Married to unbeliever

Married to unbeliever

1 Cor 7
12To 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. 13And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14For 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.

15But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Not bound in such circumstances? does that mean, can remarry or not?
TO me its saying you could remarry, I just thought I would see what you think because I am just not 100% lol
 
Yes the text is saying . if the one not believing in the relationship chooses to call it quits . you can re-marry .

but as a sign of God's faithfulness . the believer cannot break it off . or so the text appears to be saying .

hope that helps

-Michael
 
I don't think it is as simply as that. When a couple marrys they have made a promise to God ''..til death do us part''. In God's eyes that is husband and wife even if one tried to get out of it.

Matthew 19:5And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder

If they are now one instead of two, how can you separate one? You can't.

We don't break promises to God. They are to be commited to make it work and to work things out when they disagree.
Of course they can't force the other to stay but you can do all you can to try to prevent it. But you can pray for reconcilation and the Lord has done so countless times.
 
I don't think it is as simply as that. When a couple marrys they have made a promise to God ''..til death do us part''. In God's eyes that is husband and wife even if one tried to get out of it.

Matthew 19:5And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder

If they are now one instead of two, how can you separate one? You can't.

We don't break promises to God. They are to be commited to make it work and to work things out when they disagree.
Of course they can't force the other to stay but you can do all you can to try to prevent it. But you can pray for reconcilation and the Lord has done so countless times.

So ignore Paul and follow Jesus . sure .

Matthew 19:28-30 (King James Version)

28And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

30But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

Go to and do . but this way you have to lose everything . interesting anyway .

If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1 Timothy 5:8)

On second thought .. maybe not .. ;) I think the statements in scripture are supposed to be in harmony with one another .. but that's just me .
 
If they are now one instead of two, how can you separate one? You can't.

Oneness bonds are a bit sticky . but separation is possible . and Paul did say . the believing spouse is not bound under such circumstances . because we are called to peace .. unless Jesus said something complete opposite regarding our calling and nothing about what Paul said at all .. it seems what Paul is saying here .. hmm is still relevant today .
 
29And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Micheal, this is not really what we were talking about. This verse to me is about persecution for the gosple's sake, being true tofollow the Lord no matter who in your family doesn't want you to.

It doesn't mean to just forsake them and you will be rewarded.
 
Micheal, this is not really what we were talking about. This verse to me is about persecution for the gosple's sake, being true tofollow the Lord no matter who in your family doesn't want you to.

It doesn't mean to just forsake them and you will be rewarded.

hmm i read the text a bit differently . but now we're getting into interpretive preference in which case i would offer to agree to disagree .
 
This is a complicated issue that we need to compare all scripture on the subject to scripture. We can't take only one verse and make a doctrine out of it. It's like the verse; ''Judas hung himself". We cant take that one verse and say we are to hand ourself :D
 
This is a complicated issue that we need to compare all scripture on the subject to scripture. We can't take only one verse and make a doctrine out of it. It's like the verse; ''Judas hung himself". We cant take that one verse and say we are to hand ourself :D

i am taking it in context . but as i said . this is a matter of interpretive preference . i will agree to disagree .
 
I work on the basis that the bible never conterdits its self and all scripture has meaning.
For this reason I have to account for Mathew and Luke as meaning between 2 believers and I also have to say that luke didnt state about unfaithfulness because Mathew did.
About to go to work but Ill join in later and put what I see together.
Have a good day/night everyone!!!
 
15But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?[/B]
Not bound in such circumstances? does that mean, can remarry or not?

Another perspective:

Can NOT remarry. When the bible said that "man or woman is not bound in such circumstances" means that if the unbelieving leaves, we allow them to. That's where we are not bound.

We allow them to leave us. We can't prohibit them to "not leave us". But it doesn't mean we can remarry. The bible only gives us one reason to remarry and it's:

But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery
Mat 5:32
 
1 Cor 7
12To 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. 13And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14For 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.

15But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
Not bound in such circumstances? does that mean, can remarry or not?
TO me its saying you could remarry, I just thought I would see what you think because I am just not 100% lol
I believe a hard headed approach would chime in with Matt 5:32, and say that re marriage would not be an option without adultery....period. So, Jesus said it, am I accusing Him of hard headedness? No! In essence He was not saying anything contradictory to what Paul said to the Ephesians and also to the Church at Corinth. He was responding to the matter of divorce without just cause that had become commonplace.

In fairness it must be taken into consideration that it is possible for a spouse to separate yet remain free from any new relationship entanglement. In such a case there might be a possibility of reconciliation. However as is the case so very often, a spouse who rescinds their marriage vows ends up in a new sexual relationship. In this case divorce is not only permissible, but very likely necessary.

But even in the face of no sexual infidelity, there sometimes comes a point where a relationship is dead. A spouse who does not love their partner as they love themselves (or as they ought to) is already divorced in their heart. cf Eph 5:25-33
That being the case, what God has joined, has indeed been sundered. Then as Paul says; a believer is no longer bound (by marirage vow) to that truant spouse.

Really there is no simple answer to any human relationship that has gone sour,
but I don't think a compendium of "thou shalt not...." is all that helpfull.

blessings,
calvin
 
I believe a hard headed approach would chime in with Matt 5:32, and say that re marriage would not be an option without adultery....period. So, Jesus said it, am I accusing Him of hard headedness? No! In essence He was not saying anything contradictory to what Paul said to the Ephesians and also to the Church at Corinth. He was responding to the matter of divorce without just cause that had become commonplace.


Yes and it's more common place today.



But even in the face of no sexual infidelity, there sometimes comes a point where a relationship is dead. A spouse who does not love their partner as they love themselves (or as they ought to) is already divorced in their heart. cf Eph 5:25-33
That being the case, what God has joined, has indeed been sundered. Then as Paul says; a believer is no longer bound (by marirage vow) to that truant spouse.

Really there is no simple answer to any human relationship that has gone sour,
but I don't think a compendium of "thou shalt not...." is all that helpfull.

blessings,
calvin


I believe the first point you made was so that people don't divorce for just any reason, but only if one had been unfaithful. If it was just because they are not getting along, and having trouble or feel they don't love each other anymore, then every one would divorce and not be committed to working it out, since all have problems.

There is a solution to marriages that have gone sour, and that is to ask the Lord to restore the marriage. He has done so in so many instances that I know of, including even ministers. And their marriages are greater now than ever. So there is never a hopeless situation because our God can do anything. He is a miracle worker :)
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I think pitting scripture against scripture would indicate we are missing a point somewhere . but that's just my opinion .

for those saying those who have an unbelieving spouse who has left them commit adultery if they re-marry,

what exactly are these people "not bound by?"
 
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