Under What Condition Does God Permit Divorce in the New Testament?
1) Direct answer
Only one condition: fornication. The Lord permits putting away “except it be for fornication.” Outside of that, from the beginning it was not so.
2) Scriptural explanation
- Jesus said, “Moses suffered you to put away… but from the beginning it was not so… whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery” (Matthew 19:8–9; see also Matthew 5:32).
- The Bible shows what that exception looks like: Joseph, being espoused to Mary and not yet come together, “was minded to put her away privily,” thinking she had been unchaste before they joined (Matthew 1:18–20). That’s the very setting—betrothal/at the start, before consummation.
- Once joined, the Word says a wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives (Romans 7:2–3). If she departs, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled; and the husband is not to put away his wife (1 Corinthians 7:10–11). If an unbeliever departs, the brother or sister is “not under bondage” to force the cohabitation, but this does not cancel the life‑bond (1 Corinthians 7:15 compared with 7:39).
3) Simple clarifying logic
- From the beginning God made them one flesh. You don’t break what God joined by later sin; you deal with it by repentance and forgiveness. That’s why Jesus did not say “except for adultery,” but “except for fornication”—uncleanness discovered at the start, which shows the union was not cleanly entered.
- So the only God‑given ground to put away is fornication discovered at the beginning. Otherwise, no divorce, and no remarriage while the spouse lives.
4) Reinforcing statement
Now notice, the Bible says it plainly. One exception—fornication at the start. Beyond that, remain as you are or be reconciled.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Marriage and Divorce
65-0221M §99
That's exactly what it was, for he's no longer a beast; he was cursed and put on his belly for the rest of his days! He's here. Is that right? And still in that act that he done, is still the same sin works around a woman, like a male sex like that. There's where she has her wall-eyed conditions and things when she has her sensations, far beyond what any man could ever do. I'll stop there because we're in a mixed crowd. I'll get the men, We'll talk more about it. Got all the papers and things laying right here, rig...
Marriage and Divorce
65-0221M §30
Look at all this revival has went on for fifteen years or more, and not one denomination come out of it. Luther had a revival, there went a denomination; Wesley, there went a denomination; Alexander Campbell, there went a denomination. All these other great... John Smith, and so forth, denominations; Moody, all along. But here's been one... Usually a revival only lasts about three years, but this has been going for over fifteen years and not one denomination has sprung up from it, for this is the seed time. There's...
Marriage and Divorce
65-0221M §25
Now, listen and see if this sounds sensible to you. For instance, if I get ready to go overseas, and I take my own family, I'll call my wife up to me, and I will say, "We're ... I'm going overseas, Dear." (Now, here is the legalist's side.) " Now, my wife, I'm going to lay the law down to you. If you flirt with any man while I'm gone, when I come back, you're a divorced woman. And I don't want you making eyes, don't want you flirting! You understand that? I'm your husband. If you do it, I'm going to put you away wh...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 2:E-57
6. The Two-edged Sword. "And out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword." In Hebrews 4:12, "For the Word of God is quick, and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Out of His mouth went the sharp two-edged sword which is the WORD OF GOD. Revelation 19:11-16, "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful an...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 7:E-43
Now I just said that this era gave tremendous growth to the denominational spirit. If the Corinthian attitude of "I am of Paul, I of Cephas" was ever exhibited, it was now. There were Lutherans, Hussites, Zwingli's party, etc. Such fragmentation of the Body was deplorable. They were living a name but were dead. Certainly they were dead. They died the minute they organized. The great groups organized and tied themselves in matrimony to the state. That did it. They were finished. Here were those Lutherans who had cri...