Lion & Lamb Church Statement on Divorce and Remarriage
Introduction
The issue of divorce and remarriage is one which has eluded unanimity among Christians
for centuries. The resultant confusion has left the practice of modern Christians
barely distinguishable from that of the rest of the culture. The leadership of Lion
and Lamb Church believe that it is essential that scripture form the basis of our
beliefs and convictions, rather than a simple “baptism of what is.” Nonetheless,
after a fairly exhaustive review of various biblical texts on the issue, many good
and godly brothers in Christ have diverged on the justification and even the scriptural
basis for divorce and remarriage. To an extent, that diversity of opinion is reflected
among the leaders of Lion and Lamb Church.
Lion and Lamb leaders are in wholehearted agreement that marriage is one of God‟s
greatest blessings on the human race and a means whereby He accomplishes much of
His will on the earth. Marriage as an institution should be protected as the incalculable
gift of God it is, and every effort should be exhausted to strengthen marriages
and to prevent faltering marriages from ending. Lion & Lamb is committed heart and
soul to helping marriages reflect the glory of God and to be the source of blessing
God means them to be.
We also understand that while God‟s design for marriage is perfect, marriage partners
are not. Sin, willfulness, neglect, and unfaithfulness on the part of one or both
marriage partners much too often lead to dissolution of the marriage through divorce.
Lion and Lamb leaders are united in their conviction that God designed marriage
to:
- Be a lifelong relationship, and the primary means by which:
- mankind experiences completion as man and woman;
- God provides a stable, loving relationship in which men and women can grow and thrive;
- children are brought into the world;
- children are given a safe, stable environment in which to grow and thrive;
- the knowledge of God is passed from one generation to the next; and,
- Be a living example of God‟s love for His people, and Christ‟s love for the Church.
God‟s provision of marriage, and His call to marital faithfulness and mutual love
and service between husbands and wives, is a high call, meant to glorify God, bless
men and women, and provide a living illustration of the great and costly love of
God for those in relationship with Him.
Because God‟s design for marriage includes permanence and mutual self sacrifice
in service of the other spouse‟s best interest, any marriage ending before the death
of a spouse falls short of God‟s design, and is a serious and significant failure,
affecting both spouses, their families, any children, the Church, and the larger
culture.
While divorce has become commonplace in both the wider culture and the Church, its
widespread pervasiveness should not be mistaken as an indication that divorce is
anything less than the rupturing of a union meant to last a lifetime. Divorce leaves
all parties damaged and God‟s good will and image marred. It is important for the
Church to have a biblical perspective on divorce and its aftermath, as well as what
the scriptures say about the possibility of remarriage.
Practice at Lion and Lamb
Out of a respect for differing interpretations and convictions, a desire to walk
in unity, a humble recognition that we are all sinners saved by God‟s grace as well
as a recognition of the reality of divorce and remarriage within the church at large,
the leaders have agreed to the following as a practical approach to situations that
may arise within the body of Lion and Lamb:
- Those who have been divorced and those who have remarried are welcome in full fellowship
in Lion and Lamb so long as they willingly affirm the ideal and purpose of marriage
portrayed in this statement. We believe this will involve seeking forgiveness for
any wrong committed, regardless of the fault on the other side, and making things
right to the extent possible. We encourage transparency regarding one‟s own weaknesses
and failures that may have contributed to the collapse of his or her own past marriage(s).
- If a divorced and remarried couple would like to fellowship at Lion and Lamb, but
is under censure at another church, Lion and Lamb leadership will investigate the
reasons for the censure and may require that the couple seek reconciliation at their
previous church before being accepted at Lion and Lamb.
- Assuming that the above reparative steps have been accomplished to the extent possible,
leaders at Lion & Lamb may perform marriages only for those whose previous marriage
was severed by unfaithfulness or abandonment by the other spouse. (Unfaithfulness
and abandonment being the potential exceptions allowing divorce and remarriage as
understood by Church leadership.)
Leaders may choose not to perform such marriages based on their own convictions.
- Believing in the inestimable worth of marriage, leadership will encourage restoration
and reconciliation in any circumstance of marital separation.
If a person in fellowship at Lion & Lamb leaves their spouse, they will be exhorted
to remain unmarried, per 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, with the hope of restoration.
If a separation is necessary for the protection of spouse or children, repentance,
reconciliation and restoration will be encouraged as a solution, rather than divorce.
If they proceed to divorce their spouse in a situation not covered by the potential
exceptions in Matt 5 and 19 (unfaithfulness), or 1 Corinthians 7 (abandonment),
they will be approached in the spirit of Matthew 18:15-18, and exhorted back to
covenant faithfulness.
Lion & Lamb Church wants to sound a clarion call to God‟s high design for marriage
faithfulness and permanence, while at the same time, displaying God‟s redeeming
love in compassion, forgiveness, and restoration.
We want to encourage a culture in which lifelong devotion and joy in marriage is
the norm. We will strive to communicate this in both teaching and example.
Biblical Passages
The following are the passages in the scriptures that deal most directly with divorce
and remarriage and which inform this discussion.
Genesis 2:20-24
GE 2:20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to
every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for
him. GE 2:21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept;
then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. GE 2:22 The
LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought
her to the man. GE 2:23 The man said, “ This is now bone of my bones, And flesh
of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” GE 2:24
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his
wife; and they shall become one flesh
Deuteronomy 24:1-4
DT 24:1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds
no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her
a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house,
DT 24:2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man‟s wife, DT 24:3
and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce
and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband
dies who took her to be his wife, DT 24:4 then her former husband who sent her away
is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for
that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land
which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.
Malachi 2:16
MAL 2:16 “For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “and him who covers
his garment with wrong,” says the LORD of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that
you do not deal treacherously.”
Matthew 5:31-32
MT 5:31 “It was said, „WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE
OF DIVORCE‟; MT 5:32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except
for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced
woman commits adultery.
Matthew 19:3-12
MT 19:3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “ Is it lawful for
a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” MT 19:4 And He answered and said,
“Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND
FEMALE, MT 19:5 and said, „FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER
AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH‟? MT 19:6 “So they
are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no
man separate.” MT 19:7 They *said to Him, “ Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER
A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?” MT 19:8 He *said to them, “Because
of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the
beginning it has not been this way. MT 19:9 “And I say to you, whoever divorces
his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” MT
19:10 The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife
is like this, it is better not to marry.” MT 19:11 But He said to them, “ Not all
men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. MT 19:12
“For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother‟s womb; and there
are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves
eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let
him accept it.”
Mark 10:2-12
MK 10:2 Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him
whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife. MK 10:3 And He answered and said
to them, “What did Moses command you?” MK 10:4 They said, “ Moses permitted a man
TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY.” MK 10:5 But Jesus said to
them, “ Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. MK 10:6
“But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. MK 10:7 “FOR
THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER , MK 10:8 AND THE TWO SHALL
BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. MK 10:9 “What therefore
God has joined together, let no man separate.” MK 10:10 In the house the disciples
began questioning Him about this again. MK 10:11 And He *said to them, “ Whoever
divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; MK 10:12
and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing
adultery.”
Luke 16:18
LK 16:18 “ Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery,
and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.
1 Corinthians 7:10-16, 39
1CO 7:10 But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife
should not leave her husband 1CO 7:11 (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried,
or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his
wife. 1CO 7:12 But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife
who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her.
1CO 7:13 And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with
her, she must not send her husband away. 1CO 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is
sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her
believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.
1CO 7:15 Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister
is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace. 1CO 7:16 For
how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know,
O husband, whether you will save your wife? 1CO 7:39 A wife is bound as long as
her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom
she wishes, only in the Lord.
Ephesians 5:25-32
EPH 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave
Himself up for her, EPH 5:26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her
by the washing of water with the word, EPH 5:27 that He might present to Himself
the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that
she would be holy and blameless. EPH 5:28 So husbands ought also to love their own
wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; EPH 5:29 for
no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ
also does the church, EPH 5:30 because we are members of His body. EPH 5:31 FOR
THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE,
AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. EPH 5:32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking
with reference to Christ and the church. EPH 5:33 Nevertheless, each individual
among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to
it that she respects her husband.
Pdf version of divorce and remarriage policy