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Please Visit Our Sponsor  Gift Shop Should Christians Divorce? The divorce rate in the United States is astronomical, even among Christians. According to statistics, there are record numbers of divorce filings in divorce courts of Arizona, Atlanta, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. Even movie stars and role models like Kidd Jason, Michael Jordan, Matt Lauer, Marilyn Manson, Paul Mccartney, Michael Strahan, Houston Whitney, and Reese Witherspoon have been involved in divorce news. People are always looking for divorce lawyer, attorney, mediation and mediator, even online. They want free / cheap advice and information, free divorce form and divorce papers. They even want do-it-yourself divorce for they want a quick divorce. Let's take a look at what the Bible says about divorce and remarriage. Most
Christians who favor divorce try to justify their view by arguing that God
allowed divorce (Duet 24:1-3) in the Old Testament law.They proceed to argue that since God is never changing, then he must allow divorce now. However, we must not jump to conclusion based on one or two individual verses in the Bible, but should look at its teaching as a whole. Based on Mal 2:16, 1Cor 7:10-11, 1Cor 7:27, Mt 19:6 and Mk 10:9, it is clear that God dislikes divorce (to the extent that He used the word hate). Christ said, 'What God has joined together, let not man (nor woman) separate' (Matthew 19:6). Why did Moses allow divorce in the OT then (Duet 24:1-3)? Did God contradict Himself, or did he change his mind? If we read Mark 10:5, we learn that Moses allowed divorce because the Israelites hearts were hardened, much like Pharaohs heart was hardened when the Israelites tried to leave Egypt (Ex 4:21 and Ex 10:20). Just because God allowed Pharaoh and those who desire divorce to harden their hearts, does it mean that He supported what they did? Certainly not! By the same token, God allows sins (like murders and rapes) to occur too, but that does not mean He ordains these actions!
Although
everything that happens in this world is permitted by God, not everything is
according to His righteous will. There
are generally three situations God allows events to take place (Reference 2). Divorce belong to the first category (of the above link). Most Christians will argue that there is one ground for divorce (Matthew 19:9), and that's adultery. Once again, we should not jump to conclusion. Let's take a look at this passage carefully. Jesus said, "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." (Please note that the EXCEPTION here refers to committing ADULTERY, and NOT to divorce). What this passage teaches is that if a husband divorces his wife, he causes her to commit adultery if she remarries (and vice versa). However, if a husband divorces his wife because she has committed adultery, then he does not cause her to commit adultery. Once again, the passage does not teach that it's okay to get divorce if adultery is involved. It merely teaches that if a husband hardens his heard to divorce his wife, under what situation does he causes his wife to commit adultery. Thus there are absolutely no grounds (hardship, bankruptcy, bad relationship, even adultery or whatever the reason) for divorce Biblically. Even if adultery is involved, Christians should learn to forgive, much like God forgave our sins. Moreover, one should consider the impact of divorce on child (kid) or children (kids). From a Biblical point of view, the answer to the question of whether Christians should divorce should be quite clear to the reader. Does it mean that divorced Christians are not saved?
Absolutely not! There is no sin too great for God to forgive. Since all divorces are unbiblical,
the divorced/remarried couple should TRULY repent and ask for God's forgiveness,
and live their lives to glorify God. If you are contemplating to get a divorce, you shouldn't. Although God can forgive all sins (except that of unbelief)
, there is a difference between committing a sin because one does not know better, and committing a sin to count on God's
grace of forgiveness (Roman 6:1).
The latter is not the behavior of a true Christian. References: 1) Dwight Harvey Small,
"Remarriage and Gods Renewing Grace: A Positive Biblical Ethic for
Divorced Christians." 2)
John
McCarthur's lecture, Grace Community Church. |
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