Whoever divorces his wife except on the grounds of fornication and marries another commits adultery. —Matt. 19:9, NW.

Neither here nor in his sermon on the mount did Jesus condemn God for allowing the Jews to practice divorce according to his law given through Moses. (Deut. 24:1-4; Matt. 5:31, 32, NW.) Jesus was not here saying that the Christian who gets the divorce because of the sexual unfaithfulness of his mate may only get rid of such mate and deprive such mate of bed and board and not be free, however, to marry another Christian woman. Under God's law to Israel the man getting a divorce from his morally unclean wife was not barred from marrying another Israelite woman. So, Jesus was not interpreting divorce by a Christian in such a way as to forbid his remarriage. Jesus' words mean strictly this: If the Christian procures the divorce on grounds other than the immorality of his marriage mate such Christian is committing adultery if he remarries, for the marriage bond was not really canceled in God's sight by the legal divorce. W 4/15