Marriage Requirements for the People of God's Kingdom Under the New Covenant - Part 1
Italicized sections are my commentary.
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
- Matthew 5:17-20
Laws concerning marriage, morality and sexual morality that were required for God's people under the old covenant are still required for God's people today under the new covenant. Jesus did not abolish these laws, but He fulfilled them. The outcome will not be good for whoever breaks these laws or teaches others to break them. More and more people in the church are siding with the world on these matters because they are being taught in churches and are believing that these laws are no longer in effect, and furthermore, they oppose Christians who believe that they are.They can oppose all they want, but they will stand before God one day and have to give account to Him for their rejection of His word.
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“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
- Matthew 5:31-32
The law under the old covenant said that a man was able give his wife a certificate of divorce if he found any uncleanness in her which caused her to find no favor in his eyes (Deuteronomy 24), however Jesus said that the only reason that a man has to divorce his wife is fornication (sex outside of marriage). He goes on to say that if he divorces her for any reason other than fornication, that he is causing her to commit adultery. This is because she would likely remarry, but in God's sight, she and the husband who divorced her are still married because he did not have grounds for divorce. Furthermore, the man whom she marries is also committing adultery because he has married a woman who is already married.
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For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. - Romans 7:2-3
The apostle Paul reinforced Jesus's teaching on divorce. He wrote to the church of Rome, that a husband and wife are bound together until one of them dies. It is apparent that most Christians are not aware, or do not understand, or do not care, that marriage is a life long union between a man and a woman and a covenant that they made before God when they recited vows to one another, because Christians divorce each other just as frequently, or moreso, than non Christians, for reasons other than fornication. Many Christians may be astonished on judgment day when Jesus holds them accountable for marrying another person while they were still married to their original spouse. In their eyes, they may have been divorced according to the state law, but if they are a follower of Jesus, they are required to follow God's law, not the state's, and according to God's law, they are still married unless one of them committed fornication.
Fornication,which is sex outside of marriage, and high divorce rates among Christians, does not witness to the world that there is another King of another kingdom - King Jesus. They do not show the world that they are a nation of priests, a kingdom of God, who have been set apart from the world and who belong to a good, and righteous God who is set apart from the people and the ways of the world. What their behavior witnesses to the world is that Christians are no different than they are, and that Christians are hypocrites for not practicing what they preach. It shows them that God's ways are no different than their ways. It shows the world that if the people of God behave this way, then God must also. Their behavior does not show that Jesus is the Light of the world who has come to diminish the darkness, but that if Jesus is the Light of the world, then there is no distinction between the Light and the darkness. A self professing Christian who is a poor witness of God is detestable to Him and their sin is an abomination to Him.
A person who professes to be a Christian is responsible to know and to understand what God expects from His people. Jesus said to count the cost of following Him. A person needs to count the cost of following Him before deciding to do so. After making the decision to follow Him, it is their own responsibility to get to know God, His ways, and what He expects.
Unfortunately, most people are not made aware of these things when they "make a decision for Christ". Typically they are given a sales pitch of how much better their life will be with Jesus in it. They are never told to count the cost before deciding to follow Jesus because following Jesus is hard and costly. Instead they are told of God's free gift of salvation which is given to anyone who wants it. In this way they are deceived.
They also depend on their pastor to tell them what the Bible teaches and what God expects of them, if anything. Depending on whether they are of Paul or of Apollos will dictate whether they believe God has any expectations for them or not. Many Christians believe that the only requirement God has for them is to die so they can go to heaven. Others believe that God does not require anything of His people, including turning away from their sin and fully to Him, because His love, grace and mercy covers their sins. Some believe that God's commands are void and that Jesus's commands are not for modern day Christians, but for the apostles and the early church. Some believe that the church is currently in a dispensation of grace, and therefore Jesus's commands do not apply to Christians today. And others believe that God's purpose is nothing more than to bless them and make their lives better.
Basically, what this means is that many Christians do not understand that they are in a marriage covenant with Jesus and that there are expectations between partners in every marriage. It is obsurd to think that marriage partners can do whatever they "feel" is right, hoping only for eternity when they die and have gone to heaven, while ignoring their present lives together on earth.Yet that is what many Christians do. They ignore their marriage with Christ by not using the life God created them for, for His purpose and glory, and only focus on their marriage with Him in eternity.
But to my original point, many Christians do not take on the responsibility of getting to know God and what He expects, but give the responsibility to their pastor to teach them. Many have been taught that God has no requirements or expectations from His people. Most have not counted the cost of following Jesus, so there is fear in making Christ known. So they have neglected their own responsibilities.
On the other hand, the pastor or the Christian who presented the sales pitch of Jesus, and who neglected to inform the potential buyer of the cost of following Jesus, and that they must count the cost before making a decision, and that God has requirements and expectations for His people - HIGH expectations - are also responsible to God for not providing this information, and will be held accountable to Him.
Those who profess to be Christian have the responsibility to get to know God, His ways, and His expectations, and those who lead others into the kingdom and disciple them have the responsibility to inform potential Christians of the covenant which they are entering into, counting the cost, getting to know God, God's ways and what God expects from them as the bride of Christ and a member of His holy people and kingdom. They are also responsible to inform them that if they break the covenant by committing fornication with other gods, they will cut off from God's people, just as God’s people in the old covenant were. This is so that the person is made aware of the fact that the covenant is conditional, and that He will not tolerate unfaithfulness. If the person who invites them into God's kingdom neglects to inform them, the person is responsible to find this out for themselves after becoming a Christian through their growing knowledge of God, His ways, and His expectations.
The idea that God has no requirements or expectations from His people, no consequences for their sinful behavior, and has placed no conditions on the covenant He's made with His people has severely damaged the witness of Jesus and the church, by unrepentant people who are sometimes unwilling to repent, professing to others that they are Christian. Their sinful behavior blemishes God's character and His people; it gives God and them a bad reputation among unbelievers. This is something that needs to change. Getting people to say a sinner's prayer and baptizing them in order to provide numbers to show growth of a church only invites bad fruit into the church. People being invited into the kingdom must be made aware that being a Christian is a lifelong commitment of faithfulness to Jesus, and if they are unwilling to accept the invitation, then so be it. Only faithful Christians who love, honor and glorify God will enter and inherit the kingdom of God. Unfaithful heathens who defile the name of Jesus will not.
The reason that Jesus gives for taking the kingdom away from Israel in Matthew 21 is that they were not producing the fruit of the land which God had leased to them. The fruit that he is referring to is justice and righteousness (Isaiah 5:7). If God took the kingdom from unfaithful Israel, then He will also take it from those who are unfaithful within the ekklesia.
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