THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER
"Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. " (John 5:39)

VOLUME 4, NUMBER 14, APRIL 4, 2004

QUESTIONS ABOUT 1 CORINTHIANS 7

            Without a doubt, the most hotly debated verse of 1 Corinthians 7 is verse 15.  It reads as follows,  “Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace.”  There are many who refer to this verse as setting forth what is called the Pauline Privilege.  It is interpreted to mean that if an unbeliever leaves a Christian the Christian is then free to remarry.  I disagree with that position and will explain why.

            Understanding that this verse appears in the context of teaching related to mixed marriages, a believer with an unbeliever, Paul is making it clear that the believer is not to initiate a separation, the Christian is not to leave.  However, if the unbeliever insists upon leaving, and the passage certainly makes it clear that the reason why is the faith of the believer, the Christian is to “let him leave.”

            Paul is not in this verse saying that it is right or proper for the unbeliever to depart.  In this verse he is not even addressing the unbeliever.  He is however, saying that if the unbeliever departs the believer is not under obligation to stop him.   Why not?

            Two reasons “why not” are given.  Number One, the believer is not “under bondage in such cases.”    While the explanation of this is a bit technical, it is important because of what many teach that this verse says.  The term for “under bondage” is dedoulotai, which is a perfect passive indicative of douloo, meaning “to reduce to slavery, to enslave.”   It is a different term than the one used to refer to the marriage bond in verse 27, where Paul wrote, “Are you bound to a wife?  Do not seek to be released.  Are you released fro a wife?  Do not seek a wife.”    In verse 39 Paul wrote, “A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.”  Those terms come from “deo” meaning “to bind.” 

            What Paul is saying in verse 15 is simply that the believer is not “under compulsion” to remain at all costs, no matter what, with an unbeliever who is determined to leave.    He is not saying that the believer is no longer “bound” by his marriage covenant that he or she made with the unbeliever. 

            “The Christian does not have to force himself upon the unbeliever who is bent on leaving.  He does not have to fight the unbeliever’s decision in order to maintain the union.  If such a course of action were required it would indeed reduce the believer to a form of slavery”  (Is It Lawful? A Comprehensive Study of Divorce, p. 97).

            The second reason given as to why a believer is not under obligation to stop the departing unbeliever is “God has called us to peace.”  That is contrasted with “not under bondage.”  The idea is not under bondage, but called to peace.  To try to force a continued union with an unbeliever who is determined to leave would gender strife and confusion, turmoil and anger.  It would not gender peace.

            It is important to note that Paul does not mention remarriage for the Christian who is left.    He does mention remarriage where it is allowed.  For instance, in verse 39.  “A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.”  This is the same thing Paul taught in Romans 7:2-3.  He wrote, “For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning her husband.  She then if, while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man.”

            The truth of the matter is that the phrase, “not under bondage” does not indicate freedom from the marriage covenant with the liberty to remarry.

            Verse 16 of 1 Corinthians 7 says, “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?”

            It seems to me that this verse is referring back to Paul’s admonitions for the believer not to depart from the unbeliever in verses 12-14.  While some disagree with this view, it makes sense to me.  Living with a Christian and seeing their example may be the very thing that moves an unbelieving spouse to further examine the truth and become a faithful child of God.  That certainly is not guaranteed, but it is a possibility.

            I am going to wrap up this brief study of 1 Corinthians 7 next week.

                                                            Greg Litmer

PARTICIPATION

Involvement is the key to a good local work.  No congregation will have much success until each and every member of the church is actively involved in the work.  Here are some suggestions for greater involvement:  Be present.  You surely can’t be involved when you don’t attend.  Be there as much as you can—not just for the good of the local church, but especially, for your own good.  Ask to help.  So many people complain because they are not used.   Make it know that you want to help.  There is work for all.  Pray for all.  The need for prayer for the work is obvious and it is one way you can be involved on a daily basis.  Visit.  How long has it been since you turned off the TV and went to visit a shut-in or someone in the hospital?

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