"For the unbelieving husbnd is sanctified through the (believing) wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy!" (I Corinthians 7:14)
In last week's lesson on I Corinthians 6:12-20, the apostle Paul urged Corinthian believers to "flee fornication"! Their bodies, he stressed, were not for immorality but for the Lord," as members of Christ, and should never be joined with a prostitute! "Do you not know (he said) that the one who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body (or 'one flesh') with her and, in effect, makes Christ a member with a prostitute! "May it never be!" But he's not finished saying what they need to hear! "Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body! Or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body!"
Then, in last night's lesson, in I Corinthians 7:1-16, the apostle Paul addresses a much related subject, something about which the Corinthians had earlier written to him about (with basically a "why can't I?" type of attitude, according to Constable)! The subject being about marriage, and divorce, and remarriage--an area of "trouble (MacArthur notes) due to the moral corruption of the Corinthian culture which tolerated fornication, adultery, homsexuality, polygamy, and concubinage"!
And so Paul begins by asserting that "it's good for a man not to touch a woman!" "Touch" being a Jewish euphemism for "having sexual relations"! It's difficult to understand exactly what Paul had in mind by making this opening statement--in view of all the positive things he goes on to say about the "beauty and blessings" of the God-ordained sexual relationships between husbands and wives, in the verses to follow! Unless he was referring to sexual relations outside of marriage, and in context with all the immoralities that were taking place in the Corinthian culture! Which probably explains why he said what he did in introducing his comments to the Corinthians on the subject of marriage!
And so, "because of the immoralities" that abounded, Paul writes that each man should have his own wife, and that each woman should have her own husband! And he added that "the husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband," and noted also that "the wife doesn't have authority ovcr her own body, but the husband does and likewise also the husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but the wife does"! And so, "stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of control"!
Interestingly, some of the married Corinthians who had become Christians, and whose prior lives been caught up with the sexual activities of the Corinthians, apparently thought that they could somehow now become "more spiritual' if they abstained from all sexual activity in their married relationship! To which the apostle Paul gave a sharp rebuke, making it clear that sex within the bonds of marriage was not "unspiritual" at all! In fact, it was God who "invented " it, and designed it, and blessed it! And so Paul made it clear that there was "no place for celibacy in a Christian marriage"! (Interesting also to note the degree of "equality and mutuality" which Paul called for between a husband and a wife, something that was highly "counter-cultural" in Paul's day, and particularly in the Corinthian culture where husbands had clear rights over their wives!)
Paul's position on marriage is totally consistent with what God said in the beginning, in Genesis 2:18-24, when he created a woman for a man! "It is not good for a man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him," and verse 22 says that "the Lord God "fashioned a woman from the rib He had taken from man, and brought her to Adam"! And after he picked himself up from the ground (ha!), he said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman"! And God capped it off by proclaiming: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh!" (And that remains God's plan to this day!)
As for those who were single but formerly married, and for the widows--as well as for those who had been involved in all kinds of sexual perversions prior to becoming believers--Paul (in verse 8) encouraged them to remain single, "even as I"! Unless they don't have self control, in which case "let them marry, for it's better to marry than to burn"! MacArthur notes that "a person cannot live a happy life, much less serve the Lord, if he is continually burning with sexual desire, even if the sexual desires never result in actual immorality! And that in a society like in Corinth (or ours!), in which immorality is so prevalent and accepted, it is especially difficult not to succumb to temptation"! (It's noted that, in verse 8, Paul seems to identify himself with the "formerly married and widows," lending support for the understanding that he too was previously married--perhaps before he became a believer--and now was committed to remaining single and unencumbered in serving the Lord! MacArthur notes that Romans 16:13 seems to refer to his former wife's mother, lending further support for this understanding!)
Then, "to those who are married," beginning in verse 10, Paul says that "it is the instruction from the Lord that the wife (who is a believer, presumably) should not leave (i.e., divorce) her husband (but if she does leaves, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled with her husband), and that the (believing) husband should not divorce his wife"!
But Paul adds his opinion (not the Lord's!), in verses 13-14, that "if any brother has a wife who is not a believer, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her! And if a woman (who is a believer) has an unbelieving husband, who consents to live with her, she must not send him away! For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy!" Wow! According to this passage, Children in this kind of "mixed marriage" enjoy special treatment from God in a "special setting apart" that gives protection in the home and a supply of grace needed for that sometimes difficult situations"! In other words, Paul is saying that God will pour out his grace, and a believer will bring blessing into that home!
Then, in verse 15, Paul takes it to another level! "Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him (or her!) leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace!" Note that the Christian partner should never be the one seeking a divorce! MacArthur notes that the bond of marriage is broken only by death, adultery, or an unbeliever leaving, in which case (says MacArthur!) a Christian is free to marry another believer! MacArthur further notes that "some believers may be reluctant to let go of their unsaved spouse, who want out and is creating discord in the home--thinking that they can somehow evangelize the spouse by hanging on to them; but that Paul seems to suggest that there is no such assurance, and that it is better to allow divorce and be at peace"! (But, interestingly, Paul, closes this portion of the passage in verse 16, by still holding out hope for the unbeliever's salvation!)
We can't close this lesson without turning to the Scripture, in Matthew 19:3-9, where Jesus addresses the issue of marriage and divorce in response to a question from the Pharisees, as to "whether it's lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason"? And this is Jesus' timeless answer: "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh! So they are no longer two, but one flesh! What God has joined together, let no man separate!" But they asked: 'Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?' And He said to them, 'Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce his wife; but from the beginning it has not been this way! And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery!"
Interestingly, the disciples responded to Jesus' teaching with the conclusion that "if the relationship of the man and his wife is like this, it's better not to marry"! Jesus noted that "not all men can accept this statement (i.e., remain single), but only to those to whom it has been given (as a "gift"), and he referred to "eunuchs who were born that way, or made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom"! (Sounds a lot like Paul's understanding!)
Paul has more to add to this subject in Ephesians 5:22-28, and it's an appropriate and timely ending for this lesson! "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as Christ also is head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. For as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies..."!
I don't think Paul's ready to leave this subject alone!
Thank God for Christian marriages!
Lowell
In last week's lesson on I Corinthians 6:12-20, the apostle Paul urged Corinthian believers to "flee fornication"! Their bodies, he stressed, were not for immorality but for the Lord," as members of Christ, and should never be joined with a prostitute! "Do you not know (he said) that the one who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body (or 'one flesh') with her and, in effect, makes Christ a member with a prostitute! "May it never be!" But he's not finished saying what they need to hear! "Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body! Or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body!"
Then, in last night's lesson, in I Corinthians 7:1-16, the apostle Paul addresses a much related subject, something about which the Corinthians had earlier written to him about (with basically a "why can't I?" type of attitude, according to Constable)! The subject being about marriage, and divorce, and remarriage--an area of "trouble (MacArthur notes) due to the moral corruption of the Corinthian culture which tolerated fornication, adultery, homsexuality, polygamy, and concubinage"!
And so Paul begins by asserting that "it's good for a man not to touch a woman!" "Touch" being a Jewish euphemism for "having sexual relations"! It's difficult to understand exactly what Paul had in mind by making this opening statement--in view of all the positive things he goes on to say about the "beauty and blessings" of the God-ordained sexual relationships between husbands and wives, in the verses to follow! Unless he was referring to sexual relations outside of marriage, and in context with all the immoralities that were taking place in the Corinthian culture! Which probably explains why he said what he did in introducing his comments to the Corinthians on the subject of marriage!
And so, "because of the immoralities" that abounded, Paul writes that each man should have his own wife, and that each woman should have her own husband! And he added that "the husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband," and noted also that "the wife doesn't have authority ovcr her own body, but the husband does and likewise also the husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but the wife does"! And so, "stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of control"!
Interestingly, some of the married Corinthians who had become Christians, and whose prior lives been caught up with the sexual activities of the Corinthians, apparently thought that they could somehow now become "more spiritual' if they abstained from all sexual activity in their married relationship! To which the apostle Paul gave a sharp rebuke, making it clear that sex within the bonds of marriage was not "unspiritual" at all! In fact, it was God who "invented " it, and designed it, and blessed it! And so Paul made it clear that there was "no place for celibacy in a Christian marriage"! (Interesting also to note the degree of "equality and mutuality" which Paul called for between a husband and a wife, something that was highly "counter-cultural" in Paul's day, and particularly in the Corinthian culture where husbands had clear rights over their wives!)
Paul's position on marriage is totally consistent with what God said in the beginning, in Genesis 2:18-24, when he created a woman for a man! "It is not good for a man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him," and verse 22 says that "the Lord God "fashioned a woman from the rib He had taken from man, and brought her to Adam"! And after he picked himself up from the ground (ha!), he said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman"! And God capped it off by proclaiming: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh!" (And that remains God's plan to this day!)
As for those who were single but formerly married, and for the widows--as well as for those who had been involved in all kinds of sexual perversions prior to becoming believers--Paul (in verse 8) encouraged them to remain single, "even as I"! Unless they don't have self control, in which case "let them marry, for it's better to marry than to burn"! MacArthur notes that "a person cannot live a happy life, much less serve the Lord, if he is continually burning with sexual desire, even if the sexual desires never result in actual immorality! And that in a society like in Corinth (or ours!), in which immorality is so prevalent and accepted, it is especially difficult not to succumb to temptation"! (It's noted that, in verse 8, Paul seems to identify himself with the "formerly married and widows," lending support for the understanding that he too was previously married--perhaps before he became a believer--and now was committed to remaining single and unencumbered in serving the Lord! MacArthur notes that Romans 16:13 seems to refer to his former wife's mother, lending further support for this understanding!)
Then, "to those who are married," beginning in verse 10, Paul says that "it is the instruction from the Lord that the wife (who is a believer, presumably) should not leave (i.e., divorce) her husband (but if she does leaves, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled with her husband), and that the (believing) husband should not divorce his wife"!
But Paul adds his opinion (not the Lord's!), in verses 13-14, that "if any brother has a wife who is not a believer, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her! And if a woman (who is a believer) has an unbelieving husband, who consents to live with her, she must not send him away! For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy!" Wow! According to this passage, Children in this kind of "mixed marriage" enjoy special treatment from God in a "special setting apart" that gives protection in the home and a supply of grace needed for that sometimes difficult situations"! In other words, Paul is saying that God will pour out his grace, and a believer will bring blessing into that home!
Then, in verse 15, Paul takes it to another level! "Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him (or her!) leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace!" Note that the Christian partner should never be the one seeking a divorce! MacArthur notes that the bond of marriage is broken only by death, adultery, or an unbeliever leaving, in which case (says MacArthur!) a Christian is free to marry another believer! MacArthur further notes that "some believers may be reluctant to let go of their unsaved spouse, who want out and is creating discord in the home--thinking that they can somehow evangelize the spouse by hanging on to them; but that Paul seems to suggest that there is no such assurance, and that it is better to allow divorce and be at peace"! (But, interestingly, Paul, closes this portion of the passage in verse 16, by still holding out hope for the unbeliever's salvation!)
We can't close this lesson without turning to the Scripture, in Matthew 19:3-9, where Jesus addresses the issue of marriage and divorce in response to a question from the Pharisees, as to "whether it's lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason"? And this is Jesus' timeless answer: "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh! So they are no longer two, but one flesh! What God has joined together, let no man separate!" But they asked: 'Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?' And He said to them, 'Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce his wife; but from the beginning it has not been this way! And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery!"
Interestingly, the disciples responded to Jesus' teaching with the conclusion that "if the relationship of the man and his wife is like this, it's better not to marry"! Jesus noted that "not all men can accept this statement (i.e., remain single), but only to those to whom it has been given (as a "gift"), and he referred to "eunuchs who were born that way, or made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom"! (Sounds a lot like Paul's understanding!)
Paul has more to add to this subject in Ephesians 5:22-28, and it's an appropriate and timely ending for this lesson! "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as Christ also is head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. For as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies..."!
I don't think Paul's ready to leave this subject alone!
Thank God for Christian marriages!
Lowell
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