Thursday, October 1, 2009
Matthew 5:31-32 "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."
A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE
Some think "marital unfaithfulness" means breaking any of your wedding day promises. The Greek word translated "marital unfaithfulness" is much more specific. It means "sexual unfaithfulness." That is, sexual activity with someone besides your spouse.
Some understand verse thirty-two to mean that when a man divorces his wife, and no sexual misconduct has been done, they are still married before God. When she gets married to her next husband, she is caused to commit adultery because she's still married to her first husband in the eyes of God.
Others understand this to mean that when a man divorces his wife and no sexual misconduct has been done, he is causing others to assume that she has committed adultery when in fact she hasn't! When that wrongly divorced woman marries another man, people assume that he must be the one she committed adultery with in the first place.
Of this much, however, we can be certain: Jesus is saying, "You out there who think that you're alright with God because you handed your poor wife a piece of paper, you're wrong. You've sinned against your wife, her next husband, against marriage and against God. You might be able to twist scripture to justify your outrageous behavior, but before God this is nothing but pure sin."
So, what sins have you committed against your spouse? Against God’s gift of marriage? Perhaps you've never been married, and your greatest sin in connection with divorce has been unfairly judging those who have been through one.
Whatever sins you've committed that land somewhere near the topic of divorce, Jesus suffered cross time for those sins. He was tortured, body and soul, for our sins against marriage. And because he was, our sins against marriage have been paid for. In Christ Jesus we have forgiveness.
