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For further study on Divorce and Remarriage please go to my article on Divorce and Remarriage and to Brother Dayton Huebner's Site The True Word.

Now, let us look at Matthew 19:1-9 also in order to get a better idea what Jesus is plainly teaching.

Matthew 19:1-9
1 And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan;
2 And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there.
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.

So what do we learn here? Well, when Jesus was asked about divorce for every cause He rebuked divorce for any cause by forbidding men to put asunder what God hath joined together. Upon hearing the forbidding of putting away a wife for any cause, they then asked if that is the case, then what about Moses' provision for divorce? Jesus tells them Moses only suffered them to put away their wives because they were hard-hearted (unsaved). He then gives one reason that people can divorce, fornication. Such is only given in the book of Matthew, because of the context and previous teaching about the putting away of a wife during the espousal period as we shall see.

When we take the book of Matthew in its context we see what type divorce Matthew was writing about, that is the divorcement from the espoused mate (just like Joesph was going to do to his espoused wife Mary when he thought she had committed fornication or relations between unmarried people, Matthew 1:18-20). Jesus was not contradicting Himself by forbidding divorce and then giving a reason people can divorce. Once a man and woman are officially married, thus joined together by God, there is no separating them until death (Romans 7:2-3; 1 Corinthians 7:39). During the espousal period, i.e. before they are officially married and become one flesh, they are allowed to divorce if the other party commits fornication.

It must be remembered that unlike modern "engagements" and "espousals," during the time when Jesus spoke, the espousal agreement was the legal portion of the marriage. This is why it had to be broken off by a bill of divorce, unlike today when the legal contract is only agreed to once the marriage is official.

Now, even if people were to twist and pervert Jesus' teaching into allowing divorce after the marriage was official, they still would only be left with one reason to divorce, and that is fornication. How one can think that Jesus would allow a marriage to be separated because one committed sin before the marriage even occurred is beyond me, but people will look for any excuse to sin. Yet, at this they cannot remarry until their marriage covenant is ended (via the death of their spouse). The only option they have is to remain separated from their spouse or be reconciled (1 Corinthians 7:10-11).

What do we see from Matthew 5:32 and 19:9?

Put away your wife, except for fornication, and remarry = adultery
One marries a divorced woman = adultery

Thus even the so-called innocent party is still bound to the marriage covenant regardless of how many divorce decrees are given. But let's go on and see how this message stays ever so clear.

Mark 10:1-12
1 And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again.
2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
10 And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.
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.

Here we see Jesus forbidding divorce, and we also once again see that remarriage after divorce is adultery. (The only type of remarriage after divorce that would not be adultery is that of the case where a person marries a divorcee which is adultery according to the Lord. If they later repent of this adultery, they could be free to "remarry." They were never married legitimately, rather were only in adultery. So, they are free to remarry, although technically it is not remarriage, because they were never actually married, regardless of what man's law says.) What do we learn from the above passage?

A man divorces his wife and marries another = committeth adultery against her
A woman divorces her husband and marries another = committeth adultery

Now let's look at more of what Jesus teaches about divorce and remarriage.

Luke 16:15-18
15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.
17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.
18 Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.

Notice how in verse 15 Jesus says, "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: FOR THAT WHICH IS HIGHLY ESTEEMED AMONG MEN IS ABOMINATION IN THE SIGHT OF GOD." The remarried adulterer or adulteress may think that their adultery is high esteemed among men, but it is abomination in the sight of God!

We see here that any arguments from the Old Testament to try to over-ride the New Testament are void because the law and the prophets were UNTIL John. (So trying to "prove" divorce and remarriage from the Old Covenant that was abolished is useless. You must prove your case from the New Testament.) Then we see Jesus' teaching about divorce and remarriage.

Divorce you wife and marry another = committeth adultery
Marry a divorced woman = committeth adultery

Once again we see the marriage covenant being upheld. Divorce is nothing more than a separation. It obviously does not end the marriage covenant, because Jesus makes it clear that getting a divorce does not free one to remarry. The divorced are still bound to their spouse (regardless of whether they were put away or they put away their spouse), and if they do marry again they are committing adultery against their spouse.

1 Corinthians 7:10-11
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.

Here Paul gives a command from the Lord. It is in 100% agreement with the rest of the teaching the Lord gave on divorce and remarriage. What we see from this is:

Married people are not to depart from their spouses (directly mentioning women here)
If a woman does depart she must remain unmarried (i.e. not get remarried) or be reconciled
The husband may not divorce his wife

So this issue is abundantly clear. Any teaching that would contradict what we have seen the Lord Jesus Christ teaches about this is false. Let us just accept the plain Bible teaching and align our lives up with it.

Let us simply believe the plain teaching of the Scriptures and reject the traditions of men that would excuse sin. No person remarried after divorce or married to a divorcee is saved. They must repent of this adultery which means confess it and forsake it (Proverbs 28:13; Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 17:30; 26:20; 2 Corinthians 7:10; 1 John 1:7-9), and believe on the Lord Jesus (which would include believing His words, Mark 16:16; John 3:16; 12:47-48; Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:21; Ephesians 2:8-9; etc.)! All adulterers are unsaved and will spend eternity apart from God, except they repent (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; Colossians 3:5-7; Hebrews 13:4; Revelation 21:8; etc.)! Please do not let this be you! Repent in full faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and He will free you FROM sin. You cannot remain in your adultery and expect the Lord to look past it and forgive you. Either you will take Him seriously and not try to trample the blood of the covenant under foot (Hebrews 10:26-29), or you will continue on in your adulterous remarriage and pretend that you are forgiven and empowered by God to live in adultery. Do what is right and repent and follow the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and His New Testament law!

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