Christ’s teaching on Devorce: does adultery = guilt-free divorce?
Divorce, probably the one of the most sensitive topics in modern Christian circles.
Everyone has been exposed to teaching on devorce. It is a very relevant topic in our churches. Some studies show that there are as many marriages that end in devorce inside the church as outside. [However, a note on those statistics...they do not take into consideration individuals with multiple marriages. One person may account for 3 of the numbers being calculated. The statistics are based on marriages, not people. I would have to believe that people who have been devorced would be lower in the church.]
So, is there any reason for a believing couple to end their marriage? Are there any loopholes that God gives for marriages to end in devorce. Does he ever say, “Even though I don’t like it, under this circumstance, it would be ok.”? Well, let’s think. While there is no way this simple little blog is going to exhaust the topic, let us address the common “escape clause” for divorce, adultery.
For selected readings on this issue, see the passages surrounding these verses: Matt 5.27-32; Matt 19.3; Mark 10.2; I Cor 7.
In most of these cases the question was posed to Christ as a way of tripping him up. That should tell us something to begin with. The question of whether or not abandonment is grounds for devorce arrises in I Cor 7, but even there it would seem that devorce and remarriage are not condoned, only physical seperation. Also, Paul is quite clear that he is not speaking for God in those few verses, which opens it back up for conversation.
When posed the question of devorce in Mark, Christ replies with the teaching from Genesis that “they twain shall be one flesh”, and if they are one, how can they truly be seperated. No more can my own body be dismembered and remain wholly functional, than can a marriage.
So, what about adultery…the big question. When understood in the Jewis context of the scripture, it becomes clear that Christ never condones devorce because of adultery. Acutally, that is not even what he says, those are words we put into his mouth. Let’s take his teaching during the sermon on the mount as out text for this conversation.
“It hath been said Whoseoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 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.” (Matt 5.31-32)
It would almost seem as though Christ is quite clear that divorce is wrong except when adultery is involved, cheating on the part of the spouse. That is not the case. We must take into account each and every word of Scripture. Here, Christ says the only cause the allows divorce is “fornication”, a completely different word that the one he uses at the end of this same sentence “adultery”.
Why the different words? If we can take off our 21st century American glasses for a minute and look at the Bible from the perspective of the reader, a Jewis person in these days would have understood the implications of betrothal differently than Americans do today. To be enganged in those days, was to be legally bound to the person. In order to break off an engagement, you would “divorce” that person. Christ was basically saying the only kind of devorce that was acceptable was the “pre-conception” devorce that was brought about by impure actions. The word “forincation” carries the connotation of basic sexual impurity, and is the same root word from which we get our english “pornography”.
For further argument consider this: We see that Christ was adament that divorce thew the couple into the lap of sin, and he was anti devorce in every way. Yet in Matt 1.18-19 Joseph is preparing to divorce Marry when she was pregnant with Jesus (assuming foul play) and the Bible says he was “just” in that situation. How? Because their had been no conception, no becoming one flesh between the two of them. It is interresting here to also consider the OT story of Hosea…
So, Christ is never ok with Divorce. At best we may be able to say that for the deserted to remain unmarried is the best choice they have. Though this may sound narrow minded, think about the greater picture at stake here. Check out Eph 5. See all the pictures and comparisons between the husband and wife with Christ and the church. Imagine if God ever endorsed divorce, for ANY reason. We would lose much certainty about eternal security in our salvation. If the husband had provisions to divorce the unfaithful wife, then could Christ “divorce” or “put away” an unfaithful church? And if he could, would any of us still be in his bride? Every time we fall to tempations of the flesh, or world, or anything; each time we worship anything other than Christ; each time we are unfaithful to our Savior, we are subject to rejection and banishment as we are put away by the Great Groom. Thank God he is not that way. Praise God that he didn’t make any grounds for Devorce. That he would even go so far as to make provisions that when one deserted, and left off from their true spouse, that spouse was to remain as they were and not re-marry. How he puts up with our unfaithfulness is beyond me, and should cause us to strive for faithfulness to him, but that grace of remaining faithful to us, even when we are not faithful to him should cause us to all the more. How amazing is our Lord!
Conclusion: If provision was ever made for divorce, our eternal security would be thrown into a downward spiral of doubt. God did not make provision for such activity, because there is no place for it between His Son and His church.
Amen.
Jesus – subject to the basest human condition
Hunger.
Everyone knows what hunger is. Everyone experiences it in increments of just a few hours each day of their lives. Few will pass a meal for any reason. Americans are probably just a generation away from widespread epidemics of obesity related deaths. The natural desire for hunger has become a slave-master to most. Fasting is all but disappeared from the Christian culture in America because of our insatiable appetites. Miss a meal? Hardly.
What is ironic about this whole issue is the purpose of hunger in the first place. Hunger is one of many natural desires God has placed in man for our betterment and to help us. General Graces, are those things that cause us to naturally do the things needed for survival. Hunger, sexual drive, our relational nature, and curiosity are a few examples. These are things that provoke us to pursue that which will continue and better our lives. So, what happens when one of these things becomes a controlling factor in our lives, abused instead of appreciated? That’s when we have rapists, stalkers, serial killers, criminal minds, and obese people. That’s right, I just compared those in the same sentence. To be controlled by any desire is sin. There is little difference between the rapist, drunk, and glutton. I do not mean to be harsh, but truthful.
In Matthew 4, Jesus goes into a wilderness for a period of time to fast. 40 days into his fast, Satan begins to tempt him. His first temptation is one that you and I would likely have fallen to: eat. Most can barely control their hunger past a 3-4 hour fast, imagine 40 days. Imagine having the power to eat something, and choosing not to. Jesus could have easily have turned that stone into bread. Easily. The act of changing that stone into bread, in itself, would have been no harm. However, it was the conditions in which that would have occurred that caused our Messiah to choose otherwise.
The Scripture lets us into the mind of Christ for a moment in verse 2 of chapter 4. We are told that he was hungry. He was in that state of mind when humanity will act the most irrational. Everyone understands that. If a thief steals for their own selfish desires, society agrees punishment should be great. If a thief steals because they are starving and merely trying to satisfy their hunger and will to live, that arouses a different emotion among society. That crime, is even often overlooked. Why? Because we all understand that. We can empathize with that situation. Christ was there…starving. With the opportunity to satisfy that hunger, and did not. What discipline. What control. What an example. May we all learn to use those natural desires God has placed in us for our own good, and not allow them to use us.
The Hebrews writer tells us that we do not have a “high priest” [Jesus] who cannot be touched with the “feeling of our infirmity” [the struggles we face as humanity], but was “in all points tempted” just like we are, only he did it “yet without sin.” To think of the humanity that Christ subjected himself to raging inside while Satan mockingly suggested he eat is mind blowing. To conceive that Divinity would ever be subject to humanity is staggering. Nonetheless, it is true. Even the basest of human conditions plagued our Messiah, and for that we should be ever thankful. He can identify with us. No matter what, he can. Let me compare it this way. I like to exercise. I enjoy getting tips from people at the gym or who I can see have made strides in their fitness. However, one thing I can’t stand is when some guy who has such a gut that he probably has not seen his toes for years tries to instruct me in how to obtain physical fitness. That doesn’t fly. Though I may listen politely, everything being said is passing right by me. Such is not the case with Christ, and the human-Spiritual life. He has been in that gym for longer than the gym has existed, and he is the fittest around. You can head his instruction, and feel confident, because you can see the results for yourself.
I leave you with this note from one of the wisest men I know, my father. As a young boy I was obese. My freshman year of high school I was probably 35-45 lbs overweight, and my sophomore year probably packed a few more on. One day I was enjoying a snack far too much, and my father lovingly spoke this truth to me, “Son, you need to eat to live. Not live to eat.” What wisdom. So should be the case in our spiritual lives. We should allow those natural graces to push us to live, not live to satisfy those natural graces. May God grant us the privilege to fellowship with Christ in his discipline. May the American church submit to the control of Christ, and leave the slave-master of itself.
Disqualified by a lack of self-discipline
At the end of I Corinthians 9, Paul says,
“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incoruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be cast away.”
Paul takes on two roles here. He is speaking as the herald at a race (the one who tells the runners the rules before the race begins) and also as a runner. How hypocritical would it be for him to tell every athlete that rules to abide by and then not abide by those same rules when he runs? We all remember those kids at the pick-up games at the park from our childhood. They had a certain set of rules that always seemed to benefit them. How much higher would the ridiculous meter read when that was coming from our pulpits?
We can’t overlook two important words here that tell us something about God’s view of discipline and disqualifications. We would all understand that a false prophet would disqualify himself from Spiritual advancement/leadership/growth/etc. (ie, the Joel Osteens of the world who have chosen to compromise doctrine, the prophetic Word from God, and more in order to be a leader of men – then again, I think someone pretty wise said to be leery if all men speak well of you, see Luke 6.26) Here, Paul adds that his BODY could play a part in his disqualification. He doesn’t say he brings his spirit or soul into subjection – as would seem to make sense. Maybe he doesn’t mention those because they are assumed and logical. What he does expressly mention though, is his body. Those natural appetites that we face daily. While the implications to lustful appetites for power, satisfaction, pleasure, fulfilment, and such are obvious, not to be overlooked are his literal physical appetites. Could Paul be saying that by giving into his actual appetite for food he could be disqualified? In certain ways, I believe so.
To be extremely aesthetic (depriving yourself of enough food to have energy and health to accomplish the tasks under your delegation) would be succumbing to the appetite for glory in your own self-control. To be extremely indulgent, as we all know is always sinful, would be disqualifying as well. How can we teach about stewardship, dedication, worship, adoration, service, witness, evangelism, family, and the like, only to hand ourselves over to that indulgence which opposes them all? Stewardship of our body/lifespan would definitely be an understood issue. Dedication to anything can be called into question with there is a blatant disregard for our own health. Worshipping a God who we say we love and is sovereign is hardly sincere when the true god of our lives is our bellies. We could keep going, but I thing we get the point.
Paul brought his body “under”, it was brought “into subjection”. In other words, his body was like any other tool given him by God to accomplish the task. An out of control hunger for success, acclaim, or exaltation would be vile by any spiritual standards. No one will question that. No different is the master of the stomach. Paul says, “I take those natural hungers that can easily control me, and control them. I take that would would be my master, and make it my slave for the work of the Kingdom.” appetite included. Rather than giving into those fleshy cravings for McDonald’s, maybe we should bring some appetites into subjection and eat that which is nutritious rather than that which is suitable to our hunger-lusts.
(Note: this is for all my friends who wonder why I am so stringent about physical health and fitness…buffness shouldn’t be our goal, health and fitness – ABSOLUTELY.)
