Bible Questions and Answers

I will give you a five simple statements about this subject and then some Bible verses to support these statements. 

1. Divorce is not what God intended.  God's intention is that one man and one woman would be married for as long as both are alive.
2. When divorce happens we do not meet the ideal that God has established in the Bible.
3. If divorce happens then we should admit it is wrong and seek God's forgiveness.
4. We need to be forgiving towards people who have made mistakes and realize those mistakes.
5. On the basis of the words of Jesus there appears to be only one cause for acceptable divorce and that is unfaithfulness on the part of a partner.

Now lets look at the scriptures which support these statements:

1. First, divorce is not what God intended.  God's intention is that one man and one woman would be married for as long as both are alive.
   
   KJV Genesis 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
   
   KJV Romans 7:1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? 2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
   
   
2. When divorce happens we do not meet the ideal that God has established in the Bible from the very beginning.
   
   KJV Matthew 19:3 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.
   
   
3. If divorce happens then we should admit it is wrong and seek God's forgiveness.
   
   KJV James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed
   
   KJV Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
4. We need to be forgiving towards people who have made mistakes and realize those mistakes.
   
   KJV Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
   
   KJV Matthew 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
   
   
5. On the basis of the words of Jesus there appears to be only one cause for acceptable divorce and that is unfaithfulness on the part of a partner.
   
   KJV Matthew 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32 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.

I hope you have found this helpful.

God bless,
Ted