Remarriage




Some things to think about…

In Genesis 2:18, God said that it is “not good that man should be alone.” So He made Eve and she and Adam became husband and wife. Now suppose there had been another man in the world, and in the course of time, Eve went off to live with him leaving Adam again “alone.” Would these circumstances then make it “good” for Adam to be alone? Could some evil that Eve did change that which was “good” for Adam?

Now some preachers who haven’t really thought this through might say “it’s not good that man be alone if he has never been married. But if he was formerly married, then God requires him to be alone for the rest of his life. It’s good for a divorced man to be alone.”

But I would ask, “Why?“ What purpose is served by forcing someone to be celibate; to remain single the rest of their lives? Is this some form of penance for past mistakes? Is Christ’s atonement not enough? Must we somehow make our own atonement for wrongs committed? Is this the unpardonable sin? Why should a person who has suffered failure in marriage be forbidden to pick up the pieces and, with God’s help, make a new start in life?”

The apostle Paul does teach in 1 Corinthians 7 that the single life is good if one can do it. But no one was forbidden to marry. As a matter of fact, in 1 Corinthians 7:2, Paul says that “every” man should have his own wife and “every” wife should have her own husband.

Paul taught that in order to head off and avoid sexual sin, every man and every woman should be married. This included everyone who had been previously married and was now single. Sexual sin would be just as much a temptation to a man who had been married before – if not more so – than a man who had never been married. Paul didn’t say everyone had to get married, but they could if they wanted to.

The way some look at it, each person is given only one chance in life at marriage. If he makes a mistake with that one chance, he must be penalized forever after!

How can you explain the fact of thousands and thousands of dedicated Christian couples who have had a previous marriage?

Can you name me one sin that is harder for God to forgive than another?

What if a man’s first marriage was in Mexico and not recognized in the United States? Can he, as an American citizen, remarry since his first marriage was not legal? What about a man who lived with a woman for a year with no marriage license – can he later marry someone else?

(The above paragraphs were taken from Ralph Edward Woodrow, Divorce and Remarriage: What Does the Bible Really Say [Ralph Woodrow Evangelistic Association Inc., 1991].)

Simply put, remarriage is biblically permitted if your divorce was biblically permitted.