III. Matthew 19 A. Here is again validated what we�ve been saying all along. In Matthew 5, Jesus is teaching his disciples that the doctrine of the Scribes and Pharisees is faulty, and now in Matthew 19, I�m sure they�ve had time to hear about it, and so they approach him personally to debate the issue. And so in verse 3, the Pharisees come to Jesus and ask him his stance on the issue, and pay particularly to the question being asked. The question is NOT "Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife". The question is " Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife FOR EVERY CAUSE". Now this is the issue at hand that Jesus is dealing with, and so all that follows is hinged on this question, for every cause. In verse 4, Jesus replies with his usual remark, have ye not read? Now if this isn�t sarcasm! This is all they did for hours a day was to read the Torah.

B. The Pharisees in particular were a Jewish sect which debated for hours, they memorized whole passages and even books of the Bible at a time. They spent their time trying to find where the fine line was. For instance, when it came to working on the Sabbath, they would say if you tie a rope with two hands to a bucket to draw water from a well, then that is work, but if you only use one hand, then that is not work. See how silly? And so then Jesus points not to law of Moses, but to the original idea in the Beginning in Genesis.

C. & D. Here was the plan of God, One Man, and One Woman for One Lifetime. However, there was also no sin. God knew after the fall that this would no longer be the case. So he allowed Moses to suffer divorce, but never intended it to be for every cause. Jesus shows us a picture here that originally, the man and woman were equals, and that in the Book of Genesis, it is only after the fall, that the woman�s desire was to her husband, or in other words, she then had to submit to him. In fact, God called Eve Adam, only Adam called Eve Eve.

There are two ways to view verse 6. The first is that God joins together through the means of marriage, the ceremony, vows, and consummation. The second is that God created Eve for Adam, brought Eve to Adam and presented her to him. Marriage is really like water baptism. It is a holy institution that finds its validity only in Christ. If two sinners who are living together decide to get married, they are still sinners, and the act of them getting married makes them no more righteous than they were. Their vows aren�t very meaningful if God doesn�t hear sinners, so the idea here is that God joins two people together by providence when two people in Christ seek Him to do so. This is why we say our wife is a gift from God. Well, either she REALLY is, or she really isn�t. There are several examples of this in scripture where God had chosen the mate.

Now we ask the question to Jesus� next comment, "from the beginning it was not so". From the beginning WHAT was not so? Remember the issue here is the question asked Jesus by the Pharisees, "Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?". And so Jesus gives this long response to finally summarize his answer that from the beginning, divorce for every cause was not so. This was never intended for man, as was neither polygamy, which Jesus also implies in this verse.

E. The Key to Jesus� Motive: Now in verse 9, Jesus comes out with the motive he has for explaining all of this, and that is that from the beginning, after the fall, which is shown through His fornication exception clause, because before the fall, there would have been no fornication. So from the beginning after the fall, it was only designed for a man and woman to be divorced on the grounds of immorality. So, what Jesus was telling them here is that if they were putting away their wives for every cause, then they were in fact committing adultery. Also remember that what Jesus said is again qualified by Matthew 5, and the exception clause applies to the entire verse, i.e.. That marrying a woman who had been divorced for fornication was committing adultery. While most of the time, the woman would be dead; there were instances, such in the case of Joseph and Mary. This is because the option belonged to the man. So divorce was used as an option given to the men, and sometimes to women, (Mark 10:12), to provide dissolution of the marriage without putting their spouse to death.

In the New Covenant, we have forgiveness of all sins. God would have us as Christians to try and work every problem out and show forgiveness. However, divorce is still provided for as an option when immorality and a few other things are the issues. This was never once challenged or changed.

IV. Paul�s doctrine and comments regarding marriage and divorce. A.1 Romans 7:1-4 False Teaching #3: Paul teaches here that death is the only excuse for divorce.

This passage is often misunderstood even beyond the scope of divorce. Let us look at a few quick components found in verse 1. First of all, Paul is speaking to them who know the law, about the law, and he states that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives. Well, that ought to throw a flag up right there, because we know that in Christ, the law has no dominion over us any longer. And even those who are subject to the law, or its penalty, are not necessarily under the law to perform it. There is a difference. The second thing we want to notice right off the bat is that this statement is again qualified in verse 4. Paul is speaking to the Roman Church, a gentile church about being free from the law. He is using the law itself as an example to show how that we are now free from that law! So what Paul says in verse 1 he clears up in verses 4 through 6 by saying that it is no longer true for us! The subject here is not marriage or divorce at all! The subject is grace and the law. Paul is only using this as an example to illustrate the relationship that we now have with the law. In doing so, he uses the law to do this.

A.2 Now let�s look at this even still. This was a general divorce law, under the law. In verse 3, Paul mentions nothing here about the writing of divorcement, of which he was thoroughly familiar with, especially due to the fact that he had once been a Pharisee himself who used this in his doctrine! This statement in verse 3 was true, but it was not true in every situation, like those qualified by Deuteronomy 24, and Paul knew this. It is the same for us. For instance we know that the law says under the Constitution that we have the absolute right to vote and possess firearms. However, if you have been convicted of a felony, it is no longer true for you, even though it is guaranteed in the Constitution. So if I make the statement that we have the right to vote and bear arms, I am making a true statement, but it�s just not true in every situation.

A.3 A Brief Exegesis on Romans 7

I have a whole teaching on Romans 7, and while we do not have the time to go through it here, I feel that it is important to hit the highlights of what Romans 7 is all about, so that these three verses, one through three, find their proper place in our thinking about this chapter.

Romans 7 is an explanation given by Paul concerning what he says in Romans 6. In Romans 7, the subjects of this passage are Paul himself; a man placed under the law; a man placed under grace; a man regenerated by the Holy Spirit; and a man not yet regenerate. Now we describe a person who is said to be under the law, to be one who is under it�s penalty, which includes all sinners, and not just the Jew who is under the law to perform it. To be under grace on the other hand totally opposes this by the fact that the man under grace is absolved from sin, free from its ultimate penalty, and is also free from the law which condemns and has received the Spirit of Christ which enables the believer to live righteously without the law. This is what Paul is saying in Romans 6:14. Paul goes on to say that the law is not sin, because how can it be sin if it is the very thing that points sin out? So then, four things are pointed out from verse 14 1. Christians are not under the Law 2. Christians are under Grace 3. Sin shall have dominion over those who are under the Law. 4. Sin shall not have dominion over those who are under Grace.

Then in verse 18, Paul states emphatically that we have been made free from sin, and have become servants of righteousness. In verse 20, he states the justification for what he just said in verse 18. So then, in Romans 7, Paul is continuing this same discussion and illustrates what he just said in Romans 6:20, by using the example of the law concerning marriage and divorce. Then in verse 4, he repeats what he says in Romans 6:18. In verse 9 of Romans 7, Paul personifies himself as any man who is without law, which is not to say that he is not under it. Without law, means having no knowledge of its commandments. And so, he says that without knowledge of the law, he was alive, but when he heard the law, he died. It is the same with us. The law is needed to be preached to show sinners their hopeless state. Paul continues on expressing how this new knowledge of his sin through the law brought him to death, such as in Acts 2, when they were pricked in their hearts and cried "What must we do?" Paul explains the frustration even further when he states that now he has knowledge of his sin, but has no way of hope to be delivered from it (verse 18). Again, Paul is not speaking of himself personally, but as a man who is familiar with the conviction of the law that we have all experienced. Indeed it is necessary to be saved. And so Paul cries out as a sinner who is at the point of conversion in verse 24 : "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" The answer of course is found in the very next verse, verse 25. It is the same answer we sought when we were brought under conviction by God. This very conviction is what brought us to surrender, and that is knowing that Jesus Christ is the only hope and escape for our sinful condition.

So we see then, that Paul�s reference to divorce when taken with the Rule of unity, shows that what he is saying has absolutely nothing to do with Christ�s divorce law at all.

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