What does Matthew 5:32 mean?
Listen: 100 Question 6
Let’s read Matthew 5:31-32, “It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.” Now, let’s compare this portion with Matthew 19:9, where the Lord goes into more detail about divorce and remarriage. That says, “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.” We can see that even in the Lord’s time on earth that divorce was being handled casually. The Lord taught against this very sternly and exact. If a man puts away, or divorces his wife for no reason and remarries, he is committing adultery. Not only that, but he causes his wife to commit adultery when she is tempted by other men. So many times, a woman may remarry for the security of a relationship, even though she is still, in the eyes of the Lord, married to another man.
What should a woman do if her husband leaves her, or causes her to leave? We read in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, “And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.” The instruction here is that the wife is to remain unmarried or to be reconciled. What if the husband has no desire to reconcile, or if he has already remarried? I suppose at this point we might consider 1 Corinthians 7:15 which says, “…let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases…”
God hates divorce. Malachi 2:16 says, “For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away…” We live in a time where divorce is so common that it is considered appropriate for most any reason. This is so dishonoring to the Lord. People have asked me, “Does God really want me to live the rest of my life in an unhappy marriage?” Or, “Does the Lord want me to stay in an abusive relationship?” Or, “How can I stay in a marriage where there is no love?” It is so, so important that before you consider marriage, that you are certain that this person is the one the Lord wants you to marry. You need to be totally committed to following the Lord together with your partner before marrying him or her. You need to seriously consider the vows you make before the Lord when you get married. People today may not take these vows very seriously, but the Lord does. “Until death do us part” is a promise made in every wedding I’ve ever performed or witnessed.
In the USA, the divorce rate among Christians today is about the same as among those that are not saved. This is such a dishonor to the Lord. May we all take our marriage vows seriously. May we work tirelessly to ensure the success of our marriage. I often say that married couples should fight regularly. However, they should not fight each other; they should fight together to make their marriages happy, productive, and honoring to the Lord. (100.6)