Marriage Divorce Re Marriage

MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, & RE-MARRIAGE (Matthew 19:3-12 Galatians 6:7-8)

I. MARRIAGE

A. Origin of Marriage:

1. Garden of Eden (BEFORE Law of Moses or Law of Christ) (Genesis 2:18-24)  (18)And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.  (19)  And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.  (20)  And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.  (21)  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;  (22)  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.  (23)  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.  (24)  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

2. God officiates, or “marries” (Matthew 19:5-6)  (5)And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?  (6)  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. IF God does not “marry” two, they are NOT married in His eyes.

3. Marriage given to all mankind (not just the church)

a. Some believe “only Christians are married in God’s eyes” Marriage is from “the beginning”. God made exceptions to it under the Law of Moses (Matt. 19), but the “law of marriage” is for all time under all dispensations.

B. Nature of Marriage:

1. Divine institution (Matthew 19:6b) “…What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

a. Modern scholars believe man ‘invented’ marriage (and also ‘invented’ God)

2. ONE man married to ONE woman

a. Adam and Eve, NOT ‘Adam and Steve’

3. Intended to be for life (Romans 7:1-3)  (1)Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?  (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.  (3)  So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

II. DIVORCE

A. God Hates Divorce (Malachi 2:10-16)

1. Israel (God’s bride), had “put away” God for “strange wives” (idolatry)

2. Israelite men were also dealing “treacherously” with their wives

B. Only one acceptable reason for God (Matthew 19:1-9)

1. GOD does the joining, and only God does the dividing (vs. 6) “Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

III. RE-MARRIAGE

A. In absence of “fornication” for divorce:

1. NO AUTHORITY FROM GOD TO RE-MARRY

2. Results in adultery (Matthew 5:31-32)  (31)It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:  (32)  But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. (Matthew 19:9)  And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

B. Divorce because of “fornication”

1. One guilty of fornication may be “put away” No indication that “guilty party” had God’s permission to marry another at any time (this doctrine has been inserted into the text by those wanting to commit adultery, get a divorce, remarry, and have God approve of the whole mess. )

IV. Answers to Arguments FOR Divorce Argument: “This was part of the Law of Moses and is not binding today” ANSWER: Jesus CONTRASTS the Law of Moses with His teaching in Matthew 5:31-32 “It hath been said” vs. “But I say unto you” Argument: “This teaching was before the cross and is not binding today” ANSWER: The teaching was not part of the Law of Moses (see above), and IF it is NOT binding today, just when WAS it binding? It won’t be binding in Heaven for we will neither marry not be given in marriage there. Some say that for a teaching of Jesus to be binding, it had to be repeated by an Apostle AFTER the cross. If this is the case, what do we do with such teachings as “Call no man Father…” (Matthew 23:9), or about bringing a brothers lack of repentance before the church (Matthew 18:15-17) Argument: “Because the word ‘fornication’ is used, this means what took place BEFORE marriage, Not AFTER one is married.” ANSWER: The Greek word here is “PORNEIA”, which Thayer’s Greek-English lexicon defines as “illicit sexual intercourse in general” [Thayer’s, page 532]. The Apostle Paul used this same word to describe the sinful relationship between a man and his father’s wife (1Corinthians 5:1). If the argument is true, Paul should have used the word “adultery”, because the woman was married to the man’s father. Argument: “When the ‘guilty party’ in a divorce repents, God will forgive them and they may stay in whatever marriage they are in at the time” ANSWER: This argument agrees that the one “put away” commits adultery if they re-marry. However, it is argued that God will forgive all that repent, and they are then free to “continue” in that relationship. This completely ignores the teaching of Jesus that the one put away CANNOT remarry without committing adultery (c.f. Matthew 19). Because the marriage ITSELF if the cause of the adultery, then one could NOT stay in that marriage without CONTINUING to commit adultery. If a person who steals, repents and asks God to forgive them, will God allow them to KEEP STEALING and stay forgiven? Of course not! Then why do some expect God to forgive them while STAYING in adultery?

VI. CONCLUSION --In our Culture today, divorce is so common as to go almost unnoticed. --But do not be deceived, God notices, for He CREATED marriage and He RULES over marriage. --We must remember “God is not mocked”. We cannot call evil ‘good’ and be pleasing to Him.