1 Corinthians 7:10-16 - Stay married

Now in these six verses Paul dealt with the issue of dissolution of a marriage. First, he gave a blanket ruling that Christians, whether husbands or wives, should not divorce each other for whatever reason. Here he asserted that he was not merely giving an advice, but a command of the Lord. He was appealing explicitly to the teaching of the Lord Jesus. Although the words of Paul were not exactly the same words as the Lord’s given in the Gospel, he was echoing His instruction (Mark 10:2–12; Matthew 5:31–32, 9:3–12 and Luke 16:18).

 

We can see that Paul was both sensitive to the background of the Jews as well as the Corinthians. In Jewish custom, only a man had the prerogative to divorce his wife. Though a Jew himself, he recognized a woman’s legal right to divorce the husband. However, he urged the woman not to divorce her husband. Paul probably knew that some in the community would disobey the command not to divorce. So he gave a proviso i.e. if a wife chose to end a marriage, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to the husband. Though Paul here addressed the women, this instruction implies that it’s also applicable to the men. He was preventing either the husband or the wife from initiating a divorce.

 

In verses 12-16, Paul called for believers in Corinth who were married to unbelievers to stay in the marriage. In Jesus’ context he was addressing marriages between people of the same faith, but Paul had to confront marriages of a mixed faith. The issue is: should a believer stay married to his or her unbelieving spouse, now that he or she had become a believer? Should such a marriage continue?

 

Here Paul suggested a personal view as a guideline. He said that the marriage should remain, as long as the unbelieving spouse was willing to stay in the marriage. Nonetheless, if an unbelieving spouse chose to end the marriage, then the believer would no longer be bound to the marital commitment. Paul here argued that staying in the marriage had its positive effect, in that it could influence the unbelieving spouse to faith. It could bring sanctification to the spouse and children. Paul here declared that the power of God working through the believing spouse, had the ability to transform the unbelieving spouse and children even in a mixed marriage. Surprisingly Paul did not use the same principle he articulated in 1 Corinthians 5:6 that a little yeast leavens up the whole dough. Here Paul forwarded the thought that holiness is more powerful than impurity. But should an unbelieving spouse insist on leaving the marriage, Paul’s advice was to let it be because God had called the believer to Peace.

 

Paul rounded up in verse 16 by calling on both believing husband and wife not to underestimate the power of God in their marriage, to work in their own unbelieving spouse. We can safely conclude that Paul had experienced the power of God in changing and transforming his life, hence he had no doubt that this power could apply also in their marriages.

 

It is common in the world today to accept divorce as a solution to a troubled marriage. How should Christians view it? Here Paul offers us some perspective. He shows us that divorce is not the only solution but obeying the Lord is. As believers we should seek to stay in a marriage no matter how difficult it may appear. God has the transforming power to change and bless a marriage where both the husband and the wife would obey His instructions unyieldingly.