Marriage and Divorce (II)

This has been an extremely controversial area in the life of the church. The balance has moved basically between one end that understands that there should be no divorce under any circumstances, and the other end that understands that divorces can be allowed for multiple circumstances. On the other hand, there is an intermediate position that understands that divorce could occur under certain conditions, which are the following:

1) In case of adultery: Matthew 19: 3-9 "3 And some Pharisees came to Him to test Him, saying: Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason? 4 And he answered and said, "Have you not read that the one who created them from the beginning made THEM AND FEMALE, 5 and added:" FOR THIS REASON THE MAN WILL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND JOIN HIMSELF. TO HER WOMAN, AND THE TWO WILL BE ONE FLESH "? 6 Therefore, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has united, no man separates him. 7 They said to him, "Then why did Moses command him to give him a letter of divination and to repudiate her? 8 He said to them, Because of the hardness of your heart, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives; but it has not been like that since the beginning. 9 And I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for unfaithfulness, and marries another, commits adultery. " On this occasion the Pharisees had approached Jesus to prove it; and they were trying to prove him because they wanted to find a reason for accusation.

2) There are cases of marriages where perhaps adultery has not occurred, but if situations have occurred that require perhaps a separation with a view to the reconstruction of marriage: Not everyone agrees with this position. However, we believe that, for example, in cases of physical violence, which endangers the life of the other person, then separation may be necessary, so that the marriage can receive counseling, being separated, guaranteeing security of the spouse who had been insulted. Notice how in 1 Corinthians 7: 10-11 the apostle Paul says: "I teach the married, not me, but the Lord: that the wife should not leave the husband (but if he leaves, stay unmarried, or otherwise to be reconciled with her husband), and that the husband does not abandon his wife. " Here the apostle Paul is saying that if a believer decides to separate from his spouse then this person should remain unmarried, should not be re-married; or if you want to re-marry what you need to do is reconcile with your partner. So in cases where there has been physical abuse, or in cases where the husband, for example, has been immersed in pornography and does not want to leave pornography, we have recommended to the wife that she could be separated to get counseling separately and see if they can through a process of reconstruction redo the marriage.

3) Re-marriage is also allowed in case one of the spouses dies. And this is a position clearly established by Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:39: "The woman is bound while the husband lives; but if the husband dies, he is free to marry whomever he wishes, only in the Lord ": The phrase" in the Lord "implies that the person with whom he is to marry must be a Christian. The next verse 40 adds: "But in my opinion, it will be happier if it remains as it is; and I believe that I also have the Spirit of God. " Paul is saying that for those who have been widowed, he understands that they would be happier staying single than being remarried. And the premise is not that marriage is sinful, but as he well establishes above in verses 32 and 33: "The bachelor cares for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but the married one worries about the things of the world, about how to please his wife ". So that is the reason why he states that it is preferable to stay single in case of widowhood.