The marriage and divorce issue has plagued God’s people for generations and shows no signs of abating. Many of us have had somewhat to say about this issue in one way or another. Volumes have been written and one must wade through a lot of verbiage in order to see the numerous positions that have been advocated by various brethren. Some of these positions have forced brethren to spend a lot of time in study and that is always profitable. However, it is possible that sometimes our study was only for the purpose of responding to someone rather than for learning what God’s will really is. But only God can judge motives; far be it from me to do so. Sincere brethren have always wanted to be no more lenient or strict than the Lord Himself is as revealed in Holy Writ, but sometimes through our human frailties we may loose where the Lord did not, or bind where He did not bind. But this is not the purpose of this brief article.

Among the varied positions advocated was one that I believed and advanced some years ago. It is stated basically in this manner:

When Jesus came to deal with the issue of marriage and divorce, he changed the grounds of divorce that was allowable under the law, but not the effect. The effect of divorce under the law (Deut. 24:1-4) was that both persons could marry someone else. The only grounds for divorce under Jesus’ teaching is fornication. When one spouse has committed fornication, the offended spouse had the right to divorce the fornicator. Such a divorce on these grounds nullified the marriage so that it was a non-existent marriage. Since there was no marriage, then neither person was married (had a spouse). Since neither had a spouse, either could remarry without adultery being involved in the marriage.

But did Jesus change only the grounds for divorce? Is there anything else about His will that differs from the Mosaical allowance? Does it follow that a divorce for fornication allows all involved to remarry without the stigma of adultery attached to that remarriage? If we could remove all of the verbiage, all of the emotional rhetoric, all of the prejudicial utterances, all of the word-play, and let Jesus’ statement itself stand alone, maybe those of us who have been divided in sentiment and teaching on this issue could move much closer together. But even more important, we could be closer to the Lord and what He Himself had to say. In plain words, He says:

"But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery" (Matt. 5:32).

"And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery" (Matt. 19:9).

"Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery" (Luke 16:18).

Paul’s inspired comment on this is stated in 1 Cor. 7:10-11:

"But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not send his wife away."

We could add Paul’s use of the marriage law as an illustration of the Christian and the law of Moses in Romans 7:1-3:

"Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then if, while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man."

Prior to Jesus’ "I say unto you" in Matt. 19:9, He had referred his hearers back to God’s original ideal and then said, "What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate" (v. 6).

Thus, in unembellished vocabulary we have Jesus’ New Covenant teaching set forth:

1. God ordained the marriage of one man and one woman for life.

2. If a man divorces his wife for any reason other than her unfaithfulness and marries another woman, he commits adultery.

3. If a man divorces his wife because of her immorality, he does not commit adultery by remarrying.

4. If the divorced woman (the one who has been put away) remarries, she commits adultery in remarrying (Rom. 7).

5. "He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery" (Luke 16:18). There is no reason to argue about whether the person was still "bound to" or "loosed from" her husband. Jesus simply said that she had been "put away from a husband." He said that anyone who married her commits adultery. It would follow that this is true whether the one put away was either "innocent" or "guilty." Let us allow Jesus’ statement to stand in its stark simplicity.

6. Therefore, if those who are married should separate (where no adultery is involved), they must either remain unmarried (to anyone else) or be reconciled to each other. To marry anyone else would be to commit adultery.

In language as simple as I know how to use, this is what I believe that Jesus teaches regarding this phase of the divorce and remarriage issue. I personally feel that in the heat of discussion over the past years, we have made too many appeals to human wisdom and to sophisticated arguments based on Greek usage. The heat of discussion has often alienated brethren who might be brought together by devout, open-minded, brotherly study. I have always had only one desire: to know and teach only the truth on this and every other issue. I feel that this is true of nearly every brother in Christ. Let us all recognize this and with prayerful concern for one another and for truth study together in the spirit of "humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:2-3).