Are Christians Allowed To Divorce?

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God’s standard for marriage is lifelong commitment and fidelity to our spouse. Even though divorce was permitted in some cases under Old Testament law, Christ demonstrated that this was not God’s ideal:

‘The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”’ (Mt 19:3-8)

It seems from Christ’s statement above that the discovery of our spouse’s infidelity is reasonable grounds for divorce. On the other hand, Jesus said that ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery’ (Lk 16:18), ‘And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery’ (Mk 10:12).

When someone becomes a believer after marriage (but their spouse doesn’t), the Christian husband or wife may desire release from being unequally yoked to them. In this case, the Bible says, ‘If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace’ (1 Co 7:12-13)

God’s ideal is for His people to marry for life and for each person to keep that marriage pure. However, under very specific circumstances, He will permit divorce.

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