Category Archives: Divorce and Remarriage

MDR: Pastoral implications (training)

i. Premarital counseling In my hometown, many congregations of many denominations have gotten together and agreed to refuse to do a “church” wedding unless the couple agrees to pre-marital counseling. Excellent! The churches have agreed on a standard six-lesson course, … Continue reading

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MDR: Pastoral implications, Part 2 (Modesty)

i.                  Modesty Which leads me to bring up modesty. If it’s a sin for a man to lust, it’s a sin for a woman to tempt the man to lust. We have to teach our women and girls to sacrifice … Continue reading

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MDR: Pastoral Implications, Part 1 (Divorce prevention)

If the state legislature can’t solve our divorce problem, what can? Plainly, Jesus is the answer, and regarding divorce, I believe Jesus works foremost through his church. The church has to see divorce as a church problem and not merely … Continue reading

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MDR: On covenant marriage laws

Given the incredibly high rate of divorce in today’s society, it’s hardly surprising that many Christians seek to deal with the problem legislatively. After all, divorce can be devastating to children and places a huge burden on society. The courts … Continue reading

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MDR: Examples

Even after all this discussion, I don’t think I have all the answers. But let’s review a few examples to see how this approach to the scriptures provides far more consistent, sensible, loving, and gracious results than the traditional view. … Continue reading

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MDR: Conclusions

While we are left with some interesting unanswered questions, we are also able to reach some very firm conclusions. 1. God blesses marriages, so much so that Jesus says that God unifies the husband and wife. 2. Marriages are covenants, … Continue reading

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MDR: Questions and answers, Part 2

Q.       What about a couple who don’t violate the marriage covenant but who find they can’t stand each other? Sometimes couples grow apart. How does this answer their needs? A.       I’m no marriage counselor, but I have run into … Continue reading

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MDR: Questions and answers, Part 1

Q.       Doesn’t your teaching encourage divorce? Wouldn’t we better off with the traditional view? A.       The same question may be phrased this way: Isn’t it dangerous to teach grace? Wouldn’t we be better off telling our members they’ll go … Continue reading

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MDR: Grace, Part 2

Well, I decided I wasn’t digressing. It’s imperative that we give more thought to the relationship of grace to our teaching on divorce and remarriage. The two doctrines must fit together tightly. Sometimes we unconsciously teach two different doctrines of … Continue reading

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MDR: The repentance argument

I’ve taught this material several times now, and one of the most frequent objections is what I call the repentance argument. It goes like this: to be forgiven, one must repent. To repent, one must give up the fruits of … Continue reading

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