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Featured The bible and Divorce

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by evangelist6589, Aug 9, 2016.

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  1. evangelist6589

    evangelist6589 Well-Known Member
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    Got a friend whose wife filed legal separation on him. Can he file for divorce or should he in response? She has not cheated on him, but she is mentally ill and has anger issues. She causes him much stress due to her anger and unstableness. What are the exceptions for divorce that I can tell him?
     
    #1 evangelist6589, Aug 9, 2016
  2. Don

    Don Well-Known Member
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    Can he? Yes.

    Should he? No. Matthew 19:6, 19:8-9.

    The only "exception" is sexual immorality.

    I would recommend counseling, either with a pastor and/or qualified counselor. If she won't go, he should go alone, if only to show his commitment to his wife, which should be the same as the commitment Christ has to the church.
     
    #2 Don, Aug 9, 2016
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  3. Rolfe

    Rolfe Well-Known Member
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    Adding to what Don wrote, "in sickness and in health" is a part of the Marital Vows.
     
    #3 Rolfe, Aug 9, 2016
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  4. Van

    Van Well-Known Member
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    I am a little confused. If she divorces him then, he is the faithful spouse, and can remarry. If she does not divorce, and he has no biblical basis for divorce, then he should care for her as best he can.
     
    #4 Van, Aug 9, 2016
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  5. Smyth

    Smyth Active Member

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    It's his duty to try to reconcile and to find a way to deal with her mental illness. Why does he want to divorce her? Does he want to get remarried? If not, then, if nothing else, just live separated. And, if he wants to get remarried, his church should kick him out.

    (He needs to find another way to death with her, other than what he was doing in the past.)
     
    #5 Smyth, Aug 9, 2016
  6. evangelist6589

    evangelist6589 Well-Known Member
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    This may be what he needs to hear although he would rather go straight to the divorce.
     
    #6 evangelist6589, Aug 9, 2016
  7. Jeremy Seth

    Jeremy Seth Member

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    Does Matthew 19:9 only say that remarriage after divorce is adultery except for sexual immorality, or divorce is adultery except for sexual immorality?
     
    #7 Jeremy Seth, Aug 10, 2016
  8. Yeshua1

    Yeshua1 Well-Known Member
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    Per the word of the Lord, only AdultERY/sexual sins, and abandment would apply, so he !needs to stay in this and seek out good Christian couseling aND PRAY FOR THE GRACE OF THE lORD, AND FOR gOD TO INTERVENE AND TOUCH HIS WIFE
     
    #8 Yeshua1, Aug 10, 2016
  9. JonC

    JonC Moderator
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    This is often more a difficult issue than it may at first appear (e.g.., is there a biblical warrant for an abused spouse to leave a mate?). Just like other issues (e.g., most who support corporal punishment do not do so strictly on biblical grounds) this one gets complicated, but at the end of the day the husband entered into a covenant with the wife (they are one) and even in the face of unfaithfulness divorce is not an automatic (we all were, at one time, unfaithful to God). From the information here, I'd say that the husband should fight to keep his marriage.
     
    #9 JonC, Aug 10, 2016
  10. evangelist6589

    evangelist6589 Well-Known Member
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    Should he file for legal separation?
     
    #10 evangelist6589, Aug 10, 2016
  11. Don

    Don Well-Known Member
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    No.

    He may not want to hear it, but you should have him look hard at the last half of Ephesians 5, starting with verse 25.
     
    #11 Don, Aug 10, 2016
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  12. JonC

    JonC Moderator
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    No. Marriage us not merely a secular contract between two people. I can't see how filing for separation would be any different from filing for devorce.
     
    #12 JonC, Aug 11, 2016
  13. evangelist6589

    evangelist6589 Well-Known Member
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    That's my opinion but his pastor is encouraging legal separation even without a Biblical reason.
     
    #13 evangelist6589, Aug 11, 2016
  14. Don

    Don Well-Known Member
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    His pastor is encouraging him to file for legal separation, or encouraging her to file for legal separation?
     
    #14 Don, Aug 11, 2016
  15. evangelist6589

    evangelist6589 Well-Known Member
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    Encouraging her.
     
    #15 evangelist6589, Aug 11, 2016
  16. JonC

    JonC Moderator
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    Sometimes there is more to things that meet the eye. I don't know the details (and do not want to know the details) but maybe there is a reason (a biblical reason) for this pastor's encouragement of the wife to leave of which we are unaware. That said, it is unfortunate that our culture has influenced our churches to the extent that it is often difficult to tel the difference between the world and the Church.
     
    #16 JonC, Aug 11, 2016
  17. Baptist Believer

    Baptist Believer Well-Known Member
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    If his safety is in danger, that may be warranted.

    I have a close relative who had a wife with severe mental issues. On more than one occasion, she physically attacked him - once with a large kitchen knife - and he was rightly concerned about sleeping under the same roof.
     
    #17 Baptist Believer, Aug 11, 2016
  18. evangelist6589

    evangelist6589 Well-Known Member
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    Nothing that bad.
     
    #18 evangelist6589, Aug 11, 2016
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