And in a letter written to group of people who claimed to be Christians, but who lived their day to day lives in a way that failed to reflect Christ or follow His teachings, a man named Paul revealed for us five different ways that Christians can act unchristian by misrepresenting marriage. We have seen that we can misrepresent marriage when we misuse sex and when we are widows.
And as we continue looking at marriage, we come to a section in this letter that addresses an issue that is often extremely personal and extremely emotional in nature. And that issue is the issue of divorce and remarriage. Most likely, almost every person here this morning has been impacted in some way by the issue of divorce and remarriage. And Regardless of how you have experienced divorce, all of us know that divorce is an all too present reality in our lives.
And not only is the issue of divorce an extremely emotional issue; the issue of divorce can often be a very confusing issue. For many of us, we have probably heard a wide range of opinions when it comes to when someone should get a divorce and when someone should get remarried. Even amongst pastors, you seem to get a wide range of opinions on this issue. And it is this wide range of opinions that leads to confusion and questions.
I believe that the confusion and questions, however, do not arise because God is somehow unclear on this issue. On the contrary, I believe that God has a very clear opinion when it comes to divorce and remarriage. I believe that the confusion and questions come in when we have to apply God’s truth to our lives in the midst of the emotion that erupts from hurting and broken relationships.
And as Paul transitions to the topic of divorce and remarriage and reveals for us the reality that we can misrepresent marriage when we divorce fellow Christians. We see this reality revealed for us in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11. Let’s look at these verses together:
But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.
Paul shifts from addressing those who were widows and widowers to addressing followers of Jesus at the church at Corinth who were married to one another. Paul is crystal clear in his instructions when it comes to marriages that involve two followers of Jesus: The Lord states that the wife should not leave her husband and the husband should not divorce his wife.
In other words, in our culture today, Paul would say that a wife should not bail on her husband in order to get a divorce and a husband should not throw his wife out on the street in order to get a divorce. Period. And in case there was any question, Paul states that if the wife was to bail on her husband in order to get a divorce, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. Paul’s point here is that marriage is divinely designed to be a covenant relationship between one man and one woman for one’s entire life. And because of this reality, the Lord, not just Paul, states that a man or a woman who become divorced have two choices as long as both parties are alive; either remain unmarried or remarry your previous spouse as long as both spouses are alive.
You see, so often we approach the issue of divorce and remarriage by asking the wrong question and focusing on the wrong issue. The issue is not whether God allows for divorce; the Bible clearly states that while God hates divorce as divorce flaws the picture of the covenant relationship with God that marriage is designed to depict to the world, God allows for divorce in certain circumstances.
The issue is remarriage. The issue is when can someone who has been divorced enter into another covenant marriage relationship. In addition, God does not view marriage as a contract, which can be renegotiated or dissolved by either party. This is how many in our culture view marriage. God views marriage as a covenant, which can only be terminated through death or another covenant.
This is how we apply what the Bible states about marriage when it comes to the issue of divorce and remarriage: We believe that the Bible teaches that God allows divorce in instances of unfaithfulness/adultery and abandonment and that a person could be remarried if they were divorced for those reasons and if reconciliation with their former spouse is impossible, due to either death or the remarriage of the divorced spouse.
Is this what you have heard from others when it comes to the issue of divorce and remarriage? Or have you heard something else? What have you heard and how does it fit with what God has said through Paul here?
Tomorrow we will continue by seeing Paul unpack this principle when it comes to the issue of Christians who are married to nonchristians.
No comments:
Post a Comment