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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Instructions with Regard to Marriage.
The propriety and the duty of marriage:
v. 1. Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
v. 2. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
v. 3. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence, and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
v. 4. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband; and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
v. 5. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
This chapter contains St. Paul's great lesson on the state of marriage, which must be compared with the various passages, especially in the Old Testament, where the holy estate of matrimony is described. In the present chapter it should be noted that its principles are true for all times, but that the special application which St. Paul makes refers to the circumstances as they were found in his days, especially in the congregation at Corinth. This distinction is observed in the text in such a way that the principles of which St. Paul treats are introduced as the commands of the Lord, his special application for the case submitted to him as his judgment or advice. See vv. 1:26-29. The occasion of the discussion was a question or inquiry which had been put to the apostle by the Corinthians: But concerning that about which you wrote, the matters submitted in your letter. The questions were apparently the following: Should a person be married or not? What about the specific duties of marriage? Is the dissolution of the marriage-tie permissible if the one party is a Gentile?
Paul's answer to the first question: It is right, morally befitting, honorable, praiseworthy (in the sense of "not to be condemned") for one, for a person, not to touch a woman. It is not to be inferred, as the false ascetics will have it, that even the mere physical touch of a woman's hand or skin will pollute a man, although under circumstances a handclasp, the slightest brushing against the skin of a woman, may become an unlawful caress and a pollution. St. Paul is here obviously speaking of true celibacy, based upon the gift of chastity in its strictest interpretation, and defending it against those who thought it inhuman. As Luther says, "it behooved St. Paul not to leave those without consolation who preferred to live a celibate life. " But he hurries to add: But on account of the sins of immorality let everyone have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. The situation in those days was much as it is today: the sins of profligacy, of libertinism, of every form of immorality were so prevalent that it truly demanded an unusual measure of the gift of chastity to remain pure in the midst of so many temptations. Then, as now, the only way to be successful in fleeing fornication was in seeking the chastity of marriage. He is speaking, of course, of a Christian marriage, in which a man has only one, his own, wife, and a woman has only one, her proper, husband. St. Paul did not dream of an impossible sanctity, but he dealt with the situation as it actually existed, and he prescribed the remedy which the Lord had provided. For the marital relationship between husband and wife, although it cannot, on account of inherent sin, be an altogether pure and undefiled service of God, is yet no immorality in itself, since the natural inclination of the sexes is in this instance sanctified by God's institution, and married people have that consolation that God's grace in Christ covers whatever is still present of the old flesh in their intercourse.
Of the specific duty of marriage the apostle says: To the wife let the husband render the due, but likewise the wife to the husband. The wife has not power over her own body, but the husband; but likewise also the husband has not power over his own body, but the wife. When a man or woman enters into the state of holy matrimony, he or she places the body at the service of the other in honorable and undefiled intercourse. Each, therefore, possesses a legitimate claim upon the body of the other, and neither caprice nor mere passion should govern such use, Heb_13:4. Note that there is no double standard: she is as much the mistress of his person as he the master of hers. Mark also that this is a very strong passage for monogamy, since evidently only one man and one woman are here spoken of. And in this relation husband and wife shall not defraud, deprive, each other of the specific duty of marriage; St. Paul forbids the arbitrary refusal of intercourse when the other party desires it. A different thing is the matter of abstaining from the marital right by mutual consent, if both parties agree upon it and thus the rights of both are preserved. Such an agreement may be made for a time, in order, for example, to be disengaged for prayer. Paul does not make this a law,—he implies the prior right of marital duties,—but this is a suggestion which they might follow. Such extraordinary and extended devotional exercises were later prescribed for the festival seasons. But the apostle does not want to extend the time indefinitely: And be together again, resume the interrupted marital intercourse, lest Satan be tempting you because of your want of self-control. The Lord knows the weakness of the human heart, and guards against a continence which is only a form of hypocrisy. He has created the sexual inclination in man and woman, He is familiar with its power since the fall of man, and He does not want married people to indulge in unnecessary asceticism which may result in the pollution of the mind and heart.
The State of Holy Wedlock
It is a sign of our times that the institution of holy marriage is so generally disparaged. So great has the moral ruin become that the knowledge of the holiness of marriage and of the sacredness of its obligations has been lost. The most distorted views of the relation of the sexes inside and outside of marriage are freely circulated by means of cleverly written articles in periodicals, novels of the prevailing degenerate type, and the abomination of the average moving-picture show. To enter into marriage without the consent of the parents has become the usual thing. Many a young man seeks a speedy marriage with the first pretty face that catches his fancy, for the mere gratification of his sexual desires and with no idea of establishing a home and maintaining a family. Or he deliberately sets about to marry a wealthy girl, in order to take his ease in a parasite's life. And the cold-blooded planning that characterizes the matrimonial ventures of many a modern girl leaves the sanctity of marriage sullied beyond all hopes of cleansing. Unfit and unwilling to be true helpmates and wives, many of these girls permit themselves to be married, that is, the formality of a wedding ceremony is still observed, but they do not intend to become either wives or mothers. Their motive is convenience, selfishness, they marry to be supported in a style which they deem fitting their beauty and accomplishments. And motherhood is a lost and despised art in the eyes of the majority.
We Christians remember at all times what Scriptures say of the state of holy wedlock. It was instituted by God Himself, whose wisdom deemed it best to create a woman and give her to Adam as his wife. The state of holy marriage with its resulting family life is the basis of all true soundness in society and of the stability of the state. Throughout the Bible, the matrimonial state is spoken of always in a tone of the highest respect, while the sins which are committed against its sanctity are condemned with an openness and incidentally with a sense of righteous wrath which leaves no doubt as to the meaning of God's will. The highest praises of the wedded state are sung in the two psalms of degrees, Psa_127:1-5; Psa_128:1-6. The Bible indicates plainly what the purpose of marriage is and should be to the end of time. The Lord Himself stated: "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him," Gen_2:18. To be the husband's true and faithful companion, helpmate, and partner the Lord has destined every wife; the married state is a partnership of mutual love and helpfulness. The Lord also willed that the human race should be propagated through marriage, through the lawful procreation of children in holy wedlock, Gen_1:27-28. He has, therefore, expressly and emphatically forbidden all fornication and adultery. Since the fall of man the original pro-creative instinct has become perverted, making it necessary that marriage have also a preventive reason, namely, that of avoiding immorality, the specific act of the married state being permitted and enjoined in holy wedlock, whereas it is strictly forbidden in any of its manifestations outside of marriage, 1Co_7:2. In accordance with such institution and blessing of God, the duties of husband and wife are plainly prescribed. The husband will consider his wife as a gift of the Lord, Pro_18:22; Pro_19:14; Pro_31:10. He will give her the honor due her as the weaker vessel, 1Pe_3:7, always remembering that the wife, who is to partake with him of the glories of heaven, must be treated even here on earth with the respect which the Lord demands, 1Co_13:4-7. He will love her and live with her according to knowledge, always remembering that the state of wedlock is God's institution, that everyone should know how to possess his vessel in Sanctification and honor, 1Th_4:4. The husband will at all times be conscious of his position as the head of the wife, Eph_5:23; 1Co_11:3, not in a legalistic way, as a tyrant, but in a true evangelical manner. There are some fine examples in Scripture, 1Sa_1:5-8; Gen_25:21. Self-evident it is that the husband will cherish and take care of his wife, Eph_5:29; 1Ti_5:8.
But even as the husband will thus truly and sincerely love his wife, Col_3:19; Eph_5:25-33, so the wife will, in turn, love and respect her husband. He is indeed, by the order of God, her head, 1Ti_2:13-14; 1Co_11:7-9; Gen_3:16. But it is not a question of superiority, but of headship, by the order of God, and therefore no punishment, no degradation for the woman, Eph_5:23. It is not a disgrace for a woman to be obedient to her husband in the Biblical sense, but an honor, since it is a willing, glad obedience based upon mutual agreement according to the infallible rule of God, Col_3:18; 1Pe_3:1-6. The wife will be a true helpmate of her husband and a happy mother of the children which come to her as the blessing of the Lord, if she will at all times keep the commandments and the examples of the Lord before her eyes. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life, Pro_31:12. She will not be contentious and brawling, Pro_19:13; Pro_21:9; Pro_25:24; Pro_27:15; Pro_30:21-23. She will heed the praises which the Bible bestows upon the diligent, sensible, virtuous, gracious, modest woman, Pro_11:16; Pro_12:4; Pro_14:1; Pro_19:14; Pro_31:10; 1Ti_2:9-10. She will be a true mother in her home, knowing that she is serving the Lord in a state which is well pleasing to Him.