Originally posted by Craigbythesea:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Bible-boy:
This topic is always one that draws strong opinions from the various sides/interpretations. However, I know that one thing is clear. Regardless of the situation and circumstances involved in your (and your wife's) previous divorce, if you both have asked God to forgive you for any sin (known or unknown) on your part in the previous divorce, then there is no possible way that either of you is continually living in the sin of adultery. No where in the Bible are we told that adultery is some kind of an unforgivable sin and those who espouse such a thing put God in a box, limit His power, and totally discount the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
So I would say, based upon your opening statement, that you both have prayed to God asking for forgiveness. As such, it is now time for you to move on and build your marriage on the Word of God, on love, respect, and trust. Stop reliving the past and questioning what transpired. God is faithful to forgive us all our sins when we call on the name Jesus in repentance. When we ask God to forgive us of our sins, in the name of Jesus Christ, we are separated from those sins as far as the east is from the west, and God casts the memory of those sins into the sea of forgetfulness.
I am afraid that it is not as easy as that. The Bible teaches that God forgives us of our sins when we confess them and repent of them. When individuals or couples find themselves in a second marriage that is contrary to Scripture, they need to both confess their sin and repent of their sin.
Does repenting of their sin mean to divorce their present spouse? Very view people today favor that solution, but if we are to interpret the Bible literally here, I do not see any other solution. Most people, however, will concentrate on those passages in the Bible that speak of God’s love and forgiveness, and ignore those passages in the Bible that speak of repentance from sin. Homosexual “marriages” and other abominations are founded upon such reasoning.
Am I telling you that you should get a divorce from the woman that you are now married to? No, I am not, because that would cause you to break your vows to that wife, and probably do all kinds of other damage that would be sins in and of themselves. But do you have a better option? I would not want to be in your place. Sin has consequence, and those consequences can be devastating. Only God knows what you should do now that you are in your situation. I suggest that you very diligently seek the answer from Him, and do accordingly. </font>[/QUOTE]Hello Craigbythesea,
The opening post says: "I believe our sins & failures have been covered by the blood of Jesus & we BOTH have admitted our faults."
Therefore, I am assuming that BOTH parties have confessed and repented of any sin involved in their previous divorces and for entering into a second marriage in a state of adultery (if they had not confessed and repented prior to the second marriage). As such, there is no possible way that they are continually living in adultery because they have already been totally forgiven by the only one who could possibly declare them as ever having been guilty in the first place.
I fully agree that sin carries consequences. However, in this case the consequence surely is not that they must live in continual guilt over their past sins and failures when God does consider them as being guilty. Only God knows the long range consequences in this situation.
By confessing their sin in the failures of their first marriages and asking God to forgive them, and then confessing their sin for entering into a second marriage in a state of adultery (if they had not already confessed and repented of the previous divorces), and asking God to forgive them there as well, they have demonstrated their willingness to repent and thus purified their marriage. Therefore, the second marriage is no longer contrary to Scripture and there is no biblical demand for a second divorce to occur. In fact to do so would be really be contrary to Scripture.
If we, as Christians, were to advise them to divorce in order to prove their confession and repentance, we would begin a vicous cycle that would be never ending. Instead, we must simply agree with God that they were forgiven at the very second they confessed and repented.
BTW... I'm just thinking out loud here, is there a Scripture reference in which God requires a divorce in order to demonstrate repentance on someone's part? I can't think of one.
I agree with your point about homosexuality. Yet, there is a slight differnce in the two situations under consideration here. If a man is engaed in homosexuality and says to God, "I confess my sin of homosexuality and repent of it" (repent meaning to turn away from the sin), then he can't return to that sexual practice which God has called an abomination. However, if as in the case as outlined by the original poster, both parties confess and repent of their sins they can remain married because God has not declared marriage between one man and one woman to be a sinful act.
