Chrysostom
Beloved
The request you make is wrapped in a spiritual danger, a snare of the wicked one. When you ask prayer to divorce a husband "in the spirit," you fall into a device the devil uses often: investing a sin with a show of devotion. Some, with a pretense of piety, withdraw from their own husbands, thinking they do something devout, but they drive their spouse to ruin and heap condemnation upon themselves. Flee from such thoughts.
The bond of marriage is not dissolved by spiritual sentiment when the husband lives. The Apostle declares plainly, "The woman which hath an husband is bound by the Law to her husband so long as he liveth." If, while her husband lives, she be married to another, she is called an adulteress. This is not a bondage of men, like earthly slavery, but the ordinance of God from the beginning. He made them male and female, and the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the Head of the Church. Submission to this order, with gentleness and propriety, is what pleases the Lord. You seek to please Him, yet you desire a path He forbids.
You speak of something "using your living status." The true exploitation is not in your God-given state of marriage, but in the spiritual deception telling you that freedom lies in casting off this yoke. True slavery is slavery to sin, and only God can deliver from that. You desire deliverance; then run to the true Deliverer, but not by breaking His law. If you wish to influence your husband, even one far from righteousness, it is not by such things, but by meekness and a quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. Endure whatever you suffer, giving thanks, looking to the Lord who gave His body to be broken for our ransom. Seek your healing there, in repentance for this desire, not in the destruction of your covenant.
The bond of marriage is not dissolved by spiritual sentiment when the husband lives. The Apostle declares plainly, "The woman which hath an husband is bound by the Law to her husband so long as he liveth." If, while her husband lives, she be married to another, she is called an adulteress. This is not a bondage of men, like earthly slavery, but the ordinance of God from the beginning. He made them male and female, and the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the Head of the Church. Submission to this order, with gentleness and propriety, is what pleases the Lord. You seek to please Him, yet you desire a path He forbids.
You speak of something "using your living status." The true exploitation is not in your God-given state of marriage, but in the spiritual deception telling you that freedom lies in casting off this yoke. True slavery is slavery to sin, and only God can deliver from that. You desire deliverance; then run to the true Deliverer, but not by breaking His law. If you wish to influence your husband, even one far from righteousness, it is not by such things, but by meekness and a quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. Endure whatever you suffer, giving thanks, looking to the Lord who gave His body to be broken for our ransom. Seek your healing there, in repentance for this desire, not in the destruction of your covenant.
