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God is on the side of people. He loves people, and He understands what has happened in such situations.
But it is impossible for me to say that this conduct is all right. A minister of God must teach what is in the Bible; yet the teaching must be tempered with the biblical understanding of God's love.
It is very difficult to make hard and fast rules. Does one, for example, tell a three-times-divorced man to go back to his previous mate?
What if the previous mate is now remarried? Is it right to ask the remarried couple to make a second divorce and break up a second home? The basic rule is that divorce and remarriage are not permitted, except for adultery or desertion, and that is the rule the church should stick to.
Young people should be made aware that marriage is for life - for keeps - and not something to be entered into and then gotten out of whenever one feels like it. However, given the appalling state of marriage in the modern world, I feel that the church should use its power of "binding and loosing" see Matthew In other words, the church should and I personally would say that what happened in your past life is covered by the blood of Christ.
Enjoy your present marriage and live in it to the glory of God without recrimination.
However, for Christians who have divorced after being born again for reasons other than adultery or desertion, I believe they should either be reconciled to their Christian mates or remain unmarried. Finally, in these complex personal matters I recommend prayer, study of the Bible, and that you counsel with a wise and godly pastor in you own community.
Is Cruelty Grounds for Divorce? I do not think mental cruelty is grounds for divorce if mental cruelty concerns the way a mate twists the toothpaste tube or hangs stockings in the bathroom.
The marriage was neither a civil nor a religious matter, but numerous religious obligations came as a result. The Israelites were prohibited from intermarrying with the pagan peoples who surrounded them Deuteronomy 7: There is no indication in the Bible that we are predestined to marry a certain person or that there is one special person or "soul mate" that we should find and marry.
Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
Contemporary marriages may follow the Biblical model or may be quite different. Regardless of how we divide the roles and responsibilities in our marriages, though, we must be sure the marriage fulfills its essential family functions and provides a loving environment for children to grow into responsible adults.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. The Bible does not give any rules for how sex should be practiced between husband and wife except for a prohibition against sex during menstruation - a woman's period of "uncleanness.
However, the Old Testament rules about unclean foods and practices are not binding on Christians Mark 7: Of course, that does not imply that an abusive, exploitative or nonconsensual act would be acceptable. Those things are prohibited by other Bible teachings. Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. But it was not this way from the beginning.
I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery. No other grounds for divorce are mentioned in the New Testament. The New Testament teaches strongly that marriage should be a lifelong commitment. Now, for those who are married I have a command, not just a suggestion.
And it is not a command from me, for this is what the Lord himself has said: A wife must not leave her husband. But if she is separated from him, let her remain single or else go back to him. And I say to you: But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. To the married I give this charge not I, but the Lord: So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
Before God, marriage is a lifetime relationship that should never be severed by human action. But separation is not a time of external exploration but internal evaluation. The basic rule is that divorce and remarriage are not permitted, except for adultery or desertion, and that is the rule the church should stick to. Persons who remarry without annulment are barred from receiving Communion in the Church. But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.
And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does.
Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.