About marriage

 

 

After reading 1 Corinthians 7, I thought of four things about marriage:

 

  1. If we cannot control our passion, we should marry.

 

(1 Cor. 7:9) “But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”

 

If we are burn with passion and if we cannot control ourselves, we should marry.  The reason is because Satan tempts us when we cannot control ourselves and causes us to commit adultery (v. 5).  This is what the Bible Proverbs 6:27-29 says: “Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?  Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?  So is he who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.”  We should marry even to avoid sexual immorality (1 Cor. 7:2).

 

  1. The couple must fulfill their obligations to each other.

 

(1 Cor. 7:3) “The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.”

 

While there may be several obligations for husbands and wives to each other, I think “duty” that Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians 7:3 refers to sexual duty that is duty to satisfy each other sexually.  Look at 1 Corinthians 7:4-5a: “The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.  Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, ....,”  Why did Paul say not to deprive one another, except by agreement for a time? (v. 5)  What does it mean that the husband and the wife do not have authority over each other’s body? (v. 4)  It means that both of them are obliged to satisfy each other’s sexual needs in order to avoid sexual immorality (v. 2).  In doing so, the couple will be able to self-control their passion (vv.5, 9).

 

  1. If we married an unbeliever, we must not divorce her.

 

(1 Cor. 7:12-13) “But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her.  And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away.”

 

This does not mean that it is okay to marry an unbeliever.  The believer should not be yoked together with unbelievers (2 Cor. 6:14).  This is what the Scripture 2 Corinthians 6:14-16a says: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.  For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?  Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?  What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?  What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? ….”  But if someone disobeyed this word of God and married to an unbeliever, the Bible says “he must not divorce her” (1 Cor. 7:12).  Why?  The reason is because the unbelieving wife may be sanctified through her husband (v. 14).  This is what Paul said in verse 16: “For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?”  But the unfortunate reality is that the reason for marrying the unbeliever is to witness the unbelieving spouse.  But the Bible says that we should not be yoked together with unbelievers, and if we did, we should not divorce her because we may save our unbeliever spouse.  The Bible does not say that we should marry an unbeliever for the purpose of saving our unbeliever spouse.

 

  1. It is better not to marry than to marry.

 

(1 Cor. 7:38) “So then both he who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.”

 

Apostle Paul encouraged the Corinthian church believers to live alone like himself without getting married (vv. 8, 40).  Why did Paul say that it is better not to get married but to live alone?  The reason is because when we married, we will have trouble (v. 28), will concern about the things of the world (v. 33), and our interests are divided (v. 34).  How is our heart divided?  We are concerned about how to please our spouse.  That’s why the married people cannot devote themselves to the Lord with all their hearts.  But those who are unmarried are free from concern.  They concerned about the things of the Lord, how they may please the Lord (v. 32) that they may be holy both in body and spirit (v. 34).  Also, they can secure undistracted devotion to the Lord (v. 35).  Therefore, Paul says that it is better not to get married than to marry.