The Hardness of People’s Hearts

[Doug Brents]

With God, nothing is impossible. My divorce from my first wife was because she wanted it after I became a Christian. I refused until the kids were grown. She still wanted a divorce after they were grown. God found me a wife and have been happily married since. God has a plan for you and sometimes He uses the divorce so you can grow as a Christian, and boy did I, and I have been blessed greatly.

If she didn't cheat on you before you divorced her, then you are living in adultery with your current wife. And if you didn't cheat on her before you divorced her, she is living in adultery if she got married again. That's not my opinion, that is what God says in His Word.

 

[Rockerduck]

If she didn't cheat on you before you divorced her, then you are living in adultery with your current wife. And if you didn't cheat on her before you divorced her, she is living in adultery if she got married again. That's not my opinion, that is what God says in His Word.

It is God that caused the divorce. The Apostle Paul stated that in the new testament church, if the unbelieving spouse wishes to depart, let them, you are not held accountable. 1 Corinthians 7:15

 

[Ahinadab]

Scholars sometimes call this the “any cause divorce” debate, which hinges on a key term from the Deuteronomy 24:1-4 instructions on divorce.

The law in Deuteronomy 24:1 allows a man to divorce his wife if he’s found “some indecency” (NASB) or “something offensive” in her. The Hebrew phrase is 'ervat davar (ערות דבר), which more literally means “nakedness of a matter.”

Talk about ambiguity! What does “nakedness of a matter” even mean?

 

[Doug Brents]

It is God that caused the divorce. The Apostle Paul stated that in the new testament church, if the unbelieving spouse wishes to depart, let them, you are not held accountable. 1 Corinthians 7:15

Yes, you were called to let her leave. But as Matt 19:9 says, if you divorce and remarry for ANY OTHER REASON than infidelity, you commit sin and cause her to commit sin (if you remarry or have sex outside of your broken marriage). 1 Cor 7:15 does not make you free to remarry? You are still one with your first wife, and marrying another simply places you in adultery.

 

[Rockerduck]

Yes, you were called to let her leave. But as Matt 19:9 says, if you divorce and remarry for ANY OTHER REASON than infidelity, you commit sin and cause her to commit sin (if you remarry or have sex outside of your broken marriage). 1 Cor 7:15 does not make you free to remarry? You are still one with your first wife, and marrying another simply places you in adultery.

By logic only. God chose me a wife. I did not pick her, the Holy Spirit said this is your wife. All I had to do is let God do His work.

 

[atpollard]

By logic only. God chose me a wife. I did not pick her, the Holy Spirit said this is your wife. All I had to do is let God do His work.

Doug has TWO unforgivable sins, God only has one.

 

[Doug Brents]

Doug has TWO unforgivable sins, God only has one.

By logic only. God chose me a wife. I did not pick her, the Holy Spirit said this is your wife. All I had to do is let God do His work.

smh, did I say his/your sin is unforgivable? No. He can repent of the sin he is living in now and be forgiven. But he has chosen to live in his sin and continue in it.

 

[atpollard]

smh, did I say his/your sin is unforgivable? No. He can repent of the sin he is living in now and be forgiven. But he has chosen to live in his sin and continue in it.

How does one repent from the "adultery" of remarriage?

• Say "Sorry God" and continue living in adultery?
• Abandon his Christian wife and children of 15 years to reconcile with the non-Christian wife that abandoned him?

 

[Doug Brents]

How does one repent from the "adultery" of remarriage?

• Say "Sorry God" and continue living in adultery?
• Abandon his Christian wife and children of 15 years to reconcile with the non-Christian wife that abandoned him?

He can't abandon the woman he is currently living with or the children he has had with her. He must still continue to support her and his children; repentance and forgiveness does not absolve you from the consequences of the sin. But repentance requires a turning away from sin.

 

[atpollard]

He can't abandon the woman he is currently living with or the children he has had with her. He must still continue to support her and his children; repentance and forgiveness does not absolve you from the consequences of the sin. But repentance requires a turning away from sin.

However, you are defining the sin itself as continuing to live in that marriage (rather than defining the sin as divorcing his first wife):

If she didn't cheat on you before you divorced her, then you are living in adultery with your current wife.

So I repeat the question ...

According to you, how does one repent from the "adultery" of remarriage?

• Say "Sorry God" and continue living in adultery?
• Abandon his Christian wife and children of 15 years to reconcile with the non-Christian wife that abandoned him?

It is how YOU have defined the sin that renders is "unpardonable" because he cannot change the past or the present.

• "Yet if the unbelieving one is leaving, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace." - 1 Corinthians 7:15 [NASB]

You are placing a yoke of bondage upon them that God has not.

 

[Doug Brents]

However, you are defining the sin itself as continuing to live in that marriage (rather than defining the sin as divorcing his first wife):

What does Scripture say about divorce?
"whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery"
Does this say divorce is a sin? No. It says that the sin is in marrying another woman (or man in the case of a divorced woman). The sin, in this verse, is not in the divorce, it is in the sexual union with someone other than the divorced spouse.

 

[atpollard]

What does Scripture say about divorce?
"whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery"
Does this say divorce is a sin? No. It says that the sin is in marrying another woman (or man in the case of a divorced woman). The sin, in this verse, is not in the divorce, it is in the sexual union with someone other than the divorced spouse.

Good thing verses appear completely in isolation without any CONTEXT to interpret them ...

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell." - [Matthew 5:27-29]

Have you plucked out your eye as Jesus commanded (you adulterer)?

 

[Doug Brents]

Good thing verses appear completely in isolation without any CONTEXT to interpret them ...

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell." - [Matthew 5:27-29]

Have you plucked out your eye as Jesus commanded (you adulterer)?

The fact that I am a sinner does not make his sin any less. Yes, I am a sinner in need of the love, forgiveness, and blood of Christ Jesus. I am not saying I am any better than @Rockerduck, or you, or anyone else. But we are called to identify sin in others when they cannot see it themselves, and call them out from it. If we succeed, and they turn from their sin, then we have saved their soul from death in Hell, and have gained our brother back (James 5:19-20).