1 Corinthians 7:1-7 Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except 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. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
In our previous breakfast we wrote about being one with God through his abiding Spirit within us. This oneness should not be broken, for we have a holy matrimony with God himself. As we said, a triangular relationship with an outside lover plus God cannot be accepted, for God is a jealous God. Now we see Paul bringing this oneness theme into the relationship of marriage. He encourages men and women to be married because of the plethora of sexual activity outside of contractual marriage in the city of Corinth. Corinth was known in the ancient world as a place of illicit sexual relationships. Prostitutes plied their trade in the temple of Aphrodite, and hovels surrounding the temple were also places of sexual activity. The idea of fidelity to marriage was not basic to the culture. Even in marriage, the object of such union was for producing children, not necessarily for a lasting relationship of companionship till death do us part. The concept of marriage was rather fluid in many cultures in the ancient world. Jesus pointed this out: Some Pharisees came and tested him (Jesus) by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” “What did Moses command you?” he replied. They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Mark 10:2-9) From the beginning, God meant for man and woman to become one, just as God and man are joined together under the banner of faith in Christ's work. As WE ARE ONE IN GOD, man and woman should be one on Earth. Now, to propagate the gospel to the world, Paul says, It is good for a man not to marry. When a man makes a decision to follow God's direction in full-time ministry, the will of his wife and the needs of the family must be considered A man's obligation to fulfill God's will in his life comes under the earthly constraints of marriage. A man cannot abandon his family with the defense that he is serving God. If he does, he becomes an infidel. Again, we must consider Christ's words: Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.
Because of the culture of sexual promiscuity in Corinth, Paul emphasizes the appropriate nature of sexual activity within a marriage. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. Sexual activity within a marriage should be based on a relationship of consent and respect. The decision should always be under the umbrella of consent. Both in their decision to get married have consented to give themselves to the other for sexual relations; knowing their bodies do not belong to themselves alone: The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Their oneness is a shared experience. They are not only obligated in their shared relationship with one another, they are to glory in their experience of intimacy. No one else has a right to this intimacy with either of them. They belong to each other because of their marital vows: the commitment they made to each other, to God, and to the world. "Until death do us part" is a vow repeated in most marriages, saying that a man and a woman will remain together from that time on, and the death of one of the partners is the only appropriate extrication from the relationship. Paul also mentions to the church the benefit of a man and a woman coming apart from sexual activity for a time to devote themselves to prayer. This is a mutual decision and would benefit the couple and their relationship with each other and with their Father God. Paul follows this by saying he has chosen to be single, but God has different purposes for different people in the body. We know he considers the character of a husband and a wife important, for in another letter he instructs husbands: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:25-27) He goes on to tell them to love their wives as their own bodies. When Paul describes the wife of a deacon, he says, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. (1 Timothy 3:11)
The Corinthian Church sprouted from a culture of sexual immorality and degradation. The Corinthians and the Greeks had lived promiscuously for centuries. Their children grew up accepting illicit sexual behavior as normal. However, in light of their new faith, the Corinthian church was now questioning this lifestyle. Paul addresses this questioning by saying, since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. Acknowledging the realities of their culture, he encourages them to accept a better path, one that God established in the beginning: to be one in marriage. He wants them to know marriage should reveal God's plan for us to be one in union, just as we are one in him and will eventually be the bride of Christ. The writer of Hebrews says this: Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. (Hebrews 13:4) It is important that we honor marriage because earthly marriage is a preview of the oneness we will have in heaven and a likeness of what we have now IN CHIRST. We are and ever will be one IN AND WITH CHRIST. Our earthly marriages should not be contaminated by infidelity, for our heavenly marriage to Christ will be holy, without any impurity or infidelity. We should live our lives for the glory of God. Therefore, our marriages should be for the glory of God. So whether you eat or drink or WHAT EVER YOU DO, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God — even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. (1 Corinthians 10:31-33) The Corinthian church was to remove themselves from their present culture in a way that would show God to the community. We, too, in all that we do should show Christ, providing a contrast to the darkness in our culture. If we do not, we will blend in with the world, dimming the oneness we have with God, losing the distinctive life of Christ, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
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