Paul continues addressing marriage:
“Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all were as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (1 Cor 7:6-9).
What would Paul say his gift is? He is unmarried, and he suggests that this is the best gift from God. The opposite situation is the temptation that comes from burning with passion and losing self-control. If this is the case for an unmarried or widowed person, then marriage is his or her gift from God.
The purpose of life is perfect unity with God. Circling from temptation back to the commands of the Word of God is the gift of recognizing the fork in the road to perfect unity. Learning to recognize God’s warnings, choosing the good fork, and rejecting temptation avoids the bad fork in the road leading to disobedience and disunity from God.
“To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife” (1 Cor 7:8-11).
I wondered whether these verses are commands from the Lord or warnings. First, Paul invokes the words of Jesus in Mark 10:11-12 as a command from Jesus. But the Greek grammar of Paul’s “A wife should not separate” implies that she is commanded to remain unmarried or to reconcile with her husband. And the husband should not divorce his wife – this is not a command and there are no other obligations commanded of him in this context. In God’s wisdom, it appears the woman is more constrained by command than the man. As hard as this is to describe, you can go to a Bible program such as Logos that gives you the verb tenses, and you will see that the imperative verbs apply to the woman regarding what she must do if she decides of her own free will to separate.
“To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him” (1 Cor 7:12-13).
Surprisingly, both of these injunctions are imperative commands yoking the man and the woman when one of them is not a believer.
“For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife” (1 Cor 7:14-16).
Do Paul’s commands carry the same weight as those of God and Jesus? Maybe not, but the Bible is the inspired word of God, which puts Paul pretty close to the top. And Paul’s commands are quite counter-cultural to our current practices, especially those outside the church.
It all comes down to temptation, which a fallen angel named Satan began with a snake in a garden long ago, and continues to steal hearts of the unsuspecting.
The answer is to recognize temptation the moment Satan strikes, do an immediate about-face, and rush back to the protection of the biblical commandments. It is your free will to choose.
Choose wisely!