By bro Lee Tian Seng
Divorce is legalised in many countries and there is now less stigma attached to divorce compared to the past. We see in many societies that the rate of divorce is high. Should a Christian divorce his or her spouse since the law of the country allows it? Is it something that Christians should consider since it is commonly accepted? What does the Bible have to say about divorce?
Christians are to respect the law of God over the law of the country. The Bible has shown us that we should obey God rather than men. So even if the law of the country allows a person to divorce his or her spouse, it does not make it right. God’s law is superior to man’s law.
Acts 5:29 - But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.”
We are to follow the law of God instead of what the majority of the people does, since what the majority does might not be what God accepts. Most people can accept divorce now but that does not make it right before God.
Matthew 7:13-14 - “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
What does God say about divorce? The Bible says that God hates divorce.
Malachi 2:16 - “For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”
The disciples of Jesus asked Him about divorce. He said that from the beginning God has put man and woman together in marriage and that no man should separate them.
Matthew 19:4-6 - And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Marriage is a commitment. Husband and wife should be faithful in keeping the relationship. The only way for anyone to be free from it is death, just like what the marriage vow says, “Till death do us part.” It is not just a tradition but it is also what the Bible teaches.
Romans 7:2-3 - 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 released from the law of her husband. 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.
Knowing that God expects us to be committed to our marriages, we need to work in maintaining the marriage relationship.