Is remarriage or sex after divorce equally sinful as homosexual behavior * ?

Question

* With the single exception of divorce for infidelity.

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Matthew 5:31-32, from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount:

"It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery."

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Such a variety of answers!

I'll let the rest of the Answers community have their say through a vote.

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Answer 1

Sin is sin.

If your heart is truly repenting and wants to return to Christ, then you are forgiven.

There's no good-bad scale in heaven.

It's righteous and unrighteous. We can only be righteous through Jesus, the lamb of God, the living sacrifice.

Answer 2

There's that but also this one about a believer married to an unbeliever. It does not say here at all if the unbeliever was unfaithful in marriage. It just says the spouse left. So remarriage is acceptable also.

I Chorithians 7 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.

So in both the preceeding instaces of infidelity or marriage to an unbelieving spouse that ends in divorce; remarriage is not a sin.

In my opinion culture and times where the laws rule in countries must play a heavy factor in interpreting scripture. I sincerely believe that. For in the Old Testament the patriarch's and even King David had many wives. But the New Testament showed another time in history where new regimes had different standards.

So let me clarify my answer. Remarriage is a sin except for infidelity or if a believer is married to an unbeliever and the unbeliever leaves. Homosexually never changed in either the Old or New Testament times. It has always been considered a sin. And this is true in most countries as well.

Answer 3

With all due respect, the passage is in direct conflict with the Torah's limitations on divorce and remarriage.

According to the Torah, there is no adultery by marrying a divorced women. That said, if the reason for the divorce was that the woman was known to have had an affair, then the man she cohabited with is forbidden to her. Also, once a divorced woman has relations with any other man, she becomes forbidden to her ex-husband and cannot remarry him.

Quite different from Jesus' very incorrect version.

Answer 4

Sin is sin and sin is a symptom of how bad the sin is; but all sin results in death. If you die exceeding the speed limit what difference does it make what your speed was? The only difference is in the judgement.

There is a lot covered in that one sentence. The implications of what Jesus said probably didn't sink in right away; much like today.

First he was saying that to put an innocent woman off caused her to commit adultery. To sin yourself is one thing; but to cause another to sin is to bring their blood upon your own head. Second he was saying that on top of that God did not recognize the writ; else there would be no adultery on her part.

The above means that the man has just forced someone else into sin and in the process cut himself and his "ex" off from any other marriage while both were still alive.

Thus by doing a certificate, the husband was setting up another man for adultery with the wife he put off, committing adultery and more for himself and likely setting up another innocent woman to enter adultery with him.

I think today we would just say: "What part of no don't you understand?".

Answer 5

First, sex outside of marriage according to the bible is sin. Period.
Second unfaithfulness means to deliberately break faithfulness. When you consider wedding "vows", any part of the vow that is broken intentionally is determined to be unfaithful. If you stop loving the person, except due to an action/inaction by the other, or dishonor/disobey as to cause them harm, or mentally or physically harm them would all fall under the definition.

Answer 6

Well, you must remember Jesus came from a different time...when men divorced women after having sex with them and getting bored...because the women were supposed to be virgins...they also stoned adultresses in the town square...it was a barbaric time..which has gone and passed...Jesus is basically saying take covenant of marriage seriously...back then, men married and divorced women for selfish reasons...Notice, he mentioned that adultery is grounds for divorce...it makes alot of sense to me.
Homosexuality is condemned in Leviticus..."A man should'nt lieth with a man as if he lieth with a woman" and vice versa...cities such as Babylon, Sodom, and gommorah...were well known for homosexuality...young men..barely out of their teens with older men..usually noblemen and even clergy because there was no contraception...women would get pregnant...even prositutes and especially mistresses..also Greek and Roman soldiers were forced to homosexuality if they did'nt have any rank or power because their leaders felt that if they had women, sooner or later; the women would bear children...making the men restless during long war campaigns away from home...a few even turned traitorous...but for the rich and powerful, it was just perversion.

Answer 7

I think the point of that was to prevent exactly what has happened in the world. People divorce for all kinds of stupid reasons. God does not want us to live in a marriage with someone who is unfaithful or abusive. He doesn't want us to be unhappy, but He does want us to come to Him in times of troubles especially in our marriages. If that does happen though we can still be forgiven if we ask. God gives us these guidelines to follow to help us, not to make life harder. If we follow the guidelines He's laid out for us our lives would be much happier, but most of us choose to go it alone and we end up hurting for it, then we blame God for what happens. How unfair is that?

Answer 8

Come on, people. How much longer are we going to perpetuate these myths. You need to put things in perspective. As for divorce, in those times women were considered property of the man. If a man died, his brother was required to marry the widow. The culture was one of ownership, and taking another's woman caused a shortage of labor and would have been considered theft. If you were to seriously study the Bible in its context you would find lots of contradictions. As far as sex and homosexuality are concerned: the purpose of sex was to procreate, to generate and populate the earth. Homosexual behavior did not satisfy this requirement.

Answer 9

Quote from the book, "The Good News about Sex and Marriage" by Christopher West

"It’s obvious to everyone, including the Church, that some marriages “don’t work out.” As mentioned earlier, in serious circumstances the Church even encourages separation of “bed and board.” But this is very different from accepting divorce.

It’s hard to overestimate the importance that the Church places on defending the permanence of marriage. History tells the tale of entire nations separating from the Catholic Church because of disputes over this point.

Why is the Church so obstinate? Because marriage is where human and divine love “kiss.” To diminish in any way the permanence of married love is to diminish the permanence of God’s love. As a sacrament, marriage is a true participation in the love of Christ for his Bride, the Church.

If we truly understand this, to admit divorce is to say in the same breath that Christ has left the Church. IMPOSSIBLE! Christ will never, ever abandon his Bride (we Christians). This is what’s at stake. 'But we’re not God', people say. How can we love as Christ loves?

On our own we cannot. But “with God all things are possible” . It’s no coincidence that these words of Christ from the Gospel of Matthew appear shortly after Christ’s teaching on the permanence of marriage . When Christ’s disciples learned what the permanence of marriage demanded of them, they though it would be better not to marry at all . Jesus responded, “Not all men can receive this precept, but only those to whom it is given”

To whom is this teaching on the permanence of marriage given? To men and women who remain slaves to their weaknesses? No! To men and women who have been given the power to love as Christ loves through the Holy Spirit!

This is the GOOD NEWS of the gospel. Christ’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit . This means husbands and wives can love one another as Christ loves.

What’s at stake in the permanence of marriage is really a question of faith. Do we believe in the good news of the gospel, or don’t we? Do we believe it’s possible to love another as Christ loves, or don’t’ we? To admit the possibility of divorce is to say that Christ cannot save us from our sin. Woe to the Church if she were to ever say such a thing. The permanence of marriage is an objective reality to which the Church must bear witness if she is to tell the truth."

Answer 10

In my mind, yes.

Of course, the Roman Catholic church does have an annullment (spelling?) process that I've been told takes up to 2 years and requires the consent of both spouses, which will in essance "wipe away" the prior marriage in the eyes of the Church.

Still, any sexual relations outside the confines of a one man/one woman marriage is considered a sin.

Answer 11

ha! i knew it! i knew there was a reason u could divorce yer spouce. ha! that so goes along with my belief of it's okay to divorce yer spouce if u were married under false pretences. hmm...sin is sin! tha only sin worse then all tha others is tha sin against tha holy ghost (found in mark). sin is sin meaning that no sin is greater then tha otha except tha one i specified. homosexual behavior? i've always hated that term. it's not behavior. using that word makes it sound like it's anger. it's not done in anger. lifestyle choice? it's not a choice. i was born bi. i didn't choose this. i didn't grow into it either. tha point is that sin is sin, it's not right to sin. but john 3:16 clearly states : "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son to die for us. That so whosoever believeth in him, shall not perish, but have eternal life." yeah james says "faith without works is nothing" in james ch 2. but james says that. jesus didn't. hope i helped