Bible Truth

Divorce Part 1

 

Divorce Between Christians

Divorce between Christians is high up on the list of controversial subjects to avoid from most pulpits and there is often quite a degree of confusion surrounding the biblical teaching on divorce although the Bible is quite clear on the subject and the teaching on divorce is easy to understand.

The difficult part is teaching it in a society which views divorce as almost inevitable and marriage as disposable. Christian divorce rates are fast catching up to their secular counterparts and many pastors are accepting popular opinion over sound doctrine.

What is Divorce?

Separation is where two people who are married cannot live together for some reason and decide to live apart but cannot and do not get married again.

Divorce in the biblical sense is the termination of marriage when two people who are married live apart and are free to marry again.

So divorce and separation are two distinctly different things with different possibilities.

 

Can a Christian ever re-marry?

The Bible provides only 4 situations where re marriage is permitted and they are;

 

Most societies on the other hand allow for divorce and re marriage for any reason whatsoever and many churches are a little too eager to please, being willing to bend scripture or disregard it altogether when it comes to unpopular issues such as this one where Bible and society clash.

 

The Divine Institutions

Marriage is one of the 4 divine institutions which are God's design to bring peace and stability to a nation. The four divine institutions are;

1 Freewill - The right to choose God and follow him or to reject God and go your own way instead.
2 Marriage - The traditional biblical marriage results in a family.
3 Family - A unit where there is a distinct father and mother who are both present and in which children can be raised with values such as respect for authority, the difference between right and wrong, respect for others, respect for property and many other Godly principles. The Bible predominantly views the family as the unit of society, rather than the individual.
4 Civil and national government - The means of safeguarding the human race by making sure that no particular group of people can get enough power to destroy the rest of the human race and ultimately themselves.

Modern society is undeniably breaking down and all four of the divine institutions are under relentless attack. Governments and nations have all but done away with the divine institutions and as a result we live in a world where there is a lack of peace and stability in many areas.