We have a tragic situation in our day. Many people who are professing Christians have made the choice to get married to someone else while their first spouse is still alive. Sometimes these couples are both divorced. Sometimes they bring children from their first marriage into the new family. Often times they have children together. So many people’s lives are affected by their choice to establish this new family after they have been divorced from their first spouse.
But as the church believed for centuries, and as a few men of God have taught in our day, and as many others are now seeing the truth, these marriages are adulterous relationships.
Mark 10:11-12 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. 12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.
Romans 7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress.
Why you may ask is this situation so tragic? Because we have the very gospel at stake here. We have these professing Christians attending, serving, and participating in our churches. And in many situations, because they want to serve and be a part, they are involved in important positions in the church. But the reality is this. If the words of Jesus are true, these second marriages are adultery in action. These individuals are adulterers and adulteresses. And then we must consider other words from Scripture that make this an even more sobering situation.
1 Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind.
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery . . . . . of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
So, we have people who are living in open adultery that are attending, participating, and serving in our churches. The door has also been opened in some churches that allows for men in the pulpit who are divorced and remarried.
How does this affect the gospel message? It deludes it, it compromises it, it confuses it. It sends such a mixed message. It causes the world to react to the church, because they see the hypocrisy in it. It gives the devil an opportunity to cause confusion because of the mixed message. It destroys the purity of the gospel of Jesus Christ that He bought and paid for with His own blood and sacrifice.
It opens the door for other sins to now become acceptable in the church. This acceptance of remarriage is one of the main reasons the overall standards in Churches have changed so dramatically in the last 50 years. And oh my, we have even reached a new low. Today we have churches and Christian institutions who are allowing those who admit they are sodomites to be a part of the church. They allow them in if they purpose not to “practice” their sodomy. But they are not told they cannot have those evil thoughts.
Let’s look at another problem that comes from this acceptance of divorce and remarriage. Take a situation where a man and woman have remarried. What should happen if we choose to accept this as a biblical, scriptural marriage? As ministers and fellow believers we must do what we can to make this second marriage successful. Their first marriage failed, we certainly don’t want their second marriage to fail. So we pray for them, we encourage them, we bless them on their new anniversaries, we are excited for them when they have children and start to raise them in the Lord.
But what underlying message is being sent to those around who are struggling in their first marriage, the marriage of their youth? Certainly as they are struggling and they see the success of this second marriage, they can easily conclude, maybe the second time for me will be better.
Brother this cannot work to the glory of God. We must stop this cycle. We must take a stand and say enough is enough. We must acknowledge our sin before God and say with Jesus, Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Matthew 19:6
I believe a better way to state these words of Christ would be this – What therefore God hath joined together, no man can put asunder. It cannot be done. We cannot undue what God hath done. They will not be separated until death. No amount of actions taken by man can separate a man who is married to a woman. They can commit adultery, they can be abusive, they can turn their backs on God. They can abandon their spouse and children. They can go to a court and obtain a divorce. They can tell everyone they are divorced. They can divide all the assets. As unbelievers they can turn their hearts to God and say they are Christians now. As Christians they can repent of what they did to contribute to the divorce. They can find another person and “marry” them. They can obtain the blessings of friends, Christian counselors, pastors, denominational leaders, family members, governmental officials, whoever. They can go into the ministry, become missionaries, give large amounts of money to the work of God. They can do all these things and so much more. But neither they, nor we, nor anyone can separate what God hath joined together.
The apostle Paul made this very clear in his teachings. Romans 7:2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 1 Corinthians 7:39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.
Some say to take this stand is not loving. They ask where is the forgiveness. They point out there are other sins that are worse. They say we allow those who steal, commit murder, commit sodomy, etc. to repent, and then accept them into the fellowship. Those who use these questions as excuses are lacking in wisdom. They do not see the truth and the importance of marriage to God. They do not understand the devasting consequenses of divorce and remarriage on the Church, the society, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Friend, the problem we are discussing here is not the divorce. The problem is the remarriage. There are those whose spouses leave them, divorce them, and even cut them off. The problem is not with the one who is left in the wake. The problem is when either one decides they now have a right to get remarried, because they are now living in adultery. Romans 7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. And the greater tragedy is when the church allows them to believe they are forgiven, Christians, and on their way to heaven.
