The Dilema Of Divorce

In the early days of the Old Catholic Church which evolved from the First Century Apostolic Church,

the Pope alone could grant permission for remariage after a divorce, and excommunication from the church was the penalty (and still is) for Catholics who remarry without such permission.

History recalls the example of King Henry VIII who attempted to divorce his first wife Katherine

in order to marry Anne Bolen. The Pope’s refusal to allow it caused Henry to sever national ties with

Rome and the founding of the Church of England.

However, even this "new" church which was much more tolerant concerning questions of divorce, retained the right of the British Parliament to license remarriage following a divorce.

Today divorce and remarriage have evolved from regulation by the Church to civil matters governed

by law, and people are pretty much free to do as

they wish regarding the matter, with even judges and some public officials empowered to solemnize marriages.

But as previously stated, the problem of reconciling remarriage after a divorce under the law of the land with the teachings of Jesus Christ, leaves many Christian people in sort of a spiritual limbo - especially those who are active Christians. The situations and circumstances are too numerous in scope to address, but there are a number of Biblical guidelines which I believe are applicable to all Christian believers: First, to the believer who has been divorced and later has remarried and is seeking to live a life which is pleasing to Christ; Second, to the believer who has been divorced and is considering remarriage; and Third, to the believer who has been an innocent victim of divorce and feels he or she must remain single to avoid the sin of adultery.

And let me quickly interject a thought here as well:

people who are victims of divorce many times are some of the most-hurting people in the world.

They are well-aware of their sin and failures, and need the love, understanding, and compassion of the

church as well as the consolation of Christian people, and not our jugdements nor our condemnation.

In the next few minutes we are going to look into God’s Word and attempt to answer some very pertinent quesitons concerning divorce and remarriage. A few of us may be surprised at what Scripture has to say on the subject, but hopefully the eyes and hearts of all of us will be opened by what we find today: First Scripture declares in Malachi 2:16 that God hates divorce and both divorce and adultery are sin in His eyes..............there is no getting around this fact! Nor, do we have any intention of trying

to do so. Secondarily, and more important, nowhere in all the Bible are either of these failures on the part of people referred to as the "second unpardonable sin"

The key to forgiveness of the sin of divorce as well as the sin of adultery is the same as it is for all other sin: And that, very simply stated, is through acknowledgement of that sin, and confessing it before God, then earnestly repenting of that sin and asking forgiveness in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.