GOD HATES DIVORCE
David L. Odom
Malachi 2:16
"'For I hate divorce,' says Jehovah, the God of Israel..."
So why is divorce so prevalent in our society, and even among many religious groups, divorce is accepted as 'ok'?
What does Jesus say about Divorce?
Matthew 5:31, 32
"31 It was said, 'Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce; 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.'"
Matthew 19:9
"'And I say unto you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery, and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.'"
Mark 10:11, 12
"And He said to them, 'Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; 12 and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.'"
Luke 16:18
"'Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.'"
This is how God intended marriage to be between a man and a woman, for as long as they both live!
Matthew 19:4-6
"4 And He answered and said, 'Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? 6 'So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.'"
Romans 7:2, 3
"2 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 her husband. 3 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."
When we put all of these Scripture's together, we see that God gives only ONE exception for divorce and remarriage - sexual immorality!
Something else needs to be understood here, and that is that only the 'innocent party' can Scripturally remarry!
But some say, "No, when the innocent party puts away the guilty party, there is no longer a marriage, so the guilty party can also scripturally remarry!"
The mistake that is made in the above statement is that there are THREE involved in the marriage union;
the man, the woman, and God!
Yes, God is involved in every Scriptural marriage because He made the rules;
He created the marriage union!
Draw a triangle and put God at the top corner, the husband on one corner, and the wife on the other corner.
Now, if, let's say, the husband commits adultery, then the wife has the authority from God to put her husband away!
If she does so, the line between her and the unfaithful husband is erased by God, and the line between the wife and God is erased by God!
BUT, the line between the man who committed adultery, and God is still there!
No, God does NOT give the guilty party the right to remarry!
Study the above Scripture's again closely!
Also notice that God does NOT give the 'put away person' the right to remarry!
But some say, "That is not fair if the guilty party puts away the innocent party!"
You then, must produce the Scripture for the authority of the 'put away person', innocent or guilty, to remarry! There is none!
Some use the 'Mental putting away' argument! But again, there is NO Scripture to teach such, only the reasoning of man, and we must never forget the principle in -
Isaiah 55:8, 9
"8 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' declares Jehovah. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."
What about you, dear reader, are you in an adulterous relationship with someone?
Perhaps you didn't even know it!
I would encourage you to correct the situation before God, and do what He would want you to do in order to please Him above all else.
If you do not think God would ask this of you, consider this:
After Jesus told them how strict the marriage relationship is in Matthew 19, look how his disciples reacted!
Matthew 19:10
"The disciples said to Him, 'If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.'"
NOW, notice carefully HOW Jesus answered that question:
Matthew 19:11, 12
"11 But He said to them, 'Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven! He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.'"
How is this done?
By leaving the adulterous situation one finds himself or herself in, so that one can be right in the sight of God, and NOT be involved in immorality!
(in other words, becoming a eunuch)!
But someone says, "No, you can't break up a family, who might even have children, etc.! That would be terrible!"
What we might think is terrible, does not even begin to compare with SIN!
Sin is so terrible that God the Son, came down into His own creation, and allowed them to murder Him, even though He was innocent, in fact, He was, and is, SINLESS!
Yet, because sin is so terrible, the only antidote was for the only begotten Son of God to become that perfect sacrifice, so that He might become to those who obey Him, the source of eternal salvation!
I Corinthians 15:1-4
"1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures..."
Hebrews 2:9, 10
"9 But we do see Him who was made a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the sufferings of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. 10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings."
Hebrews 5:8, 9
"8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source (author) of eternal salvation..."
We must understand that God has created us to properly fear Him and keep His commandments!
This has ALWAYS been true!
Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14
"13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil."
Now we can see WHY we must stop the adultery if we find ourselves to be in an adulterous relationship!
Luke 14:26, 27
"26 'If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate (love less) his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple."
Yes, even if I find myself in an adulterous relationship, I must love my Creator above all else, and make myself a eunuch (quit practicing sexual immorality), in order to put Him above all else in my life!
Does that mean that I have no responsibility to help the other person and children if there are any?
Of course not!
I need to help take care of them as much as I can, but the adulterous relationship must stop!
That means I can't live in the same house, for example, because of temptation.
If you are in an unscriptural relationship, I pray that you will seek to please God above all else, and will get out of that relationship as soon as possible!
If you are scripturally married, but are having marital problems, perhaps you don't have the same feelings you had when you got married! Perhaps you don't really understand your responsibility to keep that marriage the way God wants it to be kept! It is YOUR responsibility to do that!
Proverbs 5:18
"Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth."
Yes, we get old, our bodies change, but if we have the proper attitude, we will always remember (look upon) our wives (and husbands) as when we were young, and love them just as much as we did when we first got married! That is why God says: "the wife OF THY YOUTH!"
Ephesians 5:23-25, 28, 29, 33
"23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her," "28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church," "33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband."
Colossians 3:18, 19
"18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord, 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them."
I Peter 3:1, 2, 7
"1 In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, 2 as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior." "7 You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered."
May God direct you through His Word to do what is right in His sight!
WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?
Hear, learn, and come to Jesus Christ!
John 6:44, 45
"44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught of God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me."
HOW?
By believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that He is Immanuel, the Messiah, the Word!
Matthew 1:23
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, And they shall call His name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us."
John 4:25, 26
"25 The woman said to Him, 'I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.' 26 Jesus said to her, ' I who speak to you am He.' "
John 1:1, 14
"1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." "14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth"
John 8:24
"Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."
BUT YOU DO NOT RECEIVE REMISSION OF SINS IN A MENTAL BELIEF ONLY (called Faith Only)
By repenting of our sins!
Luke 13:3
"I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."
Acts 2:38
"Peter said to them, ' Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' "
Acts 17:30, 31
"30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
BUT YOU DO NOT RECEIVE REMISSION OF SINS AT THIS POINT IN OBEDIENCE!
By confessing Christ before men!
Matthew 10:32, 33
"32 Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven."
Romans 10:9, 10
"9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, unto righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, unto salvation."
1 Timothy 6:12-16
"12 Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen."
BUT YOU DO NOT RECEIVE REMISSION OF SINS AT THIS POINT IN OBEDIENCE!
By being baptized into Christ!
NOTE: This is immersion in water 'INTO CHRIST'
for (UNTO, IN ORDER TO) the forgiveness, the remission of your sins!
This is NOT sprinkling or pouring!
John 3:5
"Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' "
Romans 6:1-7
"1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin."
Acts 2:37-42
"37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brethren, what shall we do?' 38 Peter said to them, 'Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.' 40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, 'Be saved from this perverse generation!' 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. 42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."
Notice in the above Scripture that only those who 'received his word' obeyed the gospel!
John 1:12
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."
Have you yet been involved in the 'new birth' from above?
Have you yet been baptized for the correct reason?
Some are baptized today because they have been taught they have already been saved by 'faith only', and that water immersion is only an 'outward sign of an inward change'!
BUT NOTICE THAT 'PREACHING JESUS' INCLUDES WATER BAPTISM!
Acts 8:35-39
"35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, 'Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?' 37 [And Philip said, 'If you believe with all your heart, you may.' And he answered and said, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.'] 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing."
Acts 10:47, 48
" 'Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?' 48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days."
This is where we meet His soul saving blood (figuratively of course) which washes away our sins!
Revelation 1:5, 6
"and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood" 6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."
Acts 22:16
"Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name."
I Peter 3:20-22
"20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. 21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him."
There is not any power in the
water
Also notice that is how Jesus purchased His church, with His own blood!
But why are people telling us today that the church isn't important!
Acts 20:28
"Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood."
Therefore we read:
1 Corinthians 12:13
"For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit."
Christ Jesus is the Savior of this body, the church, which is His kingdom!
Ephesians 5:23
"For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body."
Matthew 16:15-19
"15 He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' 16 Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' 17 And Jesus said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.' "
The rock upon which Christ's church was built was the Truth which Peter had just stated that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God! The Lord's church was NOT built upon Peter!
Ephesians 1:22, 23
"22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."
Ephesians 4:4-6
"4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all."
Notice only one body, which is His church, His kingdom, just as there is only one baptism, which is water immersion into Christ!
This is how we put Christ on!
Galatians 3:26-29
"26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise."
YES, YOU DO RECEIVE REMISSION (FORGIVENESS) OF SINS AT THIS POINT IN OBEDIENCE!
Notice the examples of conversion in the book of Acts:
Are you in this church you read about in the New Testament?
Have you correctly put Christ on yet?
The churches of Christ (non-institutional)
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