What if a person lied about his past marriage?
Question:
Greetings,
I have enjoyed reading your studies and answers for many years.
I have two questions if you could answer them please. So far I have only been able to find an answer in necessary inference.
If a Christian in good standing unknowingly marries a person who lied about his marital status, when the Christian finds out he lied and is ineligible to have married, separates from him and divorces him because they are actually not married in God's eyes, may the Christian ever marry to a person that is eligible?
Also, if a person was, by no choice of his, divorced by his spouse and after the fact finds out the reason she divorced him was that she was having an affair and wanted to marry (obviously married to the world and not God) the person she had an affair with; is the innocent part able to remarry seeing as the reason to the world was irreconcilable differences, but in his hidden heart, it was for adultery?
Some in the brotherhood would say no because the putting away was done by the guilty and not by the innocent for "the cause of adultery." What do you think the Word tells us about this?
Answer:
The marriage was not valid in the first place. It would be recognized by men but not by God since the one spouse was not eligible to marry again. Thus, the innocent party in this matter could marry someone else since he has not had a true marriage.
Some brethren believe that only the innocent party can divorce the guilty party. That was generally true until recent times when no-fault divorces changed things. Before no-fault divorces, a spouse had to prove in court why his marriage should end. Typically, the adulterer did not want his sin publicly aired, so the innocent party sued for divorce. With no-fault divorces, it doesn't matter why the divorce is happening. The only "reason" recorded is "irreconcilable differences." Only the people involved know why the divorce took place.
While there are likely multiple reasons why a divorce takes place, so long as one of the reasons was due to fornication on the part of one of the parties, then I believe the innocent party has the right to marry someone else. The divorce was still due to fornication, as stated in Matthew 5:32 and Matthew 19:9.
If a couple does get a divorce for reasons that do not include fornication, they both must remain unmarried (I Corinthians 7:10-11). If one of them violates this command and marries again, it does not give the other spouse the right to also get married.
Response:
Thank you.
