NUGGETS…from the WORD of GOD
THE SON OF GOD ON DIVORCE
“And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.” —Mark 10:11-12
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In few areas has the evangelical church (so called!) become more ambivalent, inconsistent and compromising of the word of God than on this subject with which the Pharisees sought to ensnare the Savior. It is common practice in “fundamental” circles today to rail against abortion and homosexuality, but little is taught regarding what the Bible says about sex outside of marriage (adultery), and there is thunderous silence on the subject of divorce and remarriage. This deterioration (and it is that) has been marked and steady over the seventy years since I came to Christ and identified with “Bible believing” churches. Yet on few ethical matters is scripture more emphatic and clear.
The issue was raised by the Pharisees to “tempt” or test the Lord Jesus. Then, as now, the matter was subject for debate, and, since it is referred back to Moses, so it has been for many, many generations. It has ever been the Adversary’s strategy to raise the question, “Yea, hath God said…” It worked “in the beginning,” to our continual sorrow, and it still works today. These despisers of the doctrine of Christ aimed to bring the Savior into conflict with the multitudes and undermine His popularity. The Son of God was never moved by culture or custom, but only by “thus saith the Lord.” The revealed word of God was His lodestar and it should be ours.
The Savior’s answer to the charge that Moses allowed divorce was to attribute it to a concession to the sinful heart of man, not to the revealed will of God (v.3-5). He then carries the subject back to the Divine order as evident in creation where Adam was given a wife formed of his own body, and thus illustrative of the nature and intimacy of marriage. He notes that the union of a man and wife is more intimate than the relation between a man and his parents (v.7) and constitutes, in the Divine order, one new entity; they become “one flesh,” so that to “divorce” is to destroy a union that He defines as “one flesh,” literally tearing it apart. God views marriage (sexual union) as an identification; the world sees it as merely an association.
This principle is reiterated in the epistles (see I Cor. 6:16; Eph. 5:31) and is the ground upon which fornication, adultery and homosexuality all are treated with equal judgment in scripture. There is no relationship on earth more significant and binding than marriage, in the mind of God.
In addition to the natural order, however, there is another reason why marriage is so significant. Marriage is the ultimate type, or representation, of the relationship between Christ and the church. “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church [Eph. 5:30-31 - study the whole context, Eph. 5:21-33].” Divorce destroys the type.
The union between Christ and the church is permanent; so should be the union between a husband and wife. Believers are commanded to love one another; where should that love be more evident and practiced than between a man and his wife? If we are to illustrate the truth of the relationship between the church and the Savior, marriage is where it should begin.
And, lest there be any doubt, the disciples privately asked the Savior “again of the same matter.” His answer is crystal clear, as our text for today reveals: “And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery [Mark 10:11-12].” Because it takes a joint effort to maintain a marriage, divorce is sometimes inevitable. The clear teaching of scripture is that in such cases the one who seeks to glorify God will remain single while the departed spouse lives. This, too, is reinforced in the epistles: “And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife [I Cor. 7:10-11].”
There is, it must be noted, an exception, and that is in the case where a marriage is dissolved by the death of one’s spouse. “The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord [I Cor. 7:39 See also Rom. 7:3].” Why this exception? Because death is an act of God, Who makes the rules; divorce is an act of man in defiance of the law of the Lord. So, the widowed believer is free to remarry “in the Lord” (i.e. to another believer); the divorced believer is not, if he or she would enjoy God’s favor.
Surely someone will raise the question, “Doesn’t God want me to be happy?” To that we offer a two-fold answer. First, God is less concerned with our being “happy” than with our being holy. (I Peter 1:15-16) Second, if a professing Christian can be happy in violation of the revealed will of God there is a fundamental problem with his/her relationship with Him! The church, in its contemporary attitude toward this issue, has gone with the flow of our deteriorating culture, first tolerating divorce and remarriage, now practically endorsing it. What that is costing us in the lives of our people, and especially our children and young people, is incalculable. What it is costing the testimony of Christ, only He can measure. If this teaching were given more emphasis in our churches, believers would think more seriously and pray more earnestly about the whole matter of sexual purity and if, when and whom to marry.
One more word, however, remains to be said. For all the tragedy of this sinful trend, those who discover what the Bible teaches after the fact, that is, already caught in the snare of a divorce as a sponsor or as a victim, or already divorced and remarried, it must be understood that this is not the unpardonable sin. Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ will bring forgiveness and healing. Then the trusting soul must settle down and make the best of the situation as it is. Since Adam’s transgression in the beginning, God has had to work with broken things. He does it still. Some broken things, for now, cannot be “fixed,” but all can be forgiven, where repentance and faith are genuine. That is what the cross is all about.
"Pastor" Frasier
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5/26/12
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