My husband and I separated three years ago but are legally married. If he decides to date other people is that adultery in God’s eyes?<\/p>\n\t
In biblical days, the idea of a legal separation did not exist. Legal separations are essentially trial divorces. The hope was that by providing some space between the couple that they would be able to work out their differences and then get back together. Unfortunately, people have been using the separation period to learn to live without their spouses instead of getting back together.<\/p>\n
If the reason for the divorce or separation was not because of sexual sins committed by the other spouse (Matthew 19:9), then there is no justification for a second marriage because the marriage covenant is still binding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: My husband and I separated three years ago but are legally married. If he decides to date other people is that adultery in God’s eyes? Answer: In biblical days, the idea of a legal separation did not exist. Legal separations are essentially trial divorces. The hope was that by providing some space between the…<\/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":[66,167],"class_list":["post-55287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-adultery","tag-divorce"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19183,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-caught-my-husband-committing-incest-we-are-now-separated-but-im-being-told-i-owe-him-sex-i-dont-plan-to-return-to-this-man-so-do-i-owe-him-sex-while-we-are-separated\/","url_meta":{"origin":55287,"position":0},"title":"I caught my husband committing incest. We are now separated, but I’m being told I owe him sex. I don’t plan to return to this man, so do I owe him sex while we are separated?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My husband and I both attend the same church but we are separated. I have no intention of reconciling with him. I have been separated from him before and took him back after he stated that he was born again and was a \"changed man\". We moved back together,\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":40115,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-remarry-after-a-separation-of-seven-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":55287,"position":1},"title":"Can you remarry after a separation of seven years?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I don't doubt God's forgiveness, but can a person remarry when he is separated from his spouse for over seven years? The marriage was not annulled nor have they divorced yet. Do both commit adultery if they have a new partner? Answer: \"And I say to you, whoever divorces\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":28483,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-stay-intimate-with-my-separated-husband-now-that-he-has-a-new-girlfriend\/","url_meta":{"origin":55287,"position":2},"title":"Should I stay intimate with my separated husband now that he has a new girlfriend?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My\u00a0unbelieving husband and I have been separated for the last two years, but we have remained intimate throughout this time. However, I am now certain he has\u00a0a girlfriend and continues to want to be intimate with me. Should I stop sleeping with him, or am I required to continue\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":43648,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-i-had-an-affair-with-another-man-while-separated-from-my-husband-could-i-marry-the-man-i-had-the-affair-with\/","url_meta":{"origin":55287,"position":3},"title":"If I had an affair with another man while separated from my husband, could I marry the man I had the affair with?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I separated from my husband because of his cheating and in the process met a man who was separated from his wife. I had an emotional and sexual relationship with him. I'm confused about if I'm committing adultery and if God will bless our union. He is divorcing his\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":39743,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-we-straighten-out-ending-our-past-marriages-would-we-still-be-in-adultery\/","url_meta":{"origin":55287,"position":4},"title":"If we straighten out ending our past marriages, would we still be in adultery?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have seen you talking about adultery on a website answering questions. I myself have the same issue. I'm living with my boyfriend of\u00a0five years, and we have a child together. He is married to another woman, but they have been separated for ten years and he has not\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":89667,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-there-a-difference-between-divorce-and-puts-away\/","url_meta":{"origin":55287,"position":5},"title":"Is there a difference between “divorce” and “puts away”?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Mr. Hamilton, First of all, thank you very much for taking the time to respond to emails. Your grace and patience have been a tremendous help to me. I have some questions I have been pondering on and hoping to gain some of your insight on, if that's alright?\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}