WWUTT 1522 To the Married and Those With an Unbelieving Spouse (1 Corinthians 7:10-14)

Paul says to the church in Corinth that a wife should not leave her husband, and a husband should not divorce his wife, and the scripture says to us whoever gets divorced covers his garment with violence, when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily study in the word of Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you Becky. We're back to our study in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 7, and I'm going to begin today reading verses 10 through 16 out of the

Legacy Standard Bible the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. But to the married

I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband, but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband, and that the husband should not divorce his wife.

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 divorce her husband, for the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband, for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.

Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave. The brother or sister is not enslaved in such cases, but God has called us to peace.

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? So we come back to verse 10 here and notice that Paul is giving instructions to the married.

Previously, as we looked at verses 8 and 9 yesterday, he was talking to the unmarried, those who were widows and widowers.

If they do not have self -control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. But Paul says, as a concession, not as a command, it is good for them to remain even as I am, as he says there.

Now here he comes in verse 10 to say, but to the married I give instructions, not I, but the

Lord. Remember the previous instructions were a concession. This was not a command.

It was Paul in his wisdom as an apostle saying, let me give you this advice.

It is godly wisdom. It's good. It's not like we read that part of 1 Corinthians 7 and we say, well, this is not a command of God.

It's not Paul speaking the word of Christ here. So therefore you could even cut that part out of your

Bible. It would not be divinely inspired. No, that's not how we should consider that. We should consider that just like we would consider general wisdom in the book of Proverbs.

So that's how Paul is sharing that. This is not a commandment. And you can recognize the difference, right?

Between wisdom that is given versus this is a command that you have to follow.

So Paul is sharing wisdom in those sections. And this comes up again, of course, but in this particular instruction, this is a command that we remain married, that we understand marriage as a covenant bond till death do us part.

I had read to you yesterday from Matthew chapter 19 where Jesus responded to the Pharisees.

Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female and said, therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.

And that, of course, goes back to Genesis one. This was the original design that God had for marriage, that a man and wife become one flesh with one another.

And if they are one flesh and you split the two apart, be like taking one body and cutting it in half, it cannot survive.

That which was one is now dead. It's been ripped apart.

That which was one flesh has been divided and violence has been done. The scripture equates divorce with violence.

Consider this passage in Malachi 2 .16, for the man who does not love his wife, but divorces her, says the

Lord, the God of Israel covers his garment with violence, says the

Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless.

God is so emphatic on this point that he mentions his name three times in association with this warning.

Let me read it to you again, Malachi 2 .16, the man who does not love his wife, but divorces her, says the

Lord, number one, the God of Israel, number two, covers his garment with violence, says the

Lord of hosts, number three. Three times God putting his name on this warning.

That all may know, divorce will subject yourself to the judgment of God.

Now, if you have been divorced and you hear that and it makes you quake with fear, good, you should.

You should tremble with fear before God, but you have not committed some unpardonable sin.

Humble yourself before the Lord and ask for forgiveness and he will give it to you and then walk in holiness and righteousness, never to commit the same sin again.

Far be it from you to ever walk in such a thing or permit such a thing or think that it's okay, that there's no big deal about it.

Divorce is all over the place. It's rampant in our nation right now. And as I had mentioned yesterday, if we were committed to faithful marriages, we would solve a lot of the social ills that we see from day to day.

Be committed in your marriage and do so in honor to the Lord. It's an act of worship that a husband loves his wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

It's an act of worship that a wife submit herself and everything to her husband. This is worship that we love our spouses from day to day.

So guard yourselves in your spirit, as it says in Malachi 2 .16,

and do not be faithless. This answer that Jesus gives in Matthew 19, this is in response to a question that the

Pharisees asked him about divorce. Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?

And Jesus' response from the scriptures is, What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.

They said to him, why then did Moses give one a certificate of divorce and send,

I'm sorry, why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and send her away?

And see, they're trying to spin it as Moses commanded divorce, so are you saying that we should disobey

Moses? And Jesus' response was, because of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives.

But from the beginning, it was not so. And I spoke yesterday about a certain allowance that I had given to somebody else because of their hardness of heart, but it would have been better for them to marry than to walk in sexual immorality, though they had experienced an unbiblical divorce.

But from the beginning, it was not so, Jesus said, and this is how we are to consider marriage.

The way that God had created it and defined it from the beginning. And so I say to you,

Jesus says, verse nine, whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery.

Now it's only here in Matthew 19 where Jesus gives that allowance of except for sexual immorality where the same passage is recalled in the

Gospel of Mark. That allowance is not given where he says, so I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality.

So that's the allowance that's given. One may divorce a spouse if they have been sexually unfaithful, and that would not be considered an unbiblical divorce.

And then, as I mentioned yesterday, because I don't take the marriage permanence view where the marriage permanence view is that it's only death that can break that covenant and therefore allow a person to marry another.

Sexual immorality also breaks that covenant because it's as if the one who has committed the adultery has died since the penalty for adultery, according to the law, would be death.

So the person who has been offended, not the offender, but the offended, is released from that vow and can remarry and is not doing something unbiblical.

Still, I think we should heed this instruction that we're given here in 1 Corinthians 7, 10, under a proper context and under proper allowances to the married.

Paul says the wife should not leave her husband. But if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband.

Now, even in the case of sexual immorality, as I have counseled this in the past, if it is possible for you to be reconciled, you should be.

And by possible, I mean the spouse who has committed adultery desires to be reconciled.

Or though there's been a divorce, there's not been remarriages that have happened. So then they would have to divorce their now new spouses in order to come back again and be reconciled.

You shouldn't do that. That shouldn't be the step that you take. But if in the event there has been adultery, if the one who has committed this sin seeks forgiveness, that forgiveness should be granted.

The grace of God would be over their marriage and this husband and wife be reconciled. We worship the

God who raises the dead. So God can raise a dead marriage back to life again.

If there is this situation that has happened here where adultery has occurred in the marriage, the offended spouse wants to divorce the one who has committed adultery.

It's not unbiblical for him or her to do that based on what it is that we have in Scripture.

But I do not think the one who has gotten divorced, even the one who's been offended in the marriage,

I do not think that person should be quick to get remarried. There should be sufficient time there to see if the one who has committed adultery would humble themselves and seek forgiveness and want to be reconciled.

And may the members of the church help this happen. Pastors, elders, other members of the congregation, brothers and sisters in the

Lord, desire to see these two reconciled and the grace of God cover that marriage.

As it says in verse 11, as Paul continues with this instruction here, 1 Corinthians 7, verse 11, if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband and that the husband should not divorce his wife.

So the instruction is the wife should not leave her husband. The husband should not divorce his wife. Now, this is a general instruction.

It is a general command. And he gives allowances later. If the unbelieving spouse leaves, let them go.

And the one who has been abandoned is no longer obligated to that.

We'll get to that here in just a moment. But here for now, in verses 10 and 11, here's the general instruction. The desire for marriage should be to remain committed to that marriage.

The husband should not divorce his wife. The wife should not leave her husband. Verse 12.

But to the rest, I say not the Lord. So now we've gone from a command of God that was in verses 10 and 11.

And now Paul is giving a general wisdom command here. So this is not something that should be absolutely applied in any and all circumstances.

But it is something in the wisdom of God to consider regarding marriage, especially to those who are unbelievers, the marriage of a believer to an unbeliever.

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.

Now, notice here, this is not an instruction of, hey, if you're a believer, it's OK for you to marry an unbeliever.

That's not what Paul is saying, because, as he will say later to the Corinthians in 2nd Corinthians, do not be yoked to unbelievers.

That passage is commonly used to discourage the marriage of a believer to an unbeliever.

It must be a covenant between two Christians, two people who love the

Lord God with all heart, soul, mind and strength. Otherwise, a believer who is part of the church, who has been called out from the world, is marrying an unbeliever who is still part of the world.

You are yoking yourself to the world. And as James says in James chapter 4, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?

You adulterous people, James says of those who would do such a thing. Now, of course, we're just talking about the context of marriage here.

James is much more broad in the way that he's approaching that. But it would nonetheless apply. So this is not permission for a believer to marry an unbeliever.

Rather, if one is a believer or has become a believer in a marriage and their spouse is still an unbeliever, just because you've become a

Christian, that doesn't mean you should leave your spouse. Or you could even look at it this way. You have two people who got married and both confessed to be

Christians when they got married. But then it turns out one really wasn't or something happened down the line and they went astray and they renounced their faith.

They no longer believe in God. So now this one who had previously been married to a confessing

Christian is married to somebody who is not a Christian. What do we do in that circumstance? Well, Paul says here.

If a 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 divorce her husband.

Listen to these words from Peter in first Peter chapter three, beginning in verse one. Likewise, wives be subject to your own husbands so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be one without a word by the conduct of their wives when they see your respectful and pure conduct.

Do not let your adorning be external, the braiding of hair, the putting on of gold jewelry or the clothing you wear, but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves by submitting to their husbands as Sarah obeyed

Abraham, calling him Lord. And you are her children if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

Don't you see there that in that instruction, Peter gives in first Peter three verses one through six is what

I read there, that that would primarily apply to women who were wives of unbelieving husbands be subject to your own husband so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be one without a word by the conduct of their wives.

And Paul says a very similar thing here as we go on. Consider verse 14 for if the unbelieving husband is sanctified, sorry, sorry,

I added an if there. There's not an if. So verse 14 again for the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband.

Well, hang on. How can that happen? Because the unbelievers not even justified yet.

They're an unbeliever. So how can one who is not justified be sanctified?

Well, the word for sanctified is also the same word that we use for consecrated that it is set apart and a spouse, an unbelieving spouse who is married to a believing spouse.

There's still a manner of being set apart. They're not saved because they have not put faith in the

Lord Jesus Christ, but they are set apart from the rest of the world. Remember, we're talking about a one flesh union here.

So a believing spouse who's become a believer in that marriage. And now you have the unbeliever who's not yet come to faith.

They've been exposed to the gospel in such a way that they would not be if they were if they were married to an unbeliever.

So there is a consecration that has happened here where this one flesh union part of that flesh has become holy unto the

Lord by faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit who dwells within them. So therefore, the other part of that union of that one flesh union has likewise been set apart from the world and has been unified with somebody who is unified to Christ.

So, of course, there is a work of the Holy Spirit that is happening there with the spirit working through the believing spouse to minister to the unbelieving spouse.

And then we go on here in verse 14 to this statement, for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.

Now, this does not mean that your children are saved, but it does mean just like it does with the unbelieving spouse, that they are set apart.

A believing spouse may think that he or she needs to divorce the unbelieving spouse in order to protect the children.

Consider the note that John MacArthur writes on this particular section of First Corinthians 714.

He says the following, the Christian need not separate from an unbeliever because of fear that the unbelieving spouse may defile the children.

God promises the opposite. They would be unclean if both parents were unsaved.

But the presence of one believing parent exposes the children to blessing and brings them protection.

The presence of even one Christian parent will protect children from undue spiritual harm, and they will receive many blessings, and often that includes salvation.

Now, I've got verses 15 and 16 to go yet here based on the reading that I had committed myself to do today, but I'm going to save that.

We're going to come back to that again tomorrow because an explanation I want to give here may take a little bit more time.

So let's finish there and desire with our whole lives that we would have godly marriages unto the

Lord. Husband, be faithful to your wife. Wife, submit to your husband. Raise up your children in the training and the instruction of the

Lord as commanded to us in Ephesians 6. And kids who are listening, honor your father and your mother.

To do so is worship unto God. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your goodness and your grace that you show to us.

May we show grace to one another in our families. Husband showing grace to a wife, a wife with grace to her husband.

We give grace to our children, and may our children live in that grace as they grow in the knowledge of God and an understanding of the gospel that we give to our children regularly.

May all of us in the church encourage one another to healthy marriages in the

Lord that give honor and glory unto Christ, as this is even a picture of the family of God that we have been made a part of through faith in Christ Jesus our

Lord, adopted as sons and daughters of God. May we live as holy and pleasing sacrifices unto the

Lord today. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand the

Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website www .wutt

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