SEMESTER 5
275 – Life after Divorce and Remarriage
BIBLE INSTITUTE OF CORRESPONDENCE
COURSE: SOTERIOLOGY V LESSON # 75
SERMON ON THE MOUNT
(MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE # 4)
LIFE AFTER DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE
Read: Mat. 19:1-12
INTRODUCTION
1. I have laid before you definitions, causes, and permission for divorce, and in one case, remarriage.
2. By now it should be something you would dread the thought of.
3. Nonetheless, we are aware of the fact that many people must live with the reality of it.
4. It is sadly part of some lives, and will become part of others.
5. Many will have to ask: How should I feel about:
i. My present marriage partner?
ii. The children of that partnership?
iii. My Christian life as a divorced person?
iv. My Christian life as a remarried person?
6. In this lesson, I will try to deal with this: After divorce and remarriage, what then?
I. THE RELEASE OF FORNICATION (MAT. 19:9
)
1. How fornication releases, by breaking the vows and the marriage. (Much like death.)
2. The offended party is not bound, because the offender has broken the union.
3. Again, this seems to me to release for remarriage as much as death.
4. This release is only legal and moral, but usually not total. There usually remain:
i. Family ties, direct and indirect.
ii. Haunting personal memories, good and bad.
iii. Realization of, and fear of, personal guilt.
iv. Improper comparisons and jealousies.
II. THE OFFENSE OF DIVORCE WITHOUT BIBLICAL CAUSE
1. Some try to suspect or prove fornication by a spouse, even sometimes after they themselves are guilty.
2. Sometimes where no hard evidence exists, suspicion seems to salve the conscience.
3. What is the offense where no such thing exists? It is adultery. (Mat. 19:9)
4. How does the divorcer cause the one put away to commit adultery?
5. Is this an act or a state? The answer must come from the answer of these questions.
6. I feel Scripture, overwhelmingly, teaches it to be a one-time act, which breaks the previous marriage.
III. WHAT CAN AN ALIENATED OR ABANDONED PARTNER DO
1. A common answer is remain unmarried. Well, yes, but can they? Let us go to the Bible.
2. Would this prevent adultery, or in some cases promote it? (Mat. 5:28)
3. “Is it better for them to marry than to burn,” or is this just to the never married? (I Cor. 7:7-9)
4. Do they have the ability to live unmarried? (I Cor. 7:9, Mat. 19:10-12)
5. They are normally forced to marry, and that marriage is an act of adultery.
6. This is what the Lord means when He says, they are caused to commit adultery. (Mat. 5:32)
IV. THE CHURCH’S PROPER CONDUCT TOWARD OFFENDERS
1. Ask: What is their sin? How is this sin repented of? What does the church do with repentant sinners?
2. Finally, let it be said that the complexities are too great to approach lightly.
3. Marry and work at marriage with fear and trembling.