I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND THE SCRIPTURE THAT EVERYONE KEEPS REFERRING TO THAT SAYS THE GUILTY PARTY MAY NOT EVER REMARRY. SO FAR I HAVE NOT FOUND IT. I HAVE LOOKED AT THE REFERENCES OFFERED AND I CAN SEE HOW ONE CAN GET AN INFERENCE TO THAT, BUT AN EXACT.
Matthew 19:9 either means something or it doesn’t mean anything. The verse reads, “And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” Without the exceptive clause, Jesus Christ said, “Whosoever shall put away his wife and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” Here, Jesus plainly stated if either of the parties to a marriage divorce and remarry, God considers it adultery. With the exceptive clause, “except it be for fornication,” respecting the one divorcing his spouse because of adultery, Jesus said that one may marry another biblically eligible candidate for marriage. The same exceptive clause is not applied in the verse (or elsewhere in the New Testament) to the person guilty of adultery.
What Jesus taught about marriage-divorce-and-remarriage is not popular today. It was not popular among the disciples of Jesus Christ when he taught it, and our Lord’s apostles reacted adversely to that teaching. “His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry” (Matthew 19:10). Neither the poor reception Jesus’ teaching about marriage-divorce-and-remarriage then nor now changes divine teaching about that subject one bit. What Jesus taught about marriage-divorce-and-remarriage was not negotiable then, it is not negotiable now and it will not be negotiable before the Judgment Bar of God.
