Fornication And Adultery is a Sin!Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia: DivorceDivorce has always presented a serious problem. Christ's teaching is found in Mt 5:31-32; 19:3-9; Mk 10:2-12; Lk 16:18. He revealed that it was only because of the hardness of men's hearts that Moses allowed a bill of divorcement, and that this could actually cause adultery (Mt 19:8-9). Marriage is to be annulled only for fornication (Mt 5:31-32; 19:9). This means that a divorce could be allowed only when there had been intercourse with another person other thant he betrothed, either in premarital sex or afterward in marraige. Christ pointed out that a man could commit adultery just as well as a womanby forcing an unjust divorce. This was contrary to the views of the Jews, who saw the woman as the only possible offender.
There are differences of opinion, but most churches consider that a divorce is to be permitted in case of willful desertion. If so, there are two biblical grounds, fornicaion and desertion. The Scriptures do, however, allow that a higher law may be applied to the divorced, namely, that of forgiveness, where there is true repentance from sin. Hosea forgave and took back his adulterous wife because he loved her, even as God is ready to forgive and take back His adulterous Israel (Hos 2:1-2; 3:1 ff.; 14:1-8)
Now, I have a question. A few years ago, my cousin's wife had an Internet affair with another man. Naturally, my cousin (Mike) divorced his wife. Now, Mike is married to a wonderful woman named Irene. Is this okay? Mike is really happy, and I think that, after what his ex wife put him through (Mike became so depressed, he was locked up in a psych ward and put on suicide watch), he deserves to be happy.
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