Opinion: A biblical reflection on divorce (Pt. 3)

by Gideon Odoma

Marriage is God’s, not our idea. The implication is, for us to be right in our conception and practice, we need to have a good grasp of Author’s intent. How did God intend marriage to be ordered and run? Human creativity, enlightened ideas and reasoned views about marriage cannot on any grounds be superior to God’s goal, purpose and principles for Marriage. A reasonable Christian cannot imagine to be right where she/he thinks God is wrong. In plainer language, I mean every time our ideas conflict with God’s clearly revealed position about marriage (or any other affair for that matter), God must be right; we must be wrong. We cannot be right when we are opposed to God in our thinking or practice.

The foregoing is crucial because I’m dealing with the Christian approach to marriage and divorce. There are other ideological positions on the matter but a Christian ought to hold the scripture as God’s revealed and final position for the ordering of our lives — on all matters affirmed and taught therein.

Divorce is a sensitive issue to explore. It is also an incredibly decisive and a progressively recurring theme in many Christian climes. Nevertheless, we must survey the scripture — plowing with wisdom — to apprehend truth, secure light, glean the eternal trio of: principles, perspective and position, on the subject. For us as Christians, truth must trump social facts of life — however common place or normative those facts may have become.

What is, is not always what ought to be. Therefore, while it is a painful but social fact of life that many Christians have to go through divorce, this fact must not be automatically embraced as truth in every case of divorce. Fact is, Christians go through harrowing experiences leading to divorce. As Christians, this fact must be examined under the celestial brilliance of God’s glowing, errorless word. Let there be light!

What does the scripture say about divorce?
Jesus was confronted with the question of divorce during His earthly ministry. He generously gave the divine position on the crucial issue. In other parts of the New Testament too, we are furnished with additional instructions concerning the subject. Let’s explore briefly.

JESUS ON MARRIAGE & DIVORCE

A revealing question was posed to Jesus in Matthew 19 verse 3. The passage reads: Some Pharisees came to him (Jesus) to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

The question is all encompassing. The Pharisees wanted Jesus to give a catalogue of all permissible, possible grounds and reasons for divorce. They wanted Jesus to itemize all the grounds good enough for divorce.

The summary of Jesus’ response is captured in verse 9 of the same chapter. Jesus said: “I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

The word “except” in Jesus’ response was to underscore His understanding of the original question. Loosely re-phrased, He said in effect, “if you divorce your spouse for any reason apart from infidelity, and you remarry, you commit adultery.”

Earlier in Matthew 5:32, Jesus had said: Anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.

Jesus seems to be clear regarding the matter. He leaves us no grounds for divorce except marital unfaithfulness. We may however ask: couldn’t there have been other factors present afterwards but not available in Jesus’ day, factors that may warrant an expansion of the possible grounds for divorce? The answer is a slim Yes. Let’s run a check.

#ToBeContinued


Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

Gideon Odoma is a minister of the gospel and founder of Fortress Ministry.

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