Friday, May 27, 2011

Ask RC: Adultery and Remarriage

How would you counsel someone who has committed adultery (and subsequently been divorced by his spouse) regarding any future relationship with the person with whom he committed adultery?

Here is a classic case that illustrates the importance of this hermeneutical principle- we are to interpret the historical in light of the didactic and not the didactic in light of the historical. That is, our wisdom here will come from God’s law as it is rightly recorded in the Bible, not from God’s history that is rightly recorded in the Bible. That David married Bathsheba has no more bearing on the right thing to do than that David committed adultery with Bathsheba. Both are historical realities. Neither is biblical wisdom.

There are, of course, nearly countless permutations on the ethics of divorce and remarriage. There are likewise varying understandings of what the Bible teaches. One principle has long been the strong majority report in the church for centuries- that divorce is permissible to the victim of either adultery or when a believer is left by an unbelieving spouse. Without these circumstances we are left with illegitimate divorces that tangle the whole question. And even here, with adultery taking place we have at least this tangle- what about the guilty party?

When we speak of the guilty and innocent party in the context of divorce we haven’t lost sight of the universal reality of sin. That is, it isn’t as though only one party sins. But there is a guilty and innocent party in a biblical divorce. If a man’s wife is a horrible shrew, but does not give him biblical grounds for divorce, and he commits adultery, even though her shrew-ness may have contributed at some level to his sin, he is still the guilty party, and she the innocent, in the divorce. She may have been more guilty in the marriage, but he is guilty of the divorce. Can he remarry?

The tension here is that we want on the one hand to recognize the guilt, but also want to affirm forgiveness for the repentant. Though I confess that I cannot provide chapter and verse I have always counseled guilty parties in a case of divorce to not pursue another relationship at all at least until the innocent party has remarried. This leaves open the possibility for reconciliation. (Two important points here. First, one of the great evils in these kinds of situations is when well meaning people counsel the innocent party this way- “God permits you to divorce, but the better choice would be…” We give freedom with the right hand and then bind with the left. If God permits it, so must we. Never let us try to be more pious than God. Second, however, the Bible is clear that a couple that has divorced, and if one or both parties remarry someone else, the original couple cannot latter remarry.)

If the innocent party has remarried, and the adulterous spouse has repented to the wife and to the church publicly, I would suggest he or she is free to remarry. That said, I would have a hard time imagining encouraging someone to marry someone in such a circumstance. I would not want one of my children to marry someone who not only was willing to dishonor him or her by engaging in sexual intercourse when they weren’t married, I surely wouldn’t want my children to marry someone who has already shown a willingness to commit adultery. That doesn’t mean the adulterer can’t be forgiven. A man who embezzles from the church can certainly be forgiven. That doesn’t mean we make him the church treasurer. It does mean, which is precisely why the divorce is allowed to begin with, that trust seems virtually unattainable. In short, I wouldn’t, as an elder in the church, forbid such a marriage. I would, however, likely counsel against it.

7 comments:

man with desire said...

Divorce and remarriage are becoming more and more common and accepted in the current society. Marriage can easily be seen only as an agreement that can be cancelled any time. People may think that if problems arise, "we can always get a divorce if this does not work out." The doorway to getting a divorce can be held open all the time, so people do not take proper care of their marriage. People do not invest fully in their marriage because divorce is seen as an alternative.
How can this be fixed? There is no other alternative than to start committing to the relationship. Do not take your spouse for granted, but reserve time for your spouse and give him/her the same attention you pay to other things; actually, your spouse should be the most important thing after God. If we have this kind of a right order of importance, the relationship will not fade completely.
We must also note that marriage is really a lifelong relationship that will end when we die. If we do not understand this, our motivation to build up our marriage is not right:

http://www.jariiivanainen.net/divorce_remarry.html

Anonymous said...

Marriage is a Covenant for LIFE!

“A husband must not divorce his wife.” 1 Corinthians 7:11

“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.” --Jesus Christ

"A wife is married to her husband as long as he lives." 1 Corinthians 7:39

http://www.cadz.net/mdr.html

Divorce + Remarriage = Adultery

Anonymous said...

With no explanation other than she "needed to be entertained 100% of the time," our "no fault" divorce kicked in. 28 years after, and her almost immediate new vows said between her and my golfing buddy, I've "remained single until reconciled" like Paul says in I Cor. It's the VOWS that make two ONE flesh, until death...NO such thing EVER in the early church history as "remarriage." (until heretical Erasmus, whom Luther called an "abuser of young boys." Anyone who has studied the divorce/remarriage question for at least 28 years, can respond to my post. I'm ashamed of the Reformed Presb.(PCA)) stand on the subject. Google "Until Death Do Us Part," Dr. Joseph Webb. There is NO bigger elephant in the room of the Body of Christ...and the band plays on!!!

Anonymous said...

http://gotabiblequestion.blogspot.com/2008/02/remarriage-and-matthew-199.html

REMARRIAGE AND MATTHEW 19:9

1. Marriage is the "one flesh" union between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24) "until death us do part" (Romans 7:2-3; 1 Corinthians 7:39) such that remarriage when one's spouse is living is adultery (Matthew 5:32; Mark 10:2-12; Luke 16:18; Romans 7:2-3) This is also the position of the historic Christian church for its first 1500 years or so with barely a dissenting voice. It is the traditional view of Anglicanism and the Brethren, as well as that of the Protestant Reformed Churches (in America, Canada, N. Ireland and the Philippines) and many within the Dutch Reformed. It is also the conviction of people within Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Baptist and other churches.

.....

Thus the exception clause ("except it be for fornication") is not an exception enabling remarriage (while one’s spouse is living) but an exception permitting divorce (after which clause it is added): "Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery" (Matthew 19:9).

3. The unbreakable bond of marriage is biblical teaching, laid down by God at creation (Genesis 2:24), declared by the Old Testament prophets (Malachi 2:10-16), and reaffirmed by Christ (Mark 10:2-12; Luke 16:18) and the New Testament apostles (Romans 7:2-3; 1 Corinthians 7:39). It is a picture of the "great mystery" of the union of Christ and His elect church (Ephesians 5:32).

By Angus Stewart

Unknown said...

The simple fact is that divorce dissolves a marriage. We ought not to legislate what God permits. The OT law for divorce gave specific instructions to give the woman a certificate of divorce in order that she could prove she was divorced so she could remarry. Jesus was clear: divorce is not a command (as the pharisees wanted), marriage was intended by God for life, but God permitted divorce due to man's fallen hard-hearts -- as always, God's immutable characteristics remain: in justice and mercy He is protecting the woman by preventing men from benefiting as they pass women around as property, or abandon a woman where, in ancient times, she would have had no ability to provide for herself outside of marriage. Jesus' words to the pharisees were to show that divorcing a wife for any reason (thus ILLEGITIMATE divorce) would make them adulterers. But legitimate divorce on the grounds of porneia (fornication or sexual immorality) is His exception. (As is an unbeliever's desertion, which is what Paul adds for the new Church.)

Once a marriage has gone through divorce, legitimate or illegitimate, the divorce is valid. The person is divorced. And free to marry. This would have been a no-brainer for those in Jesus' day: A certificate of divorce in your hand meant you were no longer married. And one who is no longer married is free to remarry.

In our antinomian culture, where people have nothing to do with the law of God, we Christians tend to over-legislate as a counter-action. But we put burdens upon people that God doesn't. Instead, we should be pointing them to the One who, one great day, will marry His bride and there will never be the fear of divorce because all will be as it was intended.

Unknown said...

Amen and amen. Unadulterated truth. I just started reading that book, and I've read his other one which you should check out too; divorce and remarriage: the trojan horse in the church

Unknown said...

Moses allowed divorce and remarriage. God never allowed remarriage if a covenant coupled happened to divorce. He said you must remain unmarried or reconcile, those are your two options.