Matthew 19:4-9, 1 Corinthians 7:15, Malachi 2:16
A Question Jesus Was Asked
The Pharisees came to Jesus with a test question: "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" (Matthew 19:3). This was a live debate among Jewish teachers of the day. Jesus' answer went behind the controversy to the beginning.
God's Original Design
Jesus' response to the divorce question was to redirect attention to creation: "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?" (Matthew 19:4-5).
God's original design was a permanent, exclusive, one-flesh union. "What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." (Matthew 19:6). Divorce is a departure from God's design — a concession to human hardness of heart (Matthew 19:8), not a feature of God's original intention.
The Exceptions
Jesus' teaching on divorce includes what is often called the "exception clause":
And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery. — Matthew 19:9
Sexual immorality (porneia) — the persistent, unrepentant breaking of the sexual covenant — is the exception Jesus permits for divorce.
Paul adds a second ground in 1 Corinthians 7:15: if an unbelieving spouse abandons a believing spouse, the believer is "not enslaved" — the marriage bond may be considered broken by the desertion.
Divorce Is Never Required
It is important to note that even where divorce is permitted, it is never required. Forgiveness, reconciliation, and the restoration of the marriage is always the higher path where possible. The exception permits divorce in cases of sexual immorality — it does not command it.
Remarriage
Whether divorced people may remarry is a question on which sincere Christians hold different positions. The stricter view holds that remarriage is only permissible after the death of a spouse. The more common evangelical view holds that remarriage is permissible where a divorce was for biblical grounds (sexual immorality or abandonment).
Grace for the Divorced
Whatever the biblical conclusions on divorce, the church must hold them with pastoral grace. Many people come to faith carrying the weight of failed marriages. The God who forgives all sin offers complete grace and a fresh start to every person — including those whose marriages have ended.