Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Corinthians 7:6 - 7:11
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Marriage an obligation under circumstances:
v. 6. But I speak this by permission and not of commandment.
v. 7. For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner and another after that.
v. 8. I say, therefore, to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I
v. 9. But if they cannot contain, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn.
v. 10. And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband;
v. 11. but and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband; and let not the husband put away his wife.
The apostle here refers to the leading sentence of the chapter, according to which he made marriage the rule, although he thought celibacy good. This he speaks according to allowance. The Lord, who inspired Paul to write this letter, has allowed him to take regard for circumstances and temperament, to apply general principles to conditions as they existed at that time. But that does not change the commandment and institution of the Lord. Wherever Paul speaks in matters of Christian liberty, giving his opinion and counsel, v. 25, he is conscious of speaking as a man that has the Spirit of God, v. 40. In this sense also he writes: But I would have all men to be as also myself. God had given him the special gift of continence, and in view of the near approach of Christ's second advent, when all marrying and giving in marriage would cease, his wish was that this gift might be possessed more generally. "He desired that everybody might have the extraordinary grace of continence, in order that he might be spared the cares and the anxiety of marriage, and in perfect freedom be concerned only with God and with His Word. " But he is no fanatic, he knows that everyone has received his own gift of grace from God, one in this way, another in that. The Lord distributes His gifts for the service of His kingdom as He chooses, endowing each of His servants according to the work that He expects from them. In most cases the fitness of a Christian for the marriage state is in itself a special gift of God, for the care and government of a family is an excellent training for the larger duties in the Church, 1Ti_3:4-5.
The apostle proceeds in his statements with great care: But I say to the unmarried men and to the widows, It is good for them if they remain as I; he knows the celibate state to be altogether honorable. But his advice, in view of his own extraordinary gift, is conditional: If, however, they cannot exercise control over themselves, if they have not the gift of continence, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to feel burning, to be consumed by continual sexual desire, since the unsatisfied craving is a ceaseless temptation. It is not that they should choose the lesser of two evils, but they should do that which is no sin in order to avoid that which is sin; for the burning in sexual excitement is not permissible outside of marriage, and the rule here uttered cannot be suspended by any vows of enforced celibacy. It may happen, of course, that owing to circumstances over which they have no control an unmarried man or a widow may not find it possible to get married. In such cases every Christian may trust in the Lord to receive from Him the necessary power to keep his body in subjection and to overcome the lust of the flesh, just as that is the case where either husband or wife are incapacitated for the specific duties of marriage.
For the married people one rule holds once and for all times: To the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, that the wife does not separate herself from the husband; but if indeed she has separated, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband, and that the husband do not dismiss his wife. According to the rule of Christ the marriage-tie is indissoluble, the exceptional cause of divorce mentioned by Him not finding its application in the case of wedded Christians. Paul is here most emphatically stating the will, the law of God as it is valid under all circumstances. The case of the woman is probably mentioned first on account of the position she had occupied in the heathen world, or because the number of women exceeded that of the men in the Corinthian congregation. The woman is not to leave her husband; neither incompatibility of temper nor ascetic aversion can be alleged before the tribunal of God. But if there should be such a case in which the law of God has been set aside by a wife, she should remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. This is not equivalent to giving the woman permission to get a divorce, but conveys the very opposite idea. If she has separated herself without valid reason, she is to be left severely alone in her petulance and in her bad conscience, only one alternative being given her, that of returning to her husband, of being reconciled to him; and he may not dismiss her under the circumstances, just as he has no right at any time to give her a letter of divorcement according to Jewish custom. The intimacy of the marriage-tie is such as to render all efforts tending to its dissolution sinful.