He that Stands Stedfast in His Heart 1 Corinthians 7:39

Paul the apostle told the church members in Corinth, “the time is short”, and since it is, he told the fathers of daughter who had “marriageable maidens”, “he that gives her in marriage does well; but he that gives her not in marriage does better”. In chapter seven and verse thirty-nine of First Corinthians, Paul shared with the church members how, “the wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives” where we read:

The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives;

but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.

The verse begins, “The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth;” Paul began with the words, “The wife” which means “the married woman” “is bound” or “fasten with chains, put under obligation of duty” “by the law” which means “the rule producing a state approved of God” “as long as” or “for time whether short or long that” “her husband” which refers to “the married man” “lives” or “breathes and is among the living”. The “married woman” is “fastened through obligation” to God's law to continue being married for as long as the “husband” lives.

The verse continues, “but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.” Paul added the word, “but” which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written takes precedence over what was just stated “if her husband” or “whether the married man” “be dead” which means “is fallen asleep or deceased”, “she is at liberty” or “the married woman is freeborn, exempt, unrestrained and not bound to obligation” “to be married” which means “to be given in marriage and wed” “to whom” or “to whoever” “she will” which means “the woman desires, wishes, loves and to whom is resolved and purposed”; “only” or “but alone” “in the Lord” which refers to “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah”. If a “married woman” within the church has a husband who dies, she is “free” to remarry whomever she desires, but it must be “in the Lord”.

When we meditate upon these words from Paul, we see his provision for “remarriage” for the widow within the church. If the “husband” died, she had the “freedom” to marry whomever she desired, but it needed to be a relationship that was based “in the Lord”. She was not to marry outside of the Christian faith otherwise it would be “outside” of the “Lord” and therefore, not blessed. Jesus Christ desires for His bride, the church, to be “pure and holy”, and by giving this provision to the widows, He keeps the church in a state that is pleasing to God.

Next time Paul shares how a widowed “wife” among the church members, “is happier if she so abide, after” Paul's “judgment”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.