Is remarriage after divorce always adultery? | GotQuestion.org

Divorce, Remarriage, and the Biblical Exception Clause

Is remarriage after divorce always adultery? We're going to answer that question. You can also discover more on GotQuestions .org. Before we even begin to answer this question, let us reiterate. God hates divorce.

The pain, confusion, and frustration most people experience after a divorce are surely part of his reasoning. Even more difficult, biblically, than the question of divorce is the question of remarriage.

The vast majority of people who divorce either remarry or consider getting remarried. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife except for marital unfaithfulness and marries another woman commits adultery.

This scripture clearly states that remarriage after a divorce is adultery except in the instance of marital unfaithfulness. In regards to this exception clause and its implications, please read the articles linked in the description below.

When Divorce and Remarriage Are Not Treated as Adultery

It is our view that in certain instances a person is allowed to divorce and remarry without being guilty of adultery. A person whose spouse commits adultery, for example, and a believer whose unbelieving spouse abandons the marriage.

We are not saying that a person under such circumstances should remarry. The Bible's instructions to divorced people is to be single or reconcile. At the same time, it is our view that God offers his mercy and grace to the innocent party in a divorce and allows that person to remarry.

A person who gets a divorce for a reason other than the reasons listed and then gets remarried has committed adultery. The question then becomes, is this remarriage an act of adultery or a state of adultery?

The present tense of the Greek can indicate a continuous state of adultery. At the same time, the present tense in the Greek does not always indicate continuous action. Sometimes it simply means that something occurred.

For example, the word divorces in Matthew 5 32 is present tense, but divorcing is not a continual action. It is our view that remarriage, no matter the circumstances, is not a continual state of adultery.

Only the act of getting remarried itself is adultery. In the Old Testament law, the punishment for adultery was death. At the same time, Deuteronomy mentions remarriage after a divorce, does not call it adultery, and does not demand the death penalty for the remarried spouse.

What Scripture Says About Divorce, Adultery, and Remarriage

The Bible explicitly states that God hates divorce, but nowhere explicitly states that God hates remarriage. The Bible nowhere commands a remarried couple to divorce and does not describe the marriage as invalid.

Ending a remarriage through divorce would be just as sinful as ending the first marriage through a divorce. Both would include the breaking of vows before God, between the couple, and in front of witnesses.

No matter the circumstances, a marriage is a marriage. God does not view the new marriage as invalid or adulterous. A remarried couple should devote themselves to God and to each other and honor Him by making their new marriage a lasting and Christ-centered one.

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