What

Divorce Means For Me And For My Relationship To Jesus.

Michael P. Walther
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Collinsville, Illinois

The intent of this tract is to address some very basic issues concerning divorce and
remarriage. It is just a beginning. Please refer to other resources in order to further
understand Gods will for marriage, divorce and remarriage.

1. Marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman.

Matthew 19.5-6 [Jesus said] For this reason a man shall leave his father and
mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So then, they
are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not
man separate

2. Divorce is always contrary to Gods intention for marriage

Malachi 2.16 For the LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce.

3. A person who divorces his/her spouse for any other cause than sexual
unfaithfulness and marries another commits adultery. Anyone who marries a
person so discarding his/her spouse commits adultery.

Matthew 5.31-32 [Jesus said] Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a
certificate of divorce. But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any
reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever
marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

4. When a spouse breaks the unity of marriage through sexual unfaithfulness, the
offended party who endures such unfaithfulness has the right, though not the
command, to obtain a legal divorce and remarry.

5. A spouse who has been abandoned by his/her partner who refuses reconciliation
may seek a legal divorce, which in such a case constitutes a public recognition of
a marriage already broken, and may remarry.

1 Corinthians 7.15 But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a
sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace.

6. Christians who pursue a divorce which they know is not in accord with the Word
of God should be encouraged to turn from this plan and seek Gods help to
maintain their marriage.

Matthew 18.15-17 Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his
fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.
But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or
three witnesses every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell
it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a
heathen and a tax collector.
James 5.19-20 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and
someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of
his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

7. All of us are sinners in need of Gods forgiveness. We are also obligated to forgive
those who sin against us. God desires reconciliation.

Matthew 6.12 Forgive us our debts (of sin) as we forgive our debtors.

8. Persons who are divorced may remarry provided they:

A. Repent of any sin they may have committed leading to the breakup of their
marriage.

B. Have exhausted all efforts to reconcile with their marriage partner.

Concerning Planned Repentance

Since genuine sorrow over ones sin against God and faith in the forgiveness of
Christ belong to the essence of repentance, it goes without saying that to proceed
premeditatively in doing that which one knows to be contrary to Gods will, with
the intention of becoming contrite later, makes it impossible for faith and the
Holy Spirit to remain in the heart (2 Samuel 11; 1 John 1.8; 3.9, 5.18). To
proceed in securing a divorce with the full knowledge that such an action is
contrary to Gods will with the intention of becoming repentant at some point
in the future is, therefore, to enter into great spiritual peril.

(Human Sexuality: A Theological Perspective, p. 28)