Luke 16:18 says, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Based on this passage, some question whether remarried individuals are living in a continuous state of adultery or whether it was a one-time act (due to divorce and remarriage).
Before we can answer this question, we must first understand that not every divorce is sinful, and not every remarriage results in adultery. The reason is that God mercifully provided two allowances for a biblical divorce: infidelity (see Matthew 19:8-9) and abandonment by an unsaved spouse (see 1 Corinthians 7:15).
All other instances of divorce are sinful and cause those who remarry others to commit adultery. Therefore, the question becomes whether their infidelity (caused by remarriage) is a one-time act or a continual state.
Interestingly, the Old Testament says God hates divorce (see Malachi 2:16), but it never says He hates remarriage. Neither does God command remarried individuals to divorce. Additionally, Scripture prohibits previously married couples from remarrying each other if they divorced, married others, and divorced again (see Deuteronomy 24:1-4).
This ban against couples reconciling and remarrying (after divorcing, remarrying others, and divorcing again) appears to indicate that the adultery caused by their divorce and remarriage to others was a one-time act and not a perpetual state. Otherwise, they would be left with no recourse to end their supposed “continuous state of adultery” by remarrying their original spouse.
Lastly, we must consider the present tense of the language used in verses that speak of adultery from remarriage. For example, Jesus said in Matthew 19:8-9, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”
In these passages, “divorcing” one’s spouse and “marrying” someone else are singular acts, not continuous actions. In other words, a divorce and a wedding are not perpetual activities but one-time events that occur in a person’s life. Therefore, Jesus seemed to indicate that the act of remarriage constitutes adultery, not the new marriage relationship itself. The same goes for the one who marries a divorced individual. They are said to have committed adultery by marrying, not to be living in a continual state of infidelity.
I hope this information helps illuminate this complicated and confusing question.
