According to Merriam-Webster,
ADULTERY is "voluntary sexual intercourse between a married
man and someone other than his wife or between a married woman and someone
other than her husband."
However, are you aware that it is possible to commit adultery, in the eyes
of the Lord, with the husband or wife you are legally married to?
Sounds preposterous, doesn't it? Consider this passage.
| Matt 19:9 "And I say
to you, whoever divorces his wife, except
for immorality, and marries
another woman commits adultery." |
The man in this example,
who divorces his wife, is NOT accused of any adultery while married to
her. Let me say it another way. This man did NOT commit adultery
while married to his first wife. Nowhere in this passage does it
even hint that he had sexual relations with someone he was not legally
married to. |
| Then
how is it that the Word of God accuses him of adultery?
This man is committing ADULTERY
(God's word, not mine) with his second wife!
It says, "Whoever divorces
his wife, except for immorality, and marries
another woman commits adultery." It seems that he only became guilty
of adultery when he MARRIED his second "wife". This man became an
adulterer on his wedding night. |
| Why
would the Lord fail to recognize this man's second marriage?
It says, "Whoever divorces
his wife, except for immorality, and marries
another woman commits adultery." "Immorality" here is the Greek word PORNEIA
(Strong's #4202). It is the word we get pornography
from. Evidently, the Lord is saying that this man did not divorce
his wife because she was involved in any sexual sin. Therefore, he
has no divorce in God's eyes, and any new sexual relationship he enters
is ADULTERY against his first wife. |
| Why didn't the
Lord recognize this man's DIVORCE from his first wife?
Because
the man did not have a proper reason (a.k.a. Biblical grounds) for divorcing
her. She wasn't guilty of immorality. I guess God doesn't recognize
divorces for "irreconcilable differences". In fact, that was pretty much
the question Jesus was being asked when he came out with this shocking
information to begin with. Let's look at Matthew 19:3-9 in context.
| 3 And [some]
Pharisees came to Him, testing Him, and saying, "Is it lawful [for a
man] to divorce his wife for any cause at all?" |
Translation:
Is it okay to get a divorce
for any old reason, like "irreconcilable differences"? |
| 4 And He answered and said,
"Have you not read, that He who created [them] from the beginning made
them male and female, 5 and said, 'For this cause a man shall
leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two
shall become one flesh'? 6 "Consequently they are no longer
two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man
separate." |
Translation:
No!
If God joined them in marriage,
then man CAN NOT (Strong's 3361) separate them through divorce. |
| 7 They said to Him,
"Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce
and send [her] away?" |
Translation:
Then why did Moses COMMAND
us to give her an official divorce certificate? |
| 8 He said to
them, "Because of your hardness of heart, Moses permitted you to
divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.
9 "And I say to you,
whoever
divorces his wife, except for immorality, and
marries another woman commits adultery." |
Translation:
Moses NEVER commanded you,
Moses LET you divorce your wives for any reason because your hearts were
so hard.
I'm telling you right now,
you will be guilty of adultery if you divorce your wife for ANY reason
other than immorality and then remarry. It won't be a marriage in
God's eyes. |
|
Are there any
other scriptures which state that MARRIAGE can actually CAUSE ADULTERY
if one isn't divorced for the right reasons?
| Matt 5:31 "And it
was said, 'Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate
of divorce'; 32 but I say to you that
everyone who divorces his wife, except for [the]
cause of unchastity, makes her commit
adultery; and whoever marries
a divorced woman commits adultery. |
Here
again, we see:
-
The person
who divorces for any reason other than the immorality (unchastity*) of
their spouse may not remarry. If they did, they would be guilty of adultery.
*unchastity
is translated from the same Greek word, PORNEIA, Strong's #4202.
We also
learn:
-
Whoever MARRIES this person
who got the illegal (according to God) divorce is ALSO guilty of adultery.
|
Let's also look at two more
passages which state that an improper MARRIAGE will cause ADULTERY.
| Mark 10:2 And [some]
Pharisees came up to Him, testing Him, and [began] to question Him whether
it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife. 3 And He answered
and said to them, "What did Moses command you?" 4 And they
said, "Moses permitted [a man] to write a certificate of divorce
and send [her] away." 5 But Jesus said to them, "Because of
your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 "But
from the beginning of creation, [God] made them male and female.
7 "For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother,
8 and the two shall become one flesh; consequently they are no longer
two, but one flesh. 9 "What therefore God has joined together,
let no man separate." 10 And in the house the disciples [began]
questioning Him about this again. 11 And He said to them, "Whoever
divorces his wife and marries
another woman commits adultery against
her; 12 and if she herself divorces her husband and marries
another man, she is committing adultery." |
| Luke 16:18 "Everyone
who divorces his wife and marries
another commits adultery; and he who
marries one who is divorced from a husband commits
adultery. |
Note: In these two
passages, the exception clause for an allowed divorce is not stated, but
both passages state that an improper or illegal marriage following a divorce
results in adultery. |
| Have
you ever given your tacit approval or even your blessing to such
an adulterous relationship? If you have, you are not alone.
Countless churches have been deceived into thinking that if it is a legal
marriage in their state, then "God has joined [them] together." |
| If
God calls it ADULTERY, then God has NOT joined them together! |
|
Things to ponder...
-
If God has NOT joined them together,
then is it forbidden for man to "put asunder"?
-
To go a step further, if a couple
is in adultery, what do they need to do?
Getting married certainly
wasn't the answer, was it?
-
Can a man leave his wife to
marry another woman?
-
Can a woman leave her husband
to marry another man?
-
Do people in these types of
marriages need to stop their adultery?
-
Would the Lord consider it a
"divorce" if He never considered it a "marriage"?
-
Can a person repent from adultery
while remaining in the sexual relationship?
-
Is it necessary for a person
to have a Biblical God-recognized divorce in order to remarry in a God-joined-together
marriage?
If we repent from an improper
divorce, will God then grant us that improper divorce so we can remarry?
|
According to the Lord