4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:4–6, NKJV).
Jesus gave three distinct reasons why it is not lawful “for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason” (Matt. 19:3).
(1) The Genesis of Marriage (v. 4). God created marriage, not humans. His purpose for marriage between “male and female” is the final word on the matter.
(2) The Oneness of Marriage (v. 5-6). Marriage is a “one flesh” relationship. When joined by God, the man and woman are no longer two, but “one flesh.” Divorce violates the unity God formed between the husband and wife.
(3) The Prohibition of God (v. 6). Christ declared we are not to separate (put an expanse between) what God joins together (i.e., the husband and wife). We must solidify in our hearts this unchanging edict from God: Marriage is given by God, it is between one man and one woman, and it is for life. (Jesus will give one exception to this rule in Matthew 19:9, and that is exactly what it is, an exception to the rule.) It is a transgression against God to sunder what He has joined together.
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