“If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?”
Read MorePornography is a prevalent immoral problem in our world. It can be found in magazines (Playboy), videos, movies, and the internet. It is so easily accessible and a person can remain anonymous while engaging in it. It exploits men, women, and children. When you view pornography, you are viewing someone who was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26, 27) and how you mistreat the creation is how you also will mistreat the Creator since we all resemble His image.
Read MoreSome people have argued that the four gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) should not be considered a part of the new covenant. The underlying reason for teaching this false doctrine is to take away the binding force of Matthew 19:9 on marriage, divorce, and remarriage.
Read MoreThis question springs up from the context of 1 Corinthians 7:1-5 and, in particular, the whole chapter. This passage is dealing with questions from the Corinthian brethren that Paul answers. In this historical context, there was a “present distress” [a period of adversity] that was occurring at that time (1 Corinthians 7:26) and Paul was sharing his inspired wisdom on what to do.
Read MoreThis question is what would be known as a complex question because it can be answered both “yes” and “no”.
Read More1 Corinthians 7:27,28 states: “Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you.”
Read MoreThe only scriptural reason given by Jesus whereby an “innocent party” in a God-joined marriage can divorce and remarry is “for fornication” (Matthew 19:9; 5:32). Lust (what some call “spiritual adultery”) is not the same act as fornication (one is mental the other is physical/fleshly, 1 Corinthians 6:18; Ephesians 2:3). Compare the following verses with each other to rightly divide God’s word between literal versus figurative speech:
Read MoreThe only “marital law” broken that authorizes the “innocent party” in a God-joined marriage to divorce is when the “guilty party” commits fornication (whether it be with same sex, opposite sex or animal, Matthew 19:9; 5:32)
Read MoreGod has given responsibilities and obligations to be carried out by husbands and wives (see Ephesians 5:22-33). Although a husband may stop “loving” his wife or a wife may stop “submitting to” her husband, this does not mean that the marriage is no longer a marriage.
Read MoreMatthew 5:31,32: “Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except fornication causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.”
Read MoreMark 10:11,12 states: “So He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’”
Read More1 Corinthians 7:12-15: “But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise, your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?”
Read MoreThis is a false doctrine that contains a lot of “baggage.” We must sort this question out in the proper way according to biblical authority (Colossians 3:17). The way we would reconstruct the false teacher's syllogism would look something like this:
Read MoreThere are some cases where a person scripturally marries but then discovers that his/her spouse had committed fornication prior to them getting married. Are these types of cases included in the exception of Matthew 5:31,32 and 19:9, thus authorizing the innocent party to divorce and remarry?
Read MoreNo.
Some teach that husbands and wives have equal roles by twisting Ephesians 5:21 (which states: “submitting to one another in the fear of God”). This verse does not teach mutual submission to the exclusion of all other passages on the divine roles of men and women.
Read MorePaul is introducing a new topic based on the phrase “now concerning” (1 Corinthians 7:1,25; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1).
There are a variety of translations on this verse:
Read MoreNo.
While this act is indeed sinful and in principle is condemned by God, it does not constitute the Bible’s definition/description of fornication (Matthew 5:31,32; Matthew 19:9; also see a list of acts of fornication in Leviticus 18). Fornication must involve the physical contact of one physical body (whether male to male, male to female, female to female or human to beast) with another physical body.
Read MoreYes.
God-ordained marriage is between one male and one female for life (this has been God’s law since creation, Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:3-12; Romans 7:1-4). The Lord permitted only one reason for the divorce of a God-sanctioned marriage (fornication on the part of one of the spouses, Matthew 19:9).
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