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Biblical Separation Research Paper

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When Separation isn’t Biblical

Separation is not biblical when abuse is not present or when divorce is not eminent. Perhaps the easiest declaration is that separation should always be a last resort and never sooner. Even when one spouse has biblical grounds for divorce—nowhere in scripture is divorce necessitated for any reason—thus separation may actually be harmful and increase the likelihood of divorce when it may not occur otherwise. I don’t have scripture to quote here because God’s Word is consistent in commanding couples remain married excepting for two circumstances (Deut. 22:19; Mal. 2:16; Matt. 19:6-9; Mark 10:9; Luke 16:18; Rom. 7:2-3; 1 Cor. 7:11-13; Heb. 13:4). Further, nowhere in scripture do we see separation used as a means of avoiding sin, avoiding discomfort, or fleeing a situation where a spouse doesn’t want to confront the other. Where separation is mentioned, it is for the …show more content…
This is further exemplified in Hosea’s call to bear with Gomer’s sexual immorality and defiling of the marriage bed. I don’t say this to insinuate that every spouse must remain married to an unfaithful spouse, but simply to explain how the gospel informs marital counsel. Jesus clearly presents marital unfaithfulness as a justification for divorce. Instead, Hosea serves a type or shadow of Christ who remained faithful to Gomer despite her sin.

Paul explains this more explicitly in Ephesians 5 when he declares that marriage is a portrait of the gospel: that husbands are types of Christ in their marriage as Christ is the head of the church. This is why adultery and abandonment are biblical grounds for divorce. Christ is always faithful to his church and when husbands fail to reflect this (even imperfectly so), they tear apart the marriage covenant they entered into as depicted in God’s unilateral covenants with Israel in the Old

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