By Bob Vaughn - uca@uncommonanswers.com
"Contending for the faith once delivered to the saints"
Uncommon Answers Home Page
DIVORCE AND SEPARATION
Separation and divorce is a subject of much interest in the lives of
people today, even God's people. His Word has given His people
guidelines concerning this subject--guidelines that are CLEAR and HOLY
and REASONABLE. Let's examine the Holy Word.
It is most helpful to
realize that when Jesus was teaching on this subject it was concerning
married believers. He was speaking to the Old Covenant people. They
were not allowed to marry unbelievers. Later Paul deals with the
situation of believers being married to unbelievers.
Moses in Deuteronomy
24:1-2 allowed a man to divorce his wife and for
her to be married to another. When Jesus was questioned about this in
Mark 10:1-9 He made it clear that divorce was not in God's order in the
beginning, but was allowed because of the HARDNESS of the people's
hearts. God had said, "a man shall leave his father and mother and be
joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh." Jesus said,
"Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."
Moses' law, the Old Testament law, allowed divorce because of the
hardness of the people's hearts. But God's people, under the New
Testament, DON'T HAVE HARD HEARTS. We are new creatures
with new hearts, loving the commandments of God, walking after His
Spirit, and dead to ourselves (II Corinthians 5:17, Ezekiel 11:19, I
John 5:3, Romans 8:14, Matthew 16:24-25). Therefore, Jesus taught that
God's will for His people was that they have a life without divorce
(Mark 10:11-12,
Matthew 5:32, Matthew 19:9, Luke 16:18). The love of God in the hearts
of saints makes divorce of TWO
true believers an
unheard of thing. For divorce to happen, someone must forsake the Lord.
These teachings of Jesus also indicate that fornication--not found
in a Christian's life--is the only legitimate grounds for divorce in
God's
eyes. If a husband or wife commits fornication they may be
divorced--put away. The faithful husband or wife must be careful to
show mercy
when it's called for. Never should the unfaithful mate's sin be reason
for divorce when the unfaithful mate is truly repentant (Matthew
18:21-22).
God's order of authority in I Corinthians 11:3 is, "the head of every
man is Christ: the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ
is God." The wife is to be subject to the husband, and the
husband to Christ, and Christ to God. This is God's perfect order, but
a problem arises for the wife if the husband is not subject to Christ.
If he isn't a Christian-- subject to Christ--he may require things of
his wife that are SIN for her. In this case, I believe, the wife must
remain in
God's order by being SUBJECT TO CHRIST and NOT TO HER HUSBAND. He is
out of God's order. In other matters, I
believe she should remain subject to her husband.
The Apostle Paul teaches in I Corinthians, chapter 7, concerning
divorce and separation. He teaches in verses 10 and 11, even as Jesus
taught, that two believers should not divorce or separate. But, if
separation happens the only course is reconciliation or to remain
unmarried. He then in verses 12-16 counsels concerning a subject Jesus
didn't mention--those who have unbelieving husbands or wives. If the
unbeliever, wants to live with the Christian husband or wife, then the
Christian should live with them in hope of converting them. I believe
the
Christian needs to make clear to the unbeliever the type of life that
the Christian intends to live--a life subject to Christ: holy, pure,
without sin. If the unbeliever decides he doesn't want to live with the
Christian, then don't hinder him from leaving. "God has called us
to peace."
If the unbeliever leaves, choosing not to live with the believer, the
believer is not "UNDER BONDAGE." I believe this forsaken Christian is
free to remarry (I
Corinthians 7:15), but only to a
Christian.
Bob Vaughn