There seems to be a widespread misconception in the Church and among Christians in general regarding adultery and divorce. Many individuals, pastors included, believe divorce is wrong except when a spouse has committed adultery. Making this allowance is an incorrect interpretation of scripture.

Many who believe that adultery is acceptable grounds for divorce quote Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:32:
“But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.�
A careful reading of this verse reveals that Jesus never said unfaithfulness is grounds for divorce. Instead, in these cases, He is simply pointing out that it is the act of adultery that causes the offender to become an adulterer, not the divorce proceedings.

Jesus’ intent in this portion of scripture was not to create an escape clause to the marriage contract at all. Just the opposite, in fact, He was trying to emphasize the seriousness of its bonds and the consequences of breaking them. In Hebrew culture, it had become common practice for men to divorce their wives for the most ridiculous reasons. For instance, if a woman burned her husband’s food, he had just cause to divorce her. On the other hand, adultery was a sin punishable by stoning, so Jesus was really saying that by divorcing his wife, a man was basically sentencing her to death.

There is further evidence in Matthew 19:5-9. While speaking with the Pharisees on the subject, Jesus said, “…the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate (vs. 5-6).� He threw them another curveball by adding that a man who divorces his wife and remarries also becomes an adulterer (Matt. 19:9), in effect sentencing himself to death, too!

The key to understanding this issue is in understanding that the correlation between marriage, adultery, and divorce in humans is an illustration of the relationship that Christ shares with His Church. This is illustrated in the book of Hosea, and proves that God takes His own marriage vows very seriously! He will remain faithful, even though our regular adulteries hurt and anger Him. He loves us with the love of a passionate and jealous husband, and He will not cast us aside in spite of ourselves! So when we look at adultery and divorce from a human perspective, weâ€"like the Phariseesâ€"are missing the heart of the message! We must see this issue through God’s eyes.

Saemus Sutton is the author of Leaders Make Leaders, featuring the Wash, Rinse, Repeat mentoring model. You can view the model and download the book FREE at leadersmakeleaders.com

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