Article - Do Not Separate A God-Joined Marriage! (part 1)
The idea for the title of this article is taken from the commandment that Jesus made in Matthew 19:6. Simply put, you must not divorce your spouse and your spouse must not divorce you! Further, you must not try to encourage another scripturally married couple to get a divorce. All such practice is a clear violation of what Jesus commanded; and if you love Jesus and want to go to heaven, then you will keep His commandments (John 14:15). You might say, “But what if I have already divorced him or he has already divorced me?” If the reason for the divorce was not fornication, then you must repent of your sin (and be baptized if you are not a Christian, Acts 2:38) and “remain unmarried or be reconciled” to your former spouse (1 Corinthians 7:10-11). You ask, “What if fornication was involved?” If you were not guilty of fornication, you may remain unmarried or marry another (so long as that person has never been married, or has been widowed or, like you, has put his/her mate away because of his/her mate’s fornication, Romans 7:3). You ask, “What if I was the one put away because of my fornication?” You must remain unmarried; otherwise, if you marry another, you continue to commit adultery and you cause the one you married to continue to commit adultery (Matthew 19:9, “commit(s) adultery is present tense in the Greek emphasizing a continuous action of adultery; “eunuch” in Matthew 19:12 refers to remaining unmarried). No fornicator or adulterer will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). When Jesus said, “Do not separate,” He meant it!
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