What is a divorced Christian woman to do when her husband wants to remarry her?

Question:

What should a Christian woman do if she filed for a divorce because her unfaithful husband left her for another woman, yet after a few years he wants to return to her?

We find the following written in the epistle to the Corinthians, on the subject of  marriage when only one partner is faithful and the other wants a divorce. God’s Word says:

Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave ; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace. (I Corinthians 7:15)

When divorce takes place, the covenant is broken and the Scripture says that in this case the Christian (brother or sister) is no longer bound because the marriage is broken.

In the Old Testament God commanded the people of Israel the following:

1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled ; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance. (Deuteronomy 24)

You see, God does not allow people to have a frivolous attitude toward marriage, believing that they can break up the relationship and just simply start over from the beginning.

The woman whose husband was unfaithful and divorced her, is now free but if she chooses to remarry this man, it would be like marrying a nonbeliever, which is not allowed. Their previous marriage covenant no longer exists because it was broken.

39 A wife is bound as long as her husband lives ; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. 40 But in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God. (I Corinthians 7)

Since her non-Christian husband left her, she is no longer bound to her husband and is free to remarry whomever she wishes. The condition is that it must be in the Lord. In other words, she is only allowed to marry a Christian man who is born again having entered the New Covenant through Jesus Christ. I believe that this woman should follow the advice of St. Paul and would be better off if she remains as she is, unmarried. May the Lord give wisdom to us all to make decisions.

Translation by: Erik Brewer