"Look at the legalized adultery we call divorce.
Men marry one wife after another and are still admitted into good
society; and women do likewise. There are thousands of supposedly
respectable men in American living with other men's wives, and thousands
of supposedly respectable women living with other women's husbands."
- R. A. Torrey From R.A. Torrey's book How to Pray, pages 94-95
R.A. Torrey (1856-1928) was a very well-known Christian writer,
evangelist, pastor, graduate of Yale University, and was also the
superintendent of Moody Bible Institute for 19 years.
TRINITY BARS THE
DIVORCED.; No Remarriage in the Church or Any of the Chapels.
The clergy of Trinity Church announced yesterday that under no
circumstances will divorced persons be married by any of the clergy of
that Episcopal parish, nor will such marriages be permitted either in
the church at Wall Street and Broadway or in any one of the parish's
eight chapels. The announcement was as follows:
View full article New York Times
December 7, 1904, Wednesday
Comment/question
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though
we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new
has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through
Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was
reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins
against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his
appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to
God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we
might become the righteousness of God.
Response
Regeneration does not do away with family relationships............one's
covenant spouse is still their covenant spouse, one's children are still
their children.........if, when we come to Christ, we are in illicit
relationships, our conversion does not turn those illicit relationships
into lawful ones.........If we are in adulterous unions (whether
extramaritally or through a remarriage) we repent when we see that sin
for what it is. If we are in relationships where we are fornicating,
becoming regenerated does not change the fornication into a lawful
relationship, stopping the sin is evidence of true repentance.
Let's turn our attention to the person who has faith
toward God, since this is what we are discussing. If a born-again
believer does have faith in God, yet because of circumstances
beyond their control, such as a second marriage before coming to Christ.
Or even after. Are they still in the sin of adultery? This contradicts
the "new creature" doctrine. True, the Christian who has read the
scriptures and understood it coming to the knowledge of the truth,
has no more sacrifice for sins, as we are shown in Hebrew 10:26. But I
don't believe that such a true Christian will repeat the same sin again,
knowing that if they would marry after a divorce they commit adultery.
Again, I stand by what the scriptures tell me...Once we are a new
creation in Christ, all things are new. If we are divorced before
coming to Christ, and then remarry after coming to Christ, then we are
not at fault nor at sin, since now we have faith in Christ, as before we
did not. To say that a second marriage (remarriage) is adultery after
becoming born again is to judge wrongly.
Response
If all things are "new", then they are new for all who are
in illicit relationships in the Lord's sight and come to Christ. Do you
really believe that or do you believe it only pertains to the type of
adultery that occurs when one marries another person's spouse?
Comment/question
We are born again and not dead and buried.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new..
Response
Nowhere in scripture will you find that God dissolves the one flesh HE
joined together due to the "new birth". Our previous SINS(the guilt in
God's eyes) are what have passed away (though maybe not the
repercussions of those sins). Lawful marriage is not a sin to be
repented of/washed away. Divorce is a sin and remarriage is a sin. Those
need repentance and forsaking.
If we become born again, we cannot continue to commit adultery,
fornication, homosexuality, etc. When we become born again and those
sins are made clear to us, we leave that lifestyles. We do not confess
our guilt, then return to the sin.
Comment/question
Exactly! we do not return to all our former sinful ways and it is dead
and buried never to be dig out of the grave. We are a new creation and
you can't dig out the dead for they must be rotten stink if you dig out
your old ways. We are made new in Christ Jesus!
Response
I
don't think you are understanding me (name deleted). If we are born
again and have repented of our adulteries, fornications, homosexual
relationships, we do not then go back into those SAME relationships,
believing somehow our salvation changed the nature of those
relationships. What the Lord declares is adultery does not magically
turn into a marriage God joined together as One flesh. The person who is
committing adultery prior to being born again is committing adultery
because GOD sees them as joined to another. Conversion doesn't change
that...........at least I can't find any passages that show God
dissolving the marriage He joined together, and then joining the two He
says are committing adultery together----once a person gets born again.
Comment/question
We do not confess
our guilt, then return to the sin.
We do not return to our former sinful ways! It is dead and buried
period. We have a new life in Christ Jesus! Amen!!!
Response
The
"new" life is that we confess that we are married in God's sight to
another, not the one God says we are committing adultery with.
Comment/question
So
what does one do after admitting this?
Response
They
stop committing adultery with the one God has said they were committing
adultery with.
Comment/question
So
what do you mean by this?
Do you go and have a divorce or do you create a sexless marriage?
Creating a sexless marriage would be sin as well. 1Cor 7 speaks of the
fact that we are suppose to look after our spouses sexual needs. That we
are not to deny. Unless you get divorced you are still married and again
would be going against the word of God and breaking your vows.
Response
If the
Lord says one is committing adultery when they marry someone, that tells
me that He did not join those two as One---hence it is adultery to have
relations with that person. In the same vein, it would NOT be sin not to
have relations with that person as God does not view them as the lawful
spouse, but a person one was committing adultery with.
Comment/question
First,
you said you don't believe in forgetting the past and going forward?
Well, what did Apostle Paul say, "this one thing I do, forgetting what
is behind, I press on toward the mark of the high calling in Christ
Jesus." Pretty clear, I think. It is the very definition of FAITH to
believe for that is yet unseen-- to see a bright future that God has
already planned.
Response
Absolutely correct, but the other half of the ONE is still part of the
picture for God's Future for anyone who is physically separated due to
sin. When I say I am not in favor of moving on, it is in regards to
getting a "new" husband/wife, because the Word of God, to me, is quite
clear that it is adultery, for the "guilty" party as well as the
"innocent" party. It is not in regards to one's growth in the faith. We
are called to continue seeking GOD's KINGDOM----through our trials,
whether they be marital, children, physical disabilities, finances, etc.
Comment/question
What about people who divorce before they get saved? They
can't get saved and meet a nice Christian gal at church?
Response
Concerning marriages contracted prior to salvation, does
God only join Christians in marriage---all others who "marry" are in
actuality fornicating? If God joins the unsaved as well as the saved,
which I believe is support by scripture, do we find that salvation then
dissolves the marriages God joined together----allowing one to marry a
different person? Does salvation also nullify our relationships as
parents, siblings, children, etc? Does the passage: "all things have
become new" mean that I no longer have children, or parents, etc?
See Also Divorce & Remarriage Before Salvation
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A Preacher's Repentance From Adulterous Remarriage.
The Testimony of J.M Humphrey
Tony Sexton's Repentance From Remarriage Adultery
More Testimonies of Repentance From Adulterous Remarriage & Messages of Encouragement
Frequently Asked Questions, Comment, Arguments About Marriage Divorce & Remarriage
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A
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Theological Foundations
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are standing for their covenant marriages and for those who
have repented of adulterous remarriages.
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Critique
of David Instone-Brewer on Divorce
By Dr. Leslie McFall
Former lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament. Now a full-time researcher in
Biblical Studies.
Former Research Fellow at Tyndale House Library (Cambridge, England).
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