Marriage Again What we are left with is marriage again. There are two circumstances where marriage again is authorized.

Marriage Again The first is after the death of your spouse. Paul writes of this. 1 Cor. 7:39 – “A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord”.

The marriage bond is broken and the surviving spouse can marry again. Marriage Again The marriage bond is broken and the surviving spouse can marry again.

Marriage Again Some want to dogmatically hold to the final four words and bind what is not bound. These want to bind the marriage of a widow to only a christian. Nowhere in the commands and examples of marriage, under Christ, is there a command that we only marry a christian. While this is the ideal it is not commanded.

Marriage Again The phrase in the Lord has the same implication that it has in other passages.

Marriage Again In Eph.6:1 Paul states, “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” The thing modified is the action, obey, and not receiver of the action, parents.

Marriage Again In Col. 3:18 Paul states, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord”. Again the action, submitting, receives the modifying of “in the Lord”.

Marriage Again This is the case then when we look again at verse 39. We see that marry receives the action of in the Lord and not the one that the widow chooses to marry.

Next we read of instructions Paul gave to Timothy. Marriage Again Next we read of instructions Paul gave to Timothy. 1 Tim. 5:11-15 – Paul gives instructions for the young widows Paul instructs Timothy to tell the widows to remarry and mentions no prohibition.

Marriage Again This passage is unique in that Paul expresses grave concerns about the young widows. He had concerns about the young widows becoming idle and busybodies so he gave expressed command for them to be married.

Marriage Again Verse 15 shows that his concerns were genuine because some had already left Christ. If Paul had wanted widows to only marry Christians then this would have been the place to reinforce this teaching, since some had already been lost to Satan.

Marriage Again Widows, widowers, can marry again as long as the one they marry has the right to be married.

Marriage Again The second is if your spouse commits fornication and you put them away. Matt. 19:9 – if you divorce for just any reason and marry again you commit adultery – the sexual relationship of marriage is implied and understood Not only do you commit adultery but you also cause your wife to commit adultery also.

Marriage Again This is the law of Christ. Jesus says that if you divorce for fornication you do not commit adultery if you marry again.

Marriage Again There are those who hold to procedure. They say you must be the one who divorces and you must divorce for fornication. The passage speaks of one who is guilty of fornication and one who is not guilty. The one who is not guilty can marry again without consequence.

Marriage Again Marriage again is summed up easily. 1. The surviving spouse can marry again as long as the prospective partner can be married. 2. The one who is not guilty of fornication can marry again without consequence.

Marriage and Divorce and Marriage Again 2 Peter 3:16 – Peter wrote of difficult things that unstable people twisting what they don’t understand to their destruction Matt. 19:10 – His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

Marriage and Divorce and Marriage Again It is only because of man that marriage, divorce and marriage again is difficult to understand. If man would read God’s word with understanding and a desire for obedience he would not misunderstand God’s will on this subject.

Marriage and Divorce and Marriage Again It is simple: God established marriage between a man and a woman and they become one flesh. They are not to be separated. Death severs the bond. God hates divorce but allows it for one reason, fornication. The surviving spouse or the one is not guilty of fornication can marry again.

Marriage and Divorce and Marriage Again It is difficult because it does not allow us to have a feeling about it. It is described by Jesus as the narrow difficult way that leads to life. What is required of us is that we accept this part of God’s word just as we accept the rest of His word.