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Isiah Gates
9/11/12
Is Adultery Grounds For Divorce?
The Lord Jesus Christ says in Matthew 19:9 “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.
This particular passage has given many Christians the flux because they tend to misinterpret fornication as adultery. But if you take the passage in context, along with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it is clear that this interpretation is fallacious.
Fornication is defined as consenting sex involving someone unmarried. This, not adultery, the sole ground for divorce.
One problem many people have with this passage of scripture is that they forget to cross-reference it with other scripture and biblical truths. Adultery is a sin that is committed by a married individual. Therefore, a married man or woman cannot commit fornication. “Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” (Matt. 19:6). From the time of marriage, God sees the two parties as one body, one flesh. Therefore, if a man or woman cheats, they commit adultery, not fornication. And they commit it on behalf of both themselves, as well as their spouse because they are now one.
In this passage of scripture, the Lord was referring to the fact that women would deceive a man into believing that they were virgins, because men would not marry them otherwise. Those men would find out after they had already taken their vows. This trickery is grounds for divorce because it voids the vows that were made; you are not who you said you were, neither are you who I understood you to be. Therefore, our agreement is null and void.
What we have to understand is, our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8, Mal. 3:6). When He makes a covenant, He does not break it (Ps. 89:34, Lev. 26:44). And we know marriage to be a covenant (Mal. 2:14) between one man, one woman, and the Living God.
For men and women to give up on a life-long agreement that they’ve with the person that they themselves chose is not biblical. And God does not support it.
Could we imagine where we would be if God were to forsake the Covenant that we have with Him through the blood of Jesus Christ?
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