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| Q: | I was recently reading about Marriage in 1 Corinthians 7, and came across verses 12-14: "To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy." My questions are this: 1. Verse 12 puzzles me when Paul verifies his statement by saying "I, not the Lord." Isn't ALL Scripture God-breathed? Or do we have to constantly be wondering if it is just the author's opinion that we are reading? Perhaps because it is on a non-salvation topic that Paul is allowed to voice his own opinion. 2. Also, how DO we interpret these passages when it comes to marrying people of a different faith, or no faith at all? I don't think citizenship in heaven is acheived the same way U.S. citizenship is. You simply cannot marry someone who is a believer and receive a "free ride" to heaven, correct? This is a very confusing section for me, as I recently went through a trying relationship with a non-WELS member who I cared about muchly. The relationship has since been ended because of our religious differences. | ||||||
| A: | Verse 12 of 1 Co 7 must be read along with verse 10. In verse 10 Paul repeats a command that Jesus gave (Mt 19:4ff). Jesus did not say anything about mixed marriages, so in v14 Paul says that he is now speaking as the Lord's inspired apostle (1 Co 1:1) and is not simply repeating what Jesus said ("I, not the Lord"). In vv14ff Paul is speaking to a husband or wife who became a Christian but the spouse did not. In v13 Paul says that a Christian is not commanded by God to divorce the unbelieving spouse. V14 adds that God is present in that house through the believing spouse (sanctified). Peter adds in 1 Pe 3:1 that the believing spouse might also win the unbelieving husband or wife for Christ. And in v15 Paul adds that, if the unbelieving spouse decides to leave the believing husband or wife because the latter became a Christian, the believer was not bound for life to that marriage because the unbeliever broke the marriage by leaving the believing husband or wife. | ||||||
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