A lot of people seem to be under the impression that when you commit the sin of divorce, and then you ask for forgiveness, that the forgiveness you have received means God has given you the green light to remarry. God's forgiveness doesn't change the fact that you divorced against God's law so that hasn't changed.
If you do remarry then you're just adding another sin on top of the original sin. So if you do that, then of course you can get forgiveness for that. BUT that forgiveness doesn't cover you for the ongoing sin that you will be committing everyday you remain married to someone other than your original spouse.
It's like this: If you steal an item and then ask for forgiveness, but then rather than return what you stole, you keep it and use it like it always belonged to you. Does your forgiveness automatically make the item yours? Here's another more extreme example: If you commit the sin of murder and then God forgives you of that murder, does that mean that all murders you commit going forward are also automatically forgiven?
I think people really miss the boat, either out of ignorance or on purpose. I say that because so far I've seen nothing in the scriptures to indicate you're not sinning if you get divorced and remarried against God's wishes, even when you ask for forgiveness. Staying in that type of a relationship is just repeating the original sins.
"so far I've seen nothing in the scriptures to indicate you're not sinning if you get divorced and remarried against God's wishes, even when you ask for forgiveness. Staying in that type of a relationship is just repeating the original sins."
I agree that it's sin to remarry after a divorce, but I don't think it is a repeated sin. It's like murder. You kill someone once. The person continues to remain dead, but that doesn't mean that you are continuously murdering them everyday. The act of murder happened once, and if you ask God for forgiveness, then you're forgiven for that sin. And likewise, I would assume that after a divorce, if you ask for God's forgiveness, He will forgive you. Then if you remarry out of passion and then ask for forgiveness for that, then God will forgive you for that too. But it's not a continual ongoing sin. Like for example, Jonah was fleeing from the command of God. He got on a boat and went the opposite direction. So, every single day he was on his way, he was sinning against God. Every second, everyday, and every hour. So, that's a different kind of sin. But I don't think that remarriage is the same, because the Bible is pretty clear that once you're married, you shouldn't seek a divorce. And once you're divorced, then you shouldn't seek marriage.
I'll put it another way. Let's say you stole a car and was able to alter the VIN# and get it registered. You drove the car around for a short while but the guilt got to you so you confessed your sin to God. BUT you kept the car and continued to use it. Wouldn't you still be sinning everyday you keep the car? After all asking forgiveness doesn't make the car magically not stolen.
The way I see it the sin doesn't stop until you return the car nor does it stop as long as you stay remarried because you're still committing adultery.
One, A woman is bound to her husband for as long as he lives (Romans 7:2-3 and 1 Corinthians 7:39) so a widow is free to marry after her husband has died. Two, a divorced woman who has had no other men may return to her husband and be married to him again as long as she has not married or divorced another man. (Deuteronomy 24:1-4 and 1 Corinthians 7:10-11)
Romans 7:2-3 ...By law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man. (Romans 7:2-3)
1 Corinthians 7:39 39 A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. (1 Corinthians 7:39)
