CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE (Part 4)

CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE (Part 4)

Qualifications for remarriage after divorce

(a) If the divorce was unbiblical, remarriage may not take place unless:

     (1) Your former spouse has died.

     (2) Your former spouse has remarried.

(b) If the divorce was biblical, remarriage should not take place if reconciliation is possible. If your former spouse is a believer, then the Scripture calls you to reconcile. But there may be times when it is impossible.

      (1) Reconciliation is impossible if your former spouse is an unbeliever.

      (2) Reconciliation is impossible if your former spouse has remarried.

      (3) Reconciliation is impossible if your former spouse has died.

      (4) Reconciliation is impossible if your former spouse desires to remain in an adulterous relationship, after granting him/her adequate space for repentance.

(c) The other person must be biblically qualified to marry you

      (1) He/ She must be a believer (2 Co 6:14).

 (2) If there is divorce in their background, it must have been biblical and they must have properly exhausted the possibility of reconciliation.

(d) When is remarriage prohibited?

    (1) When the divorce was unbiblical (1 Cor. 7:11)

    (2) When the legitimate possibility of reconciliation remains (1 Cor. 7:11)

Conclusion

In marriage, it is often said that "opposites attract". This attraction comes from needs and weaknesses that the other party is able to fulfill. If we enter into covenant with someone who has the same strengths as we do, we gain nothing by the covenant. This requires taking time to know your covenant partner. Before two parties could enter this covenant, a lot of talking had to be done. You couldn't just jump into a covenant.

To be able to fulfill the covenant relationship, you had to really know the other person. What their needs are, their likes and dislikes, and even how they did things. Most of all, it is important to make sure that your beliefs agreed. If one followed Jehovah, and the other Baal, then there isn't any common ground. How can you expect God to bless any relationship that is "unequally yoked" (2Corin. 6:14-18)?

Since marriage is a covenant, it must operate in love (1Corin. 13 kjv). It is only when we begin to show love to our spouses that we begin to fulfill the terms of that covenant. We must die to self, just as Jesus did and allow God's love to show through us in our marriage. Amen!