Is Remarriage After an Unbiblical Divorce Adultery?
Jesus taught that divorcing a faithful spouse without biblical grounds and marrying another person is adultery. The sin is not merely the legal paperwork of divorce. It is the wrongful breaking of a marriage covenant in order to form another union.
Jesus Spoke Directly About Wrongful Divorce and Remarriage
Jesus said, “Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery” (Matthew 19:9, KJV). He also declared, “Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery against her” (Mark 10:11).
These warnings reject the idea that a person can discard a spouse for selfish reasons, obtain civil approval, and then treat a new marriage as morally innocent. Human law may recognize a divorce while God still holds the guilty person accountable for covenant unfaithfulness.
Why Is It Called Adultery?
Marriage joins a man and woman in a one-flesh covenant. Jesus said, “They are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:6). When someone unjustly breaks that bond and joins another, the new relationship arises from an adulterous rejection of the first covenant.
Luke 16:18 also warns, “Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery.” Christ’s words are meant to expose sin, protect faithful spouses, and prevent people from treating divorce as a convenient path to another partner.
Does This Mean Every Remarried Person Is Continually Committing Adultery?
Jesus identifies wrongful divorce and remarriage as adultery. Christians disagree about whether an unlawfully formed second marriage constitutes continuing adultery and what repentance requires. The view presented here is that repentance ordinarily calls for confession, appropriate amends, and faithfulness in the present marriage rather than another divorce. That conclusion must be explained from Scripture rather than assumed from the existence of a civil marriage.
The proper response is honest repentance. The guilty person should confess the sin without excuses, seek forgiveness from God, make appropriate amends where possible, and become faithful in the present marriage. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).
Christ Can Forgive Sexual and Marital Sin
Adultery is serious, but it is not beyond the cleansing power of Christ. Paul reminded believers that some had lived in grave sexual sin, then wrote, “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
Forgiveness does not make the original wrongdoing harmless. Former spouses and children may carry deep wounds, and some consequences may remain. Genuine repentance accepts responsibility rather than demanding that injured people pretend nothing happened.
Not Every Divorce and Remarriage Has the Same Moral Circumstances
Scripture recognizes death as ending the marriage bond (Romans 7:2–3; 1 Corinthians 7:39). Jesus named fornication as an exception in Matthew 19:9, and Paul addressed abandonment by an unbelieving spouse in 1 Corinthians 7:15. Therefore, the label “divorced and remarried” does not by itself reveal who sinned or whether remarriage was biblically permissible.
God knows whether a person betrayed a faithful spouse, was abandoned, was the innocent victim of sexual immorality, or entered a later marriage after a spouse died. Biblical judgment requires truth, not careless assumptions.
Conclusion
Remarriage following a selfish, unbiblical divorce is identified by Jesus as adultery. The answer is not denial, endless condemnation, or another wrongful divorce, but genuine repentance and present faithfulness. Through Jesus Christ, confessed sin can be forgiven and a changed life can demonstrate the reality of repentance.
To understand forgiveness and reconciliation with God, read How to Be Saved.