Marriage - Divorce - Remarriage in the New Testament

1. Marriage - Divorce - Remarriage in the New Testament

2. Marriage – Divorce - Remarriage • Discuss What God Says About the Subject. • His Word is Final for those who Fear Him. • Remember: God Doesn’t Think Like Man! • Man’s Knowledge is Limited. What Do These Facts Mean About MDR? • We Must Not Presume To Speak For God. • We Must Teach & Preach What God Says. • We Must Not Press & Bind Human Opinions. • We Should Allow Others To Have Opinions.

3. Marriage – Divorce – Remarriage in OT • Permanent (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4-6) • Law concerning adultery (Lev. 20:10) • Laws concerning virginity (Deut. 22:13-22) • Law of jealousy (Num 5:11-31) • Law of surviving brother (Deut. 25:5-10) • Law concerning divorce (Deut. 24:1-4) • Marriage to Gentiles prohibited (Deut. 7:1-5)

4. Marriage - Divorce Questions The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason” (MATT. 19:3)? Marriage & Divorce Questions/Discussions Not New School of Shammai: Divorce for cause of unfaithfulness. School of Hillel: Divorce for any cause, even burning his toast. Not All Questions Are Honest Questions!

5. Back to the Beginning And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning…” (Matt. 19:4). Took them back to God’s Original Law on Marriage. • Roman Law of Divorce Jesus ignored the Jewish and Roman legal traditions of his day. • Jewish Traditions of Divorce • KY Law of Divorce • CA Law of Divorce • Catholic Law of Divorce

6. Male and Female And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ (Matt. 19:4-5)? Gay Marriage - Lesbian Marriage - Homosexual Marriage Will Christians accept these as legitimate marriages because the civil government sanctions them? Will God accept these marriages? Will God bind a man and a man together as He does a man and a woman?

7. God Joins Together So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matt. 19:6). Civil gov’t records what God has done--joined a male and female together in marriage. All people, whether they accept it or not, are answerable to God for their conduct in their marriage.

8. A Permanent Union So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matt. 19:6). What makes the woman in Romans 7:1-3 an adulteress? She is still bound by God’s law even though man’s law released her to marry again. Matthew 14:4 - Whose marriage law did Herod violate?

9. Moses Allowed Divorce They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so” (Matt. 19:7-8). • Missed the intent of God’s law. • Trying to slow divorce - make them think. • Giving relief to the wife.

10. Jesus Gives His Law 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 (Matt. 19:9). If a man: Divorces his wife and marries another - adultery. Marries an unscripturally divorced woman - adultery. Marries a woman who is scripturally divorced for fornication - adultery. Christ’s Law is Supreme.

11. The One Exception 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 (Matt. 19:9). Innocent party given the right to divorce the guilty party. Doesn’t have to exercise that right. May try to work it out. May not be able to work it out.

12. Race to the Courthouse Hinders reconciliation. Encourages innocent to hurry and get to the courthouse before fornicating mate. Divorce should not be rushed into. Fact: Guilty party has no right from God to divorce the innocent mate. Exalts civil law above God’s law. Divorce, like any other Bible subject, is a matter of authority--Who has supreme authority over the marriage relationship? God or Civil Gov’t? When one commits adultery, is he sinning against God or the gov’t (Gen. 39:9)?

13. Matthew 5:32 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.” (Matt. 5:31-32) Whenever a divorce occurs and there is no Scriptural reason, neither party has the right of remarriage. The woman deserted in 1 Cor. 7:15 has no right of remarriage. There is no waiting game - cannot separate or divorce and wait for the other to commit fornication.

14. Race to the Courthouse • General agreement that RTTC is misguided. • Disagreement as to the exact action that must be taken by innocent party whose guilty mate filed for divorce. • File a counter suit? • Statement to elders or congregation of intent to put away their guilty mate. • Are either of these a divine mandate? WG RTTC

15. Marriage – Divorce – Remarriage in NT • Marriage is to be a permanent relationship. • There is to be NO divorce. • If and only if fornication occurs, the innocent has authority from God to divorce or put away the guilty mate and remarry. • The guilty fornicator has no right from God to remarry and if he or she does remarry they are living in adultery along with the person they married.