Preface: a heart to obey

Dear reader,

For some reason you have come to this website, to read the words that were written to admonish some and encourage others. If you desire to learn God's doctrine, not the doctrine of man, but God's doctrine, some scriptural guidelines must be observed. You must come with only one condition: a heart to obey.

1. you must come willing to obey whatever is written

If any man will do his will,
he shall know of the doctrine,
whether it be of God,
or [whether] I speak of myself.
John 7:17

If you want to know if my interpretation of God's doctrine of divorce and remarriage, you must first have a willing heart to obey whatever He says. For some, this may mean remaining unmarried for the rest of your life. Are you willing?

After the first and second exile of the Jews in Jerusalem, the remaining remnant asked Jeremiah to:

...pray for us unto the LORD thy God...that the LORD thy God may show us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.
Jeremiah 42:2-3

and the Jews, seeming to have a heart to obey, even said

Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee...
Jeremiah 42:6

So Jeremiah besought the LORD for the Jews in Jerusalem, and came back with the response:

The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remant of Judah: Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.
Jeremiah 42:19
And it came to pass, [that] when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, [even] all these words, Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there: Jeremiah 43:1-2

In other words, because they did not like what they had heard, maybe the thought of staying in Jerusalem was too difficult for them, they rebelled against Jeremiah and accused Him of prophesying falsely.

We need to be careful that we do not have this same attitude. Maybe we think, concerning divorce and remarriage, we will obey whatever God has for us. But when we find out that it may be God's desire for some of us to remain unmarried for the rest of our life, maybe to never have a family, then our true hearts will be revealed. Then we may seek to justify a "different doctrinal position", to say "that's not really what God meant".

2. you must not come to justify yourselves before men

Others will come with hardened hearts, seeking to justify themselves before men. In response the Pharisees derision about covetousness, Jesus answers:

Ye are those which justify yourselves before men;
but God knoweth your hearts
Luke 16:15a

3. You must not come with a hardened heart

When the Pharisees questioned Jesus about Moses divorcement decree, Jesus answers:

...Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
Matthew 19:8

If anyone uses the Matthew 19:9 "exception" to put away their spouse, so that they can remarry, they publicly reveal the hardness of their heart towards God. If someone has a heart willing to do God's will, he or she would see God's intention for marriage in Matthew 19:5-6, and would realize that Matthew 19:9 has nothing to do with those who are under the covenant of grace.

For sin shall not have dominion over you:
for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Romans 6:14

biyn.org/divorce - Love worketh no ill to his neighbor