I love your website, I have learned so much. I appreciate the way you are able to make sense out of the whole word of God, as some of us less qualified are often left with the feeling that Gods’ word is contradicting itself.
I have been saved since I was a small child. My mother helped me know the love of Jesus at 3 years of age. I have been studying OSAS and it gives me the freedom that I’ve never experienced since I was raised in the Church Of Christ.( Works)
Though I don’t go there anymore I still have a question that I need help on. I have read all you have on divorce, and remarriage, and I would appreciate your comments on 1 Cor. 7:10,11 where if a woman does leave her husband she is to remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. Does this apply to men as well? My Christian wife divorced me 7 years ago, and I remarried an unsaved woman who is new to the faith but loves it. I would not want to miss the rapture for anything.
Paul’s position on divorce as stated in 1 Cor. 7:10-11 is consistent with the Lord’s commandment in Matt 5:31-32. Divorce for any reason other than marital unfaithfulness is a violation of God’s commandment. To avoid committing adultery, those who do get divorced are to remain unmarried. This makes re-marriage by either party a sin.
That said, notice that in Matt. 5 the context is sin, and the Lord’s point is that keeping the Law doesn’t make us sin free. Even the Pharisees couldn’t keep the Law to God’s standards (vs. 20). It’s a sin to be angry with someone because it’s like committing murder in our heart. (vs. 21-26) It’s a sin to look lustfully at another person because it’s like committing adultery in our heart. (vs.27-30) It’s a sin to get a divorce even if you obtain a certificate (vs. 31-32). It’s a sin to break an oath (vs. 33-36) to seek retaliation for injustice (vs. 37-42), and to hate our enemies (vs. 43-48). He ended the chapter by saying that we need to be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect in order to enter His Kingdom.
We all commit one or more of these sins whether we keep the law or not, so He was trying to convince his audience of their need for a Savior who could make them perfect. (In 2 Cor. 5:21 Paul wrote that when Jesus died for our sins, He enabled God to see us as being as righteous as He is.)
Nowhere is divorce said to be a greater sin than all others, and nowhere is divorce said to be unforgivable. When Jesus went to the cross He took all the sins of your life, past, present and future and paid the price for them in full. If you’ve accepted that, then you are totally forgiven and nothing can keep you from the Rapture.