What does the Bible say about divorce and remarriage? Can people divorce? What are the conditions for people to remarry? Why did Jesus repeatedly associate divorce and remarriage with adultery? How can we harmonize Matthew 5:31-32 with Mark 10:11-12 and Luke 16:18? Read this post or listen to the accompanying sermon for answers.

https://youtu.be/N41dX_PKggM
What does the Bible say about divorce and remarriage? How can we harmonize Matthew 5:31-32 with Mark 10:11-12 and Luke 16:18? Watch this sermon for answers.

Table of contentsA Few Qualifications Before Discussing Divorce and RemarriageBelievers Should not Divorce UnbelieversWhat “Made Holy” Does and Does Not MeanWhat “Not Bound” Does and Does Not MeanRemarriage Is Permissible If a Spouse DiesThe Importance of VowsRemarriage with a Living Spouse Is AdulteryMatthew's Gospel and Jewish BetrothalsFour Reasons Jesus Only Permitted Divorce During BetrothalsTwo Passages Encourage Remaining Married to Your Current Spouse Even If You Have Another Living SpouseTwo Marriage EncouragementsEncouragement One: Church involvement is a major factor lowering divorce ratesEncouragement Two: Let Christ’s faithfulness to you fuel your faithfulness to your spouse

If you want a Christ-centered marriage, then please read Your Marriage God's Way. I am praying God uses the book and workbook to strengthen marriages and exalt Christ. Also available as an audiobook.

By my calculations I have preached about 550 sermons at Woodland Christian Church. I can honestly say that the sermon on divorce and remarriage was the first I ever dreaded preaching. I knew that it was coming, and I vainly hoped that there would be some way to avoid it, but I don’t want to shrink back from faithfully teaching the whole counsel of God’s Word.

A Few Qualifications Before Discussing Divorce and Remarriage

First, it is important that you understand what my heart is and is not on this topic. My heart is not to condemn people who are divorced and remarried or married to divorced people. Instead, my desire to is to condemn divorce itself.The divorce rate among evangelical Christians is 26%, compared to 33% for the rest of the population. I want to discourage divorce and see these numbers go down. If you are single, you should pay special attention, because if more people got married knowing what God’s Word says about divorce and remarriage, we would see less divorces.Recently I received two messages from people I don’t know who wanted to divorce their spouse. One email was from a woman who claimed to be abused by her husband, and the other email was from a man who claimed to be abused by his wife. I also received two comments on my blog: one from a man who wanted to divorce his wife and another from a woman who wanted to divorce her husband. I would like to think that if these people knew what God’s Word says about divorce and remarriage, they would not be thinking about divorcing their spouse.

Second, please know that I do not think I am any better than anyone who is divorced or has married a divorced person. If I married one of the girls I dated, or I became a Christian after I was married, I’m sure I easily could have been divorced.

Third, if you wonder how people who are divorced or married to divorced people feel about this topic, I can tell you that many of the people I have spoken with who have been divorced will be the first to tell you that they wish the church preached on divorce more often and more boldly.

Fourth, I’m sharing a view that I did not hold at the beginning of my Christian life. The church I was saved in and then the church I started ministry in, held a different view. I came to this view after studying the scriptures for myself and deciding that I wanted to believe what the Bible said, versus what I had been taught.

Fifth, you probably know that if you want to believe or disagree with something, you will not have any trouble finding support for your positi...