“Divorce For Fornication”

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

     Can you divorce a spouse for committing homosexual acts with another person and remarry? If they don't technically commit intercourse because it's not physically possible, is it still adultery?  We are having a big debate on this subject at my church, and I would like some insight please.

Sincerely,
Divided Over Doctrine

Dear Divided Over Doctrine,

Matt 19:9 allows divorce for ‘fornication’.  Jesus never took the time to define what fornication was because the Jewish audience He was talking to had their Old Testament to read and could easily find out what fornication was by reading what the Old Testament said about the subject.  So let’s do what they would do!
Leviticus chapter twenty spends a lot of time talking about sexual immorality.  Sexual acts like laying with another man’s wife (Lev 20:10), incest (Lev 20:17), bestiality (Lev 20:15-16), and homosexual acts (Lev 20:13) all fall under the category of sexually immorality and are fornication.  So, yes, homosexual acts would be divorceable behavior.

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