“I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel” (Malachi 2:16)
Interesting, isn’t it? The Lord hates divorce and yet the divorce rate among Christians is higher than the divorce rate among atheists. In fact, research has shown that when it comes to divorce, there’s very little difference between Christians and the rest of the world.
Perhaps one of the reasons is that most Christians don’t even know what the Bible has to say about divorce. Pastors rarely preach to teach anymore. They’re too afraid the message will drive the crowd to another church. Even more sadly is the fact that we don’t study the Word. You can’t know what a book says if you don’t pick up and read it!
But listen. I’m not picking on you. The truth is I was recently asked what the Bible said about divorce and remarriage and didn’t know the answer. I was surprised by what I read, and more than a little confused about how to view divorce and the Church.
Actually, the Bible provides fairly narrow grounds for divorce. In fact, Jesus said that except for adultery, “anyone who divorces his wife causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.” (Matthew 5:32)
The Apostle Paul added one more condition for which a couple may divorce. “To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.” (1 Corinthians 7:12-15)
If these are the only grounds laid out in the Bible by which divorce may happen, then it certainly begs the question, Why do some pastors remarry Christians who divorced for other reasons?
Well some pastors, like some lay Christians, don’t know what the Bible says about divorce. Some don’t agree and others just don’t care. But these aren’t the explanations that most pastors would give. The truth is they view divorce just like any other sin. They know what God’s Word says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) In other words, if we view the sin of divorce in a different light than any other sin, we become trapped in a religion where the boundaries are defined by law rather than by grace. That’s exactly what Jesus meant when said to those who wanted to stone the adulteress woman, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7)
Southern Baptist scholar Herschel Hobbs once confessed that he had also wrestled with the very same issue. “The subject of divorce and remarriage is controversial, complex, and emotional.” But Hobbs recounted a conversation with a seminary president, one that settled his confusion: “One day while eating lunch the subject entered this conversation. He had said nothing. Finally, quoting 1 John 1:7, he asked, ‘The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.’”
I agree. If we live under grace, then we must trust what God’s Word says. Otherwise, there’s no hope for any of us.
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