What is the context?
Paul distinguishes this instruction from the concessions he has just discussed: he appeals to the Lord’s command. A wife must not separate from her husband, and a husband must not divorce his wife. If separation occurs, he directs the wife to remain unmarried or be reconciled.
The words not I, but the Lord point to teaching Jesus had given. Mark 10:6–12 places His teaching about divorce within God’s joining husband and wife together. Paul is applying that seriousness to the marriages he addresses.
The chapter will next discuss marriages in which only one spouse believes. These two verses should therefore be read within Paul’s whole discussion and alongside Jesus’ teaching, rather than treated as a complete description of every difficult circumstance. They make reconciliation and faithfulness the aim rather than an easy exchange of one marriage for another.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians agree that marriage calls for lasting faithfulness, but traditions differ over when a separation or divorce permits another marriage.
The Catholic Church teaches that a ratified and consummated marriage between baptized spouses cannot be dissolved except by death. It allows separation while the bond remains and can tolerate civil divorce where needed to protect rights or children; see Catechism 2382–2386. The Reformed Westminster Confession 24.5–6 recognizes adultery and irremediable willful desertion as grounds for dissolving a marriage, and explicitly permits the innocent party to remarry after divorce for adultery.
The United Methodist Church’s current Social Principles on divorce recognize that divorce can become necessary when a relationship becomes destructive or beyond repair. They do not require remaining in an abusive relationship and allow remarriage after divorce. These differences concern how the wider biblical teaching is applied; they should not be collapsed into a claim that every Christian tradition treats every separation in the same way.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Jesus directs His hearers back to creation in Mark 10:6–9: the union of husband and wife belongs to what God joins together. Marriage is therefore more than an arrangement kept only while it is convenient.
Ephesians 5:25–32 adds a positive picture of the love such a bond should express, connecting it with Christ’s giving Himself for the church and caring for her. The larger purpose includes faithful, self-giving care, rather than merely retaining a relationship’s outward form. This connection does not by itself settle every disputed question about divorce.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.