Marriage, Sex and Divorce
Opening Prayer
Settle your heart before God today. Allow God’s Spirit to bring quiet to your soul as you prepare to hear from him.
Read 1 Corinthians 7:1–16
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
8 Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16 How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Review your own gut feelings about these matters in our passage, about which Paul has a great deal to say.Greek society did not hold to the same code of ethics as Jewish people. The second half of verse 1 is probably another quotation from them. It may reflect an overzealous response to sexual immorality and could be translated more literally “It’s good for a man not to touch a woman.” Marriage is seen as a sort of hedge against immoral behavior (1–7). Equal friendship and affection were much less common.
For Paul, singleness is a positive and enabling choice in life, though he recognizes that not everyone has the gift of celibacy (8,9), which is a great, but demanding calling (he says a great deal more about this in 7:25–40).
Finally, Paul disapproves of divorce (10–16). The marriage bond is a sacred and indissoluble bond—to be preserved if at all possible. Paul holds out the hope that a believing partner may have a long-term impact for good on their unbelieving spouse.
Apply
Paul is writing to a specific context in this passage. Do some further study of these topics in Scripture to get a wider perspective.
Closing prayer
Loving God, thank You for grace and for wisdom in how to live. Show me how to honor You to the best of my ability.
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