Matthew 19:9

Monday, 27 April 2026

And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” Matthew 19:9

“And I say to you that whoever, if he should dismiss his wife not upon harlotry, and he shall marry another, he commits adultery. And the ‘having been dismissed,’ having married, she commits adultery.” (CG)

In the previous verse, Jesus explained that Moses permitted divorce because of the hardness of the people’s hearts. However, from the beginning it was not so. Jesus continues, saying, “And I say to you.”

His words are not an explanation but a declaration. There is nothing subjectively interpretive in them. In other words, He doesn’t say, “Well, Moses says, but this point can be inferred from the Genesis account.” Instead, Jesus is speaking with His own authority to define a matter, which is “that whoever, if he should dismiss his wife not upon harlotry, and he shall marry another, he commits adultery.”

This is clear and unambiguous. If a person has a wife and she is faithful to him, he has no biblical right to divorce her. If she does engage with another man, she is obviously an adulteress and has broken the marriage covenant. In such a case, he has the right to divorce her.

However, if the man’s wife was faithful, and he divorces her and later marries another, he is now guilty of adultery. He has violated the marriage covenant. The precept set forth in Genesis 2 concerning the two being one flesh is, according to Jesus, a binding precept. Likewise, He continues, saying, “And the ‘having been dismissed,’ having married, she commits adultery.”

It has already been established that if a woman commits adultery during marriage, she has violated the marriage covenant. So, Jesus’ words here mean that if a man divorces his wife who has been faithful and she remarries, she is still considered an adulteress. She remained bound to her husband despite the piece of paper he issued to be rid of her.

In other words, to avoid being labeled an adulteress, she would have to remain single, even after divorce, or until he died, at which time, her vows to him were annulled.

Life application: The words of Jesus in this verse are intensely debated over. Some manuscripts have dropped the final clause, “And the ‘having been dismissed,’ having married, she commits adultery.” By doing this, it relieves the tension for some, but when thought through, it isn’t relieved at all.

The point of Jesus’ words relies on the original nature of the Genesis account. It does not rely on what the man or woman wants or does. In other words, once a marriage has taken place, the two have become one. Violations of that precept must be considered from that perspective.

If a woman is dismissed by her husband, she is still bound to the original precept of her marriage, meaning identifying with the husband she married, regardless of their active status as a couple.

With that having been said, there is a truth that must be considered. In Christ, all sin is forgiven. One law cannot be held above all the others as being apart from Christ’s atonement, as if He has forgiven everything but adultery.

Therefore, though this is a binding precept, it is not a matter of loss of salvation if violated. Rather, if a believer goes through a divorce and is identified as an adulterer according to Jesus’ words, that disobedience will be judged for rewards and losses according to 1 Corinthians 3 and 2 Corinthians 5.

Those in Christ are not under law, but grace. However, it should never be the case that grace be thought of as an excuse for license to sin. Such an idea is perverse and should not be considered. God looks at our marriage covenant in the same light He looks at His covenant with us. They are to be considered indissoluble by those who enter them. It is the reason Israel still exists as a nation today.

God will fulfill every promise He has made to the people He has covenanted with.

Lord God, help us to live honorably in Your presence, living our lives according to Your will and in accord with the precepts set forth by You. May we never consider it ok to tread upon the grace You have bestowed upon us. Help us in this, O God. Amen.