Almost every wedding ceremony we hear in church quotes the scripture in Genesis that says "whatever God has put together let no man put asunder".
It doesn't just say, "don't put marriages asunder"; God asks us not to "let" people put marriages asunder. And, yet, how can we stop them from doing so? Don't people have the freedom to end their marriages if they want to?
I think what the scripture is saying here is that we should not let our brothers and sisters end their marriages with our support and approval. That doesn't mean we should be mean, condemning, and judgmental. But, if we want to see our brothers and sisters in heaven, we need to get clear on some issues, and one of those is the sanctity of marriage.
When God trusts couples to our church, we as a body of believers have a moral obligation to encourage faithfulness and love in marriage. Every wedding ceremony we allow to be performed in our church should make the adulterous couple squirm in their seats.
When Herodias dumped her husband Philip to marry Philip's brother, King Herod, John the Baptist did not say to Herod, "What you did was a grave sin, but now that you've already married Herodias, you need to focus on what you can do to make your marriage to her the best it can be."
John the Baptist said nothing like this. The words he gave pierced Herod's heart and angered Herodias to the point of murder. John told Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."
What did John mean? What right did he have to say this? Herodias and Philip were already divorced, and Herodias had already married Herod. Wasn't it too late to call Herodias Philip's wife? And, doesn't Deuteronomy 24:1-4 settle this issue making it anathema for Herod to divorce Herodias and send her back to Philip?
If we aim to be a church where Jesus is Lord rather than cowardice, the fear of man, deceit, money, and people pleasing garbage, then we have to choose to tear down the idols and other lords from the throne of our lives.
A person cannot be a true Christian and worship Satan regarding the institution of marriage. One is either pro-divorce or pro-marriage. Marriage is binding, and it is not to be torn asunder except when one is a victim of abandonment and adultery by the unbelieving spouse.
God expects us to honor our vows. And, He does not expect us to lie and say that dishonoring the vows is OK, that we can just do it fast, get a divorce, remarry and then be morally bound to that second marriage. The minister who performs adulterous marriages behaves as a pimp for the unfaithful, and the minister who excuses or justifies the adulterous marriage and calls it "holy matrimony" is a liar and according to Revelations 21:8, all liars perish into the lake of fire. Do you have a counter example of this? Would you like to prove that all have lied and are subject to this same judgment? If so, that, too, is dishonest -- a trick, a manipulation, a deceit. Repentance ends the sin, makes restitution for it, and puts and end to it so that it's a sin of the past and sins of the past can be forgiven if we do not hold to them, justify them, excuse them, pretend they're not wrong.
But, if a person continues to justify and fortify the adulterous marriage, you can be sure that person is either misguided or that person is willfully deceitful and going to hell and for good reason.
When we see people going into adulterous relationships we should no congratulate them but we should warn them carefully and prayerfully in love.
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