Expert: Dr. Ronald E. Shultz - 1/26/2012

Question
If a man marries a divorced woman who's wife is she biblically?

Answer
Not enough information to make that call.  Some would say that no matter what if a person is divorced and remarries they are in a state of perpetual adultery.

Matt 19:8-9

8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. KJV

Many pastors would tell a person that divorce and remarriage is fine if there was adultery involved based upon this passage.  That is a grave error.  It misses the fact that the Jewish tradition was to sign a marriage contract but the couple would not be truly married until one year later to allow the husband to prepare a place for her and also to ensure that the woman was not already pregnant since genealogy and having a true heir was very important.  The clincher to her purity would be determined on the wedding night.  If she were not a virgin she would be guilty of fornication and could be divorced.  Adultery would have brought about the death penalty, not a divorce.  We do not practice marriage in the same way as I doubt that anyone has given the tokens of her virginity, a bloodied cloth, for her parents to keep as proof she was a virgin on her wedding night.  Indeed, one woman said that more women lose their token of virginity to a tampon than to a man. Jesus told the Jews that there was no grounds for divorce except that and that rocked their world because she could burn the meal and be divorced back then under their laws, but not God's.

I believe that 1 Cor 7 teaches a couple of times that divorce and remarriage is OK. The divorce happened before salvation.  Remember, the old man is dead and all things are new.  He is speaking to new converts who are trying to figure out what to do now that they are saved and some want to make radical changes.  

1 Cor 7:27-28

27 Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.
28 But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you. KJV

They may be married and want to be single like Paul to be more free to serve.  He tells them not to do that.  They may be loosed from a wife. They were married and are not now.  The word is used for divorce

NT:3080
lusis (loo'-sis); from NT:3089; a loosening, i.e. (specifically) divorce:
KJV - to be loosed
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

So he tells divorced people they can marry again.  Why, because it happened before salvation.

1 Cor 7:10-16

10 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:
11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.
12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.
16 For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife? KJV

Some of them may have been in unhappy marriages and saw the new life as a chance to get out especially if they were saved and their spouse is an unbeliever.  After all, they are now unequally yoked. Whoo Hoo, time to go!  No.  They are to stay and be a witness with hope of bringing the spouse to Christ.  Some spouses will not respond to the Gospel but might still love this crazy Christian and be content to let them believe what they want.  If so, the believer is to stay.  Now, if the unbeliever says it's me or Christ and he/she sticks to his/her faith and the unbeliever divorces the believer and leaves he/she is free to remarry for they are not under bondage.  God does not punish His kids for what the devil's kids do.  A person who deliberately marries an unbeliever contrary to God's will only opens up themselves to living in a hellish environment or will become cold to God.  These marriages are seldom happy in any sense.

OK, what about two absolutely saved Christians.  When they come to the altar professing that they have few options.  They have no cause for divorce, even adultery.  Each sin we commit is an act of adultery against God and yet we want Him to continually keep the promise in 1 John 1:9 and to keep us sealed unto the day of redemption.

10 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:
11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

A wife or a husband can separate for awhile until the differences are reconciled. Certainly, if there is abuse a person needs to get out.  If no reconciliation can be made and they divorce then they are to stay single and be celibate.  When people see no means of reconciliation they divorce, often with the advice of a pastor, and remarry.  God's ways and timings are not ours and there are people who did not remarry and at some point, maybe years later, God worked in both their hearts and the couple remarried and were glad they did.

Others remarried and later realized they should not have divorced but it was too late.  They loved their new spouses and children but they would live knowing they were made for each other and were now living less than the best life they could have lived.  We are way too speedy to do the wrong thing in our culture.  The pastor that counseled them to divorce is in bigger trouble, but they are still responsible because they should have sought God and His Word as well. Friends who jumped on the bandwagon also share in the sin.

More people are spiritual polygamists even though they have only legally married one person because they have had one night stands.  

1 Cor 6:15-18

15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. KJV

One flesh is marriage language.  Many many men and women are polygamists because they have slept around.  Forgiven they are, but are they any more worthy of serving than a man and woman who were divorced and remarried before they were saved?  Does the piece of paper or the heart matter more?  The couple planned on until death do we part but it did not happen and they plan to stay unto death this time.  What about mental adultery?  How many pastors and deacons would hold office if it could be known that they lusted after the secretary or organist?  Conversely, how many organists and secretaries would be in office if it was known they were fantasizing about the Pastor when being intimate with their husband?  We make divorce an automatic unpardonable sin without knowing the circumstances and never consider all the other sins that may be going on in the church.

Also, the passage in 1 Tim can actually be seen as an attitude or character rather than a state of being since it falls into a list of character traits.  After all, a man whose wife dies is no longer the husband of one wife but if he remarries he can still pastor.  He was a one woman kind of man though he has had two wives.


1 Tim 5:9-14

9 Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,
10 Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.
11 But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry;
12 Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.
13 And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.
14 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. KJV

So if a widow has to be the wife of one man and this is the feminine side of husband of one wife then a widow at 25 who remarries according to Paul's command cannot receive aid at 60 if she is destitute because her womb was barren and she is again widowed? She will be the wife of two husbands, but only because Paul commanded that. I don't think so.  I believe they would help her.  

So, in the case you are asking about, what are the details?  If the divorce and remarriage was according to the options given us in 1 Cor 7 then there is no problem.  Let the man be deacon or pastor and the woman play the piano.  If she fought the divorce and tried to reconcile and the lad left her, was he unsaved?  Then there is no problem.  If she divorced him due to bad advice by a pastor then grace needs to be extended and discernment sought from God.

Blessings to you as you seek His will and study!