I te rahiraa o te mau fenua Tooa o te râ, Ua hope te faaipoiporaa i te afaraa o te mau faaipoiporaa. Peneia'e e, e faaohipahia teie faito faataaraa teitei no te mau faaipoiporaa o te mau taata iino, Te vahi pe'ape'a, e ere i te mea parau mau. E rave rahi faaipoiporaa Kerisetiano o te hope i roto i te faaipoiporaa. What is the reason why so many Christians divorce and what does the Bible say about divorce? Because Christians can have opinions about divorce and decide to divorce their spouse, but that’s not what matters. Te mea faufaa,, how God feels about divorce. Does God approve of divorce and may Christians divorce their spouse or is divorce a sin. Let’s look at what the Bible says about divorce.
Who is the new creation?
When you are a born-again Christian, it means that you have become a new creation in Christ. E ere outou i te mea tahito faahou, te hamaniraa apî râ. You are born of God and have the Holy Spirit abiding in you. I roto i te Mesia, you have laid down the sinful nature that is present in the flesh and reigned in your life.
Through regeneration in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, you have God’s nature. It’s no longer about you and your carnal will, but it’s about God and the will of the Spirit.
Te toto o Iesu, you have been reconciled with God and transferred from the power of darkness into the Kingdom of God, i reira Iesu Mesia te Arii e te mau mana'o (Kolosa 1:13-14).
Noa'tu e, te ora nei outou i te ao nei, you are no longer of the world. You don’t belong to the world and the ruler of the world anymore. You’re no longer a son of the devil but you are son of God (te mau tane e te mau vahine).
The old creation doesn’t live anymore
Hou outou a fanau faahou ai, you were the ōrama. You were carnal and lived from a fallen state in bondage of the devil after the will of the corrupt flesh. The devil was the ruler of your life and you obeyed and served him by living after the flesh in sin.
All the characteristics of the devil were present from birth in you (in your sinful flesh). Like selfishness, te faateitei, Haʻamāuru, a desire to be worshipped and exalted by others, Te faaoromai ore, fa'ahou, Te faahuehueraa, ōhipa, tere, mata'u, fa'aterehia, te paraparau ino (killing others with your words), tia, e te tahi atu â.
But this behavior changed when you became a new creation. When your flesh (with its evil nature) ua pohe i roto i te Mesia, your spirit raised from the dead and you received the Holy Spirit from God.
Na roto i teie tauiraa i te pae varua, your nature changed.
You no longer lived from the Adamic fallen nature with its evil character, but from your new godly nature with a righteous and holy character.
You shall love God and therefore believe His words and keep His words and commandments.
And you shall love your neighbour as yourself. About the latter one is a lot of misconception. If you would like to know what it means to love your neighbour as yourself, E nehenehe ta outou e taio i te tumu parau i muri nei: Eaha te auraa ia here i to oe taata tapiri mai ia oe iho te huru??).
It’s not about you but about Him
Mai te mea e, ua fanau-faahou-hia outou, it’s no longer about you but about Him. It’s no longer about, what you want, but what God wants. Because your ‘self’ ua faasataurohia oia e te Mesia, the flesh is buried in Him through bapetizoraa. You no longer live, te ora ra râ te Mesia i roto ia outou.
It’s also no longer about your opinion and findings, but how God feels about matters. No reira, it’s about what the Bible says, since the Bible is the Word of God.
If Christians would all die to ‘self’, and begin to live after the Spirit, doing what the Word says, then there would be unity in the Body of Christ. There would not only be unity in the Church (te taea'e o te Mesia), but there would also be unity in marriage and unity in the family.
Oia ho'i, if there is so much disharmony among the children of God, we can conclude that the ‘self’ has not died yet. Everyone still has their own opinions, te raveraa i to ratou hinaaro, going their way, instead of having God’s opinion, te raveraa i te hinaaro o te Atua, and going God’s way. (A tai'o atoa: ‘E ere i to ' u mana'o, but His opinion’)
I teie nei, ma te feruri i teie mau mea atoa, let’s have a look at the subject of divorce in the Bible. Let’s have a look at what kind of excuses Christians use to get a divorce, as opposed to what the Scriptures in the Bible say about divorce. What does the Bible say about divorce and under what conditions may a Christian divorce?
‘Don’t be so old-fashioned, divorce is part of this age!hō'ē
This is a big lie of the devil. During all ages, divorces were part of humanity. People divorced before and during the time of Moses, during the time of Jesus, and during the time of the apostles. Mosesa, Iesu, and also Paul, and Peter talked about marriage and divorce in the Bible.
What we do see, is that we live at the end of the last days. We see a rapid increase of sin and iniquity. Te mau taata, e tae noa'tu i te feia e pii ra ia ratou iho ei kerisetiano, are rebellious. Aita ratou e hinaaro ia faaarahia ratou eaha te rave. They do what they want to do and live according to their own will, (Te viivii ore i te pae no te) lusts and desires instead of the Word of God.
The Bible is no longer the highest authority in their life. Therefore they don’t live after the Word of God anymore and don’t do His will.
Their love for themselves and the world is greater than their here no te Atua. Because if they would love God, as Jesus loved God, and love Jesus, then they would obey His words. They would keep His commandments and live according to His will.
What did Jesus say in the Bible about the reason why Christians divorce?
Why do so many Christians divorce? No te pahono i teie uiraa, we must go to Jesus. Because Jesus gave the reason why people divorce. When the people spoke with Jesus and tried to justify divorce by addressing Moses and his letters of divorce, Jesus didn’t approve of divorce and didn’t justify sin. But Jesus said the following about divorce:
Ua farii o Mosesa ia outou ia faaru'e i ta outou mau vahine no te etaeta o to outou aau: e ere râ mai te haamataraa mai â (Mataio 19:8)
Here we have the reason why Christians divorce. If Christians want to divorce, Te parau ra o Iesu, that the cause of the divorce is the hardness of their heart.
The reason why Christians divorce is the hardness of their heart
When we look at the translation of hardness of the heart, we see that the Greek word is ‘sklērokardía‘ (G4641 Strong’s concordance) āre'a: hard-heartedness, i.e. (A te mea), destitution of (ōtahi) perception:—hardness of heart.
I roto i te fafauraa tahito, the people were carnal and trapped in their sinful flesh. Although the children of Israel were circumcised in their flesh, many were not circumcised in their heart. Their heart was not converted. Therefore they lived after their own will and lusts and desires of the flesh.
They didn’t want to submit to the will of God and keep His commandments and ordinances that are written in the Law of Moses. But they wanted to live after their own will, fulfilling the lusts and desires of their (aio) māfatu.
The hardness of the heart means spiritual poverty. If the Spirit doesn’t reign in someone’s life, the flesh reigns. If the flesh reigns in the lives of Christians, then they are spiritually poor and shall not be able to perceive the things of the Spirit. They are carnal and bear the fruit of the flesh (mau), instead of the te hotu o te Varua.
The ‘yes, tera râ,’ List to justify divorce
“But my husband isn’t a believer, and my life is so hard. I’m not sure how long I can take this”
Te parau ra te Bible e, that by the woman’s walk; by her way of living and behaviour, the unbelieving husband will be won for Jesus. (A tai'o atoa: Nafea ia faataui i te faaroo o to outou hoa faaipoipo aita to roto i te parau mau).
Therefore if your unbelieving husband is not converted yet, then he is not the only one, who is responsible and the cause of all your disagreements and fights. Maybe it’s also because of your behavior and your walk. Eaha te huru hotu ta outou e faatupu?
You may have another opinion or experience, but the Bible is the truth and goes beyond your opinions and experience(s).
Are you going through a rough time? I muri (fa'aro'o)turn to the Word of God, read and study His words, so that you get to know the will of God, e ia haapa'o i te mau parau a te Atua. Remember that the Lord said, terā Ta'na mau faaueraa are not heavy at all.
God’s Word encourages you and gives you power, hau, and joy. The Lord Jesus said, I give you peace”. Aita i parau Iesu i te, I give you anxiety or depression.
Te rahi noa ' tura te taime ta outou e horoa ra i roto i te Parau, faaapî i to outou feruriraa, e a rave i ta te Bible e faaue ra ia outou ia rave, the more Jesus becomes visible in your life and your spouse will be drawn to Him and ōhipa. Because the Bible says that by your walk; your behavior, your unbelieving husband shall be won for Jesus.
“E, but my pastor approves divorce”
A pastor should be an ambassador of the Kingdom of God, speak the words of God, keep the laws of the Kingdom, represent the will of God, and live a life like Jesus. ta'na i te auraa, that a pastor should know the Word, a haapa'o i te Parau, e ia riro ei taata rave i te Parau. (A tai'o atoa: ‘Te mau taata faaroo i ni'a i te mau rave'a‘).
A pastor should always submit to the Word and stay faithful to the Word of God. A pastor should represent and preach the Word of God to the people. Because it’s not about what the pastor wants. It’s not about the pastor’s opinion, a'au, e te tahi atu â. either. But it’s all about what God wants and what God’s will is regarding divorce. Eaha ta te Bible e parau ra no nia i te faataaraa?
A born-again Christian shall never approve of divorce, Mai ia Iesu. Because a born-again Christian shall always stay obedient to the Word of God and represent and do the will of God.
Oia ho'i, if your pastor gave you his approval to get a divorce and the reason is not fornication or that your unbelieving spouse has left you, then my question to you is: “Who do you obey? Your pastor or God?
“E, but my pastor is also divorced”
Te vahi pe'ape'a râ, many pastors are divorced. Some pastors have even been remarried and divorced multiple times and still preach from the pulpit. Nafea ia nehenehe? It’s possible because they’re charismatic eloquent speakers and/or have inherited their pastor’s office from their family or … (A faaî i te mau ahu).
But this sinful behavior shows that the fallen pastor is carnal and walks after the flesh. Because divorce is a work of the flesh. The pastor prefers doing his will, fulfilling his carnal lusts and desires instead of submitting to Jesus, crucifying his lusts and desires, and walking after the Spirit, te rave i te hinaaro o te Metua.
Instead of reigning over sin and death walking after the Spirit in holiness, being a worker of righteousness, the pastor lives in the bondage of sin. The pastor is a worker of iniquity and controlled by a spirit of divorce and serves sin and death by obeying this spirit of divorce,
E parau paha te taata, “God forgives”. And of course, God forgives, if someone truly repents of his sins. Teie râ, a'e, many times this isn’t the case. It happens many times when a fallen pastor is reinstated that after a while, the pastor commits the same sin again.
piti, the Bible nowhere commands to reinstate a fallen pastor in the office of a pastor after the pastor willfully sinned. Aita roa'tu, the Bible is very clear about this. (A tai'o atoa: ‘Lay hands on no one suddenly’)
If the pastor willfully sins, how can the pastor be an example to the believers and discipline, correct and tell believers to repent and remove the sins from their lives? Mau, the pastor can’t, because he keeps sinning too. People will say, “How can you forbid me from doing that, you have done that too.”
“E, but I have received a word from God; God told me to divorce my spouse. God approved and instructed me to get a divorce”
Some people receive a word, tu'u, tupu, or prophecy about their spouse, in which God tells them, that their marriage is not God’s will and that God told them to get a divorce, so that they can wholeheartedly serve God.
If you have received a similar word, then you can reject that word immediately!
E nehenehe te reira e tiaturihia, how many Christians receive these words and truly believe that it’s coming from God.
This can’t be a word, tu'u, tupu, or prophecy from God, because God can’t contradict Himself.
In Malachi 2:16, God says that He hates divorce. If God hates divorce, how can God command you to divorce your spouse or approve of your divorce? eita roa e nehenehe e parau!
The Holy Spirit and the Word always cooperate. They can’t contradict Each Other.
When you have received a word or a dream, tupu, auni, e te tahi atu â, that is not in agreement with the Bible, you must always reject it. No matter how wonderful and promising the word, dream vision, or prophecy may be.
If it contradicts the Bible, then it didn’t come from God, but from the angel of light (te diabolo), who tried to lead you into temptation and caused you to sin against God.
Under what conditions may a Christian divorce according to the Bible?
There are two Biblical grounds for divorce. The first Biblical ground for divorce is fornication. Te parau ra te Bible e, when a man (or woman) commits fornication, then the spouse has a right to get a divorce.
E parau atu vau i to ' na, O te taata atoa e faarue i ta ' na vahine, te faaherehereraa i te moni no te tumu o te faaturi, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery (Mataio 5:32).
The second Biblical ground for divorce is when the unbelieving spouse leaves the believing spouse.
But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace (1 Korinetia 7:15)
Oia ho'i, the two Biblical grounds for a Christian to divorce are when the spouse commits fornication or when the unbelieving spouse leaves him or her.
What does the Bible say about marriage and the end of a marriage covenant?
When you get married, you are in a marriage covenant. Every covenant is instituted by God and is holy to God. Just like we entered a covenant with God and live in the New Covenant, by faith and regeneration in Jesus Christ, a man and a woman entered a marriage covenant and live in a marriage covenant.
This marriage covenant ends when one of the two dies (1 Korinetia 7:39, Roma 7:1-3).
Now let’s have a look at some verses in the Bible about divorce. Let’s look at what God says about divorce and what Jesus says about divorce.
Eaha ta te Bible e parau ra no nia i te faataaraa?
The Bible says the following about divorce:
Aita oe e haamanii i te hoê vahine faaturi (Exodo 20:14)
And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. No reira, a ara i to outou varua, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the Lord, te Atua o te Atua, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, Ua fafau mai te Fatu o te mau nuu: no reira, a ara i to outou varua, that ye deal not treacherously (Malachi 2:15-16)
Ua parauhia, O te taata atoa e faaru'e i ta'na vahine, a vaiiho ia ' na ia horoa ' tu ia ' na i te hoê parau faataaraa: E parau atu vau i to ' na, O te taata atoa e faarue i ta ' na vahine, te faaherehereraa i te moni no te tumu o te faaturi, e turai ia ' na ia faaturi: e te taata atoa o te faaipoipo i te vahine i faataehia, e faaturi ïa oia (Mataio 5:31-32)
‘What God has joined together, let no man put asunder’
Ua pahono atu Iesu, ua parau atu ia ratou, Aita anei outou i tai'o, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, E, No teie tumu, e faaru'e te tane i to'na metua tane e to'na metua vahine, e e tapiri oia i ta'na vahine: e e riro raua e piti ei tino hoê? No reira, aita ratou e piti faahou, hoê râ i'oa. Na reira, eaha ta te Atua i amui atu, Eiaha te taata e faataa ê. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? Ua parau atu oia ia ratou, Ua farii o Mosesa ia outou ia faaru'e i ta outou mau vahine no te etaeta o to outou aau: e ere râ mai te haamataraa mai â. E ua parau atu vau, O te taata atoa e faaru'e i ta'na vahine, maoti râ te faaturi, e e faaipoipo i te tahi atu taata, e faaturi: e o te taata e faaipoipo i te vahine tei faaruehia, e faaturi ïa oia (Mataio 19:4-9)
Na reira, eaha ta te Atua i amui atu, Eiaha te taata e faataa ê (Mareko 10:9)
Paul wrote to the church of Corinth the following:
And unto the married I command, Aita vau i, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife (1 Korinetia 7:10-11)
Is divorce the will of God according to the Bible?
We can conclude from the Scriptures in the Bible that divorce is not the will of God. Te riri nei te Atua i te faataaraa! Divorce is a sin, it’s a work of the flesh.
If God hates divorce and we are His children and have His nature, shouldn’t we hate divorce too?
As sons and daughters of God, it’s not about our findings, Te mau nota, what we want, and the world’s findings and opinions. It’s all about what God wants. God has bought you with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. You belong to God. He is your Lord and you ought to live according to His will. It is therefore impossible, as a son or daughter of God to get a divorce.
If you are thinking about a divorce or if you are in the process of a divorce, you may ask yourself the following question:
TEre you really born again, and do you love God with all your heart, ʻAnuanua, mana'o, e te puai? Do you serve God and please the Spirit? Or do you love yourself and do you serve yourself and please (the will and feelings of) e hoa'ina?
If you are born again and really love God and serve God you should know His Word.
You should renew your mind with the Bible (te parau a te Atua) e a faaohipa i Ta'na mau parau i roto i to outou oraraa. No reira, you become a doer of the Word and show God that you love Him.
No te mea te na ô ra te Parau, if you love Him, you shall keep His commandments (A tai'o atoa: Te mau taata e faaroo nei, e te mau rave'a).
If you don’t study His Word and live after your flesh doing your will and being led by your feelings, Te mau nota, e te mau mea i itehia, then you are equal to a runaway boat without a rudder.
No one forces you to do God’s will. You have made Jesus Christ your Savior and the Lord over your life. You have chosen to serve Jesus. If you have decided to serve Jesus, then that means, that you should really serve Jesus and do His will instead of serving yourself and doing your will.
What is God’s will in marriage according to the Bible?
Doing God’s will in marriage means, that you will serve one another. It’s not about receiving but giving.
Jesus commanded to love your neighbour as yourself. In marriage, this means, that you should love your spouse as yourself. Nafea outou e rave ' i? You treat your spouse, te huru o ta outou e hinaaro e rapaauhia. It means that you don’t mistreat your spouse, by lying to your spouse, cheating on your spouse, mentally or physically abusing your spouse, e te tahi atu â.
When you submit to God and His Word, start loving your spouse and don’t think about yourself, you will see that your marriage and your life will change.
'Ia riro ei miti no te fenua'
