Paul
the apostle told the church members in Corinth “the
unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving
wife is sanctified by the husband”.
He added, “else were your children
unclean; but now are they holy”,
and in chapter seven and verse fifteen of
First Corinthians, Paul told
the church members “if the
unbelieving depart, let him depart”
where we read:
But if
the unbelieving depart, let him depart.
A
brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases:
but God has called us to peace.
The verse begins, “But
if the unbelieving depart, let him depart.”
Paul began
with the word, “But” which
is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about be written
takes precedence over what is about to be stated “if
the unbelieving” which
means “whether the faithless and incredulous spouse” “depart”
or “separates, puts asunder, divorces or goes away”, “let
him” which
refers to “allow that spouse” “depart” or “to separate, put
asunder, divorce or go away”. The “unbelieving spouse” is
“sanctified” as long as they stay with the “believing spouse”,
but if they choose to “leave or divorce”, Paul said, “let
him”.
The
verse continues, “A
brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases:
but God has called us to peace.”
Paul added
the words, “A brother which
means “a male fellow believer who is united to another by the bond
of affection” “or a sister” or
“a female fellow believer who united to another by the bond of
affection”“is not under bondage”
or “is not bound, as a slave or given wholly to one's needs and
service” “in such cases” which
means “with this kind or sort”. “But”
which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about be
written takes precedence over what is about to be stated “God”
which refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised
of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “has
called us” or
“called aloud and saluted Paul and the married church members”
“to peace” which
means “to a state of tranquility, exempt from rage and havoc, with
harmony and concord”. If an “unbelieving spouse” desires to
leave a “believing one”, the “believing” one is to let them
go and are no longer bound to the marriage relationship because “God”
desires that
we live in “peace”.
When
we meditate upon these words from Paul, we understand what a person
is to do when they have a spouse who does not believe in Jesus
Christ. If the “unbeliever” wants to leave, the “believing”
spouse is to let them go. They are no longer in “bondage”
to the relationship because God desires there to be “peace”
among people, and sometimes, the best option is to let the
“unbeliever” go.
Next
time Paul tells the church members wives, “what
do you know, O wife, whether you shall save your husband”,
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.
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