Someone poses a question respecting the deserted mate mentioned in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, whether the deserted mate is helpless based on the whim of the mate who deserts the marriage. God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16), and at least one party to a divorce is guilty of sin. First Corinthians 7:10-11 represents an innocent party to a divorce for reasons other than fornication or adultery and a party who is guilty for deserting the marriage. (Irrespective of whether a legal separation or divorce is obtained, the physical departure or separation is essentially the same affect and sinful.) God through New Testament Scripture provides a single reason for which an innocent party to divorce may remarry another eligible candidate for marriage, and that is fornication or adultery (Matthew 5:32; 19:9). The scenario of 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 is desertion without inclusion of fornication or adultery, and lamentably, the innocent party under those circumstances has no biblical recourse whereby he may contract another marriage with God’s approval. The guilty party who deserted in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 continues to be guilty for the sin of breaking up the marriage, plus verse eleven cautions the one deserting the marriage not to compound the sin of breaching the marriage by committing fornication or adultery. However, often desertion is companion to fornication and adultery, and 1 Corinthians 7:11 even anticipates fornication or adultery by cautioning the one deserting a marriage to practice celibacy apart from one’s marriage partner. When fornication or adultery enters the picture, the scenario is no longer one of merely desertion. The disciples recognized the hardship that may be involved in our Lord’s restitution of God’s original plan for marriage (Matthew 19:10-12).
