7:8,9
So if someone is unmarried, or a widow(er), then to remain single is a good thing to do. However, they should do so only if they have excellent self-control. Otherwise, choosing to be single will only increase the temptation they face, and they will likely fail. “For it is better to marry than to burn with passion”. In this area the church has tended to make a mess of things. The Roman Catholic church is completely wrong and unbiblical in insisting on celibate clergy, and the utter failure of this in terms of curbing sexual immorality, and of a most horrendous sort in some cases, has been made all too clear. But in protestant, charismatic and evangelical churches there has been an undue idolising of marriage. Marriage is a wonderful gift from God and is the bedrock of any stable society, but it is not the only way to live. A person who is single, maybe for all of their life, is not less of a person, and need not be less fulfilled than a married person. To remain single for the sake of the kingdom is an excellent choice for someone who is able to live that way.
7:10,11
Paul is keen to stress here that what he is commanding is from the Lord, it is not just his personal opinion. It isn’t clear why Paul first applies the command not to divorce to the wife, and then later to the husband. Jesus teaching on divorce was given to the man (Matt 19:4-6), maybe some folk thought they were being clever and said it therefore did not apply to the wife, but that is pure speculation on my part. Whatever the case, Paul then makes clear that it applies to both husband and wife. I guess that the cultural situation of the time is why Paul talks about a woman separating from her husband, and a husband divorcing his wife, though v13 would seem to count against this.
No comments:
Post a Comment