Divorce And Remarriage - Part 1

INTRO: In our doctrinal statement, we have 10 secondary doctrines that we hold to. And I think that truly they are secondary issues, with one exception, and it is that of divorce and remarriage. I think the reason this was left to stand in the secondary section is because we are at odds with well over 90% of Evangelical Christianity. This majority group allows for the remarriage of the so called ‘innocent party' even though the other partner is alive.

Here is how our statement reads: We believe that marriage is honorable (God recognizes and approves of the marriage of believers and unbelievers) in all (Heb. 13:4) and that the marriage bond is in force until the death of either partner (Rom. 7:1-3) and that this is the only condition upon which one may remarry (1 Cor. 7:39). All other remarriages constitute the sin of adultery which, if persisted in, the individual shall not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9; Gal. 5:19-21; Rom. 7:1-3). We believe that the exception clause as recorded in Matt. 5:32 and 19:9 refers to unfaithfulness during the betrothal stage of Jewish weddings. For this reason this exception clause is found in Matthew, who wrote specifically to the Jews, and not in Mark and Luke whose Gospels were written to the Gentile world.

It comes as a surprise to many who have grown up in this community that by far the majority of Evangelical Christianity disagrees with us in this doctrine which we view as very, very important. So in these few brief messages I want to give an overview of the OT and divorce and then cover the NT a little more in depth.