"And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." -Matthew 19:9, KJV.

God sees adultery the same, no matter what the cause is. Sadly, one of the highest divorce rates in this country is among Christians. The main excuse Christians seem to have for divorce is adultery, but even this is not a cause for divorce. Those looking to divorce will often use this passage as their proof that it is fine, but there are a few problems with that. One major problem is that the word here is fornication which is never used in place of the word adultery in the NT. Semantics aside, Matthew is the only gospel to include this famous "exception clause." Matthew was the gospel written specifically to the Jews. The others were written to various Gentile groups. This is essential to understanding this passage. In Jewish tradition, a couple was officially married in a ceremonial dinner with the fathers, groom, and bride. However, this was actually the "betrothal" time, where the groom would go and finish preparing his work and home for his new bride. It wasn't until about a year later that they would consummate the marriage, completing the act of becoming husband and wife. So for about a year, a couple would be "married," but without the physical bond. Fornication during this period (because it would after become adultery) was the allowing for divorcement. This is similar to our breaking off an engagement (which would be absolutely fine). Since the term "put away his wife" was used for both cases, Jesus was specifying which stage the marriage had to be in. (The in-between stage was where Mary & Joseph were when Mary conceived--just a side note.)