1 Corinthians ~ Part 11

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As I mentioned in my last post, we continue to explore Sha’ul’s Letters to the Corinthians.

Regarding Marriage & Singleness ~ Part 1

Marital Relations

The questions you wrote about. From here, at least through 15:58 and perhaps through 16:9, Sha’ul is answering questions raised by the leaders of the Corinthian Messianic Community.

¹ Now, to deal with the questions you wrote about: “Is it good for a man to keep away from women?”

Is it good for a man to keep away from women, that is, to be celibate? From Sha’ul’s remark, “I wish everyone were like me” (v. 7 below), many infer that he regarded celibacy as the preferred condition for Believers, and from vv. 8–9, 26–27, 32–34, 38, and 40, one can build a case that Sha’ul had a somewhat jaundiced view of marriage. [I certainly don’t. Next year, we will celebrate our sixtieth wedding anniversary, the Lord willing.]

² Well, because of the danger of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife and each woman her own husband. ³ The husband should give his wife what she is entitled to in the marriage relationship, and the wife should do the same for her husband. ⁴ The wife is not in charge of her own body, but her husband is; likewise, the husband is not in charge of his own body, but his wife is.

Sexual desires, which can readily lead to sexual immorality, commend frequent sexual union between husband and wife.

⁵ Do not deprive each other, except for a limited time, by mutual agreement, and then only so as to have extra time for prayer; but afterward, come together again. Otherwise, because of your lack of self-control, you may succumb to the Adversary’s temptation.

Sha’ul issues an apostolic ruling: husbands and wives must not deprive one another sexually in marriage, except when mutually agreed upon for the sake of devotion to prayer. Like fasting from food and drink, periods of marital celibacy can hone one’s focus on the one great desire: God Himself.

⁶ I am giving you this as a suggestion, not as a command. ⁷ Actually, I wish everyone were like me, but each has his own gift from God, one this, another that.

Sha’ul expressed limited agreement with the view in verse 1: Is it good for a man to keep away from women? He thought it would be “good” if the Corinthians stayed as single as he was – but only if they had the gift to do so. Celibacy is one of the many Gifts of the Spirit. [I would not be shocked if it was discovered that more than 10% of ordained Roman Catholic priests have the gift.]

Singleness

⁸ Now to the single people and the widows, I say that it is fine if they remain unmarried like me; 9 but if they can’t exercise self-control, they should get married because it is better to get married than to keep burning with sexual desire.

Sha’ul speaks here to people in his situation who are not currently married but do not have his gift. Sha’ul gives another apostolic ruling: unmarried persons who lack self-control should get married.

Regarding Separation

¹⁰ To those who are married, I have a command, and it is not from me but from the Lord: a woman is not to separate herself from her husband. ¹¹ But if she does separate herself, she is to remain single or be reconciled with her husband. Also, a husband is not to leave his wife.

Sha’ul was taught this command…from the Lord by Yeshua Himself (Mattityahu 5:31–32, 19:3–9; Mark 10:1–12; Luke 16:18). The terms “separate herself” and “leave” include both “separation” and “divorce” in the modern sense of those terms. This teaching applies to a marriage in which both partners are believers, members of God’s people (this was also the context of Yeshua’s remarks). In the two passages of Mattityahu’s Gospel, Yeshua gave an exception to this rule: adultery. Adultery is the only explicitly stated ground for divorce between Believers.

Unbelieving Spouses

¹² To the rest I say—I, not the Lord: if any brother has a wife who is not a believer, and she is satisfied to go on living with him, he should not leave her. ¹³ Also if any woman has an unbelieving husband who is satisfied to go on living with her, she is not to leave him.

The phrase to the rest is a reference to mixed marriages – a Believer married to an unbeliever. Believers were only to marry “in the Lord” (v. 39). Sha’ul assumes that both spouses were unbelievers when they married but that one of them later converted to Christianity. Since Yeshua did not comment on this situation, Sha’ul gave an apostolic ruling: the believing spouse should not leave the unbelieving spouse. One can easily conceive of the self-sacrifice entailed by this ethic. The passage also assumes that the unbeliever agrees that there are benefits to continuing the marital relationship (is satisfied to go on living with them).

¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband has been set aside for God by the wife, and the unbelieving wife has been set aside for God by the brother – otherwise, your children would be “unclean,” but as it is, they are set aside for God. ¹⁵ But if the unbelieving spouse separates himself, let him be separated. In circumstances like these, the brother or sister is not enslaved – God has called you to a life of peace. ¹⁶ For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? ^[1]

Sha’ul qualifies the above ruling: Do not hinder a nonbeliever’s desire to separate. Peace in this context refers to being “at peace” if the unbelieving spouse decides to leave, for the Believer has done nothing wrong in this event.

In our next post, we will continue to explore Sha’ul’s Letters to the Corinthians, beginning with 1 Corinthians 7:17 and exploring a new topic entitled Regarding Marriage and Singleness.

Click here for the PDF version.

^[1] 1 Corinthians 7:1–16 (CJB).