Divorce and sexual immorality.

Matthew 5:31-32

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’” Matthew 5:31

Jesus was quoting another law of Moses, from Deuteronomy 24:1, “When a man has taken a wife and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.“

The men of the Jewish culture were living by the letter of the law of Moses. By the law, they were righteous and completely within their legal rights to divorce their wife if the woman had fallen out of favor with the man. They were righteous by the law but not righteous within their heart where it matters most to our Lord. The husband simply handed a certificate of divorce to the wife and out the door she was sent. Our Lord Jesus had something to say about that.

“But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.” Matthe w5:32

Our Lord Jesus Christ said that it wasn’t from a righteous heart to divorce the wife simply because the husband was not pleased with her. There is only one reason that a marriage should be ended, because of sexual immorality. If a woman is divorced for any other reason, that causes her to have sexual relations with another man, which is the same as pushing her into adultery. If a wife commits sexual immorality before the divorce, then she is already guilty of adultery, and our Lord Jesus sanctions that divorce. Whoever marries a woman who is divorced is committing adultery because he is having sexual relations with what should be another’s man wife, or with a woman who is comfortable with casual sexual relationships. Sexual promiscuity is sin against God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

I’ve heard it said that when a person has sexual intercourse, they are having sex with every person that the sex partner has ever had sex with. They are encouraged to practice “safe sex” but the Gospel of Christ is not presented to them.

“Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:18-19 The reason Moses allowed divorce was because of the hardness of the heart, Jesus said “‘Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.'” Matthew 19:8

We live in a culture today where marriages rooted in Jesus Christ are very rare, if found at all. Those are marriages where the husband and wife have been to the Cross of Christ and have repented from living by the values of this world. The husband and wife had made a commitment to God in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Those marriages are so cherished by God that there is no acceptable reason for divorce except for sexual immorality.

Only God can sanction divorces. But He doesn’t issue certificates of divorce that can be filed in a court system. So how does the Lord bring divorce to a marriage? Because of the sins of the heart do divorces happen, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Where is the certificate of your mother’s divorce?…for your transgressions your mother has been put away.'” Isaiah 50:1

Why do iniquities and transgressions cause God to allow divorces? Because sin comes from within the heart and soul, from within the temple of God, our body as the home of the Holy Spirit. Sin is to not believe in Jesus Christ, to not believe in God the Creator, and to oppose the presence of the Holy Spirit. If the heart of the husband or wife becomes hostile to Jesus Christ, begins to speak against Him and is no longer willing to say that He is Lord, then a Christian marriage no longer exists. It becomes a home filled with conflict, abuses, hostility, strife, and afflictions of all types. Unfaithfulness, adultery, and sexual immorality is the beginning of God divorcing the marriage because of transgressions and iniquities. “But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. ” 1 Corinthians 7:15

“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-16

Reconciliation with God by faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to restore a broken Christian relationship. Our Lord Jesus gave His life on the Cross to forgive the sins of adultery and fornication as we repent of unbelief. “Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?’ …’He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone.’…Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst…He said to her, ‘Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’” John 8:3-4, 7, 9-11

Those of today’s culture live in sexual promiscuity from a young age. They are groomed to the values of this world and have no thoughts of God the Creator, do not know what the Cross of Jesus Christ means for them, and they have no desire to live in the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin and unbelief. When the younger generation begins to partner with a mate, or enter into an official marriage ceremony, belief in Jesus Christ is far from them. Today’s “marriages” are formed between those who oppose belief in God, reject the need for Jesus Christ, and oppose the presence of the Holy Spirit. Their marriage is bonded by the beast that gives them what to say, do, feel, and think. Their fidelity is not to each other but to the beast that gives breath/life to the image of the beast to speak by speaking and living through them. Adultery and sexual immorality are not seen as a breach of trust in the marriage if it is done in obedience to the beast that gives them what to feel and do. By what people do and say, they are being conformed to the mark, number, name of the beast.

“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.
I am coming soon. 
Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1