Topical Sermons - Executable Outlines

a. It covers one’s garment with violence
b. It treats one’s spouse with treachery
-- In the words of God Himself, divorce is a violent and treacherous act; to which
many innocent spouses and the children of divorce can testify!
Mark A. Copeland
[Christians do well to seriously consider these words in the OT (cf. Ro 15:4; 2 Ti 3:16-17). Even more
so, they should pay careful heed to what God has said about divorce...]
II. AS REVEALED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
A. IN THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST...
1. Note carefully Mt 5:31-32
a. Many scribes and Pharisees taught that divorce was permissible for any reason, as long
as a certificate of divorce was granted
b. Jesus taught that divorce led to adultery, unless fornication was the cause of divorce
2. Note carefully Mt 19:3-9 (cf. Mk 10:11-12; Lk 16:18)
a. The Pharisees thought that divorce was permissible, as long as a certificate of divorce
was granted
b. Jesus first explained that Moses’ permitted divorce because of the hardness of their
hearts, but it was not God’s will from the beginning (of creation)
c. Jesus then provides the only ground for divorce without it leading to adultery: if the
innocent spouse puts away his or her spouse for fornication - Mt 19:9
-- Jesus allows only one reason for divorce: when a spouse is guilty of fornication!
B. IN THE EPISTLES OF PAUL...
1. Note carefully Ro 7:1-4
a. Here Paul is using what the Law taught on marriage for the purpose of illustration
b. Even the Law taught that a woman was bound to her husband for life
c. Even if she legally divorced her husband, she became an adulteress when she remarried
2. Note carefully 1 Co 7:10-16
a. Paul reminds them of what the Lord Himself taught - 1 Co 7:10-11
1) A wife is not to depart her husband; a husband is not to divorce his wife
2) If a wife leaves her husband, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled
b. Paul reveals more concerning marriages with unbelievers - 1 Co 7:12-16
1) Believers are not to divorce unbelieving spouses if they are willing to live with them
2) If unbelieving spouses depart, believers are not in bondage (to fulfill their marital
obligations, in my opinion)
-- Paul reinforced Jesus’ teaching on divorce, and permitted separation only when
initiated by an unbeliever!
CONCLUSION
1. From what we have briefly considered, the following can be gleaned...
a. God intends for marriage to be for life
b. God hates divorce, for it is a violent and treacherous act
c. He does not release the married from their marriage simply because they get a divorce
d. Unless divorce is for the grounds of fornication, any remarriage results in adultery!
-- And we do well to remember what is said about fornicators and adulterers - He 13:4
Topical Sermons 138