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MATTHEW - Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand!
A Bible Study Course on the Gospel of Christ according to Matthew
PART 2 - Christ teaches and Ministers in Galilee (Matthew 5:1 - 18:35)
A - The Sermon on the Mount: About the Constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:1 - 7:27) -- The First Collection of the Words of Jesus
1. Our Duties Towards Men (Matthew 5:21-48)

b) Forbidding Adultery Signifies Seeking Purity (Matthew 5:27-32)


MATTHEW 5:31-32
31 It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’ 32 but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.
(Deuteronomy 24:1; Matthew 19:3-9; Mark 10:4-12)

Man’s divorcing of his wife for any cause (except adultery), is a violation of the seventh commandment, as it opens a door to continuous adultery. Jesus explains, “It has been said”; He does not say as before, “it was said to those of old.” This was not a precept like other commandments, as the Pharisees wanted to believe, this was a permission.

Some of their Old Testament regulations suggested that a man should not divorce his wife by word of mouth when he is in rage. He should do it deliberately by a legal instrument in writing, attested by witnesses. If he would dissolve the matrimonial bond, he may do it solemnly. Thus some of their laws tried to prevent rash and hasty divorces. In earlier times, writing was not common among the Jews, and that made divorce something rare. But in the process of time it became common, and this direction of how to do it, when there was just cause for it, was understood as permission of it for any cause.

God, in His mercy, brought in the ordinance of “marriage to one woman only,” that each of the partners would serve the other in true love and mutual respect. The secret in the matrimonial bond is not the unity of the flesh alone but the respect and appreciation shown to each other. The Holy Spirit will sanctify the relationship between both partners if they continue in the word of the Gospel and in love.

If one of them commits adultery, this could be the result of a previous spiritual separation between both, that they lost mutual confidence, respect, service and caring. But if they live in godliness, His love will bless their love and keep them in harmony and sympathy. If Jesus is not the Lord of any marriage covenant, the practice of adultery will penetrate faster than we can imagine. Christ will be the sponsor in marriage, if the partners faithfully abide in Him, for He teaches us forgiveness, tolerance, patience and endurance.

Christ, to Him be the glory, did not open the door of breaking the matrimonial relation as other religions did. When the matrimonial relationship is broken because of spiritual discord or dislike, and the will for forgiveness is lost, then some suggest the possibility of divorce, but that is contrary to Christ’s commandment. They claim that such a divorce would be the best solution for both partners to avoid quarrels and violence. Those poor people ignore the power of divine love and the reconciliation in the cross of Christ.

Every divorce (except in case of adultery) is considered as adultery. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate. The matrimonial unity is established not only by the flesh but also by the soul. The woman remains related to her first husband even if she were married to another man. Woe to the partner who does not forgive and divorces thoughtlessly. He would be the greatest sinner. We are all stained with sin and need God’s ongoing forgiveness and an every-day purification of our inner feeling. The Holy Spirit is able to cure our subconscious diseases and to purify us. Without the Spirit of Christ, we are not able to practice sound marriage or lasting purification, because this Spirit honors the Creator and does not deny natural principles.

PRAYER: O Lord Jesus, we worship You because You lived among us in perfect purity, and Your Holy Spirit controlled Your body with absolute purity. Please forgive us our egotistic lust and bad deeds and plant in us the purity of Your Holy Spirit that we may be humble and forgive others as You have forgiven us. And help us to forgive the adulterer instead of condemning him.

QUESTION:

  1. Who is an adulterer according to the Law of Christ?

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