Posted by C_Ruth on April 18, 2008 at 05:55:59:
In Reply to: Polygamy is NOT sin. posted by Rx on April 09, 2008 at 22:06:53:
Some of the following points I have mentioned before on this forum. I do not want to argue, and I had thought I would stay out of this current discussion. However, I know that not everyone has read previous discussions, and I would like to submit the following for your consideration on this overall topic.
It is true that most of Jesus’ teaching on divorce and remarriage was stated from the viewpoint of a man divorcing his wife. I wonder how common or possible it was in that time and culture for a woman to even be the one to get a divorce (though Mark 10:12 does mention that possibility).
I recognize also that God has given different roles and responsibilities to men and to women. However, I do not believe that He has a double standard for men and women as it relates to His view of what constitutes a proper marriage relationship. Neither do I believe that He considers any relationship He calls adultery to also be a proper marriage relationship that should be continued in. Anyone who finds him/herself in such a relationship should forsake it if he wants to escape the judgment God pronounces on adulterers.
With that background, the following verses give a summary of the New Testament’s teaching on adulterous relationships:
Mark 10:11 “Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.” [The “aggressor” who remarries is committing adultery.]
Matthew 5:32 “Whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.” [Both the “innocent party” and the one who marries the “innocent party” are committing adultery.]
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.
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.” [The original marriage stands until the death of one person.]