Post #441932

31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. -Matthew 5:31-32 Marriage is supposed to be for life, and 99% of the time there is no excuse for breaking that marriage asunder. The reasons for Christ's words are found in Malachi 2:14-15, where the prophet makes it clear that the three defining features of marriage are Covenant, Union and Spirit: "[...] she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?" A man has a Covenant with a woman, the legal agreement by which the two of them acquiesce to be wed. Above all, this agreement stipulates absolute loyalty. Now, if she has not committed adultery, then she has not violated that agreement in a way that would break it: Moses may have permitted divorce, but not for frivolous reasons. A wife being a nag or not keeping the home well isn't declaring disloyalty to her husband. But a divorced woman *can't* be loyal to her husband, for he has cast her aside! When a man divorces his wife, they are STILL one flesh for life. If she must remarry to survive, then the act of remarriage pollutes the union between her and her former husband. The new husband is now united to a woman who is already united to another man. What else can this be called except adulteration? And of course the Holy Spirit is involved as well, as the prophet says. He brought the couple together, and He is actively involved in their lives. For a man to divorce his wife for any reason OTHER than her grossly departing from him sexually is to resist the Holy Spirit's active will for them to remain together. Christ's point is that you ought not get divorced - full stop. Unless one spouse has cheated on the other by engaging in coitus with another person, you have no grounds for divorce - and shouldn't want it anyway. In Mark 10:10-12, these rules are applied to both sexes. In context, Christ gives us this teaching *right after* telling us to not covet another woman in our hearts. This is very important to notice! There must have been someone the crowd, hearing Christ speak about coveting women and committing adultery with our hearts, trying to weasel his way past Jesus's words. "Ah," he told himself, "I'll just quietly divorce my wife, and then I'll be free to pursue any woman I want!" Our Savior does not let such a man get away with it. He makes sure that we understand it clearly enough: once you are married, you are with that spouse for better or worse. Unless they have sex with someone else, you should never think of it as needing to be "free" from them - for the marriage was a gift from God, and we must not spit on what He has given.