What Does the Holy Bible Say about
Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage, and Sexual Immorality?
Copyright © November 5, 2012 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.
(All Scripture Verses are from the New International Version of the Holy Bible.)
Introduction
The Christian Bible is composed of two major sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament.
- The Old Testament contains the history of the Jewish nation and the laws God gave them to live by.
- The New Testament contains the history of Jesus Christ and the rules He gave His followers to live by.
When Jesus died on the cross He fully and completely satisfied the penalty for breaking every law in the Old Testament. Through faith in Jesus we obtain the mercy and forgiveness of God and we are no longer subject to the penalties associated with breaking the laws of the Old Testament. Jesus' death did not do away with the laws of God. His death satisfied the penalty for breaking those laws so that Christians are not subject to the punishments described in the Old Testament.
It is extremely important to understand that God's laws have not changed. But the penalty for breaking those laws has been satisfied by the death of God's Son on the cross. Therefore when we read the Old Testament laws we should try to live the way God wants us to live, but we should not desire to punish someone for breaking those laws because Jesus has shown us a new and better way through the grace and mercy of God.
The scripture quotations that follow contain the laws of God and the penalty for breaking those laws, which in some cases was death. The laws are still relevant today to provide guidance for good Christian behavior but the penalty for breaking those laws is not up to us to inflict. In other words, we should not judge others because God has reserved that right for Himself. Instead we should each seek to behave in a manner that is acceptable to God and that includes granting mercy and forgiveness to sinners in the same way that we received mercy and forgiveness for our sins when we accepted Jesus Christ as Savior.
Due to the sensitivity of this topic, this chapter will begin with a summary of what the Holy Bible says about marriage and sexual immorality. Then we will examine the relevant scriptures that support that summary. The following summary is 100% based on Holy Scriptures and it does not include personal opinions or the traditions of any religious group.
Summary
- It is okay for a person to remain single or to marry. Married people and single people are both acceptable to God.
- A person who wishes to serve God may be either single or married. Church leaders may be either single or married.
- A marriage should consist of one male and one female. No other marriage arrangement is acceptable to God.
- A married couple should be intimate frequently to avoid sexually temptation by another individual. However, marital bonding should be avoided when the wife is having her normal monthly flow of blood.
- The primary reason God wishes for people to be married is so they will reproduce and raise godly children.
- God does not approve of divorce except for marital unfaithfulness.
- In a divorce situation the two people should seek to be reconciled to each other. If either or both of the individuals marry someone else, and later one or both marriages come to an end, then the original two people cannot be reunited again in marriage. This is detestable in the eyes of God.
- If one person in a marriage is a Christian and the other person is not, then the Christian should remain married to the other person. However, if the other person chooses to leave the Christian, then the Christian should allow the other person to leave under peaceful conditions. The Christian is not bound in this situation.
- When a husband or wife dies, then the surviving person may remarry or remain single.
- A person should not commit adultery.
- A person may not marry or have sexual relations with any close relative, including a father or mother, a brother or sister, a son or daughter, a grandson or granddaughter, an uncle or aunt, a stepfather or stepmother, a stepbrother or stepsister, an in-law, or any other close relative.
- A man may not have sexual relations with another man or with an animal.
- A woman may not have sexual relations with another woman or with an animal.
- Prostitutes, both male and female, are an abomination to God. Unless a prostitute repents and turns from his or her life of sin then he or she will be judged by God and cast into hell.
- Regardless of what a person may have done in the past, if that person will repent and ask for God's forgiveness then God will pardon that person.
Scripture Verses about Marriage and Procreation
Genesis 1:27-28 - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it."
Genesis 2:24 - For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Acts 17:26 - From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
Proverbs 5:18-19 - May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer -- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.
Hebrews 13:4 - Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
1 Corinthians 7:1-5 - Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
The Purpose of Marriage
Genesis 1:28 - God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it."
Genesis 2:24 - For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Malachi 2:15 - Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring.
Number of Wives
1 Timothy 3:2 - Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife,
1 Timothy 3:12 - A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well.
Titus 1:6 - An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife,
Family Relationships
Ephesians 5:22-24 - Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Ephesians 5:28-33 - husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church -- for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery -- but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Ephesians 6:1-4 - Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother" -- which is the first commandment with a promise -- "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Proverbs 22:6 - Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
New Testament Christians
Matthew 19:18-19 - Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.' "
Acts 15:19-20 - It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.
Acts 21:25 - As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 - Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Ephesians 5:3 - But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.
Matthew 5:27-28 - "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
The above scriptures clearly illustrate that New Testament Christians have a responsibility to avoid sexual immorality. We should also obey a few other Old Testament laws, such as the Ten Commandments. However, the above scriptures clearly exempt New Testament Christians from having to obey the vast multitude of laws, regulations, and customs of the Old Testament.
Sexual Immorality
Exodus 20:14 - "You shall not commit adultery."
Leviticus 20:10 - " 'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife -- with the wife of his neighbor -- both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death."
Divorce
Deuteronomy 24:1-4 - If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Malachi 2:14-15 - It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.
Malachi 2:16 - "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.
Mark 10:1-8 - Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.
Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"
"What did Moses command you?" he replied.
They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away."
"It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
Matthew 5:31-32 - "It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.
1 Corinthians 7:10-17 - To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.
1 Corinthians 7:30 - A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.
Close Relatives
Leviticus 18:6 - No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations.
Leviticus 18:7 - Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her.
Leviticus 18:8 - Do not have sexual relations with your father's wife; that would dishonor your father.
Leviticus 20:11 - If a man sleeps with his father's wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
Leviticus 18:9 - Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.
Leviticus 18:11 - Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father's wife, born to your father; she is your sister.
Leviticus 20:17 - If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off before the eyes of their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible.
Leviticus 18:10 - Do not have sexual relations with your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter; that would dishonor you.
Leviticus 18:12 - Do not have sexual relations with your father's sister; she is your father's close relative.
Leviticus 18:13 - Do not have sexual relations with your mother's sister, because she is your mother's close relative.
Leviticus 20:19 - Do not have sexual relations with the sister of either your mother or your father, for that would dishonor a close relative; both of you would be held responsible.
Leviticus 18:14 - Do not dishonor your father's brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt.
Leviticus 20:20 - If a man sleeps with his aunt, he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible; they will die childless.
Leviticus 18:15 - Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife; do not have relations with her.
Leviticus 20:12 - If a man sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.
Leviticus 18:16 - Do not have sexual relations with your brother's wife; that would dishonor your brother.
Leviticus 20:21 - If a man marries his brother's wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.
Leviticus 18:17 - Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.
Leviticus 20:14 - If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that no wickedness will be among you.
Leviticus 18:18 - Do not take your wife's sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.
Leviticus 18:20 - Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor's wife and defile yourself with her.
Monthly Period
Leviticus 15:19-24 - When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening. Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean. Whoever touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Whoever touches anything she sits on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Whether it is the bed or anything she was sitting on, when anyone touches it, he will be unclean till evening. If a man lies with her and her monthly flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days; any bed he lies on will be unclean.
Leviticus 18:19 - Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period.
Leviticus 20:18 - If a man lies with a woman during her monthly period and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them must be cut off from their people.
Male Uncleanness
Leviticus 15:16-18 - When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Any clothing or leather that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean till evening. When a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
Deuteronomy 23:10-11 - If one of your men is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he is to go outside the camp and stay there. But as evening approaches he is to wash himself, and at sunset he may return to the camp.
Prostitution
Leviticus 19:19 - Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness.
Proverbs 6:23-26 - For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life, keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife. Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
1 Corinthians 6:15-17 - Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
Homosexuals
Leviticus 18:22 - Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.
Leviticus 20:13 - If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
Genesis 19:4-5 - Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom -- both young and old -- surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
Genesis 19:24-25 - Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah -- from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities -- and also the vegetation in the land.
Jude 1:7 - In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
Animals
Exodus 22:19 - Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal must be put to death.
Leviticus 18:23 - Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.
Leviticus 20:15 - If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal.
Leviticus 20:16 - If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
Some Examples of the Forgiveness of the Sin of Sexual Immorality
1. Rahab the prostitute (who later became the great-grandmother of King David):
Joshua 2:1 - Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.
Joshua 2:25 - But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho -- and she lives among the Israelites to this day.
2. David's affair with Bathsheba (who later became the mother of King Solomon):
2 Samuel 11:2-5 - One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant."
Psalm 51 - For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
3. The ancestors of Jesus Christ include Rahab (the prostitute) and Bathsheba (Uriah's wife):
Matthew 1:1 - A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Matthew 1:5-6 - Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,
4. Jesus Christ and an Adulteress:
John 8:3-11 - The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
5. Jesus Christ and a Woman Living in Sin:
John 4:7-18 - When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
"I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
6. Eternal life is for everyone, including the sexually immoral, if they will repent:
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
How to Live a Christian Lifestyle that is Acceptable to God
When a person becomes a Christian it is not unusual for that person to want to do everything he or she can in order to stop breaking God's rules and to start living by God's rules. If you feel this way then you should be congratulated because you are now on the right path. However, I strongly recommend that you proceed slowly because sometimes the decisions we make when we first become a Christian are not what God wants us to do based on a complete understanding of the entire Bible instead of just one or two scripture verses.
For example, let's look at a few scripture verses from the Holy Bible that discuss sin, forgiveness of sin, remembering sins, and a change of heart:
1. Sin:
Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
James 2:10-11 - For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
The above scriptures tell us that everyone, without exception, has sinned. Sometimes Christians want to list sins from the worst sin to the least sin but this is not the way God sees sin. Sin is sin and a person who has committed adultery is not any different from a person who has told lies. If any Christian believes that he or she is not as bad a sinner as someone else then that Christian does not truly understand the Holy Bible.
2. Forgiveness of sin:
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 20:30-31 - Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Anyone can have all of his or her sins forgiven by believing that Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of God, and that He died on the Cross as the full and final payment for all your sins, and that God raised His Son from the dead. Then accept Jesus' death on the cross and the shedding of His Holy Blood as the full ransom payment for your eternal soul, and confess Jesus Christ as your Savior. If you will do this then you will be saved. The moment you believe you will be saved and you will immediately receive the gift of eternal life and you will spend eternity with God in Glory.
3. Remembering sins:
Jeremiah 31:34 and Hebrews 8:12 - "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
Hebrews 10:17 - "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."
Psalm 103:11-12 - For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
The above scriptures tell us that God will not remember any of our sins. The above scriptures do not say that God will forget our sins because that would be impossible. The above scriptures say that God will not intentionally remember our sins ever again. Our goal as a Christian should be similar. We cannot forget our sins but we should avoid thinking about them in the future. There is nothing we can do to change our past. But we can have a better future if we will seek to please God and try to live a life that is pleasing to Him.
4. A change of heart but not necessarily a change in our situation:
1 Corinthians 7:12-16 - If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
1 Corinthians 7:17-20 - Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts. Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him.
Luke 3:12-14 - Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?"
"Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them.
Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?"
He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely -- be content with your pay."
The above scriptures tell us that we should not feel guilty about our job situation or our marriage situation when we become a Christian. As long as we have an honest job then we do not have to change occupations. We do not have to quit our jobs and become ministers. Each one of us can become a witness for Jesus at whatever job we have when we first became a Christian. The same concept applies to a marriage. We should not feel guilty about who we are married to nor about our children. The important thing is to love our spouse and our children and to gently try to lead them to Christ.
Conclusion
In my opinion, if New Testament Christians would practice the above teachings from the Holy Bible then our marriages, our churches, and our communities would gradually become better and better because God would bless us in all that we do.
Respectfully,
Grandpappy.
Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com