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.
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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 §86
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Be not afraid
60-0609 §45
The Holy Spirit, God's Holy Spirit, is in our midst. He's proving Himself with us. He is not dead, He is alive. One time they come to Him and said, "Master, we would see a sign." He said, "A weak and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign." And if that ain't the generation we're living in, I never knowed it. A wicked and adulterous generation, what we got now. Look at the adulteries. Look at the divorces. Divorces---America's divorce cases covers the rest of the world. Certainly they do. It sure does. It's the...
Questions and Answers, Part 3
64-0830M §23
QUESTION: Now. Is there ever any condition wherein it's permissible to remarry after divorce, according to (Now, see if this is a... I think there's two or three questions on this.)--- according to the Scriptures? If I do not remain married in---from previous times, it---is there any grounds for divorce that permits you to ... even to remarry? I will be b-u-i-... buying the tape (Yeah!) to get this answer. Thank you very much. I'll look for it Sunday. Well now, I have said this, you see. Don't... Let me just leave...
If God be with us, then where is all the miracles?
61-1231E §47
If God be God, where is His miracles? If God is with us, where is His miracles? If God is with the Methodist church, why is all the women still wearing bobbed hair? If God is with the Baptist church, then why does the pastor still smoke cigarettes (many of them)? Why do they still deny the power of God to heal the sick and to raise the dead, and to speak in tongues and interpret tongues, and gifts of prophecy? Why do they still deny it, if the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament is still the s...
The waters of separation
55-0606 §4
..., and the 25th and 26th verses. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word, "The washing of the water by the Word." The subject is: The Waters Of Separation. Going back into the Old Testament, where our brother just read the Scripture lesson tonight, to teach a little bit from the Word, the Lord willing. Now, tomorrow... The Old Testament: Many people just discard that old book when it's re...