The So-Called Exception Clauses For Divorce Part 1

# 449 - Today's Living Word comes from Mr 7:21-23 “"For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, etc, "All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

Adultery. An evil thing. According to Scripture, adultery is committed every time a divorcee remarries while the original spouse is still alive. Mt 19:9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, COMMITS ADULTERY; and whoever marries her who is divorced COMMITS ADULTERY."

“But what about the “exceptions.”? A fair question, let's look at the so called exceptions which the church for the most part has adopted through the years because of expediency and compromise, and quite frankly, a refusal to think the matter through.

The two exceptions for divorce most commonly noted are in cases of desertion and adultery. Now, these are very terrible sins, but are they grounds for divorce?

Let's begin with the exception of adultery which is often quoted in Matthew 5:32, "But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason EXCEPT SEXUAL IMMORALITY causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery, and in Mt 19:9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, EXCEPT FOR SEXUAL IMMORALITY, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."

THINK about what's being said here!

First of all, to accept the premise that divorce is allowable for the sin of adultery is to basically allow for all divorces because as Jesus stated in Mt 5:28 "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Adultery is committed just by looking at another with lustful intent.

Do you really believe then that Jesus would allow adultery as grounds for divorce?

Picture Jesus as the judge in such a divorce case. “Well your Honor according to Your Law, man is not allowed to separate what You have joined together. (Mt 19:6) However, according to my interpretation of Your Law concerning divorce. You must grant my request for a divorce because You have allowed for the ending of a marriage due to the sin of adultery. Since Your law also defines adultery as just looking at someone else with lust, You therefore must grant me this divorce because I caught my spouse ogling another person.”

Is Jesus this kind of ambivalent Lawmaker? Is our God a God of loopholes? I think not.

To allow for such an exception would open up the floodgates of divorce because most all of us are guilty of this sin of lustful looking at one time or another. Would any marriage be safe? It would be “all fault” divorce instead of “no fault.”

If marriage is this “holy institution that God loves,” (Mal 2:11) then Jesus must be speaking of something else here in this so called exception clause! We'll dig a little deeper next time.

I'm Duane Matz and that's Today's Living Word.