scenarios must occur: (1) Death to one of the spouses would dissolve the previous
lawful marriage; (2) Spouse B (the innocent party in the actual lawful marriage)
must lawfully dissolve the marriage through a church court (on either the ground
of Spouse A's fornication or on the ground of Spouse A's willful desertion that
cannot be remedied).

Question #5

If the second marriage noted above is lawful in the eyes of the Lord, if Spouse
A becomes a Christian (or even if Spouse A was a backsliding Christian who repents
after a second marriage), by what biblical teaching is the new marriage considered
lawful in the eyes of the Lord, and how does Spouse A go from committing adultery
before being a Christian (or repenting, as a backsliding Christian), in the second
marriage, to not committing adultery in a second marriage?

Greg Price's Response

The "second marriage" cannot be a lawful marriage, unless one of the two scenarios
mentioned above in Question #4 occurs. Without one of the two scenarios mentioned
above being followed, the "second marriage" is not only null and void (because spouse
A cannot be lawfully married to Spouse B and Spouse C at the same time, according
to Matthew 19:5-6; 1 Corinthians 7:2), but is also an adulterous relationship (Matthew
19:9), even if the civil courts recognize the "second marriage". Why? Because the
previous lawful marriage has not been lawfully dissolved on biblical grounds established
by the God who created and instituted marriage.