OceanSide church of Christ
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WHO MAY LAWFULLY REMARRY?
Victor M.
Eskew
The institution of marriage is of divine origin. It was God who solved man’s problem of
loneliness by creating woman and establishing the marriage bond. “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to
fall upon Adam, and he slept: and
he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib,
which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the
man. And Adam said, This is now
bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh:
she shall be called
Woman, because she was taken out of
God’s ultimate will for a man and a woman who are joined in holy wedlock
is for both of them to remain together until death takes one of them. Jesus emphasized this in His discussion
with the Jews regarding divorce.
“The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is
it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have
ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall
cleave to his wife, and they shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but
one flesh. What therefore God hath
joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matt. 19:3-6).
Sadly, many do not regard the institution of marriage as holy. Day in and day out, thousands in the
Dear readers, there are only two categories of people who are free to
remarry once they have entered into a lawful marriage in the sight of God. First, if a person’s mate has died, he
is free to remarry without committing adultery. Romans 7:2 is clear: “…but if her husband be dead, she is
loosed from the law of her husband.”
The death of one spouse brings the marriage bond to an end. The widow or widower is free to
remarry. In fact, Paul encouraged
younger widows to remarry in I Timothy 5:14.
Second, those who have divorced their mate because their mate committed
fornication are free to remarry.
This exception was granted by Jesus during His earthly ministry. “And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put
away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth
adultery: and whoso marrieth her
which is put away doth commit adultery” (Matt. 19:9). There is no doubt that many in our
society have had a scriptural reason to divorce and remarry. Unfaithfulness, sexual immorality,
fornication is a prevalent sin committed in marriage today. However, multitudes divorce and remarry
when no fornication has been committed by the spouse. Those who enter into these second
marriages are in adultery. The
Bible is clear about the fate of such individuals. They shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven (I Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21).
The church has been far too silent on this issue. Due to our neglect or fear, we have
enabled members of the church to enter adulterous relationships. This should not be! Precious souls are at stake. The fires of hell are too hot for a few
years of pleasure on this earth. My
friends, let us abide by God’s divine law concerning divorce and
remarriage.