Subject: unaffordable annulllment-How to? |
Bible Note: I agree that divorce is a sin. My first wife committed adultery and decided she wanted to live with another man, who himself was also married. I was left with no option in that situation but to divorce her for she certainly would have divorced me (she told me so). But, I still believe that divorce is a terrible thing. I never want to have to go through that again in my entire life. God hates divorce (as I mentioned in my previous posting) Mal 2:16. However, Christians do sin. And sometimes that sin is the sin of divorce. Do I like that? No. Would I try and work with people to prevent that? Most certainly. Yet, it happens. What then are we to do if a Christian has sinned and got a divorce? Matt 5:32 "but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery." We did an exegesis of this passage in our exegesis group and found an interesting thing. There is an alternative translation which goes like this "everyone who divorces his wife . . . causes her to be adulterated." She does not become GUILTY of adultery but the INNOCENT PARTY of adultery if you will. What do we do with the brother or sister who has sinned by divorcing for any reason other than adultery? We ask him to repent of that sin. Do we forbid him from re-marrying? I know preachers who would indeed do this but on what scriptural authority I do not know. One preacher I know asked a member to divorce his new wife and re-marry his old one because their divorce had been unscriptural. This flies in the face of biblical example. Deuteronomy 24:3-4 says that if a man has divorced his wife he CANNOT ever re-marry her "for that is an abomination before the LORD" Acknowledge the sin but trust in the grace of God to forgive. In Christian Love Tim |