Bible Truth

Divorce Part 2

 

The First Three Allowaces

One partner has died

If one of the partners has died, the surviving partner is then free to re marry another believer, however, re marriage in this case is not mandatory, just a possibility.

Rom 7:2 For the married woman was bound by law to the living husband. But if the husband is dead, she is set free from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she is married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress by becoming another man's wife.

1Co 7:39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives, but if her husband sleeps in death, she is at liberty to be remarried to whom she will, only in the Lord.

If you were married and divorced before you became a believer

At the point of salvation, all your former sins were blotted out and cancelled, so if you had been married and subsequently divorced any number of times prior to accepting The Lord and you are currently unmarried when you become a believer, you are free to now marry a believer. The slate is clean and you can begin again.

2Co 5:17 So that if anyone is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

There are only two possible reasons why you could be married to a non believer. Either you chose to ignore the Bible where you are told not to marry an unbeliever or that you were already married when you became a believer and your spouse did not join you in the faith, but either way there are clear instructions on what you should do. In 1 Corinthians 7.

If you find yourself in this situation you should stay with your unbelieving spouse as long as they are happy to stay with you. However, if they decide that they can't cope with you singing praise songs around the house and file for divorce then you should agree to it and let them go, but this does not allow you to instigate the divorce yourself.

Once the divorce is final, you are then free to marry another believer. However, the ideal situation would be for the believing spouse to lead the other spouse to The Lord by prayer and example.

In this case, for as long as you remain married to them, the unbelieving spouse is sanctified by the believing spouse for the sake of the children. Sanctified means set apart is does not mean that the unbelieving spouse is now saved but the whole house will enjoy the blessing of God because of you and regardless of the fact your spouse is an unbeliever.