May The Put Away Fornicator Marry Another?

Matthew 19:9b reads “whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” That snippet doesn’t specify either way if the woman under consideration has been put away for fornication or for a reason other than fornication, so it would include both. If she is “put away” (regardless of the reason – fornication or other), she can’t remarry – unless her former husband dies (Romans 7:2-3).

When we realize Matthew 19:9 tells us the facts of the case (it is adultery to divorce and remarry), and Romans 7:2-3 tells us the reason for those facts (http://www.bibledebates.info/Articles/DivorceAndRemarriageMOTT/02_Matt19.9StatesTheFactsOfTheCaseRom7.2-3StatesTheReason.docx ), then most of the questions about the details can be easily answered. Romans 7:2-3 says a wife is bound (obligated) to her husband as long as he lives. The only given exception to that is if she puts him away for his fornication (Mattew 19:9a). But if he puts her away for fornication, that is not excepted; she is still bound to him. Therefore, it would be a sin for her to remarry someone else, because she is still bound to her original husband.

On the other hand, if a put away fornicator is not bound to her former spouse, and instead she is loosed, then I Corinthians 7:27-28 would say she is free to remarry. But that would contradict Matthew 19:9b, therefore a put away fornicator must still be bound to her former spouse, and therefore not free to remarry.

Why is it “adultery” (“unlawful intercourse with the spouse of another” – Vine’s Bible Dictionary) for a woman put away for fornication to remarry? If it is called “adultery,” that must mean she is still tied (bound/obligated) to her original spouse in some way. And if she is still bound to him, how could she be free to remarry another? She couldn’t.

Some use the illustration of a rope to prove that a woman put away for fornication is not still bound to her former husband. They point out that if two people are bound by a rope and the rope is cut freeing one, the other is necessarily freed. They then reason similarly that after a man puts away his wife for fornication, he is unbound, therefore the rope must be cut and the guilty wife is freed also. We need to remember illustrations never prove anything; they just illustrate, and therefore this non-Biblical illustration proves nothing. The situation where one party is unbound while the other is still bound can be illustrated (non-Biblically) as well. It used to be when a college football player decided to transfer to another school, he would have to sit out a year to be eligible at the second school. During that year he may not play for the second school, but the first school is under no obligation to pay his scholarship and actually may sign another player in his place. So it could be said that for that one year the player is bound to the first school (he may play at the first school but not at a second), but the first school is unbound from the player (they may sign another player to replace him). That is the way many contracts work, and marriage is a contract, not a rope.

On the other hand, some teach Matthew 19:9b disallows a man from choosing to remarry a wife he has divorced for fornication because she is a divorced woman. Let’s discuss that next …

First notice that if this argument were sound it would also disallow a man from remarrying a wife he has divorced for a cause other than fornication – for the same reason, “because she is a divorced woman.” But as we all know, I Corinthians 7:10-11 clearly falsifies that, so we know the argument under consideration is unsound.

Second, we see from Matthew 19:9 itself a man is forbidden from divorcing his scriptural wife and marrying “another,” which would imply it would be okay for him to remarry the same woman, the one he divorced. She is not “another” which is the thing forbidden by the text. That’s pretty easy to understand, isn’t it?

Third, we’ve proven above the put away fornicator is still bound to her original spouse. Therefore, it would not be a sin for her to remarry him (if he were willing), because she is still bound to him. If she is still bound to him, how could it be adultery for her to remarry him? It couldn’t (Romans 7:2-3).

We must take all of what the New Testament says on the subject of Divorce And Remarriage (Matthew 4:4), just like salvation or any other subject. If we don’t, we are likely to miss details of the truth (John 8:31-32).

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