If a Minister of the 5 Fold Ministry Can Marry a Widow, the Widow Is Not a Virgin, So Is That Not Breaking the Rule?
1) Direct Answer
No. A minister may marry a widow, and that does not break any New Testament rule.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- The Bible says a widow is free to remarry: “She is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:39; see also Romans 7:2–3). Death ends the first covenant; she is loosed.
- The qualifications for ministers are clear: “husband of one wife,” blameless, temperate, etc. (1 Timothy 3:1–2; Titus 1:6). It does not say, “must marry a virgin.”
- Under the Law, only the high priest was required to marry a virgin (Leviticus 21:13–14). Ordinary priests were not forbidden to marry a widow. And we are not under the Levitical requirement; Christ is our High Priest (Hebrews 7).
- Paul even instructs that younger widows should marry (1 Timothy 5:14). If widows are to marry “in the Lord,” we have no Bible right to forbid a godly minister from being that husband.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- Virginity is not a New Testament qualification for a minister’s wife. Faithfulness and “only in the Lord” are the requirements.
- A widow is not an adulteress; her previous bond is ended by death. So marrying her does not make the minister a breaker of Scripture.
- Now notice: Where does the New Testament say a minister must marry a virgin? It doesn’t. But it does say a widow may remarry in the Lord.
4) Reinforcing Statement
It’s not three rules and traditions—it’s the Word. A widow who is in Christ is free to marry, and a true minister who is “the husband of one wife” may lawfully marry her without violating Scripture. The only clear prohibition is marrying a divorced woman while her first husband lives (Luke 16:18), not marrying a widow.
To get the full context and background as well as proper understanding, you MUST read the following answers also:
https://truebibleteachingsai.org/answers/in-the-new-testament-is-there-a-requirement-that-a-minister-of-the-5-f-11636dc
https://truebibleteachingsai.org/answers/in-the-new-testament-is-there-a-requirement-that-a-minister-of-the-5-f-a71db34
https://truebibleteachingsai.org/answers/if-a-minister-should-marry-a-virgin-then-what-was-the-blood-of-jesus-s-1d59d71
https://truebibleteachingsai.org/answers/if-a-minister-of-the-5-fold-ministry-can-marry-a-widow-the-widow-is-no-e5ccd10
https://truebibleteachingsai.org/answers/is-it-true-that-the-widow-of-a-minister-can-only-remarry-a-minister-9af3c0d
https://truebibleteachingsai.org/answers/in-one-of-your-replies-you-said-a-minister-should-marry-a-virgin-in-an-bdc33ea
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The invisible union of the Bride of Christ
65-1125 §39
I want to name three things here that she must not get away from. Now, I am speaking... Keep the Church in mind while I'm speaking this to the natural woman, as Paul is here in the seventh chapter of Romans. She has a sacred trust of virtue committed to her by her Lord---a certain virtue. Nothing else holds it but a woman. That is right. That is committed to her by God. She must not defile that virtue. If she even does something wrong, she must confess that to her husband before he takes her, and make it right. Jus...
Church Ages, part 9: The ten virgins, and the 144,000
60-1211M §98
Yeah, the sleeping virgin will... This sleeping virgin now, you want to know what will become of her. Is that it? One thing I want to explain. What will happen to these churches? What will happen to these people who come part of the way with Christ, and didn't come, or did not go, all the way with Christ? Now in Romans, I believe 2:22, the Bible said, Paul said, "If the Spirit of God is not in you, you are none of God's." You belong to the organization, but not to God. If the Spirit of God isn't in you, you're not...
The invisible union of the Bride of Christ
65-1125 §34
Now, She, as a woman, if She is married to Christ the Word, She cannot be married to a church denomination at the same time, for She is bound by it. She cannot live with both husbands at the same time. They are contrary one to the other. One is God-sent; the other one is man-made. So they are contrary. He said, "Let every man's word be a lie and Mine be the truth." God said that. Just as much contrary to one another as law was to grace, as Paul speaking of here. One must be dead to have the other. And if she tries...
Questions and Answers on Hebrews, part 2
57-1002 §89
...t to church, and joined the church, and pretty good fellow. Then you got to get the church, spiritual, the Rapture, the bride, there she stands. Those three people, they're not mixed up, not a bit. They're not all the same. Not Jehovah Witness saying that "the hundred and forty-four thousand is the bride"; that's wrong. That's the Jews, see. There's a bride, the Jews, and the sleeping virgin. And you get them all, and say, "Well, they're all three in different places." They're all, three different classes of people...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-95
God came down in a blood cell, not through a man, but by the Holy Ghost, and in that virgin womb a tabernacle for the purpose of death was built. The Seed of the woman came in order that He be bruised to bring us our salvation. When the Holy Ghost came upon Mary, He created within her womb the cell that would multiply and become the body of our Lord. That cell was created. It was the Beginning of the Creation of God. That is Who Jesus is. And that Holy One was filled with Holy blood, even the blood of God. That tab...