Divorce and remarriage is a very sensitive subject, for many different reasons.  It effects adults, it effects children, it could effect where you will spend eternity, it could effect what Church you are able to be a part of and it could effect friendships you have.  When it comes to different viewpoints on this subject from the Bible, there is one that seems to be “on the rise.”

The view that I am referring to, is the one that states the following:  If you have been divorced from your first spouse, you cannot remarry at all unless the first spouse has died.  And if you have already remarried someone else (with your first spouse still alive), then you must now divorce them or you are in perpetual adultery and on your way to Hell.  It doesn’t matter how long you were married to the first spouse or what reasons you had for divorcing him/her.  It doesn’t matter how many children you have or how long you have been married to the current spouse.  It doesn’t matter if your first spouse has remarried someone else or not.

It also doesn’t matter, according to this view, if you were a non-believer when you got divorced and have since become a believer who is now married to another believer.  It doesn’t even matter if your first spouse is still a non-Christian, according to this view.  You should still seek to be reconciled to them or remain single (after you get divorced from current spouse).

This view basically says that any other marriages while the first spouse is still alive are not legitimate marriages in God’s eyes. This view has been responsible for breaking up lots of Godly marriages through false doctrine and false guilt. Many people are now single and either waiting to be rejoined to their first spouse or waiting for that spouse to die.  Some of them are lonely and burning, but are told they would be in sin if the were to marry someone else.

Is this really the way God planned things to be?  Is this position really the Biblical position on divorce and remarriage?  I came really close to believing in it and close to “putting my stake down” on the position.  Fortunately, I continued to study things out and came to different conclusions.  Here’s the first video, where I was basically teaching the view that I have been describing above:

And here’s the second video, where I had changed my mind after studying it out much more thoroughly:

If you want to know what I believe and how it is backed up with Scriptures, the second video is the one you should watch.  My intention in writing this blog post is not to bring up all of the Scriptures in that video and try to prove my current position. Such is already done in the second video from above.  The point of this blog post is to address one of the many objections I have received, from the “no remarriage allowed unless the first spouse has died” group.

Continue reading →