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The Weight of Consent
1 Corinthians 7:12-16
May 6, 2018
Lord’s Day Worship
Sean Higgins
Download the bulletin.
Download the Kids’ Korner.
The sermon starts at 13:50 in the audio file.
Or, God’s Will for Mixed Marriages and Divorce (and Remarriage?)
Life is messy. That’s too passive. People mess up their lives. Regularly. Badly.
People marry one another. Two people making a multitude of bad choices multiplies the mess. When two people multiply and make more people, the mess increases by a factor of sin.
God gave His Word so that we might know how to behave. God gave His Son so that we could get out from under our burden of guilt, and hope that broken relationships might be fixed. God gave His Spirit so that we might live in peace with one another.
Sometimes in the middle, between the making of messes and the grace of God that cleans up messes, men get the idea that they can help the process along. Men should obey, that’s true. But men don’t have the wisdom or the power to clean themselves up or to clean up their spouse. Christians with good intentions can make things worse in many directions.
The Corinthians were trying to sweep up dust by kicking broken bricks around the floor, trying to lift their holiness to a higher level without using their hands. They also thought Paul would approve. He didn’t, and 1 Corinthians 7 corrects a bunch of their misdirected attempts.
They thought, at least some of them did, that sex messed up marriage, so spouses should stay out of bed. Paul said not having sex would mess up marriage (verses 1-5). They thought that being single was ideal, and probably used Paul as an example. He said being single was good with contentment, and it was not good for everyone (verses 6-9). They thought that being single was so spiritual that separating from one’s spouse would be better. Paul reminded them of the Lord’s teaching about divorce. Separation from one’s spouse can’t be more pleasing to God because separation doesn’t please God (verses 10-11).
Thankfully, we don’t need to guess how to please God.
Now Paul comes to a final group in the church in verses 12-16. He addressed the unmarried and widows, the married, and now “the rest” who are the rest of the married but who are in a mixed marriage, that is, where one spouses is a believer and the other spouse is not. Paul is not talking about who to marry, he’s talking about those who were already in covenant when either the husband or the wife came to Christ.
If the Corinthians were leaning toward divorce from a Christian spouse for sake of holiness, how much more would divorcing a non-Christian spouse make sense? Paul himself said that the sexual relation is a joining relation, and sexual immorality joins the Lord to immorality. Isn’t this joining Christ to the immoral?
The Corinthians believed they knew better about being holy. Paul reveals God’s will for mixed marriages, and divorce, and remarriage. There are two parts to the paragraph, both involving consent, both necessary to hold together.
If the Unbelieving Spouse Consents to Stay Married Then You Must Stay Married (verses 12-14)
Paul doubles the imperative for both directions in verses 12-13 and then provides a reason in verse 14.
The Consent (verses 12-13)
To the rest addresses another group of married couples (so, not the unmarried), but unlike the married in verses 10-11, these verses address any brother who has a wife who is an unbeliever and also any woman who has a husband who is an unbeliever. This is a mixed marriage.
Marriage is hard, because gravity pulls things down, and a man and woman often hit their heads trying to pick things up, or complain that the other one isn’t helping enough. There is always a lot to do and decisions spiral around the house like dandelion seed. Even those marriages where both spouses worship the same God and share the same convictions on the authority of God[...]
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By Trinity Evangel Church1 Corinthians 7:12-16
May 6, 2018
Lord’s Day Worship
Sean Higgins
Download the bulletin.
Download the Kids’ Korner.
The sermon starts at 13:50 in the audio file.
Or, God’s Will for Mixed Marriages and Divorce (and Remarriage?)
Life is messy. That’s too passive. People mess up their lives. Regularly. Badly.
People marry one another. Two people making a multitude of bad choices multiplies the mess. When two people multiply and make more people, the mess increases by a factor of sin.
God gave His Word so that we might know how to behave. God gave His Son so that we could get out from under our burden of guilt, and hope that broken relationships might be fixed. God gave His Spirit so that we might live in peace with one another.
Sometimes in the middle, between the making of messes and the grace of God that cleans up messes, men get the idea that they can help the process along. Men should obey, that’s true. But men don’t have the wisdom or the power to clean themselves up or to clean up their spouse. Christians with good intentions can make things worse in many directions.
The Corinthians were trying to sweep up dust by kicking broken bricks around the floor, trying to lift their holiness to a higher level without using their hands. They also thought Paul would approve. He didn’t, and 1 Corinthians 7 corrects a bunch of their misdirected attempts.
They thought, at least some of them did, that sex messed up marriage, so spouses should stay out of bed. Paul said not having sex would mess up marriage (verses 1-5). They thought that being single was ideal, and probably used Paul as an example. He said being single was good with contentment, and it was not good for everyone (verses 6-9). They thought that being single was so spiritual that separating from one’s spouse would be better. Paul reminded them of the Lord’s teaching about divorce. Separation from one’s spouse can’t be more pleasing to God because separation doesn’t please God (verses 10-11).
Thankfully, we don’t need to guess how to please God.
Now Paul comes to a final group in the church in verses 12-16. He addressed the unmarried and widows, the married, and now “the rest” who are the rest of the married but who are in a mixed marriage, that is, where one spouses is a believer and the other spouse is not. Paul is not talking about who to marry, he’s talking about those who were already in covenant when either the husband or the wife came to Christ.
If the Corinthians were leaning toward divorce from a Christian spouse for sake of holiness, how much more would divorcing a non-Christian spouse make sense? Paul himself said that the sexual relation is a joining relation, and sexual immorality joins the Lord to immorality. Isn’t this joining Christ to the immoral?
The Corinthians believed they knew better about being holy. Paul reveals God’s will for mixed marriages, and divorce, and remarriage. There are two parts to the paragraph, both involving consent, both necessary to hold together.
If the Unbelieving Spouse Consents to Stay Married Then You Must Stay Married (verses 12-14)
Paul doubles the imperative for both directions in verses 12-13 and then provides a reason in verse 14.
The Consent (verses 12-13)
To the rest addresses another group of married couples (so, not the unmarried), but unlike the married in verses 10-11, these verses address any brother who has a wife who is an unbeliever and also any woman who has a husband who is an unbeliever. This is a mixed marriage.
Marriage is hard, because gravity pulls things down, and a man and woman often hit their heads trying to pick things up, or complain that the other one isn’t helping enough. There is always a lot to do and decisions spiral around the house like dandelion seed. Even those marriages where both spouses worship the same God and share the same convictions on the authority of God[...]