I’ve got a scenario concerning divorce and remarriage for you: Jack and Jill are scripturally married. Jack commits adultery, and Jill puts him away for adultery. Both of them remarry, but Jill dies before Jack does. Question: Is Jack’s marriage no longer adulterous according to Romans 7:2-3, and\u00a0would this equally apply\u00a0if the original scenario were divorce\u00a0for a cause other than fornication?<\/p>\n
Thanks in advance for your reply.<\/p>\n\t
“For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man<\/em>” (Romans 7:2-3).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
You cite the verse that answers your question, so I’m a bit confused as to where you are trying to go with this question.<\/p>\n
The wording of Romans 7:2-3 is broader than just divorce for fornication or even divorce for some other reason. It would cover situations of bigamy as well.<\/p>\n
In the Scriptures words like covenant, law, testimony, etc. are considered to be synonyms. When a couple enters a marriage covenant, the terms of that covenant are for the life of both parties. If one dies before the other, the other is released from the terms of the covenant. Jesus gave one additional exception in Matthew 5:32 and Matthew 19:9 which states that marital unfaithfulness (specifically, fornication) can free the innocent party from the terms of the covenant. The guilty party, by implication in those verses, is not released from the covenant he or she has made.<\/p>\n
If a person marries someone else while in a marriage covenant, they are guilty of adultery. Paul states they remain in adultery while married to another person. However, he notes that if their original spouse dies, they are freed from their covenant and are no longer in adultery even though they had married someone else.<\/p>\n
The fact that the former adulterer’s marriage is no longer adulterous is only a part of the solution. A thief who has stopped stealing still has the debt of his sin. A former adulterer still has the problem of unforgiven sin. In order to receive forgiveness of his sins, he would have to follow God’s requirements, among which is repentance. He would have to denounce his former life of adultery. You or I may not be able to determine if he is sincere, but God will know, come Judgment Day.<\/p>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Thanks for the quick response. I agree with your conclusions. I was looking at some bulletins from another church of Christ online from a preacher whom I have a lot of respect for, and he made a distinction between the two scenarios. He said that the one put away for adultery could never remarry. Given the principle stated in Romans 7:2-3, I honestly don’t understand how he could have come to that conclusion. I just wanted some reaffirmation of the correct interpretation, since I am still learning in this area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I’ve got a scenario concerning divorce and remarriage for you: Jack and Jill are scripturally married. Jack commits adultery, and Jill puts him away for adultery. Both of them remarry, but Jill dies before Jack does. Question: Is Jack’s marriage no longer adulterous according to Romans 7:2-3, and\u00a0would this equally apply\u00a0if the original scenario…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[167],"class_list":["post-22082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-divorce"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28455,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-the-adulterer-remarry-after-his-original-spouse-dies\/","url_meta":{"origin":22082,"position":0},"title":"Can the adulterer remarry after his original spouse dies?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If a person, scripturally married, commits adultery and ends up divorced, can the one who committed the adultery remarry if the one who was innocent dies? Answer: \"For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29692,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-cant-my-sister-get-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":22082,"position":1},"title":"Why can’t my sister get baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In a second marriage where a non-Christian is wanting to become a Christian but was divorced for reasons other than adultery, is the sin the adultery or the remarriage?\u00a0I am asking this in the context of repenting.\u00a0Do you repent of the adultery in this second marriage or repent of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28224,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-person-who-married-a-person-who-had-no-right-to-marry-divorce-and-marry-someone-else\/","url_meta":{"origin":22082,"position":2},"title":"Can a person who married a person who had no right to marry, divorce, and marry someone else?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If a man marries a woman who was not supposed to remarry because she and her husband had committed adultery, can the man in the second marriage divorce her because of her continued adulteries during the second marriage and be able to marry again? 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