Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

As noted in the verse cited in the question, the only grounds mentioned by Jesus (and therefore recognized by God) as justification for divorce is a spouse's sexual immorality. Therefore (as also mentioned by Jesus), those who divorce their spouse, or marry someone who has been divorced, for other reasons are committing adultery.

The Old Testament, as well as human society today, allows other grounds for divorce, but, as Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees and to His disciples (Matthew 19:3-12), this was not God's original plan in instituting marriage (which He intended to last until the spouses were separated by death), but it was a concession to the sinfulness and hardness of the human heart.

Divorce for other reasons is therefore a sin, but it is not the (or an) unforgivable sin. God sees the heart, and will be able to fully and rightly judge the spiritual state of all individuals (including those who have been married and divorced multiple times) in consideration of factors such as their intentions, their relationship to Him through Christ, and external factors involved. But the mindset of spouses who are Christians when married, or who become Christians during marriage, should be to preserve a marriage wherever possible, and to pursue divorce only as a last resort.

Thus, it seems to me that marrying and divorcing multiple times would (in the eyes of the world, at least) be an ineffective witness of a Christian's professed faith.

May 20 2018 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report