Marriage and Divorce

Conclusion

Jesus condemned the religious leaders of his time for heaping burdensome doctrines on the backs of God’s people (Lk. 11:46). This happens now, every time a false message is delivered to a child of God, burdening his life with commandments of men in the guise of divine doctrine. Always remember that, unlike many of the commandments of men, God’s "commandments are not grievous," (1 Jn 5:3).

To those who are trying to serve God while bearing the burden of the teachings of men, Jesus is still calling, with great compassion, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Jesus will give you rest from confusion, loneliness, and fear. He will lift from your weary back the heaviness of not knowing the will of God for your life. When that sweet relief comes, you will know that God is, indeed, good. God is, and always has been, more compassionate than men know. And I can think of no way in which the disparity between the mercy and reasonableness of God is more clearly distinguished from the harshness and blindness of men than by comparing what the Scriptures teach concerning marriage and divorce to what some ministers teach.

There will always be people in situations not exactly dealt with in the Bible, but Jesus suffered and died to make the Spirit available, to help us make right decisions. The Spirit, Jesus promised his disciples, “will guide you into all truth,” and that is our only hope of always doing what is truly good.

Paul certainly made judgments about situations not dealt with anywhere in the Bible, and he did that by knowing the Spirit. That is the kind of connection with God that we all need. “The Spirit is life,” wrote Paul, and none of us can live rightly without it. When there is no specific biblical commandment given, the Spirit reveals the will of God to us so that we will not transgress against Him ignorantly.

So, be of good cheer. Whatever situation you are in, whether specifically dealt with in the Scriptures or not, Jesus has an answer for you that will relieve you of your burden and give you hope. In the love of God, there are no dead ends.

A final note from the author.

If one is ignorant of the truth concerning when a person is born of the Spirit, how can he judge whether he is married to a believer or not? Or how can one even know whether or not he himself is born again? No issue concerning eternal life can be “rightly divided” unless the truth concerning the new birth is understood. We must know who is in the body of Christ and who is not, for if we do not know who belongs to God, we cannot know which instructions belong to whom.

For a thorough examination of critical issues related to conversion, please read our book "Speaking in Tongues at Spirit Baptism".