Marriage - Its Origin and Purpose

NEVER BE DISLOYAL TO YOUR MATE

In the days of the prophet Malachi, many Jewish husband used all kinds of excuses to divorce their wives.  Those men divorced their wives so that they could marry younger women or women who did not serve Jehovah.  During Jesus' time, Jewish men still divorced their wives "on every sort of grounds." (Matthew 19:3) Jehovah God hated those unlawful divorces. -Read Malachi 2:13-16. 

Today, disloyalty in marriage is unacceptable among Jehovah's people, and it rarely happens.  But suppose a baptized  married person committed adultery and got a divorce in order to marry someone else.  If that person was unrepentant, then he or she would be disfellowshipped to keep the congregation clean and pure.  (1 Corinthians 5:11-13) The person would have to "produce fruits that befit repentance" before being accepted back into the congregation.  (Luke 3:8; 2 Corinthians 2:5-10)  There is no specific time period that must pass before that person can be reinstated. In fact, it may take a year or more for a sinner to prove  that he or she is fully repentant and to be accepted back into the congregation. And even then, the person will still have to "stand before the judgment seat of God." 

Next time: Marriage -Its Origin and Purpose/MARRIAGE AMONG CHRISTIANS

From The Watchtower magazine