Christian Divorce - The Biblical view

“The Christian’s love for the person for whom he has committed himself is called on to remain faithful even when rejected; and to pursue relentlessly, powerfully, sweetly, even when its object flees it – as men did God’s”  Gordon Fee

So you call yourself a Christian.  However you are planning on divorcing your spouse.  Hmmm… Just in case you have somehow missed what the Bible (that would be God’s word) has to say about it, I have listed both the Old Testament and New Testament verses that address divorce and adultery.  Because adultery is what you commit when you remarry, and God is very clear about the fate of adulterers. 

Now some will tell you that you can do whatever you like and you will be forgiven because you are a Christian, and you may like hearing that, but it is not the truth, and there is not one verse in the bible that supports such a claim.  Others, perhaps more reasoned will tell you that divorce is a sin, but you can be forgiven for it if you repent; I tend to fall into that viewpoint, however there is one huge question to that answer - and it is a pretty sticky one, ‘How do you repent from divorcing the one God joined you together with?’

“You shall not commit adultery”  Exodus 20:14     The 7th of the Ten Commandments

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”  Exodus 20:17     The 10th of the Ten Commandments

If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.  Deuteronomy 22:22

‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.  Leviticus 20:10

And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the LORD with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.  Yet you say, “For what reason?”  Because the LORD has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant.  But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit?  And why one?  He seeks godly offspring.  Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.  “ For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the LORD of hosts.  “ Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.”  You have wearied the LORD with your words; Yet you say, In what way have we wearied Him?”  In that you say, “ Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, And He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the God of justice?”  Malachi 2:13-17

Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?  For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives.  But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.  So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.   Romans 7:1-3

Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband.  But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband.  And a husband is not to divorce his wife.  1Corinthians 7:10-11

The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him.  And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”  They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.”  And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.  But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’  ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”  In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter.  So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.  And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”  Mark 10:2-12

“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.  Luke 16:18

“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’  But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery”.   Matthew 5:31-32  (part of the Sermon on the Mount, do not miss Jesus' warning at the end of it)

And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, even for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”  Matthew 19:9

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived.  Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.  1 Corinthians 6:9-10

And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”  Matthew 7:23-27 (Jesus’ warning at the end of the Sermon on the Mount)

Your legacy is about to be written, it is either about you, or about God, time for you to choose.  If you choose your will over His will, let me know how that repenting from divorcing the one God joined you together with works.  Share with us how repenting from all the destruction, hurt, broken dreams, pain and suffering you caused to your spouse, children, friends, family and society works.  

As I have said before - You are either a fan of Christ or a Christian, however ask any football fan, being a fan is not the same as being on the team. You can not divorce your spouse and call yourself a Christian, the two are mutually exclusive. 

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