1 Corinthians 7:11 – “Unmarried” Means The Divorced Are Free To Remarry

1 Cor. 7:11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

For unmarried to be seen as still married but released from fulfilling the marriage vows, seems to be quite impossible to me. I just believe it’s dangerous to redefine the word unmarried in the same way the other terms have been redefined to “fit” this belief.

It’s not “fitting” a belief, it is reading the Lord’s commands as written. One does not have to be a theologian to understand that remarriage is not given as an option when a wife becomes “unmarried”. It is plainly written that way. To say otherwise is to insert one’s own opinions/desires/bent to allow for something the Lord plainly forbid.

I believe it’s the same thing with divorce when the other spouse remarries. Once the other spouse remarries that should be the point where the woman or man accepts within themselves that this is the point of no return and they should really move on instead of waiting around hoping for yet another divorce to take place so they can marry their former spouse.

Ah, Jesus even gave that scenerio in Mt. 19:9………the husband DID remarry, and Jesus says the man who marries the “innocent” wife commits adultery. She is NOT free to marry. She still belongs to her husband who is now not remarried lawfully—-he is committing adultery and will continue to be an adulterer until he forsakes that relationship.

Personally, I think we have to deal with reality and biblically speaking everyone knew that a divorced severed a marital relationship and both parties were free to remarry. That was reality and I think we should keep to that even now. Yes, let’s deal with the motives and reasons believers are divorcing because I think that’s where the problem lies but when a couple is divorce, both are “unmarried”.

Again, you ignore what Jesus plainly teaches. He teaches that divorce does NOT dissolve what He joins together and that any “marriage” that occurs after a divorce is adultery. It matters not to me what is “man’s reality” when that reality conflicts with what God has said. Man is not the eternal judge, the Lord is……….

Very interesting. I got the chance to review an actual recent divorce decree and the following is stated: “Based on these facts, the Court hereby dissolves the marriage of the parties and declares each party to be single and unmarried.” I print this because it just goes to show that most folks, including the courts, understand that “unmarried” means exactly what it says.

It doesn’t matter that man sees divorce as something that dissolves the One Flesh joined by God. Jesus says: “whosoever divorces and marries another commits adultery” and “whosoever marries one that is divorced commits adultery”. The clear meaning of HIS word is this: divorce does NOT dissolve what He joined together. Yet, we do have a very understandable words in the scriptures that DO show how a marriage joined by God is dissolved: through death (Rom. 7:2-3, I Cor. 7:39).

Scripture does not support a separated but married lifestyle and let’s face it, there are some marriages that will never be reconciled as a result of what has occurred

Scripture DOES support a separated but BOUND lifestyle. (I Cor. 7:10-12). Whether a husband/wife get reconciled does not change what the Lord has commanded if one/both depart from each other. If they choose not to work towards reconciliation, they get to remain alone without a spouse. Those are their only two choices.

It’s interesting that now the church is in the business of sanctioning legal separations. Scripturally there was no such animal. You were either married or divorced. To say a man or woman can live still married to their spouse and not fulfill any of the obligations of marriage is terribly wrong.

It doesn’t matter what the “church” does or does not do if it doesn’t align with the Word of God………just as it doesn’t matter that the “world” sees divorce as dissolving what God joined together. Jesus said it did not dissolve what He joined together—-hence His label of adultery of marriages which take place AFTER a divorce. You can believe this is “terribly wrong”, but your issue is more against what God says than it is against what any of us say………..most of us only are sharing what God says in His Word. All of us have the choice whether to accept it, or reject it and act accordingly and reap accordingly……….

1 Corinthians 7: 10 To the married I give this command not I, but the Lord: A wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. Yes again here the married couple should not separate and if she does she should remain as unmarried {not having sexual relations with other men} while she is still married.

There is dispute about what “remain unmarried” means, but I think the clear meaning here is that such a woman is NOT free to be with any man other than her husband. If she disregards this—and marries another man, she will be as the woman spoken of in Rom. 7:2-3, an adulteress. How does an adulteress repent? She forsakes the relationship that is adultery. In Rom. 7:2-3, we see that she will remain an adulteress until her LAWFUL husband dies…………….then, and only then will she be free to be with another man.

Note – Because Scripture tells us a divorced woman is “unmarried”, I don’t believe the unmarried (divorced) with former spouses who had gone on and remarried or simply abandoned them not to return, are forbidden to marry again as well. I believe 1 Cor 7:8-9, would also apply to them in consideration of their situation.

That is merely opinion and can easily be refuted with the Word of God. It is very clear in I Corinthians that Paul is addressing different groups of people. First, he is addressing SINGLE people. Then he goes on to address MARRIED people. In that group, he classifies a woman who has departed her household as “unmarried”. What exactly that means ie; whether she obtained a civil divorce/merely separated, etc is not clearly discernable, nor does it have to be. The Lord, through Paul, tells the disposition of this woman’s marriage—-it is Binding. Because it is binding, she is not free to marry another man. She is commanded 1 of 2 things—remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband.

We have to note that Paul does not give any instructions as to what the person is to do when reconciliation is not possible after attempts have been made. We are left to pray and discern in this matter.

Paul never gives instructions because Paul teaches that ALL things are possible for those who love God. Man has a timetable for reconciliation to occur and man gets weary when things do not go as desired……man gives up and moves on instead of remainig faithful to the vows one promised before spouse AND God. Paul did not give instructions for such cases because for many of us Christians, it is clear that we are called to walk as God walks—-in faith, in trust, and in Agape love.

This may require more counsel, more time, more investigation, etc. but to teach that they are still married and remarriage is adultery no matter what is error.

If it takes you more counsel, more time, more investigation, then you are not grounded in what you believe. If that be the case, how can you then definitively say that remarriage=adultery is error?