DIVORCE AND REMMARIAGE CONT... PART 3

Still other Christians hold a third view: namely, that breaking a marriage is always wrong, but that remarriage to another spouse is allowable regardless of the reasons for the first divorce. They believe Jesus meant that anyone who divorces his wife without due cause just to marry another is committing adultery, whether it is legal according to the law of Moses or not (Matthew 19:9). But these Christians argue that when Jesus said in Matthew 5:32 that “Anyone who divorces his wife... causes her to become an adulteress”, he could not mean that, she becomes an adulteress simply because of the divorce. And Jesus could not mean that every innocent woman who is divorced (when she herself has not committed adultery) will later either remarry or without remarriage commit actual adultery. Some women will neither remarry nor commit adultery. Rather, Jesus meant that if a man divorces his wife when she has not committed adultery, he make her “look like” an adulteress; others will believe she was divorced for “marital unfaithfulness”. If she marries again, her new husband will “look like” an adulterer. This interpretation fits well with Paul’s words in Romans 7:3 that a woman who marries while her first husband is still living is called an adulteress; Paul does not say that she is, in fact, an adulteress.

Christians who hold this third view think that believers should not divorce their spouses, but that they should allow an unbelieving spouse to divorce them if that unbelieving spouse wants to do so (1 Corinthians 7:10-16). Since the word for “unmarried” in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9 is different from the word “virgin” in 1 Corinthians 7:25, these Christians believe that in verses 8-9 Paul was writing about “previously married” people, whether divorced or widowed. If this is so, then he was allowing them to remarry if they could not control their sexual desires. Therefore, following this interpretation, this group of Christians do not examine the particular reason for the previous (wrong) divorce. They allow everyone to remarry if they have repented of their part in the breakup of their previous marriage.

The issue of divorce and remarriage is complex. One must prayerfully study all the relevant verses before coming to a conclusion on this subject. It is also important to consult with one’s pastor or the elders of one’s church before making any plans to divorce or remarry. Different churches will have differing policies on this matter. (Written by Zablon Nyonje).