Questions about divorce and remarriage have come up many times and there isn’t always a “pat answer.” Many church leaders believe that no matter what the circumstances may be an adulterer is NOT free to remarry. They believe Romans 7:2-3 teaches that only the DEATH of your spouse gives one the freedom to remarry. That passage reads: “For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband AS LONG AS HE LIVES. But if the husband DIES, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.” In this view, even though your marriage ended in divorce, you are not free to marry until your ex-wife dies. Other church leaders believe that the Lord’s words in Matthew 19:9 permit the “innocent party” to remarry, for Jesus said, “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, EXCEPT FOR IMMORALITY, and marries another, committed adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” The “innocent spouse” has the option to divorce their “guilty spouse,” for in the eyes of the Lord “intercourse with another woman” (or “intercourse with another man”) is a “new union” of a man and woman is grounds for divorce.

These are the two leading views but there is another view that deserves to be considered, and your specific circumstances fit into this view. When a man or woman is unsaved and are guilty of adultery and divorce, their conversion to Christ makes them a “new person in Christ.” We read of this in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW CREATION; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” In the eyes of God, when we become born again, we are in a brand-new POSITION before Him. All our sins have been forgiven and removed out of his sight (including adultery). Here are a few verses that teach us this:

“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from ALL SIN” (1 John 1:7).

“I write to you, little children, because YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN for His name’s sake” (1 John 2:13).

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

All our sins were laid on Christ (Isaiah 53:5-6) and He “bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). Again, this is “how God sees us”; He sees us “in Christ,” in all the value of His finished work on the cross where He “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26). This means the believer has a “fresh start” with this “new life in Christ” (see also 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

Yet even though you are now a “new creation in Christ,” there are still things for you to consider. If you do remarry, it should be to “another believer” (see 2 Corinthians 6:14-15) who is “subject to the Lord in their life” (see 1 Corinthians 7:39c, d). There is also the possibility of being “reconciled to your former spouse” if they too are a believer. Of course, they would have to be willing to forgive you for your act of adultery that caused your marriage to end. Though God has forgiven you, there must be forgiveness by the innocent party for a true reconciliation to take place.  (DO)  (739.5)