Questions & Replies about Divorce and Remarriage by David Instone-Brewer
Read the book    Buy a copy	I read and reply to all emails though sometimes the reply is very brief, due to pressure of time. I like to get questions - especially if they are new. Many people ask questions which are already covered in these Questionas & Replies. Please take a moment to look at previous emails before you write. Pastoral support doesn't really work by email, so if you need this, I'd encourage you to find a local fellow Christian or minister. Their personal views on this subject don't matter too much if they are good at listening, both to you and to God. David Instone-Brewer	Read portions    Buy a copy

Emailed question/comment:
	I heard a testimony from someone who said the Lord told him to divorce when he read Matthew 19, "What God has joined together, let no man separate". He said his wife wasn't a believer, so God hadn't joined them, and so this verse said he could get divorced. He also said this would apply to someone who had been disobedient to God in their choice of a life partner, which they would find out when the marriage broke down, because if God had joined them, it wouldn't have broken down. Do you think this is a legitimate way of reasoning?
Reply:
	Well, it is certainly ingenious - he should train as a lawyer! No, I don't agree that he can argue this way. I guess that the Corinthians were saying something very similar because they started divorcing their non-believing partners. Paul's answer is that in God's eyes a marriage to a non-believer is just as valid as a marriage to a believer, otherwise their children would be illegitimate in God's eyes! (1Cor.7.12-14). When Jesus talks about "those whom God has joined" I understand this as a reference to the marriage vows which have been made before God, which must not be broken. Even if one partner did not mean these vows, or did not consider them to be made in God's presence, the person who is a believer is still bound to keep the vows which they made.
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