Thinking to Believe

I continue my examination of how to apply the Biblical teaching on divorce and remarriage in the 14th episode of the series. I consider the possibility that repentance and/or conversion gives one moral permission to remarry following an unjust divorce and conclude that neither does so. Repentance for an unjust divorce does not give one moral permission to remarry because (1) forgiveness for the divorce does not nullify one’s moral obligation to that marriage covenant, (2) forgiveness does not nullify the consequences for the sin of divorce, and (3) the notion that repentance following an unjust divorce gives one moral permission to remarry effectively nullifies Jesus’ teaching. Conversion does not change the applicability of Jesus’ teaching either. Those who divorced as unbelievers are not free to remarry as believers. Forgiveness of their pre-conversion sins does not nullify their moral obligation to their marriage covenant. Even if they can no longer fulfill that obligation because their ex-spouse has remarried, the consequences for that sin remain: They must remain single. 

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I continue my practical application of the Biblical teaching on divorce and remarriage by considering the nature of the adultery Jesus charged people with: Is it a singular act or a perpetual sin? I argue that it is a perpetual sin. This leads to the next question: What is the proper form of repentance for those who have wrongly divorced/remarried? The answer depends on whether one interprets Jesus’ charge of adultery in a literal or hyperbolic manner. I go through four possible levels of repentance. 

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How do we apply the Biblical principles regarding divorce and remarriage to the various situations we face today? The practical application of the Biblical principles is not always easy. I begin this task by exploring what circumstances under which a divorced person can remarry. I conclude that the guilty party cannot remarry under any circumstance. As for the innocent spouse, Jesus gave him permission to remarry if his spouse committed sexual sin prior to the divorce. In the case of an unjust divorce, however, Jesus does not give the innocent spouse permission to remarry. He must remain single in hopes of reconciling the marriage since there were no moral grounds for terminating that covenant. However, I argue that the moral logic of Jesus’ teaching plausibly allows for the innocent spouse to remarry once their ex-spouse (the guilty party) commits sexual sin or remarries because such acts violate the marriage covenant and thus justify the divorce ex post facto. 

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I finish my examination of Paul’s teaching on remarriage, and thereby conclude my examination of the NT teaching on remarriage. I examined more passages in 1 Corinthians 7 that some have used to justify remarriage. I rebutted the idea that Romans 7:1-3 means marriage can only be ended by death. Finally, I explored the meaning of Paul’s requirement for elders that they be the “husband of one wife” and concluded that it’s best to understand Paul to mean a pastor must be faithful to his wife. 

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I start my examination of Paul’s teaching on remarriage, focusing first on 1 Corinthians 7. I show why Paul’s allowance for the “unmarried” to marry (vs. 8-9) does not include formerly-married people. When addressing Christians who wrongly divorced, Paul gave them two options, and neither option included remarriage. I devoted a bulk of the time examining Paul’s teaching in verses 12-16 regarding religiously mixed marriages. Most theologians think Paul gave Christians moral permission to remarry following a divorce. I argue that this is a misreading of the text.

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I finish up my examination of Jesus’ teaching on remarriage in the Synoptic Gospels. The brief version in Luke 16 rehashes Jesus’ teaching found in Matthew and Mark, so I focused my attention on Mark 10. Mark’s version is unique in two ways: (1) It is the only account to address a woman who divorces her husband, and (2) it specifies that the man who unjustly divorces his wife and remarries commits adultery against his ex-wife. This is important because it invalidates one interpretive approach to Jesus’ teaching, namely understanding it in light of the OT teaching on adultery. I demonstrate that Jesus’ definition of adultery differed from the OT definition, and thus we should not use the OT definition as a filter for understanding Jesus. To do so would actually cause us to misunderstand Jesus. 

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I examine Jesus’ teaching on remarriage in Mt 19, focusing on His exception clause. Should we understand Jesus’ exception to be applicable to both divorce and remarriage, or only divorce? I argue that Jesus’ exception gives moral permission to the innocent spouse to both divorce and remarry. I also address why it is that the innocent spouse who was victimized by sexual immorality is free to remarry following a divorce, but the innocent spouse who was victimized by an unjust divorce is not. 

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I have moved on to the NT teaching concerning remarriage. I begin with an examination of teaching in Matthew 5:31-32. The entire episode focuses on the critical question of how we should understand Jesus’ teaching that those who remarry following an unjust divorce are guilty of “adultery.” Was He speaking literally or hyperbolically? In isolation, the literal interpretation is to be favored, but based on the context of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, I argue that Jesus clearly meant for us to understand “adultery” as hyperbole. 

 Those who remarry after an unjust divorce are no more guilty of actual adultery than those who lust after a woman are guilty of actual adultery (or those who are unjustly angry at their brother are guilty of actual murder). Jesus’ point is that the spirit of the command against adultery includes our thought life and remarriages. He isn’t claiming that lust and remarriage are just as bad as adultery. They are sinful, but lesser sins, and as such, people who commit these sins be punished as if they had committed actual adultery. Those who remarry following an unjust divorce committed a sin when they contracted a new marriage, but it is a bona fide marriage nonetheless and it would be wrong to force them to divorce. 

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I examine the OT teaching regarding remarriage and conclude that the OT seems to have allowed remarriage more generally, only prohibiting it in very limited circumstances. I also address the relationship between Jesus’ teaching on remarriage and the OT teaching, and conclude that Jesus’ teaching elucidated rather than abrogated the Mosaic teaching, with at least one new element to His teaching that is not found in the OT.

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I finish up my examination of the NT teaching on divorce, this time focusing on Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 7. I argue that Paul, like Jesus, is opposed to divorce. He commanded Christian couples not to divorce, but shockingly, allowed them to remain divorced if they had disobeyed Jesus’ teaching. He also commanded Christians in religiously mixed marriages to remain in their marriage, but absolved them of any moral responsibility if the unbelieving spouse initiates a divorce.

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