And for the third and final time we ask the same question, I am divorced and remarried,
am I living in adultery?
Hi, welcome to today's little lesson.
Once again for the third time we're looking at divorce and remarriage.
Is that adultery in God's eyes and should Christian couples who realize that because
they've been formally married and divorced, should they then get a divorce and if possible
get back to their previous spouse because in God's eyes they're still married that person?
That's really the question that we're addressing.
I can understand how folks can up with that idea based upon Jesus' words about whoever
divorces and marries another commits adultery.
But to take the most strict literal interpretation of those words would seem to be foolish in
light other evidence from scripture.
Jesus said right at one of those same passages where He mentions what I've just said, whoever
divorces and marries another commits adultery.
He said, "If your eye causes to stumble, pluck it out.
And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off."
Well no one takes Him in the strictest literal sense there.
They look for the real meat of what He's trying to get across and what He's trying to get
across is if there's something that's causing you to stumble, cut it off.
Course your physical eye and your physical hand can't actually cause you to stumble and
so it would be foolish to try to remedy your situation that way.
I heard a guy say one time that, "The lustful man who plucks out his one eye, that doesn't
solve his problem.
Now he's just a one eyed luster."
Because lust is something that's in the mind and in the heart.
That's where you gotta adjust.
You got to cut off the temptations and the things that would cause you to stumble into
that.
There's other things.
There's so many things that Jesus said that nobody takes in their strictest literal sense.
It obvious that the apostles didn't take Jesus on these word in their strictest literal sense
'cause there's no place in the New Testament where you could read about any apostles telling
people to divorce much less telling Christians to divorce because they've been previously
divorced prior to their salvation or some time in the past.
It's just not found outside of a very strict literal interpretation of those four divorce
and remarriage passages that the synoptic gospel writers recorded.
This subject deserves more time.
I have written an article that's on our website, davidservant.com.
The title of it is, I'm Divorced and Remarried, Am I Living in Adultery?
If you just type something similar to that in the search bar, you'll come up with it
and you'll see that I've addressed all the objections and so forth.
Probably the biggest death blow to that idea is the fact that Paul contradicts it his letter
to the Corinthians.
His first letter to the Corinthians.
He's got a whole chapter there that's all about marriage and divorce and widowhood and
immorality and what's right and what's wrong.
Divorce and so forth and never once does Paul intimate that anybody should be divorcing
anybody.
He tells Christians emphatically, "Don't divorce.
If you don't listen to me and you do separate, remain single or else be reconciled."
And then he tells Christians who are married to unbelievers, "Don't divorce.
If the unbelieving one is willing to stay, stick it out.
Maybe you can win them."
But he says if they want to go, let them go, you're not under bondage in such cases.
I'm going to read a passage in the time we have left.
Part of First Corinthians chapter 7 that shows you unequivocally, Paul did not buy into the
divine divorce doctrine that's being prolongated in some circles today.
First Corinthians 7, verse number 24.
"Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called."
That's summarizing a number of verses in front of that that I'm not reading.
But it's basically stay where you're at.
Verse 25.
"Now concerning virgins," those are people who have obviously never been married, never
had a sexual relationship with somebody.
"I have no command of the Lord but I give an opinion, as one who by the mercy of the
Lord is trustworthy.
I think that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man remain
as he is."
There's that same theme, remaining as you are.
The present distress could only have been some wave of persecution that's passing through
and persecution does generally come it waves.
It ebbs and it flows.
And so Paul's saying, right now, better just if you're a virgin, I wouldn't be thinking
about marriage right now.
Not a good time to think about marriage.
And then he says in verse number 27, this is a summary of lots of things he's been saying.
"Are you bound to a wife?
Do not seek not to be released."
Of course.
He's already said over and over again, you shouldn't be seeking a divorce.
You shouldn't be seeking to get out of your marriage.
"Are you released from a wife?
Do not seek not a wife."
That fits the advice he just told to virgins.
But now he's saying it those who have been divorced.
Are you released from a wife?
You had a wife, you're released, don't seek a wife, it's better just at least right now,
to be single.
But now listen to verse number 28, addressed to the person who he's just been addressing.
Are you released from a wife?
Here's what he says.
"But if thou marry, you have not sinned."
That certainly is the death blow to the idea that you are sinning and living in adultery
if you are previously married, divorced and now remarried.
Of course, divorce always involves sin, right?
I mean come on, there's got to be selfishness in one or the other or both that drove people
to a divorce.
Because when they got married they loved each other.
They were expecting til death do us part.
That's what they said.
That was the promise they gave.
But they let selfishness enter in and I'm not going to point my finger at anybody, I'm
just going to say that we all agree that when there's a divorce there's sin.
It doesn't please God, God never intended.
But, He made provision for it because He knew that it was probably inevitable in light of
the hardness of people's hearts.
And so remarriage, under the old covenant, divorced women were allowed to get remarried.
Israelite men were allowed to marry divorced women.
The only exception were priests.
That's the old covenant, that's the mosaic law.
New covenant is the same here.
If you marry, you have not sinned.
Well some will say, "Well oh but how do you know?
How are you sure that's he's talking to the person who's been released from a wife?"
Because in the next clause of this same verse he says, "And if a virgin marries, she has
not sinned."
Clearly when he says but if you marry you have not sinned, he's not talking about the
person who's never been married, he's talking about the person who has been married and
has been released from a wife.
You can study this out yourself but we've devoted three little lessons to it and these
are little lessons.
Again, go to davidservant.com and look up the article that's titled, I'm Divorced and
Remarried, Am I Living in Adultery, if you want more information, explanation.
Okay?
Thank you so much for joining me on this little lesson.
Hope to see you next time