1 Corinthians 7:10-11 (NRSV) – “To the married I give this command—not I but the Lord—that the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.“

My approach to the subject of divorce and remarriage is very much analogous to my commentary on suing in the previous chapter. It’s about putting the principle of grace into practice.

God does not “divorce” believers who don’t live the way He wants them to. And even if people alienate themselves from God in their own minds by failing to appreciate what He has done for them, His grand plan for the eons is still to bring them back. If He finds someone else who lives the way He wants, He does not use that person’s choice to obey as an excuse to prevent reconciliation with the one who disobeyed. Even though none of us do everything God would want us to do ideally, He works with our minds and attitudes so that we nevertheless move in the direction He has called us to.

As I said in the commentary on lawsuits, God does not deal with people in a punitive way and make them perform works or suffer to compensate for their disobedience. However, there is another principle I mentioned there that also applies here, which is that if someone is persistently interfering with God’s plans that He is working through believers, He still reserves the right to get the person out of the way somehow.

So, with regards to divorce, and remarriage, the most important thing is for people to carry an attitude of grace in their hearts and let this be a guiding principle for their lives and relationships. But at the same time, as with the matter of lawsuits, I respect your decision on what you have to do in order to experience the peace needed to pursue your calling, as opposed to being chained in a state of bondage or frustration.