When Is It Okay to Remarry? // What the Bible Says About Marriage and Divorce (Bible Verses)

What the Bible Says About Marriage and Divorce (Bible Verses) // When Is It Okay to Remarry?

Marriage and divorce are topics that are important to all people of all religions. But, for Christians, marriage and divorce are topics that must be understood in the light of God's Word, the Bible. What the Lord Jesus Christ told us about marriage and divorce is important for us to follow today. 

Hebrews 13:8 says: "[8] Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." Jesus never changes, and His commandments about marriage are important for us to follow today. We must not listen to any teaching if it contradicts the clear teaching of the Holy Bible, God's holy, divinely preserved, inspired Word.


What Jesus Christ said about marriage and divorce


Matthew 19:3-9

[3.] The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? 

4. And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5. And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6. Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 

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

8. He 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. 

9. And 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."

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Mark 10:11-12

"[11.] And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. [12.] And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery."


Matthew 5:32

"[32] But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery."

Luke 16:18

"[18] Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery."

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1 CORINTHIANS 7 AND MARRIAGE

The Holy Spirit, speaking through the Paul, did not contradict the words of the Lord Jesus Christ when he had Paul write 1 Corinthians 7:10-15. 

[After all, Jesus said this truth about the Holy Spirit in John 16:13 -- "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." The Holy Spirit only speaks what He is told to say. He cannot contradict Jesus Christ, who is Second Person of the Trinity of God.]

1 Corinthians 7:10-15

"[10] And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: 11. But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

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

14. For 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. 15. But 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." [End quote]

What the Holy Spirit said through Paul, in 1 Corinthians 7, does not contradict the words of Jesus Christ, God the Son. What the Holy Spirit is saying through Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:15 is that if an unbelieving spouse departs, the other spouse no longer has to live with that person. He or she is free to serve the Lord as a single man or woman. 

The Holy Spirit is not teaching something that contradicts Jesus, who said this truth in Luke 16:18: "[18] Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery."

What the Lord Jesus said still holds true for all people, whether they are believers or non-believers, because God is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11), and men and women are still people whether they are Christian or non-Christian. What applies to a Christian applies to a non-Christian, and vice-versa. Besides, what God really would like is for the unbelieving husband not to remarry, and to turn to Jesus, and to be restored to his Christian wife he departed from. And, of course, the same applies to the unbelieving wife of a Christian man.


When One Can Remarry, According to the Bible

Marrying someone else, after you were previously married, is adultery, according to the Lord Jesus Christ. However, if your spouse died, you are free to remarry. Or, if your spouse committed fornication (with someone else) while you were married to your spouse, you are free to get divorced. I understand, from the Bible, that in that case, you can remarry. 

But, you can only remarry if your spouse was unfaithful to you and committed fornication while you were still married to that spouse. You cannot get remarried if you divorced your wife, and then later learned that your divorced wife got remarried. She is living in sin, according to the Bible. For you to remarry is not an option, regarding this situation.


Matthew 5:32

"[32] But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery."

Matthew 19:9

"[9] And 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."



CONCLUSION

I strongly urge you to seek God about these points we have been looking at and about any questions you may have. He will guide you into all truth, and speak to you, for God is the Truth (See John 16:13 and Jeremiah 33:3). God desires to have an intimate relationship with each one of His sons and daughters (1 Cor. 1:9). Only be knowing God in an intimate way can we escape temptations and have true joy and peace. (See Psalm 9:9-10, Psalm 91, 1 Corinthians 10:12-13.)

Jesus Christ told us these words about having fullness of joy, in John 15:9-11: 

"[9] As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 11. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."

1 Corinthians 1:9 -- "[9] God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord."

1 John 1:5-7 -- "[5] This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

[Note: If we walk in the light of God's Word, we will have fellowship with God, and God with us.]

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