Several have commented on the previous post (both in the comments and privately by email) that I’m unduly harsh and don’t leave a way of escape. That isn’t true, but that doesn’t mean that it’s easy. In this post I’ll discuss solutions to the problem of rampant, institutionalized adultery within the church.
Keep in mind that the source of much of the problem here is the idolatry of Christians refusing to acknowledge that marriage belongs to God. By ceding the authority over marriage to the State and refusing to teach sound doctrine the church has brought this upon itself.
Let’s say a guy’s wife separates from him, runs to the state and some judge issues a “Dissolution of Marriage” document under the no-fault divorce laws. Her offended husband doesn’t want to be sentenced to sexual starvation and looks for another wife. What’s really going on?
#1, The so-called divorce is illegitimate and she’s still married to her husband although (contrary to the command in 1st Cor. 7:10-11) separated from him.
#2, If she finds another guy to purportedly marry (in further violation of the command of 1st Cor. 7:10-11) they won’t actually be getting married- a married woman cannot marry another man because she already has a husband. If she does so she isn’t really married to him, they’re simply shacked up in adultery.
#3, Given that two married believers are forbidden to divorce, any such “divorces” are illegitimate and God won’t accept them (c.f. Matthew 5:32-33), so when the husband starts looking within the church for another wife, he has to exclude just about every so-called “Christian” divorcee from consideration.
#4, Any divorce initiated by a wife before she came to the Lord is automatically illegitimate because women don’t have the authority to divorce their husbands (except for the Christian woman who’s unbelieving husband left her, 1st Cor 7:15). This further reduces the number of women eligible to re-marry.
#5, Any divorce initiated by an unbelieving husband for reasons other than the unfaithfulness of his wife is illegitimate and God will not accept it. Likewise, any divorce initiated by a Christian man (except for the aforementioned exception in 1st Cor. 7:15) is also illegitimate regardless of whether his wife was unfaithful or not.
#6, Points 3-5 indicate the number of legitimately divorced “Christian” women who are actually eligible to remarry is remarkably small. So small, in fact, as to be non-existent. It also means that the prohibition of the wife returning to her first husband in Deuteronomy 24:4 does not apply, because that prohibition only applies if the divorce was legitimate.
#7, This leaves the offended husband with a choice between widows (not many, although it doesn’t matter if they have children or not), never-married women without children (usually damaged with unrealistic feminist expectations) and so-called “single-mothers.” It also leaves all those illegitimately divorced wives with the option of returning to their husband (the guy they’re still married to) and according to 1st Peter 3:7 he doesn’t have the option (as a Christian) of refusing reconciliation.
#8, Even in the cases in which the offended husband can find an eligible woman to take as a second wife, he defrauds her by claiming to be divorced (the implication is that the divorce is legitimate) and not explaining that his first wife is separated from him and IF she wants to come home she will be welcomed and he expects her (the 2nd wife) to stand there with him with a smile on her face to welcome the first wife home because at that point he’d have 2 wives.
#9, This leaves the offended husband in a rather bad position because there are very few women he’d want to marry who are eligible to re-marry and culturally these women reject the idea of anything other than monogamy.
#10, As we go down the list I’ve just enumerated, at some point both Christian men and women reject it out of hand. I didn’t make this stuff up, I’m just the guy that’s pointing out what God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ require of men and women, but there’s a whole lot of of so-called Christians who can’t accept what the Bible actually says. Their usual line of defense is “I don’t agree with that interpretation” but such arguments are childishly easy to destroy if one actually knows what the Bible says.
What does all that mean? There’s a whole lot of adultery going on out there. If the believing wife who separated herself from her husband violates her instruction and shacks up with another man she’s committing adultery and as a Christian she has an obligation to her Lord to stop sinning. If the man she purported to marry as a “second husband” is a Christian he is under the same obligation to stop sinning by removing himself from the adulterous situation.
The refusal to do so by either or both parties automatically calls into question whether they’re even Christians and 1st John 2:3-6 applies but does not alleviate the sin, because adultery is a sin whether one is a Christian or not.
This brings us back to my point of my last post, that the Christian men are hypocrites for calling the women out on their sin but in the hardness of their hearts refuse to do what they were commanded to do; which is forgive, be reconciled to and restore their wife if she, in humble repentance, returns to him and desires reconciliation.
Solutions: I gave some hints, but I’ll spell it out. This is the solution for the wife who separated herself, has repented and wants a husband again without being in sin.
If the Christian wife who wrongly separated herself from her Christian husband realizes her sin and repents of her sin, she is to go to her husband asking to be reconciled to him. 1st Peter 3:7 is a command, stating “husbands, LIVE WITH YOUR WIVES” and as a Christian he doesn’t have a choice.
(Comment: What if she doesn’t want to return to her first husband? Well, recognize that God puts people in our lives to accomplish His goals and help conform us to the image of Christ. The irritations act to polish out the imperfections in the individual and if the wife is truly desirous of being in obedience to her Lord, she will obey Him even if she doesn’t have a desire to do so. In all likelihood the husband doesn’t want the wife back (probably having been traumatized and deeply offended) so one of two things will happen: Either he does want her back and the Lord wants that union restored, or he refuses, which means Christ is ready for someone else to take over the job of polishing up the wife and presenting her as “spotless and without blemish of any kind.” The wife is under no obligation to explain all this, she is simply to present herself in humble repentance.)
If the offended husband refuses to accept and be reconciled to her she is to give him time to think about it, then return with witnesses and confront him again. If he still refuses to repent of what is now his sin, she is to take it before the elders of the church. Under the authority of 1st Corinthians 5 and under the standard of 1st John 2:3-6, the church should give him the opportunity to make his case (he won’t, but I’m describing an ecclesiastical court) and if he refuses to repent should excommunicate him.
With such a judgment made, regardless of her sin (which she has repented of) he is now the unbeliever who left her, 1st Cor. 7:15 applies and she’s free to legitimately remarry. She should reflect on all the things she did wrong in her first marriage and try to solve those problems (entitlement attitude, rebellion against his authority, refusal to honor him and be submissive in everything, major weight gain, etc.) BEFORE thinking about being courted by and agreeing to marry another man.
Given the serious shortage of attractive high-value men within the church willing to marry a divorced woman (especially a divorced woman with children), the woman would be better off if she partnered together with one or two other Christian women who were eligible to marry with an agreement to offer themselves as a “package deal” in a polygynous marriage. Sounds crazy? Perhaps, but look at what’s available in terms of high-value men and what they’d want in order to agree to marry. I wrote an entire series of novels that started off with a group of three women doing just that. The research I did in writing those books really opened my eyes.
In such a situation the women (who had better all be Christians with a serious desire to be obedient to the Word in terms of submitting to their husband in everything) would be offering a package deal that provides the following to the man of their choice (if he’s willing to take the offer):
- Marriage by covenant only with no license and no chance of divorce, no splitting of assets and no loss of custody of children.
- Virtually unlimited sex, on demand, with variety and the option of all at once if he wants it. Why do I make that point? Because sooner or later the guy will want it. Men are like that.
- Obedient wives who will hold each other accountable in their performance as wives.
- One wife working at home, the rest working outside the home (could be rotated among the wives) means a higher household income than any monogamous marriage could provide. In addition it means a well-run home and children who would be well supervised and cared for. Homeschooling is an option with a SAHM so no need to turn the kids over to the state to be corrupted.
- Socially, the guy with multiple wives is super high-status. This is countered by the fact that finding a church home with a leadership team willing to accept such a marriage would be difficult at best.
This is not to say that restrictions could not be placed on the offer. If all the women are in agreement there are things that would truly offend their conscience and they believe such things should not be done, such things can be placed as restrictions the man must agree to in order to marry them. One restriction might be “No X-rated photos or videos and don’t ever do it in secret for any reason.” For health reasons they may decide on a restriction of “No anal intercourse.” It’s all negotiable and he can either agree or not as he chooses, but we’re talking about things God placed no prohibition on, so this should be very carefully considered before making a list of all the things the wives would refuse to do.
Some women can handle that but most can’t and the question becomes why they can’t. The masculine Christian men willing to truly husband their wives are few and far between. Why a woman would settle for a much lesser man is beyond me, but perhaps that’s because such a man isn’t willing to settle for what now passes for “Christian” women. In other words, if a woman wants it all she has to be willing to give it all. They draw a line, unwilling to totally surrender and thus rob themselves of what they might have had because they don’t trust God.
Solutions for the husbands (although arguably far more difficult)
Prior to looking for another wife, he really should do everything possible to maximize his SMV with a focus on his attractiveness, game and earning potential. Hit the gym, lose the gut, learn game, maximize income, develop a life that a woman wants to be a part of, etc., etc., etc. You’ve heard it all before, just do it.
If the illegitimately divorced husband can find another woman to marry (he is entitled to take more than one wife) and is stupid enough to try monogamy after being burned the first time he MUST explain the situation to her. If she can accept that, great.
(Comment: What if the husband truly never wants to see that BPD/NPD landwhale of a wife again? The one who made his life a living hell for years, destroyed his family, alienated his children and used the police power of the state to extract money from him for years, perhaps even putting him in jail if he was unable to pay at some point? Well, sir, your sin put Christ on a cross, so consider that before getting all huffy about what she did to you. Christ forgave you, gave you eternal life and accepted you into the body of Christ; so are you justified in refusing to forgive her and be reconciled to her? Reconciliation is not a requirement to put up with her previous antics. Reasonable conditions could be put in place that she would have to comply with prior to a full reconciliation.
This could include a requirement to make public confession of her sin before the church, describing her offenses, why she was wrong and a request to be held accountable now that she is in repentance of her sin. After that, a requirement to lose the weight, submit to him in everything and help to repair the damage done to the children would go a long way to demonstrate she truly is repentant. Upon meeting such requirements a true reconciliation could be accomplished. But, and this is important, they are already (and still) married as far as God is concerned and should not again engage in the idolatry of getting officially “remarried” in the eyes of the state. As far as the state is concerned, they would be co-cohabiting and she should work with him to get the state out of their marriage and cancel any child-support or alimony payments. That may require moving to another state.
Ideally he should seek out several women to marry in a polygynous marriage (far better than a monogamous marriage in this legal environment) because if he can swing that, explaining point #2 is nothing more than the same sauce applied to the first wife. I’ll repeat the point that in marrying wife #2 the husband will have two wives- not a wife and an ex. If you don’t like it, take it up with God. This is a win-win situation for the husband whether he wants wife #1 back or not. If he does want her back and she’s willing, great. If she’s not, he’s still getting his needs met and he can continue to pray for her. If he doesn’t want her back, well, keep reading.
He should explain to wife #2 (and #3, #4, whatever) that after they’re married they will visit the separated wife and invite her to be reconciled to her husband (clearly explain the door is always open to her if she wants to return) BUT now that there’s more than one wife, things will definitely be different. For one thing, disobedience, disrespect, dishonor and fighting between the wives will not be tolerated and they will be disciplined, if necessary, for engaging in such behavior. Further, group sexy-time with all wives present will be mandatory at some frequency or another. A PDA on the part of wife #2 toward wife #1 after that’s explained will probably totally creep her out. In the case of multiple wives, a few PDA’s between wives (while smiling at wife #1) is probably all it would take. The door is open but the emotional price is high, so the only question is whether she’d be willing to throw her pride on the altar and submit. Most likely the answer is not only no, but HELL NO!
If she’s “married” to another man she’s pretty much guaranteed to reject this completely, but regardless, in explaining she has a right of return the husband will have met his obligations and not have defrauded his other wife/wives. Remember, Deuteronomy 24:4 does not apply in this situation because she was not legitimately divorced. If she is convicted of her sin and repents (which will probably depend greatly on how dissatisfied she is with her current “marriage”), a sister in Christ has been saved from her sin. If not, that’s between her and the Lord but the husband will have done his duty.
If points 2-4 are followed, it pretty much guarantees the 1st wife will never come back under any circumstances. If she does, it also pretty much guarantees she’s seriously in repentance and willing to be obedient. However, if she’s not willing to end the adultery, 1st John 2:3-6 applies and the husband has the option of taking it before the elders, the end result being that she is the unbelieving spouse that left him and he is free. The big question of whether she’s actually a Christian will be settled by her willingness to be obedient.
Problems with these solutions:
- It’s extremely difficult to find a church that actually believes and acts on what the Bible says, which makes the “take it before the elders” solution difficult to say the least. In reality the church would be in a difficult position because having committed the sin of idolatry by incorporating their church, they might be subject to some liability at some point by rendering such a decision (their charter doesn’t give them the authority to sit in judgment of their members, regardless of what the Bible says).
- It’s extremely difficult to find Christian men and women who are committed to obedience to the Word, especially when they don’t want to be obedient.
- The very idea of polygyny (which is the de facto and de jure status of any man married to more than one woman, regardless of what the State says) is anathema to Christians due to feminism (polygyny is as patriarchal as it gets) and the traditional wrong teachings of the church.
- Taking a stance of obedience to the Word means not just going against the flow, but taking a stand that will anger and embarrass other Christians who are in sin. Rocks will be thrown.
How much should a non pregnant woman weight?
*If she and the first guy were both Christians, the divorce is illegitimate and she’s still married to the first guy.
*If the first guy was an unbeliever and he divorced her for any reason other than her sexual immorality, the divorces is illegitimate and they’re still married.
Bringing the hateful crazy train back into your life full time is another matter all together.
http://anglicanhistory.org/africa/colenso/polygamy1855.html
Anyhoo, God bless and all the best for the new year.