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Wednesday 10 July 2024

1 Corinthians 7:5,6 - Do not deprive each other

7:5

Paul is saying that sex is a normal and good part of marriage, but there are circumstances where it can be right to abstain for a time. In general couples should not “deprive each other”. They can do so if it is by mutual consent (so in an age where the great emphasis is on mutual consent to sex, we have mutual consent to abstinence!). It must only be for a limited time, and it is done for positive reasons, i.e. devotion to prayer, not for negative reasons. A married couple depriving each other of sex does nothing for godliness. Indeed it opens a door for Satan.


7:6

“I say this as a concession, not as a command”. There are some, including Augustine, who take the “concession” as referring to allow the couple to have sex. This approach leads to a rather negative view of sex. It is better to take the “concession” as referring to 7:5, i.e. the conditions for abstinence. The whole tenor of Paul’s argument in these first few verses is that abstinence in a married couple is not actually a superior approach, leading to a more godly life. Quite the opposite, it is likely to lead to more sin! No married couple should feel under any compulsion to abstain from sexual relations!


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