I think it would be good to start with the realization that to marry someone just so you can have sex, is a terrible reason to marry.  That would certainly be a relationship that is destined for failure.  To marry solely for personal pleasure would be to marry someone just to use them to satisfy yourself.  Now, let’s look into what we learn from 1 Corinthians 7:7-9, “Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each has his own gift from God, one in this way, and another in that.  But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.  But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” (NASB).

The Apostle Paul, who never married (1 Corinthians 9:5), was speaking to “the unmarried and to widows” in Corinth.  His desire was that all that were then in the church of Corinth were like him…unmarried.  This was in reference to the conditions surrounding believing people in what Paul refers to the ‘present distress.’ (1 Corinthians 7:26). He was speaking of the persecution the young church was going through because at that time, they were being subjected to trials so severe that to marry would also subject one’s wife and children to persecution as well.  It never could be Paul’s intent that marriage would completely cease, nor could it be his intent that the Church should always be composed of single people.  This would have been just as irrational; but since the Church was then in great difficulties, it was much better for its single members not to burden themselves with domestic partners unless one was definitely led of the Lord to get married.

Of course, it was never meant that everyone should abstain from marriage.  This was not God’s pattern for mankind, and there are many that cannot and should not refrain from marrying.  The Lord Jesus, Himself, said in Matthew 19:10-12, “His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”  There are some who were not made for marriage, there are those who would become unable to have a relationship with a wife because of castration, and there are those who will abstain from marriage so they can be free to better serve the Lord.  However, the largest portion of people are not in this situation and cannot live their lives as single, unmarried people.

When Paul writes that “it is better to marry than to burn with passion,” he is not advising any to marry for the singular purpose of having sex.  I believe the proper thought here is that if someone does have a undeniable sex drive, he/she is not intended to live alone.  They should marry, as the Lord leads, and live happy and productive lives for the Lord.  To deny one’s physical needs for a relationship would only cause them to burn with passion.  With this in mind, Paul goes on to write in 1 Corinthians 7:28, “But and if thou marry, THOU HAST NOT SINNED; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.” 

With that said, we can look at your good question and consider if this principle (it is better to marry than to burn with passion) would apply to someone after they married and then were divorced.  Notice again that this portion is written to “the unmarried and to widows.”  If a man should wrongfully divorce his wife, in the eyes of the Lord, he is not permitted to marry again.  If a woman should wrongfully divorce her husband, in the eyes of the Lord, she is not permitted to marry again.  In the times we live in, divorce is granted for practically any reason, or for no reason at all.  The Lord Jesus instructs us in Matthew 19:9, “And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.”  Unless there is unfaithfulness in the marriage, divorce and remarriage is not permitted according to God’s Word.  Strong words…but these are the words of the Lord and should be heeded completely.  Of course, one who is widowed is certainly allowed to remarry, but “only in the Lord” as we read in 1 Corinthians 7:39.  (CC)  (729.6)