GLEANINGS — March 17, A.D. 2013                                                                                                               Divorce and Remarriage, Part Two

In part one of this essay on a difficult issue, we affrimed that God hates divorce. Nevertheless, in this fallen world, the God Who hates divorce and loves lifelong marriage between one man and one woman has allowed for divorce in certain situations.

Let's continue the comparison with capital punishment, as we consider the issue of the remarriage of a divorced Christian. When the just and lawful execution of a criminal has taken place, no guilt is attributed to those involved in the execution. In other words, neither the jury who found the perpetrator guilty, nor the judge who passed the sentence, nor the person who administered the lethal injection are murderers. Yes, a human life has been taken, but another murder has not occured. The jury, judge, and "hangman" are not due any punishment for taking the murderer's life. Rather, God's own statute has been honored. Hopefully, the perpetrator came to know the Savior before his execution. For by the grace of God in Christ, though the worst of sinners lose their lives in this world, they can have the hope of eternal life.

Some Christians apparently hold that when a just and lawful divorce has taken place, an indelible blemish of some kind should be assigned to the innocent party in the former marriage. A former husband or wife, treated treacherously and wickedly by his or her former spouse, must be punished by being denied the God ordained comforts and blessings of marriage for the rest of his or her life. Although innocent in the matter of the former marriage, they must suffer by being forbidden to marry again. This view, although perhaps having the appearance of strict piety to some eyes, is unscriptural and graceless!

Consider Matthew 1:18-25. There, Joseph is said to have been of a mind to divorce his betrothed wife Mary, before he learned from an angel of the Lord that she was indeed a virgin who had not committed sexual immorality, and that she had conceived miraculously by the power of the Holy Spirit (we believe in the virgin conception as well as the virgin birth!) Though Joseph was so minded, Matthew wrote under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, that Joseph was a "just man". There is no reason to believe that this just man would have been forbidden by the Lord to divorce his betrothed wife, if she had in fact conceived in the usual way, as a result of sexual immorality.

According to Matthew 19:9, the Lord allows for divorce in the case of sexual immorality. "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery." At 1 Corinthians 7:15, Christ's apostle specifically allows that willful desertion is ground for a lawful divorce. "...if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace." Rather than punishing the innocent, God in Scripture gives them liberty and peace - not peace as the world gives, but the peace that begins with a good conscience toward God through Jesus Christ. (John 14:27, Hebrews 9:14, 1 Peter 3:21)

To be continued...