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Divorce, as an institution, Jesus told us frankly that God tolerated it because "your hearts were hard." It was certainly not his plan, and marrying after divorcing a wife make adulterers of all concern.

IMHO,

There is a difference between sins committed before we are "born again", before we experience a true conversion and profess faith in Jesus Christ, and sins we commit after such profession. Before conversion, of course we will commit all sorts of sins, as we do not have the benefit of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Having been married, divorced, committed crimes, been violent, stolen, abused our bodies - all sorts of sins are committed by people that later come to know Christ. It is when we notice that we have completely turned our back on all our prior sins, the "old man" has died, that we realize the power of the Holy Spirit. If believing Churches did not accept new members who had sinful pasts, they would have no new members to accept. To think that once someone is divorced they can not be saved incorrectly implies that God can not save whom he pleases. To think that once saved, that such sins are not forgiven, is to deny Redemption through the atoning blood of Christ.

Going forward, of course, if we "backslide", and find ourselves committing the same old sins as we always did, that certainly opens up the possibility that we have not been saved, as the Bible tells us that once we truly are born again and are counted among the elect (adopted children of God) that we will persevere and God will not abandon us - so we should find ourselves incredibily motivated to get right with God again. While we will continue to have trials and tribulations, we should, as time goes by, see a process of progressive sanctification happening in ourselves, and not see a charade of religious pretense where we continue in our old sinful ways.

It is quite disheartening when I come across Christians who single out those who were divorced prior to being saved as somehow being unfit to marry after they are saved. At the same time such persons often feel that if prior to being saved the person was an axe-murderer, but never married, they'd see them as a wonderful fit for marriage. We must understand that if people lived for decades before they were saved, during that time they will have sinned and frequently among their sins will be ungodly marriages, cohabitation, and all other sorts of immoral acts and habits. During a courtship that is compatible with Scripture, the father - or man who is serving in that role - of the woman who is considering marriage will weed out men who are still living in sin by simply verifying their habits prior to allowing courtship to even begin, placing the burden of proof on the suitor. He will ascertain whether or not the prospective bridegroom has limited his pursuit of marriage to Biblical courtship. Of course, the father can be much more objective that the prospective bride and can very easily say no, given that he is a man and is concerned with his daughter's long-term well-being and is not subject to emotions arising from the suitor's physical appearance.

There is a far different situation regarding marriage and divorce where a person experiences a conversion, joins a Congregation, and professes Jesus Christ in a Church that has good doctrine, i.e., they will be aware of what they are professing. Such a profession of faith is serious and can not simply be "taken back". If the person then marries, and the household, husband and wife are within the Congregation, at that point, the marriage is not a prior sinful act, but a marriage that Biblically would be fully recognized. There is no way to say that the marriage happened "while I was still in sin", without the couple's conversions being called into question. This is the situation where if there is a divorce, one or the other or both should wind up being excommunicated if the Church applies Church discpline and the couple does not reconcile prior to divorce. Of course, upon excommunication, a person should seek to get right with God. God willing, they will join another believing Church and truly be regenerate. In these cases, members of the Church they were excommunicated from would not be able to marry them and remain in the Church - that would be adultery. Of course, this is only if Church discipline is being applied. Also important to remember that truly believing Churches do not accept members without making sure they are taught in the faith; conversions are not accepted where the person has obvious habitual sins that would merit excommunication anyway. Likewise such Churches to not marry anyone at the drop of a hat, only those that are members, which would be fully aware of their responsibilities to God.