Khaleb

Kenneth Hagin: Divorced People Can Remarry Even If Their Ex Is Still Alive. God Loves Divorced People but Hates Divorce. Many commenters advised me to read Kenneth E. Hagin’s book, Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage, claiming it would answer many of the questions we have been debating. So I decided to read some of the available excerpts. Here is what I found. 1. Does the Bible Allow Remarriage When the Ex-Spouse Is Still Alive? According to Hagin, yes, under specific scriptural conditions. While God’s original design for marriage is a lifelong union, Hagin argued that Scripture accounts for human fallenness. He identified two primary grounds: Unfaithfulness Referring to Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:9 (“except for fornication”), Hagin believed persistent marital unfaithfulness could break the marriage covenant. Abandonment Referring to 1 Corinthians 7:15: “But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases.” Hagin argued that when an unbelieving spouse abandons the marriage, the believing spouse is no longer bound by that covenant. His conclusion was simple: When a covenant has been broken through infidelity or abandonment, the innocent party is no longer bound and is free to remarry even while the former spouse is still alive. 2. What About 1 Corinthians 7:27-28? Hagin placed enormous weight on Paul’s words: “Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife. But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned…” His argument was straightforward: If Paul explicitly says, “But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned,” who are we to declare sinful what God does not declare sinful? For Hagin, remaining single may be wise in some circumstances. But remarriage, where Scripture permits it, is not a sin. 3. The Myth of the ‘Unpardonable’ Marital Mistake This is where Hagin was perhaps at his most controversial. Many churches teach that someone who divorced wrongly and remarried while an ex-spouse is still alive is living in perpetual adultery. Hagin strongly rejected that view. He believed the blood of Jesus forgives marital failures just as completely as every other sin when there is genuine repentance. He also rejected the idea that a remarried believer must destroy a second marriage or spend the rest of life paying for past mistakes through forced celibacy. In Hagin’s view, God’s grace meets people where they are. 4. Rejecting ‘Second-Class Christian’ Status One of the strongest statements in the entire book was this: “I saw those who thought they were representatives of Christ when they reproached people who were divorced or had remarried by treating them as ‘second-class Christians’—as if they had committed the unpardonable sin. However, they were not acting in Christ’s mercy and grace.” That is not my quote. That is Kenneth Hagin’s. Hagin believed many churches had effectively created an unpardonable marital sin that the New Testament never created. He viewed the treatment of divorced and remarried believers as legalism rather than grace. THE BOTTOM LINE Hagin was clear: God hates divorce because of the pain and destruction it causes. But God does not hate divorced people. He believed that where covenant-breaking, abandonment, repentance and restoration have genuinely occurred, remarriage is not a life sentence to spiritual condemnation. The cross offers forgiveness. The cross offers restoration. The cross offers a fresh start. One final Scripture for reflection: “When she is departed out of his house, she may go and become another man’s wife.” — Deuteronomy 24:2 Long before Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 7, Moses acknowledged the reality of divorce and remarriage. That alone does not settle the debate. But it certainly complicates some of the simplistic answers that are often given. Dae Jumong ✍🏻