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|                    B I B L E   B U L L E T I N          Number 9 |
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|                          Is Divorce Sin?                         |
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|  Its commonly held that divorce always constitutes sin; but the  |
|  Bible would say, "not always."  God gives two Biblical grounds  |
|  for divorce by Christians.  The first is found in Matthew 5:32  |
|  where Jesus said, "...anyone who divorces his wife, except for  |
|  marital unfaithfulness, causes her to commit adultery..."       |
|  Divorce is permitted when either the man or the woman is found  |
|  to be unfaithful because of sexual sin (adultery, homosexuality,|
|  incest, prostitution, bestiality, etc.).  The "one flesh" bond  |
|  is broken between the partners and God allows a legal ending    |
|  of the dead marriage.                                           |
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|  The second ground of dissolution occurs when a Christian is     |
|  married to an unbeliever who no longer wants to stay in the     |
|  marriage and leaves; "If the unbeliever leaves, let him do so.  |
|  A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances"    | 
|  (1 Corinthians 7:15).  Should the unbelieving spouse desert or  |  
|  begin divorce proceedings, the Christian partner is no longer   |
|  bound to the marriage and can be divorced without sinning.      |
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|  Divorce for unfaithfulness and desertion are concessions to     |
|  sin and hardness of heart by our Gracious God as a provision    |
|  for those who are innocent of defiling the marriage.  Divorce   |
|  on any other grounds is not permissible and results in sin      |
|  and adultery, and is prohibited by God.                         |
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|                          Presented by                            |
|     Bible Bulletin Board, P.O. Box 115, Galveston, IN 46932      |
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