Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 12/1/2007

Question
What is the Southern Baptist view on divorce and remarrage?  I'm Lutheran (ELCU) and have been divorced for 16 years, my husband was unfaithful.  My boyfriend is Southern Baptist and is going thru his second divorce.  Thank you in advance.

Answer
Blessings and thank you for your question.

Divorce is a sin.  When God created marriage, he intended for 2 people to be together until death.  Divorce came into the picture when sin entered the marriage.  God gave permission for people to divorce when their partner was unfaithful.  By the time of Jesus, divorce was a big problem.  Many Jewish men would marry prostitutes for a night and divorce them the next morning.  This enabled them to get what they wanted without breaking the law.  

Jesus saw the hardening of their hearts and pointed out that marriage was a sacred vow.  Divorce should only happen in the severest of cases.  

Divorce is not a sin only if your partner was unfaithful or if your partner is not a Christian and wishes to divorce.  Now I don't think God would want someone to stay in a marriage where they are being abused.  So each case of divorce should be looked at individually.

While divorce is a sin, it is not an unforgivable sin.  I believe that if a person repents and asks the Father for forgiveness, then the Father forgives that person.  Then they are free to marry again.

You will find that many Southern Baptists believe that once you are divorced you should never marry again or hold a leadership position in the church.  But, in some Southern Baptist churches, it isn’t an issue.   


Exodus 21:10-11; Ezra 10:1-6; Deuteronomy 24:1-4; Isaiah 54:6; Jeremiah 3:1, 20; Hosea 2:7. Malachi 2:13-16; Matthew 1:19, 5:31-32, 19:3-9 24:37-38; Mark 10:2-12; Romans 7:1-3; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; 2 Timothy 3:3