how can Christians get divorced and re-marry without committing adultery?

Question

"...Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery."
Mark 10:11-12

Answer 1

They can't ,they only way to re-marry would be for one or the other to die, and leave a widow. In the Bible Jesus talk about Divorce in Matthew 19:4-9 King James Version

4And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,

5And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

6Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

7They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?

8He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

9And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

When he speaks and says except for fornication, it means that if before getting married one were untruthful and said that one was a virgin, but had in fact had sexual relations, then a letter of divorce could be given by the person that was deceived, in those times this would be the man, because due to the circumstances many women were raped by Egyptians or other men and would lie so that they could get a husband, because if they were truthful most likely no man would offer marriage. However, for example, if a woman were to tell her husband to be that she had lost her virginity and the husband to be accepted her this way, and they got married, he could not come around later on and say she was untruthful and give her a letter of divorce, because God wouldn't recognize this divorce. If you go to Corinthians 7:10-16
10And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:

11But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

12But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.

13And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.

14For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.

15But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.

16For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?

you can see in these scriptures that the Lord tells those that are married for there to be no separation, and if they do go separate ways for there to be no re-marriage, but to look for reconciliation. It then states that if one is christian but the spouse isn't , but is still willing to live with the christian spouse, to not abandon them, because the incredulous spouse is sanctified in their christian spouse and then it states who are you woman/man to know if maybe the Lord will save your spouse. So what does the Bible tell us, it is telling us to stay with our spouses, and if we are to separate from our spouses, to remain alone or look to reconciliation. So as Christians we can not look into Divorce, we should look into making things better, and fixing the marriage if it is falling apart. If we have no choice and there is a divorce, then we need to look into strengthening our relationship with God and try to live a righteous life alone, because the moment one looks to find someone that is not our spouse, one is committing adultery.

Answer 2

The Gospel of Luke also contains teachings of Jesus about divorce; unlike Mark, these teachings allow for cases where the marriage was never lawful in the first place.

Technically speaking, a valid marriage cannot be undone by divorce in Christian belief: "What God has brought together, let no man separate."

There are cases, though, where a marriage was never really valid in the first place -- if the couple refused to have children, or if the couple entered into it with the idea that "if it doesn't work out, I'll divorce," or if one of the spouses had no intention of being faithful.

In such cases, the marriage can be declared annulled, as the Catholic Church does. An annulment is not a divorce -- it is very different, and even civil law recognizes the distinction.

Answer 3

I've had to seriously consider that question myself, because my wife left me for another man, and I couldn't talk her out of it. Jesus said that divorce was acceptable for reasons of adultery, and Paul said that if you're married to a non-believer, and he/she deserts you, then you're no longer bound. Whether that means you can remarry or not is questionable. I honestly don't know the answer, even after thinking and studying the issue for almost two years. The thing I've heard that seemed closest to the truth is that you can marry again, but only if the other person is the one who broke the vows (either by leaving you, or by committing adultery), and only if they're the ones who marry again first. You're not allowed to ever remarry an old spouse who's been married to someone else in the meantime, so that permanently breaks the bond between you. I've done a lot of praying about it and I haven't even dated since my ex left, just on the possibility that it might not be right. But she's engaged now, and I've come to the conclusion that when she actually does marry the guy, then I'm really free. I'm not completely sure about that interpretation, but maybe 95 percent sure.

Answer 4

Most people that get divorced have probably committed adultery. There really is no way around it unless your spouse dies, or if the divorce results from adultery. Either way - the lord forgives us for our sins. However, if you are a Christian and are seeking a divorce for reasons other than your spouse committing adultery - I would definitely pray long and hard about your decision. The lord may want you to seek him and he will give you the guidance you need.

Answer 5

Because remarriage after divorce is not a sin, what Jesus was saying is if you divorce your wife for unjust a reason the divorce is not valid and you are still married. Modern day pharisees twist the scriptures to put extra burdens on people. Jesus did not say adultery was grounds for divorce he said that if you entered into the marriage under fraudulent terms you could divorce you wife. Marriage is a covenant if your spouse is not keeping there part of the agreement you are not married and a moral person has no choice except divorce them.

Answer 6

Techincally speaking, a Christian cannot get divorced and remarried without committing adultery. I read in a book on Catholicism that it is in fact adultery to remarry. I imagine what people do and what I'll do, as a matter of fact, is ask God to forgive the sin. In my case, my ex-husband is deceased, so I don't think it would be adultery in my case. I'd say for a real answer, speak to a pastor or clergy member.

Answer 7

To get a correct answer we have to look at what God says about divorce, and more specifically what Jesus said while on this earth. Here's what He said: "You have heard it said, 'Whoever sends his wife away, let him giver her a certificate of divorce'; but I (Jesus) say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unfaithfulness, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery." (1)

So what did Jesus say here? He said, "back in the old days all it took for divorce to take place was for a man to say, 'I divorce you' and it was all over. The man usually sent his wife away with a document saying they had been divorced." In the time of the Bible men divorced their wives for not serving hot or good tasting food, or for growing old and ugly. But then He goes on to say, 'but I'm telling you today that the only reason you should ever divorce your wife (or husband) is for unfaithfulness or adultery. And if you guys marry a woman who was divorced on the grounds of adultery, then you are committing adultery with her."

Let me give you a modern day example. My marriage was cruising along with the arrival of our third child. Things were not all sunshine and roses since I had lost my job. But, I was true to my marriage vows and never cheated on my wife. The same cannot be said for her. She developed a relationship with a man at her work. He started telling her how special she was and all the things that a woman wants to hear...and everything she was hearing at home from me. My wife could not resist the temptation and starting spending more and more time with this guy...and away from me and the kids. It wasn't long before she came home and expressed anger at me for not caring enough about where she was and blaming me for her getting into a precarious situation. I would later learn that she was feeling guilty over them having sex for the first time.

When she filed for divorce (yep, she filed first) on the grounds of "irreconcilable personalities", I counter-sued on the grounds of "adultery". Not only did I have the backing of the people at my church I had biblical grounds, right out of Matthew 5. When confronted with this my now ex-wife said that the Bible gave many reasons for divorce, but she is/was wrong. The Bible is very basic and specific on divorce.

Now, what about me? Am I free to marry again? Yes. Why? Because my grounds for divorce were for the reasons that God established. When I marry again I will not be committing adultery in God's eyes because I am an unmarried man.

D7

Answer 8

Under The Law, divorce was not permited. That satement from Christ was given while The Law was still inforce. At Christs return to Heaven the old law was void for Christians. It is still in The Word for Christians to marry Christians and to give it great concideration befor jumping into it. I do not believe divorce should be concidered lightly. But there are circumstances where it is best.

Answer 9

So let me get this straight-all of you are saying divorce is only okay if there was infidelity? What about abuse? That is more reason in my book for grounds for divorce than adultery.

Answer 10

there are only two ways a Christian can remarried without committing adultery...1) if their husband or wife has died.....2) if their partner has been unfaithful and then they divorce.

Answer 11

There is civil marriage and there is religious marriage. Both are formulated on man-made rules and design. How would there be a sin in remaining where you cannot get any happiness? Isn't happiness what we seek in life? Are you suggesting that there is no reason for divorce?