ERROR
[ERROR]
"For a divorce to be recognized by God it must be for adultery (fornication); otherwise, any subsequent marriage is adultery. Only those who initiate the divorce for adultery or whose spouse dies may remarry."
[TRUTH]
First, adultery and fornication are not the same thing. Fornication can be incest, which is not adultery. We have two New Testament examples (Matt. 14:4; 1 Cor. 5:1). Incest is a reason for putting away without the need for divorce, as God defines it in Deuteronomy 24.
Fornication is the so-called "exception clause" that has been misunderstood by many. It is the exception whereby a man does not commit adultery against his "wife" (woman) by merely APOLUOing her, which is putting her away but not according to God's command (Mark 10:11; Deut. 24:1-2; Mark 10:3). This makes it plain that "putting away" (apoluo) is "adultery against her" -- not adultery WITH another person.
Because men could have more than one wife at the time Jesus was endeavoring to reform the Jews regarding their abuse of their wives, the idea that when a man divorces a woman both he and she commit adultery by marrying someone new is nonsensical. Such teaching is opposite to what Jesus was endeavoring to accomplish.
MOSAIC LAW
"We do not live under the Mosaic Law. When questioned by the Pharisees Jesus replied that Moses allowed a bill of divorcement due to hardheartedness, and that from the beginning it was not so."
In their effort to do away with the Bible's teaching on divorce, and to promote their tradition that breaks up legal marriages and imposes celibacy, those who make the brash statement above may succeed in deceiving a few unsuspecting non-studious disciples. But they will fail to convince the seeker of truth who sees the clear teaching that Moses, at the time Jesus addressed this issue, was THE authority regarding marriage and divorce. Both the Jews and Jesus referred to what Moses had said and commanded (Matt. 19:3, 7; Mark 10:3).
Many constantly chip away at this fact because it is the foundation for divorce and destroys their teaching. How so? Well, Jesus spoke of Moses' having given a command (Mark 10:3). That command contains three actions that must be performed to constitute a divorce that would free the woman "to go and be another man's wife" (Deut. 24:1-2). This command was confirmed by God Himself in divorcing Israel (Jer. 3:8). This last passage is clear and cannot be misunderstood. Unfortunately, some try to undo it, or make it go away, by forcing another verse to contradict it. But it was obviously speaking as if from the past – not the present, which was AFTER the divorce.
Those who make the above arguments are more than willing to completely dismiss Paul's clear teaching (1 Tim. 4:1-3; 1 Cor. 7:1-2, 8-9, 27-28) and twist Jesus' teaching to have him say the opposite of what He meant -- all so they can be guilty of "forbidding to marry," which was put into the category of "doctrines of devils."
Now, IF, and this is a BIG if, they could explain how Jesus' noting the reason given for divorce does away with divorce, they might cause those with integrity in their search for truth to scratch their head. These people really need to back off and take a fresh new look at this subject.
Here is another matter they need to address: If Jesus changed the law that allowed the woman to "go and be another man's wife," why did the Jews not go after Him for contradicting Moses? This was the very type of thing they were looking for so they could destroy Him. Because they could find no such teaching, they fabricated a charge by which to accuse and kill Him.
These pushers of errant human tradition cannot and will not explain the above conundrums. So don’t expect that they can and will explain this one: Since there was no divorce law in the beginning, explain how we are to interpret this as Jesus' taking away God's law that was given for a purpose and was needed THEN and continues to be needed due to the same problems.
A MISTAKE
People who endeavor to defend and teach the traditional doctrine that breaks up marriages and imposes celibacy make all kinds of accusations against those who teach the truth. Perhaps the most important thing they fail to see and acknowledge is the fact that we agree on a basic point, which is that both Jesus and Paul were for permanence of marriage. Nevertheless, people make mistakes and marriages fail, which is why God gave the law on divorce (Deut. 24:1-2) and why Paul commanded, regarding those "unmarried" (which includes the divorced), "Let them marry" (1 Cor. 7:8-9). God did not, and no Christian should, do something that inevitably destroys the faith and family life of those involved in divorce (whether it was their fault or not) because of a mistake. Divorce is God's law (Deut. 24:1-2; Mark 10:3). It must be obeyed as opposed to merely separating in an attempt to end marriage. Separation does not end a marriage, which is why Jesus said the woman would commit adultery if she married another.
Why force people to deal with fornication rather than go marry someone else? This is a dismissal of the wisdom of God, as both marriage and divorce are tools He provides to avoid fornication. How sad it will be in the final judgment for those who are guilty of "forbidding to marry" (1 Tim. 4:1-3)!
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