IF YOU WANT TO GET TECHNICAL About Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage

Every now and then, someone will say, “Well, that may sound good, but if you really get technical about marriage and divorce, the issue is far more complicated.” And I understand the concern. For generations, believers have wrestled with Jesus’ words, Paul’s counsel, the background of Moses, and the tangled heartbreak of human relationships. And in their effort to defend truth, many have built entire systems—intricate, detailed, rigid—attempting to cover every possible situation.

But here is the irony: the closer you look, the more you study the language, the context, the background, and the intent of the biblical writers, the more you discover that the technical approach actually supports the simpler, principle-centered view. What looks complicated only becomes complicated when we force the New Testament to function like Leviticus—a book of case law, exceptions, footnotes, and ceremonial detail. But the New Testament was not written that way, and the more carefully you examine it, the more obvious that becomes.

Jesus Was Not Writing a Law Code

Legalists often say, “But Jesus said…,” and then they quote a line from Matthew 19 or Mark 10 as if He were handing down a statute that covers every imaginable scenario. But Jesus was not speaking in a legislative assembly—He was engaging Pharisees who were trying to trap Him. They were not asking for wisdom. They were battling for their own tradition.

If you want to get technical—really technical—then you must start here:

Jesus’ words were given in the form of a controversy dialogue, not a legal handbook.

He was not laying down a series of regulations. He was correcting their abuse of Deuteronomy 24, where men treated women like disposable property. Scholars of all stripes acknowledge this: Jesus’ answer rises out of an immediate context and addresses a specific distortion. He returns to creation—not case law—because He is pointing them to God’s heart, not giving them a legal chart.

If God wanted a legal chart, He could have given one.

He did it in Leviticus.

He spelled out what priests wore, what they washed, where they walked, what they touched, what they offered.

No ambiguity. No debate. No guessing.

But the New Testament does not give any such detail—not for marriage, not for ministry, not for anything. Because this covenant is spiritual, internal, principle-driven, and centered on the character of Christ.

The Language of Jesus Supports Principles, Not Technicalities

Those who want to turn Jesus’ words into a rigid legal code often claim they are being faithful to the language. But if you look at the Greek carefully—yes, if you want to get technical—Jesus speaks in general moral categories using gnomic, universal statements, not detailed statutes. He uses forms and structures common to teachers, not lawmakers.

Legalists pull the passages apart like a mechanic disassembling an engine. But Jesus did not speak that way, Paul did not write that way, and the early church did not interpret the passages that way. The most technical reading actually proves the point: Jesus gave broad kingdom principles, not an exhaustive list of rules.

Paul’s Pastoral Care Proves It

If someone wishes to push the technical argument further, then they must answer the Apostle Paul. Because Paul, under inspiration of the Spirit, directly addresses marriage and divorce in 1 Corinthians 7—and what does he do?

He refuses to create a legal code.

He clearly distinguishes:

• what Jesus addressed

• what Jesus did not address

• and where apostolic judgment must shepherd complicated, messy situations

A rigid list of technical rules cannot survive 1 Corinthians 7 without collapsing on itself. Paul acknowledges real-life scenarios Jesus did not discuss. He applies the principles of peace, repentance, faithfulness, and Christian calling. He does not instruct anyone to unravel their past. And he certainly does not build a Leviticus for the New Testament church.

Technical readers must deal with this:

Paul, the most brilliant mind of the early church, refused to do what modern legalists insist must be done. He would not turn Jesus’ words into a civil code. He gave Spirit-led principles that guide believers through the complexity of real relationships rooted in grace.

If You Want to Get Technical, the Technical Side Supports the Simple Side

Let the “legal mind” examine:

• the context

• the grammar

• the historical background

• the early church’s understanding

• the pastoral theology of the new covenant

They will find that everything points in one direction: the New Testament was never meant to function as a rulebook covering every scenario. It gives us the heart of God. It gives us the character of Christ. It gives us the principles of covenant faithfulness.

It tells us:

• Marriage calls for faithfulness.

• Divorce is a tragedy, not a convenience.

• Remarriage carries responsibility, not a loophole.

• When we sin, we repent.

• When we have repented, we live faithfully in the present.

• The gospel does not ask people to unlive their past to make the present tidy.

If you want to get technical—truly technical—this is where the evidence leads.

The Simple Truth That Survives Every Technical Test

Here is the truth that stands both for the scholar and the young novice:

Be faithful.

If you have sinned, repent.

And from this moment forward, walk faithfully with Christ.

This is not loose theology, nor is it slippery grace. It is the sound, contextual, linguistically responsible, Christ-centered reading of Scripture. It is what the New Testament teaches when you stop forcing it to behave like Leviticus and let it speak with the voice God gave it.

The legalist may try to build a labyrinth of exceptions and sub-exceptions, but the gospel clears the path. The Lord is not laying traps for His people. He is calling them to follow Him with integrity, with repentance, with mercy, and with a heart that keeps covenant.

And that is something both scholars and children can understand.

BDD