5. Jesus has the authority
to say these things, because His authority was given to Him by God. God told
Jesus what to say and Jesus said those things. Therefore when Jesus says
"And I say to you"; it means that Jesus is laying down the law which
is really God's law. This verse and also the other verses were spoken in a
context where marriage was the subject. In the time that it was spoken,
society, government, and the people all had their own ideas of what was right.
Jesus in speaking of these different ideas, said that no matter what may have
happened in the past or what was currently acceptable, laid down His own law
which He expects all of His followers to abide by. Jesus said that they have
heard all these things, but now Jesus is laying down the law that comes from
God. In another place, Jesus tells us that we will be judged by His words and
not the words of what society accepts as a standard.
Although there are millions of people who stand condemned because of their
unlawful marriages, there is still hope for them. Anyone can be forgiven of
their sins. God will show His mercy towards them. He already has done so by
providing the means of forgiveness. In order to receive forgiveness, we must
comply with the conditions that God has given. After we have established that
we believe in God and Jesus as His Son, we must then change our lives. In other
words, we must remove sin from our lives. No matter what that sin is, it must
be removed. Having sins forgiven is one thing. It is when we try to continue in
those sins that we are wrong (Heb 10:26). You cannot find in scripture anywhere
a case of something that is wrong being made acceptable by baptism. The only
thing that baptism makes right is the individual being baptized. God's laws do
not change for anyone. Christians do not have different laws from the alien
sinners. All are accountable to God on all His laws . Therefore if God teaches
that a remarriage is unlawful or sin, then that applies to sinners and
christians alike. A baptism does not sanctify a marriage that is wrong. The
only way to get right with God is to remove the sin (whatever that sin is).
That means that a marriage will have to be terminated if it is a sinful
marriage.
Return to the index Divorce and
Remarriage