The topic of 1 Corinthians 7 has come up numerous times recently in my life. My daughter married last weekend. A journal I was reading had a series of four articles about marriage. A friend asked me a question about 1 Corinthians 7. And I've been watching some discussion about early marriage, which is interesting to me since my daughter is on the young side.
How do we lay out these ideas from 1 Corinthians 7, particularly verses 1-16? Let's look for the big pictures Paul sketches. That will suffice for today's post.
1) The desire toward sexual activity is very powerful. While some are not overly influenced by it, most are. We're made that way. Before man sinned, the husband and wife were put together to join as one flesh.
2) Marriage is the appropriate place for sexual bonding. Those who are strongly influenced by those desires should marry. Marriage is a good thing.
3) Married couples give themselves to each other and should not deprive one another of their presence and affection.
4) If a Christian is married to an unbeliever, if the unbeliever is willing to remain married, they should remain married. We never know the influence our life and godly behavior can have on someone else.
Nice summary. I agree wholeheartedly. It seems significant to me that Paul was responding to matters about which the Corinthians had written... what was the prevailing opinion about these matters in 1st c. Corinth? Was Paul confronting and correcting with these instructions? Perhaps these are helpful considerations for the single person of today to bear in mind, as well as the believer struggling with his or her marriage to an unbeliever. These issues are so powerful in the human heart.
ReplyDelete