Divorce and Remarriage and the Pastor

# 79 Today's Prime Time Devo comes from: 1Ti 3:2 A bishop (pastor) then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, (1 Tim 3:2) We have been addressing the matter of the sin of adultery and those who would seek to serve as pastors. A line has been drawn in the sand, and those who have converted to Christianity and therefore have left the culture of sexual promiscuity must leave that lifestyle behind! NO MORE ADULTERY OR UNCHASTE SEXUAL BEHAVIOR FOR FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST! But adultery, by biblical definitions, shows up in many different forms. Unfaithfulness to one's spouse being the most obvious and then the not so obvious admonition from Jesus 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.” The biblical sin of adultery is also linked to divorce and remarriage. Jesus says in Mr 10:11, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And in Lu 16:18 "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.” And in Ro 7:3 we read, “So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.” No wonder the marriage vow typically states “till death do us part,” and no wonder Jesus says in Mr 10:9 "Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." What are we to do with divorce so rampant in the church? First of all, many times divorces are obtained due to past cultural influence and ignorance of what the Bible has to say about it, much as the cases involved in the days of Timothy and Paul. What did the people in these early churches do? They likely confessed their sin and then drew the line in the sand that said: NO MORE ADULTERY OR UNCHASTE SEXUAL BEHAVIOR FOR FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST! How does this matter of divorce and remarriage apply to modern day pastors? I think that's a question that needs to be prayerfully answered by the congregation who is calling the pastoral candidate to serve them. As in all things, search the Scriptures and pray, then follow the course of action as indicated by the Holy Spirit.