I belonged to a kooky cult as a young man, the Armstrongites.
One of their requirements was that, if you became saved, you needed to divorce your wife, if either of you were "improperly divorced" by the standards of Matthew 19, and you are not able to remarry.
The idea is that you are living in continual adultery in this circumstance.
So, if your wife divorced an abusive husband prior to salvation, and you married her, prior to salvation, you are required to divorce her. Even if there is an intact family and children.
Matthew 19:1-12
19 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. [SUP]2 [/SUP]And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” [SUP]4 [/SUP]He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, [SUP]5 [/SUP]and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? [SUP]6 [/SUP]So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” [SUP]7 [/SUP]They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” [SUP]8 [/SUP]He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. [SUP]9 [/SUP]And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”[SUP][a][/SUP]
[SUP]10 [/SUP]The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” [SUP]11 [/SUP]But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. [SUP]12 [/SUP]For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”
Now, if one is a strict legalist, with absolutely no room for mercy, then I can see why they may hold this view.
However, do we really think this is what Christ would want, and that the act of adultery is continual?
And, should an intact marriage be severed?
Now, they will claim there is no marriage, and that both parties are living in perpetual adultery.
What do you think?
One of their requirements was that, if you became saved, you needed to divorce your wife, if either of you were "improperly divorced" by the standards of Matthew 19, and you are not able to remarry.
The idea is that you are living in continual adultery in this circumstance.
So, if your wife divorced an abusive husband prior to salvation, and you married her, prior to salvation, you are required to divorce her. Even if there is an intact family and children.
Matthew 19:1-12
19 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. [SUP]2 [/SUP]And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” [SUP]4 [/SUP]He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, [SUP]5 [/SUP]and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? [SUP]6 [/SUP]So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” [SUP]7 [/SUP]They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” [SUP]8 [/SUP]He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. [SUP]9 [/SUP]And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”[SUP][a][/SUP]
[SUP]10 [/SUP]The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” [SUP]11 [/SUP]But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. [SUP]12 [/SUP]For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”
Now, if one is a strict legalist, with absolutely no room for mercy, then I can see why they may hold this view.
However, do we really think this is what Christ would want, and that the act of adultery is continual?
And, should an intact marriage be severed?
Now, they will claim there is no marriage, and that both parties are living in perpetual adultery.
What do you think?