An Open Letter To Grace To You

Dear Phil Johnson and leaders of GTY,

The following is an exhortation in the love of Christ to the authors and leaders of GTY on what they teach and preach on the one-flesh covenant of marriage. I pray that the Holy Spirit would convict you of the truth of the word and that you would repent of this erroneous and damnable teaching. This exhortation is based on the following article.

“Are people who remarry in danger of committing perpetual adultery?” 

"What is the status of a Christian who divorces without biblical grounds and remarries? Is he living in perpetual adultery? What about the concept of forgiveness? If someone has remarried unbiblically and seek forgiveness, is he forgiven?"

First of all, these three questions are all biased to the idea that forgiveness is applicable after a person has demonstrated an unwillingness to seek forgiveness or forgive a spouse of covenant marriage. This sets up the idea that a marriage is NOT a one man and one woman for life covenant, even if both the husband and wife vowed to the Lord till death do they part. These questions are also based on the idea that divorce is acceptable today as it was at the time of the Pharisees. The Lord is saying that marriage definition is as it was in the breginning. (Gen 2:24; Mt 19:4-6; Mk 10:6-9)

//“In Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus says, “It has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.”

“Jesus is saying that the act of remarriage is an act of adultery. He is not teaching that the ongoing conjugal relationship with the new spouse is a state of “perpetual adultery”--as if God refused to recognize the remarriage as legitimate in any sense.”//

"Jesus is saying that the act of remarriage is an act of adultery."

How can an “act of adultery” be a marriage in the Lord? With this logic, you have to convince me that the Lord approves of a vow as an “act of adultery” and believe that vow is a legitimate covenant marriage. You have to also convince me that a "remarriage" is a marriage in the Lord. The very “act” of making a covenant vow when it is adulterous is enough to say that making an "act of adultery" and remaining in that adultery makes it an unlawful marriage. What the verses actually says is that a divorce does not end a one-flesh covenant marriage, and the exception is not referring to the very popular all-encompassing “sexual immorality”, it is referring specifically to “fornication” during a betrothal marriage.

The reason we know this is based on the context in which Matthew’s Gospel was written. Nearly every bible description informs the reader that Matthew's Gospel was written "specifically" to the Jewish Christians who understood the significance of the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilling the prophecies of ancient Israel as the coming Messiah. The “exception clause” is specific to Jewish Christians familiar with betrothal marriage customs. This is demonstrated in the very first chapter of Matthew (Mt 1:18-25) with Joseph seeking to put away Mary away because she was believed to have committed “fornication” during the one-year period of betrothal and she was no longer a virgin before the consummation and sealing of the covenant of the marriage. 

It is erroneous and deceptive teaching to include Matthew’s “exception clause” for the New Testament, post-resurrection period. The context of Matthew’s account corroborates with Mark 10:11,12 and Luke 16:18, with the only exception being specific to a custom that is no longer applicable today, but was applicable at the time of the Pharisee. The Pharisees perverted the law of divorce, and the Lord goes one step further to abolish divorce all together.

The only similar circumstance of comparing betrothal today is to have found out your spouse committed "fornication" during an “engagement”. The difference is that a man were "husband and wife" during a betrothal marriage, and this required a written letter of divorce to end the marriage before the marriage was consummated. 

In plain words, the Lord is saying a divorce does not end the covenant of marriage. Thus, a “remarriage” is not a marriage in the Lord, it is an adulterous union. An apple is not an orange, and can never be an orange. You would have us think that we can call an apple an orange, and even though it is not an orange, we can still call it an orange.  

//“If that were the case--if the ongoing physical relationship between the remarried couple constituted one long, continuous, adulterous affair—the proper remedy, and the only way to end the chain of adultery, would be to dissolve the second marriage and insist that everyone return to his or her original spouse.”//

YOU have written it! That is exactly what must happen. Since the covenant can only end in death, the right choice is to repent of the sin which is the source of a divorce. The only options the Lord gives for marriage is to remain single and deal with the sin to reconcile the MARRIAGE (1 Cor 7:10,11) If divorce is the option, proving that your heart is hard, then remain single until death.  

//”On the contrary, Scripture teaches that the new marriage is now binding. In order to avoid further acts of adultery, the remarried person needs to remain faithful to the new spouse.”//

Where does scripture tell us that an “act of adultery” is a binding marriage? Where? You make this claim becasue you personally administered and performed "acts of adultery" and convinced the recipients to believe that God blesses their adultery. I have news for you, just becasue a civil paper says you're married, or a civil paper says you're divorced, these traditions of men are insignificant to what God joins in heaven! You would have us believe that a person who is in unrepentant sin against his or her spouse of covenant can make a vow of “remarriage” to another, and it is binding?

If what you're saying is true, why not honor the vows of same-sex couples? Most states approve same-sex marriage, and these couples make vows before God...Does God honor vows that pervert His covenant? 

Read the second part of Matthew 5:32 again:  “and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.”

Whoever “marries” a woman who is divorced! What does the Lord say? Does He say, whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits “fornication”? No. Does He say, whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits “sexual immorality”? No, the word is ADULTERY. The truth is that one cannot commit ADULTERY, unless the covenant marriage is still binding! 

//”As a matter of fact, in the same passage where Moses permitted husbands to issue a certificate of divorce, the law added this restriction: “When she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD” (Deuteronomy 24:2-4, emphasis added).”//

As a matter of fact, the Lord said, HAVE YOU NOT READ…
 

Matthew 19:4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? ⁶ Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

You would have us believe that we are to follow the laws of Israel on divorce rather than the Lord Jesus Christ who fulfilled the law. What laws are we under?

Divorce IS hardheartedness (Mt 19:8) and divorce from the “beginning” was not so. Therefore, what is the law of marriage today? Is marriage as it was for the hardhearted Israelites who roamed in the wilderness for 40 years, or is marriage as it was in the beginning as the Lord says it is? 

This is the foundation of marriage. Where we view the definition of marriage today depends on if we view marriage as the Lord views marriage. You would have us reject the law of marriage as it was from the beginning! If marriage is as it was from the beginning, is a divorce applicable today? No, since a covenant marriage can only end in death. (Ro 7:2-4, 1 Cor 7:39)

The act of “divorce” is hardheartedness. Thus, a man who puts away a wife causes her to become “defiled”. She is not defiled after the divorce; she is defiled when she marries another man. Read the passage again! There were severe consequences for divorcing a wife! The same is true today. If a man divorces his wife (and he is COMMANDED not to (1 Cor 7:11)), then she is to remain unmarried or reconcile to her WHO?, her HUSBAND! Well, if she is to reconcile to her HUSBAND, the divorce does not end the marriage does it?

//”Clearly, the second marriage—whether biblically justified or not—becomes as binding as the original marriage was supposed to be.”// 

Again, where in the Bible does the Lord approve of a “second” marriage when the first spouse of covenant is still alive? Your exegete of scripture is terrible if we base this on mere logic. A vow cannot be broken unless by death. Since this is a covenant marriage vow, you would have us believe the Lord approves of polygamy.     

//”A return to the original spouse is strictly forbidden.”//

Why is this forbidden if the “original spouse” is the ONLY spouse until death? You have twisted the word of God to not only deceive a person into believing a marriage can end in other ways then death, you are sanctifying their adultery when you tell them to remain in a “remarriage”! 

//”So Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:32 (and Mark 10:11-12) mean simply that entering into an illegitimate remarriage is an adulterous act.”// 

Here is the visual on this. A priest, Pastor, or a civil magistrate perform a wedding ceremony to a couple making vows which are not vows of marriage, but are in reality “acts” of adultery. The vows are “illegitimate”, but GTY, and the Pastors who adhere to this tradition of “performing vows of adultery” believe this wedding is acceptable to the point that the Lord would stand by this act of adultery. The “vow” of remarriage IS the “act of adultery”.

//”Nevertheless, once that new marriage covenant is sealed, the remarried couple needs to remain married and be faithful to one another.”//

Once the new “act of adultery” is sealed it is no longer an “act of adultery”?!?  But let’s look at the last few words in this teaching…because this is where repentance and understanding what repentance looks like... 

”and be faithful to one another”.

How can a person make a VOW to be faithful to a “remarriage”, when they were not faithful to a VOW of covenant marriage? You are teaching us that a vow is a vow, unless the vow was broken by unfaithfulness. Then you are telling us you cannot break a vow of “remarriage” as this would prove your unfaithfulness to the vow. You do know that the Lord takes vows very seriously…

 //”Their on going physical relationship is not to bethought of as “perpetual adultery.”//

Your whole reasoning and horrid attempt to exegete the scripture on this subject does not, cannot, convince anyone that a remarriage is a covenant marriage. The truth is you have sanctified adultery and this teaching will deceive people into remaining in sanctified adultery so that they will not enter the kingdom of Heaven. (1 Cor 6:9) Since you have attempted to deceive many with this teaching, your penalty will be greater. (Matthew 18:6)  

//”On the other hand, as long as they remain unrepentant about the illegitimate remarriage, they cannot expect God’s blessing on their marriage. Like all sins, that unauthorized remarriage must be confessed and repented of.”//

The first question should be why do they even have to repent if you already made it clear that the “new” marriage is sealed?!?!?

You wrote, “Nevertheless, once that new marriage covenant is sealed, the remarried couple needs to remain married and be faithful to one another.”

//”Because marriage entails a covenant that God deems holy, any remarriage (even remarriage after an unbiblical divorce) cannot be—and should not be—forsaken as we would forsake virtually any other sin.”//

What is the fruits of repentance then? 

What do you tell a woman who was unilaterally divorced by her husband (This is based on unconstitutional divorce laws that the professing evangelical church has all but handed over to civil authorities) because he wanted to divorce her to marry the babysitter? His obedient loving Christian wife remains in covenant, praying for her prodigal spouse and his mistress to repent. She also sought church discipline (Mt 18:15-17) on the matter, to no avail. Her husband ran away knowing that what he was doing was wrong, but he didn’t care because there are no immediate consequences of his decision. None. What is the responsibility of the church on this matter?

Did the leaders of the church attend to court hearings on the divorce and defend the covenant of marriage? (If it is unilateral, the divorce can clear for less than 300 dollars. Fighting for this in marriage in family court would cost way more than 300 dollars.) Did the leaders of the church administer to this woman? Did the leaders of the church make it clear in writing that this man MUST repent, and that should he not repent he will die in his sin and spend eternity in Hell? (Mt 18:15-17)  Did the leaders make it clear that this man is never to seek a “remarriage” with his mistress and that anyone who “performs” a civil remarriage is sanctifying his adultery? 

Did the church leaders stand by the woman of covenant, or did they tell her that there is no hope for this man and she can remarry another? Most likely, since most professing Christians believe God would NEVER want a person to have the burden of singleness the remainder of his or her life. Really?

What was the reaction of the leaders when the woman will remain obedient to the Lord and the covenant she made to her husband while in the presence of the Lord and witnesses? She will NOT remarry knowing that civil papers of “remarriage” are unlawful to the Lord, and she will be adamant that the civil divorce papers do not end the covenant marriage. She will remain unmarried and pray for her husband to repent until he or she dies. Will she be labeled a "Pharisee"? Well, why would you label her a Pharisee when the Pharisees approved of divorce AND remarriage, and it was the Lord who said, "Have you not read?"...

The truth is, this man can go several blocks down the street to a "church" that performs marriages for ANY reason, up to and including same-sex marriages. This unrepentant man and his adulterous mistress enter into a “covenant” marriage just like Phil Johnson at “Grace To You” writes in his article entitled, “Are people who remarry in danger of committing perpetual adultery?”  

This man then realizes that he never repented to his wife of covenant. He lied to his new church about his divorce. He lied about his adultery, and now that he is “remarried” he is convicted that he is still in adultery. He also knows that he lied to the Lord and his wife when he said the words....till death do I part! WHAT DOES HE DO?

Well, since GTY says it is “sinful” to divorce from a “remarriage”, the fruits of repentance are going to his first wife and “repenting” of his sin against her. Yet, that does not hide the fact that his “choice’ to make a vow to another while his covenant wife is still alive is an "ACT" of adultery. He then reads this article and is guilted into believing that his divorce from this adulterous remarriage would be sinful...

 //”But people who have entered into such a relationship do need to seek God’s forgiveness with sincere repentance.”//

True repentance is exiting an adulterous union and returning to the wife of covenant. True repentance is admitting that articles like this are not only erroneous, unbiblical, and eternally damaging; articles like this make a mockery of the Gospel, the definition of marriage, and the name of Christ. True repentance is ministries such as GTY humbling admitting that what they have taught and continue to teach on marriage is not only contrary to what the early church believed about marriage, divorce and remarriage; what they teach is contrary to the word of God.  

I believe standerinfamilycourt's "Calling Out The High Priest of Serial Polygamy" does a wonderful job of exposing this twisted view of repentance.


" In cases where a believer obtained a divorce on unbiblical grounds and remarried, he or she is guilty of the sin of adultery until that sin is fully and physically repented of by exiting the adulterous union.   MacArthur’s claim that there is “nothing” in scripture to indicate anything other than “confession” being sufficient is patently false.   Jesus specifically used a verb tense to indicate this was an ongoing state of sin, which if died in would result in loss of the kingdom of heaven.   All scripture is clear that sin is only forgiven where it is discontinued, not just confessed.   Our nation is under judgment because it is repeating the grave sin of Israel and Judah of God’s priesthood being complicit in rampant immorality exactly as MacArthur is, and the book of Ezra, chapters 9 and 10 point up God’s expectation for repenting, and possibly turning away His advanced wrath.  MacArthur is mocking God by implying that lesbian and homosexual “married” couples can therefore also confess their sodomy and remain in it, while he has no clue that the Lord is returning the mockery in-kind, to get the nation’s attention.   Furthermore, pastors who perform such weddings are taking the Lord’s name in vain (misusing His name to perform a vain act). They are therefore guilty of corrupting those souls over whom they claim God forsakes His first covenant to covenant with adultery, or that He replicates the one-flesh entity of holy matrimony – neither act being within His holy character.   Lastly, living on in a state of separation from the only person God’s hand has made a covenant spouse one-flesh with is living on in a state of permanent unforgiveness and lack of reconciliation.   Jesus stated several times that unless we forgive, we will not be forgiven, also thereby forfeiting our inheritance in the kingdom of God.   It is ridiculous to presume that a one-flesh spouse is the only possible exemption in all of the kingdom of God from this basic law of God."

//”And yes, God does grant forgiveness for such sins to those who seek His pardon in Christ.”//

And yes! There is forgiveness for such erroneous and damnable teaching to those who seek His pardon in Christ. There is still time! Repent! There is mercy, there is grace, and there is forgiveness to restore marriage as God commanded it to today as it was in the beginning...One man and one woman for life!

In Christ’s love,

Neil