In the universal sense ..yes, god has bought us all together.

In this context of marriage..it only applies if one believes the scriptures of the bible to be their truth.
Obviously many don't when it comes to this subject.

True, believe as one wishes. But just because one doesn't believe, doesn't make it automatically false.

That's like saying if I believe the world is square, then it's a fact the world is square.

On the other hand, non-Christians aren't going to believe what the New Testament says just because you quote it.

Actually, many christians don't even accept it not to talk of non-christians. Truth is hard to accept most times cos it's always against our choice.

Yeah. I know what you mean.

Jesus said that it isn't a sin for a victim of adultery to get a divorce, and yet there are preachers who insist that all divorce is sin. I know that such preachers exist because I have met them.

Jesus spoke of divorce with the Pharisees, for more information about this engagement check out:
Matthew 19:1-15

Marriage is for life:

According to bible, there is little doubt that marriage was meant to last until death. (Matthew 19:6 – Genesis 2:24)

One of the commandments that Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai was "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery". Obviously this commandment was a reinforcement measure to assure that people who got married stayed married and faithful.



So serious an offense is adultery that it was worthy of having one of the 10 commandments address it and that being the case any outward sign of it meant death.

How DIVORCE come into the picture?

It seems the concept of divorce came through Moses NOT THROUGH GOD. It is Jesus who provides that information during the engagement with the Pharisees



Perhaps there was a lot of adultery going on or maybe a lot of accusations calling for the ultimate punishment. Could be that trying to decided between ‘he said/she said’ was getting out of hand OR maybe Moses realized something else - that only God knows the heart.



And so says Matthew



No matter his reasoning, Moses put into effect – Divorce.
The point is that Divorce was never condoned by God and Jesus made that clear.

Fornication or Adultery?



The verse Matthew 19:9 has been called into question because it seems to offer a legitimate reason for divorce – something called ‘fornication’, but there seems to be only one thing can separates the married couple – death.

There is a difference between adultery and fornication which is evidence through several bible verses.



Adultery is important enough to warrant a commandment and even in adultery divorce is not an option, which might be the reason adulterers were supposed to be stoned to death – because only through death can either partner be free of their commitment to the other.

Both adultery and fornication have the sex act in common, the difference is that only a married person can commit adultery. The joining of two in marriage before God was not just a commitment that joined the two in flesh, it also joined the two spiritually with God.

With that information it becomes clear why a married couple can never divorce and why adultery is so offensive to God as to warrant being one of the commandments.

On the other hand, fornication is a sex act involving a single person, one who is not married, including those who have been married but widowed. Although the bible still considers sex, outside of marriage, an offence does contain the spiritual elements of marriage.

Now about the quote of Matthew 19:9 in which it fornication is thought to be sufficient for divorce, there is the question of how that could even be possible – because fornication is an act of a single person. However, there could be some confusion as to how the quote is interpreted.

Consider the bible passages



Note, that the man who could not prove his claim must remain married all of his days, but if the man proves his claim, he is not granted a divorce, he doesn’t need one because the penalty for the woman’s deceit is death and thus the man will be single again. ALSO, note that she did not commit adultery because the fornication preceded the marriage bed – it was merely the fact that it occurred at all which gave the husband the right to have her stoned to death and get out of the marriage. (Women of course had not such options as there is absolutely no way to determine if a man is a virgin)

CONCLUSION:
According to the bible, in many places beginning in Genesis and through the testimony of Jesus words, divorce was never acceptable to God, so those who divorce today are not really divorced so any sexual acts would be adultery on the part of the (non-divorced, still married) person.

Of course the individual could always CHOOSE a life of complete abstinence, BUT that won’t help much if lustful thoughts seep in – because God know the heart and even the thought is an act of adultery for a married person.

In effect, (according to the information presented here ) nearly every Christian divorcee is an unrepentant sinner.

I am a non religious Christian and do not hold to old testament - to me the bible is largely taken in context of the culture at the time.

If a man who looks upon another woman with lust is an adulterer I could have divorced my ex almost every day.....and I think that speaks to incompatability factors and broadens the platform for divorce- more realistically there was a good deal not known about the human psyche and what things are best for people with respect to human growth and mentally healthy choices. Clearly it is not a healthy or wise decision to continue living life on a destructive path in an unfulfilling, loveless or abusive relationship.

now, anyone who has never been married does not get an opinion. including jesus....that was a time when women were subservient in society and often abused. so no, I do not take that type of oppressive advice because I know it is no more than a reflection of the culture of those times. I see the bible as largely allegorical anyway and have one belief for religious people who judge others...that is not your job

the question of sin is mute as everyone in their lifetime will sin, the blessing is forgiveness and repentance

with the bible is the question of different standards for different cultures, some were more universal and some more specific, but thats the thing of bible study classes

(mostly deutoronomy was pretty explicitly a standard set for the 'chosen' people of Israel, who could be expected to have had a much more stringent expectation/example expected of them, however that doesnt exclude all of deutoronomy as explicit directions for those chosen people which can be seen by those issues repeated by Jesus to the masses and repeated in the NEW testament , like the ten commandments, when all were equal and there were no longer a special 'chosen' anymore)



with repentance is forgiveness and a fresh start, so if one is married and 'fornicating' outside the marriage they are sinning

if one has put aside a spouse due to fornication and married another , they are not sinning to do so, as Jesus would certainly not advise or suggest it as an exception when answering whether it was a sin to do so,,,



if one has put aside a spouse for reasons other than fornication, they have sinned, and are free to repent and in a new marriage renew the commitment to stay true to the vows so they will not be sinning,,,




it is also an interesting note that the bible doesnt touch much on the issue of children (pedophilia, abuse,,etc,,,) except to say to suffer not the children

that says to me, that in marriage, the parents/couple have to be protecting the children, which may mean there needs to be a divorce

there are many situations not as black and white as to be answered by any one verse of the bible, in fact, many situations cross over into several different verses that are not reconcilable with each other

in those cases, any choice made will necessarily seem to go against one or more of those verses


example: what if you have a parent who insists you worhsip them as your God?

you must go against the instruction to honor your parent, or you must go against the instruction to have no Gods but God

I don't think it is mentioned in the ten commandments.

I don't think marriage back in Biblical days is the same as it is here. They didn't have to also marry the STATE.

Today, marriage is a contract WITH THE STATE rather than with two people and God.

Since THE STATE is corrupt and in league with the Devil himself, I would like to hearby degree that marriage involving THE STATE is a sin.

But as far as divorce is concerned, for me, it was either that or murder. LOL

No it is not mentioned in the 10 commandments lol. The 10 commandments were just a rough abbreviation of all the different laws, the 10 commandments were not/are not all the laws we are/were given.

And there are two different forms of marriage these days so to speak. Heck people can just go right down to the courtroom and get a "marriage license" and be married without a wedding or anything. In God's eyes, I do not believe that is being "married". It is not blessed, it is not down on a spiritual level. Only basically a contract between the two.

Marriage isn't about that little piece of paper, that little piece of paper means absolutely nothing, is only worth as much as the paper it's written on. Marriage is about two swearing to love and honor each other for ever. It's not about living "with" one another. It's about living "for" one another.

Well said for everyone, but there's need for proper understanding of the word of God. (Bible)

Yes, marriage is a promise to each other. Leave the freaking STATE out of it. It was always meant to be a personal or religious oath.

The "word of God" is within. It is not in a book. The Bible is NOT the word of God.

The bible contains the word of God. And there is no better book to offer the iinstructions and guidelines in the bible.

Let's get something straight. The word fornication does not appear in the Greek version of Matthew 5:32, and it does not appear in the Greek version of Matthew 19:9.

The word that appears is πορνεία, which is transliterated as porneia.

Regarding the use of porneia in the aforementioned verses, Vine's Dictionary says that the word "stands for, or includes, adultery".

In his book Word Meanings in the New Testament, Dr. Ralph Earle states that porneia is more accurately translated as "marital unfaithfulness".

Dr. Earle also states that porneia is used in the New Testament "for all kinds of immorality, including adultery and homosexuality." That is why in the aforementioned verses, the New International Version and the English Standard Version translate porneia as sexual immorality.

That's a matter of opinion. I have read tons of better books that offer MUCH MUCH better instructions and guidelines for life than the bible.

Interesting. Now we know where the word Porn came from.