Watch the parallelism:
Husband marries wife
Christ marries church
Earthly marriage is supposed to reflect heavenly marriage, Ephesians 5:
Husband marries wife
Christ marries church
Earthly marriage is supposed to reflect heavenly marriage, Ephesians 5:
Failing to love the wife is grounds for divorce. Still, the actual divorce should not be taken lightly or routinely. Follow these guarding steps:31“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
- Make sure the couple involved are both Christians (1 Corinthians 7:15)
- The husband and wife must repent of sinning against each other. Matthew 18:15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you."
- Get one or two other trusted believers involved, Matthew 18:16 "But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses."
- Matthew 18:17a "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church." The church can recommend separation.
- Matthew 18:17b "And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." Contact the police if necessary.
- If, after following the above steps, there is still no reconciliation between the husband and wife, then divorce is possible.