Matthew 19:3-9 “The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?⁴ And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,⁵ And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?⁶ Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.⁷ They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?⁸ He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.⁹ 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.”

Jesus specifically defines when God permits divorce and when He doesn’t.  He states that merely issuing a divorce certificate does nothing to separate the marriage union.  Because it was not man that put the marriage together, therefore man cannot disannul the marriage.  Only God can separate.  And Jesus points out that He does NOT allow for that, and anyone who presumes to do so, commits adultery by being with another person.  However, Jesus does allow divorce and remarriage for one instance.  In verse 9, He says ‘except it be for fornication.’  So, anyone who divorces and remarries for any other reason commits adultery.  BUT, if your spouse commits the sin of fornication (having sex outside of marriage), then He allows for divorce and you would NOT be guilty of adultery for remarriage.  God allows this grace due to an unfaithful spouse.  If they cheat on you, He permits divorce and remarriage.

1^st Corinthians 7:10-15 “And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: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.¹² But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.¹³ And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.¹⁵ But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.”

Here we find further clarification of marriage.  Again, it is reiterated that divorce is not allowed.  If the spouse leaves, they MUST remain unmarried.  To do otherwise would be to commit adultery (see Matt. 19).  However, if your spouse is an unbeliever, and they chose to leave you, you are free from that marriage and allowed to remarry.  It states that a brother or sister ‘is not under bondage.’  What bondage are they no longer under?  The bondage of the law of marriage (What God has put together, let no man tear asunder).  When we marry, we are BOUND to that person for life.  We are united under a beautiful ‘bondage.’  But God grants peace to the believer if their unbelieving spouse departs.  They are free from that bondage.  God has granted them a beautiful mercy and grace.

Romans 7:2-3 “For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.³ So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.”

Here we see the freedom from bondage that 1^st Corinthians 7 refers to.  A married person is BOUND by law to their spouse unless they die.  And when they die, they are freed from that bondage.  Once that freedom is offered, the spouse is able to remarry without condemnation or guilt.  What we see in 1^st Corinthians 7 with the unbelieving spouse who leaves is the same thing.

The bottom line then, is that God does not permit divorce accept in two occasions.  One, if your spouse cheats on you, and two, if your unbelieving spouse leaves you.  In both these cases, God allows a merciful grace and frees us from our covenant and oath.  We had been permanently unified with our spouse, but because of their sins and the inability on our part to resolve it, God allows us to divorce and remarry.  But other than these two instances, divorce is never permissible.