A Prayer
of Jesus
I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.
Edition No. 12      Click here for a brief preview of this site     July 1, 2002
WE ARE HERE TO LISTEN TO
The Voice of Jesus
"This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
The Testimony of the Father (Luke 9:35)
MISUNDERSTANDING JESUS (#2)
IS IT LAWFUL TO DIVORCE ONE'S WIFE FOR ANY CAUSE?
The False Teaching

Cause for Divorce?
Matt.5 :31,32 It was also said, `Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife,except on the ground of unchastity, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 


Ask your pastor and he will probably tell you, on the basis of the above text, that Jesus allows only one ground for divorce: if the wife (or husband) has had sexual relations with another. Is this what Jesus intends by this saying?
Ask your Pastor!
Exposing the Error


Matt. 5:32 is a very simple statement that everyone can easily understand.  It says that every one who divorces his wife . . . makes her an adultress. How so?  Being divorced causes her to go to another man, and "whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."  Thus, divorcing her makes her an adultress.  For one who remarries, there can be only one exception to this: if she was already an adultress before the divorce, divorcing her doesn't make her one. Hence the exception, "except on the grounds of unchastity."
Some make a distinction between "putting away" and divorce (serving a writ of divorcement).  The word used here for "divorce" means to "put away."  This view is nonsense here, coming in the context of the question with its reference to Moses' command to give to her a certificate of divorce. So, Matt. 5:32 gives no justification for divorce.
Declaring the Truth


Mark.10[2] And Pharisees came up and asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" 
[3] He answered them, "What did Moses command you?" 
[4] They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to put her away." 
[5] But Jesus said to them, "For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 
[6] But from the beginning of creation, `God made them male and female.' 
[7] `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 
[8] and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. 
[9] What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." 
[11] And he said to them, Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; [12] and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.    Read More.