This lesson
was intended to be read in several sittings. I realize due to the nature of
this study it may not be of benefit to many who read it. Please accept my
apologies. It has been posted to specifically answer questions presented to me
concerning the issue of marriage and divorce presented to me by my fellow
teachers of the Word, as well as to clarify and respond to recent teachings on
the Biblical use of “chorizo” with which I have been presented. Tomorrow we
will return to our TOTT studies which I trust will be much more readable by
all.
A proper understanding
of the meaning of the Greek term “chorizo” (“depart”, “put asunder”, “to separate”)
helps us to understand some very importance Biblical concepts. Among these are the ideas of the sinlessness
of Christ, the eternal security of the believer, and divorce and remarriage.
THE SCRIPTURES:
Matt 19:3-6 6) … let not man put asunder.
Mark 10:2-12 … 9) What therefore God hath
joined together, let not man put asunder…
Acts 1:1-5 4) … commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem,…
Acts 18:1-6 1) After these things Paul departed from Athens,… (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) …
Rom 8:31-39 35) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?...39)…shall be
able to separate
us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1Cor 7:10-16 10) …Let not the wife depart from [her] husband: … 11) But and if she depart, let
her remain unmarried…15) But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart…
Phlm 1:10-16 - 15) For perhaps he therefore departed for a season…
Heb 7:22-28 - 26) … separate from sinners…
THE STUDY:
Let’s start our study of “chorizo” by looking at
its definition and usage...
- “chorizo” is
defined as:
- to place space
between
- to part
- to divide
- to go away
- to separate
- “chorizo” is
translated by the phrases:
- “put asunder” –
Mat 19:3-6; Mark 10:2-12
- “to depart” – Act
1:4, Act 18:1-6, 1 Cor 7:10-16, Philemon 1:10-16
- “shall separate” –
Rom 8:31-39, Heb 7:22-28
- This word is NEVER
translated “divorce” nor “put away” in NT Scriptures.
- “chorizo” is used
to describe:
- Sunder a marriage
– Mat 19:3-6; Mar 10:2-12
- Departure from a
physical location – Acts 1:4; Acts 18:1-6
- Separation from
love – Rom 8:31-39;
- Departure from a
marriage – 1 Cor 7:10-16
- Depart from
responsibilities / obligations– Philemon 1:10-16
- Separation from
sinners influences– Heb 7:22-28
- To summarize:
- “chorizo” can clearly designate 4 types
of separation….
i. a physical separation of distance (Acts 1:4, 18:1-6, Philemon 1:10-16?)
ii. a separation of parties once united by a covenant, obligation, or
responsibilities (Mat 19:3-6, Mar 10:2-12, 1 Cor 7:10-16, Philemon 1:10-16)
iii. a separation of parties united by emotions (Rom 8:31-39)
iv. a separation from the influence of others (Heb 7:22-28)
- Therefore, chorizo
can refer not only to a physical separation, but also to an emotional,
influential or obligational separation.
How does this understanding of the meaning of
“chorizo” affect our understanding of:
1. Our eternal security in
Christ? (Rom 8:31-39)
Here, we can
see that we cannot be estranged from the love we experience when we are united
with Christ…
Rom 8:31-39
31) What
shall we then say to these things? If God [be]
for us, who [can be] against us? 32)
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he
not with him also freely give us all things?
God who is the ultimate
Judge of all mankind is willing to give all for His people. How do we know this? He sent His Son to die on the cross for their
sins.
33) Who shall lay any
thing to the charge of God's elect? [It
is] God that justifieth. 34) Who [is] he that condemneth? [It is] Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us.
Who can be faultfinding
of His people and change God’s mind about them?
No one. You see, based upon the
death of Christ the sin debt of His people has been paid and their guilt
covered.
35) Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? [shall]
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? 36) As it is written, For thy sake we are
killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37) Nay, in all these things
we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38)
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39)
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Christ has proven His
unquenchable love for us by dying on the cross on our behalf. Nothing can put a separation between us and
Christ’s love. No matter what difficulty
and persecution we may face in life, we can rest assured that His love is still
placed upon us. We will be conquerors
over the trials and death as we spend eternity with Him.
2. The
sinlessness of Christ? (Heb 7:22-28)
Heb 7:22-28 22) By
so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. 23)
And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by
reason of death: 24) But this [man], because he continueth ever, hath
an unchangeable priesthood. 25) Wherefore he is able
also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them.
Here, Jesus as our High
Priest is being compared to the OT priesthood.
His ministry is a much better ministry than the OT priests because His
ministry is perfect, complete, and eternal.
26) For such an high
priest became us, [who is] holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
Christ who came to the
earth, placed Himself in the midst of sinners.
And yet, although in the midst of sinners He remained separate from
them. This was, obviously, not a
physical separation but it was a separation of influence. Sinners did not entice Him to sin, in other
words, their sin did not “rub off” on Him.
He remained sinless (separate from them) although He was in the midst of
them.
27) Who needeth not daily,
as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then
for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. 28) For the law
maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which
was since the law, [maketh] the Son,
who is consecrated for evermore.
Since Christ was
perfect, unlike the OT priests, He was able to offer Himself as a permanent,
complete, eternal sacrifice for the sins of His people. This was only because He was able to remain
“separate” from sinners while, yet, in their midst.
3. Finally, grounds for scriptural divorce…
In both, the Matthew and
Mark passages the phrase “put asunder” comes from “chlorizo”. In the 1 Corinthians verses the phrase
“depart” is the term to focus on.
Matt 19:3-6 3) The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting
him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every
cause? 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.
Mark 10:2-12 2) And the Pharisees came to him, and asked
him, Is it lawful for a man to put away [his]
wife? tempting him. 3) And he answered and
said unto them, What did Moses command you? 4)
And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put [her] away. 5) And Jesus
answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this
precept. 6) But from the
beginning of the creation God made them male and female. 7) For this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; 8) And they twain
shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. 9) What therefore
God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 10) And in the house
his disciples asked him again of the same [matter]. 11) And he saith
unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth
adultery against her. 12) And if a woman
shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.
In the beginning of the Lord’s teachings on
divorce, we see Him responding to the Pharisees questions concerning the
circumstances under which divorce is looked upon as “lawful” in the eyes of
God. The term used by the Pharisees “to
put away” was the Grk term “apoluo” meaning to unloose. This is the common term
used in the NT for divorce.
The Lord answers the Pharisees by explaining
that marriage was meant to be permanent and man should not sunder (separate)
the parties of the relationship for “every cause”. In this case to “chlorizo” is translated put
asunder… Please note chlorizo does not
refer to the act of divorce it refers to the result (or end state following
divorce)… separation. This separation
occurs to two ways…
1. Separation between the spouses
2. The separation between each spouse and
their individual marital obligations and responsibilities.
The Lord emphasizes the end result of the
divorce because He is showing how the results of the divorce are in direct
opposition to the purpose and result of the initial marriage agreement… union.
In this case, the “chlorizo” does not refer
to the act of divorcing… it simply describes the end result of a divorce… the
marital couple is separated from one another and their responsibilities and
obligations of the marital agreement.
In other words, the Pharisees ask the Lord…
is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for every cause?.. . The Lord
responds by saying, “What God has joined together let no man separate (through
the use of a divorce.)
This principle becomes very important in
understanding the next series of verse on divorce and remarriage…
1Cor 7:10-16 10) And
unto the married I command, [yet] not
I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from [her] husband: 11) But and if she
depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to [her] husband: and let not the husband put away [his] wife. 12) But to the rest
speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she
be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. 13) And the woman
which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with
her, let her not leave him. 14) For the
unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is
sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they
holy. 15) But if the
unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage
in such [cases]: but God hath called
us to peace. 16) For what knowest
thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save [thy]
husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save [thy] wife?
Here the
Apostle Paul addresses the “departure” of an unbelieving spouse. Here, the word “depart” (in vs 10, 11, 15) is
the Grk word “chlorizo”. We have seen
that this word does not refer to divorce.
What is meant by a spouse departing from their partner? This phrase I believe is referring to
separation from the spouses’ marital obligations (vows, covenant, contract
etc). This can take place in one of two
ways…
1. Either
physical desertion by physically departing from their spouse and living in a
separate location. (This is a clear meaning of “chlorizo” in Acts 1:4; Acts 18:1-6)
2. Or consistent,
unrepentant desertion from their marital obligations and responsibilities
although continuing to live physically present in a household. (see Philemon
1:10-16 where the issue is Onesimus failure to be faithful to his
responsibilities to Philemon. In this
case, Onesimus had physically departed as well. However, I do believe his physical absence was
not as much the issue as was the fact he had run off to avoid keeping the
responsibilities of his contract with Philemon.) (Also keep in mind Hebrews
7:22-28, where Christ was said to be separate from sinners while yet living
among them. In this case, “chlorizo”
CANNOT be describing physical separation.)
To summarize
this word study in the context of divorce… we have seen that one of the
Scriptural grounds for divorce is the departure of an unbelieving spouse. This departure is not, necessarily, speaking
of divorce, but it is speaking of the unbeliever habitually, unrepentantly physically
separating themselves from their spouse or abdicating their marital
responsibilities. This can take place
while present in the household or by physically separating themselves from the
family unit.
We need to remember that our Lord’s
desire for the marriage unit. Above all
else, our Lord desires for marriage to be permanent. Even when a spouse is guilty of an offense allowing
divorce, there should be room for forgiveness and reconciliation whenever true
repentance is shown by the offending party.
Also, we should keep in mind that for
those who have been divorced (following a marriage to one who had consistently,
stubbornly, unrepentantly broken the marital covenant) you are free to remarry
and to go forward with your life with no guilt, knowing you have done all that
is possible to save your marriage.
If you have been a participant in a
divorce that was not based upon legitimate grounds… keep in mind that there is
forgiveness being offered from our great gracious God. There is no sin so great
it cannot be forgiven by our Lord.
If you have any questions concerning the forgiveness of
sin or the way of salvation please feel free to visit or call a Bible teaching
church in your area. They will be happy
to speak to you about the Lord Jesus and the salvation He graciously gives.
Or, if you would rather, feel welcome to email me at settledinheaven@gmail.com. I’ll be more than happy to answer any
question you may have.
Also, if you look at my blog page “How To Have A
Relationship With God”. On this page,
you will find several blog entries explaining the way of salvation.
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