What are the biblical options in order for a born again believer to ever remarry (biblically) after a divorce? This is a very important question many face and we will attempt to answer in this article. This topic comes up often as we meet and minister to many people in many different relationship situations. Divorce and remarriage is one very common and widely debated topic in today's fallen sinful world.
We want to be very clear that we stand against divorce for most reasons ( unless its biblical ) and we also hold fast to remarriage ONLY under biblical conditions.
Note: We hold to the biblical teaching that pre-conversion divorce is NOT held against a person who is now a repentive NEW creation per 2 Corinthians 5:17 ... ALL things become new!
Is marriage form the past part of ALL? Of course it is.
See our article on that here:
http://spiritandtruthdiscernment.blogspot.com/2016/01/remarriage-after-conversion.html
Those who teach God will ONLY recognize 1 marriage in a lifetime till death, are very wrong and we refute that idea here:
http://spiritandtruthdiscernment.blogspot.com/2018/07/divorce-and-remarriage-facts-that.html
Now let's look at the situation where a born again believing man or woman finds themselves divorced and are considering possible options to remarry. What are the biblical options by which a person could remarry after a divorce?
Based on scripture and my studies there are ONLY 3 reasons that makes a born again person free to enter into another marriage after a divorce.
1) Death of a spouse allows you freedom to remarry
(Romans 7 and 1 Corinthians 7)
2) Fornication/adultery must occur.
Meaning either their partner committed it which ended the marriage or they left you, divorced you and later committed it by getting remarried. Matthew 19 and Matthew 5
3) An unbeliever leaves and divorces you making you not bound.
1 Corinthians 7:15
Unless you have one of the 3 situations above, you are NOT allowed to remarry and claim to still be biblical. Doing so will ruin your testimony and defame God's truth. While this is a hard pill for many to swallow, our lives are NOT our own as we are bought with a price!
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 6:20
Are you willing to be faithful to God's call and Word in your life even if it means you must forego experiencing future married life?
Lets look at a common example of a case to see if a person can remarry:
A man or woman has a born again spouse who for whatever reason decides they want out of the marriage and they divorce you. No fornication has occurred but the legal marriage is now over as they had too many differences.
What can the spouse who was divorced now do moving forward to be biblical?
Based on the above biblical scenarios, neither person can biblically remarry as they are still bound to each other per God's Word. (They are both alive, no fornication has happened and they are both believers.) The ONLY way the spouse who did not want to divorce can ever remarry again, is if the departing spouse dies or if the departing spouse enters into fornication / remarriage or they renounce the faith completely. If they both remain apart in the faith but never commit fornication or remarry, the marriage is still binding them both together per God's Holy Word.
I realize this now leaves the divorced spouse in a situation of waiting on their partner over time ( maybe years ) to either repent and come back to the marriage or to end the hope of reconciliation by remarrying someone else. While it is not a good situation to be in, it is the exact situation God found Himself with Israel at one time and now with people today? We all rebel against God and He waits patiently and is willing to take us back if we repent. Glory to God / Christ!!! If we expect God to wait on and take us back shouldn't we expect that we should wait on a wayward spouse we pledged our life to, until all hope of reconciling is gone?
As a teacher of God's Word and a man with a ministry, if my believing wife ever left me and divorced me, I can say there is NO WAY I can ever go ahead and take another wife biblically "until" all hope of reconciling has been played out and I can do it biblically per the Word. (I would have no desire or plans to remarry either way.)
The idea of death til you part (Romans 7:2) and unity of two people in God in marriage are powerful and deep things we cannot take lightly. As Christians bought by His blood and made new creations, we must keep to our commitment to help our witness and defend God's glory even if we have to surrender our future plans of remarriage. I see no other way per scripture and for sure that is the truth we are to follow.
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
John 17:17
If I have this topic wrong, please email and correct me?
***********************************************************
We want to be very clear that we stand against divorce for most reasons ( unless its biblical ) and we also hold fast to remarriage ONLY under biblical conditions.
Note: We hold to the biblical teaching that pre-conversion divorce is NOT held against a person who is now a repentive NEW creation per 2 Corinthians 5:17 ... ALL things become new!
Is marriage form the past part of ALL? Of course it is.
See our article on that here:
http://spiritandtruthdiscernment.blogspot.com/2016/01/remarriage-after-conversion.html
Those who teach God will ONLY recognize 1 marriage in a lifetime till death, are very wrong and we refute that idea here:
http://spiritandtruthdiscernment.blogspot.com/2018/07/divorce-and-remarriage-facts-that.html
Now let's look at the situation where a born again believing man or woman finds themselves divorced and are considering possible options to remarry. What are the biblical options by which a person could remarry after a divorce?
Based on scripture and my studies there are ONLY 3 reasons that makes a born again person free to enter into another marriage after a divorce.
1) Death of a spouse allows you freedom to remarry
(Romans 7 and 1 Corinthians 7)
2) Fornication/adultery must occur.
Meaning either their partner committed it which ended the marriage or they left you, divorced you and later committed it by getting remarried. Matthew 19 and Matthew 5
3) An unbeliever leaves and divorces you making you not bound.
1 Corinthians 7:15
Unless you have one of the 3 situations above, you are NOT allowed to remarry and claim to still be biblical. Doing so will ruin your testimony and defame God's truth. While this is a hard pill for many to swallow, our lives are NOT our own as we are bought with a price!
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 6:20
Are you willing to be faithful to God's call and Word in your life even if it means you must forego experiencing future married life?
Lets look at a common example of a case to see if a person can remarry:
A man or woman has a born again spouse who for whatever reason decides they want out of the marriage and they divorce you. No fornication has occurred but the legal marriage is now over as they had too many differences.
What can the spouse who was divorced now do moving forward to be biblical?
Based on the above biblical scenarios, neither person can biblically remarry as they are still bound to each other per God's Word. (They are both alive, no fornication has happened and they are both believers.) The ONLY way the spouse who did not want to divorce can ever remarry again, is if the departing spouse dies or if the departing spouse enters into fornication / remarriage or they renounce the faith completely. If they both remain apart in the faith but never commit fornication or remarry, the marriage is still binding them both together per God's Holy Word.
I realize this now leaves the divorced spouse in a situation of waiting on their partner over time ( maybe years ) to either repent and come back to the marriage or to end the hope of reconciliation by remarrying someone else. While it is not a good situation to be in, it is the exact situation God found Himself with Israel at one time and now with people today? We all rebel against God and He waits patiently and is willing to take us back if we repent. Glory to God / Christ!!! If we expect God to wait on and take us back shouldn't we expect that we should wait on a wayward spouse we pledged our life to, until all hope of reconciling is gone?
As a teacher of God's Word and a man with a ministry, if my believing wife ever left me and divorced me, I can say there is NO WAY I can ever go ahead and take another wife biblically "until" all hope of reconciling has been played out and I can do it biblically per the Word. (I would have no desire or plans to remarry either way.)
The idea of death til you part (Romans 7:2) and unity of two people in God in marriage are powerful and deep things we cannot take lightly. As Christians bought by His blood and made new creations, we must keep to our commitment to help our witness and defend God's glory even if we have to surrender our future plans of remarriage. I see no other way per scripture and for sure that is the truth we are to follow.
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
John 17:17
If I have this topic wrong, please email and correct me?
***********************************************************
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