Divorce and Remarriage
Divorce and Remarriage :a challenging ethical issue in Ambo Birhana Kristos Church
1.0. Introduction
The difficulties of marriage and the pain of divorce have led some Christians to re interpret or deemphasize biblical teachings in an effective way to divorce and remarriage seem easier and more acceptable theologically. Ignoring or deemphasizing biblical teaching, however, is neither compassionate nor helpful. If we are to be effective teacher of marriage, we must have a clear understanding of the scriptural statements about divorce and remarriage.
Marriage is more than a marriage certificate from the civil government. In marriage, God makes the man and the woman one. God says about the being made one aspect in Malachi 2:15: "Did not one God make her? Both flesh and spirit are his. And what does the one God desire? Godly offspring. So, look to yourselves, and do not let any one faithless to have wife of his youth. Jesus also stated that it is God who joins a man and woman together as one flesh in marriage: " he answered, Have you not read, that the one who made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this reason a man shall leave his mother and father and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two ,but one flesh. Therefore what has joined together , let no one separate.” Matt. 19:4-6
Divorce is a legal action that the civil government (not God) has established. A couple may go to the church to get married, but they have to go to the civil government to get a divorce. The Church cannot grant a legal divorce. Although divorce can end the legal aspect of a marriage, it cannot end the "one" aspect of the marriage which God has joined together. Once divorce occurs, a person is not single again in God's judgment, and therefore not free to marry another person even if their first spouse has remarried. The "one" union with their spouse can only be ended by the death of one of the marriage partners. According
1.0. Introduction
The difficulties of marriage and the pain of divorce have led some Christians to re interpret or deemphasize biblical teachings in an effective way to divorce and remarriage seem easier and more acceptable theologically. Ignoring or deemphasizing biblical teaching, however, is neither compassionate nor helpful. If we are to be effective teacher of marriage, we must have a clear understanding of the scriptural statements about divorce and remarriage.
Marriage is more than a marriage certificate from the civil government. In marriage, God makes the man and the woman one. God says about the being made one aspect in Malachi 2:15: "Did not one God make her? Both flesh and spirit are his. And what does the one God desire? Godly offspring. So, look to yourselves, and do not let any one faithless to have wife of his youth. Jesus also stated that it is God who joins a man and woman together as one flesh in marriage: " he answered, Have you not read, that the one who made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this reason a man shall leave his mother and father and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two ,but one flesh. Therefore what has joined together , let no one separate.” Matt. 19:4-6
Divorce is a legal action that the civil government (not God) has established. A couple may go to the church to get married, but they have to go to the civil government to get a divorce. The Church cannot grant a legal divorce. Although divorce can end the legal aspect of a marriage, it cannot end the "one" aspect of the marriage which God has joined together. Once divorce occurs, a person is not single again in God's judgment, and therefore not free to marry another person even if their first spouse has remarried. The "one" union with their spouse can only be ended by the death of one of the marriage partners. According