Category: Devotions

1 Corinthians 7:15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace. When the unbelieving partner in a marriage decide to end …

1 Corinthians 7:15, If the Unbelieving Depart, Let Him Depart Read more »

The Apostle Paul tells us that the children born in a marriage where one partner is a believer is holy in the sight of God. It does not mean that they are without sin but that God has set them in apart by virtue of their believing parent. The believing father or mother provides a sanctifying influence by influencing the children in the things of God. The believing parent prays for the children, reads Bible stories, reads the Bible, shares with them the gospel at the earliest age that they may be saved.

God knows the beginning and the end of all things. It is Him who allows such a situation to arise in saving one spouse in an otherwise heathen marriage. We can trust in His grace to help the believing spouse persevere to influence the better half for God without giving up. May God be gracious to make a way. Amen.

The Apostle Paul addresses the believer who is also a wife to her unbelieving husband. She was converted probably after her marriage to the unbelieving spouse. The advice is that she does not rush to severe the marriage relationship because of their different faith. Rather, if her husband does not object to her faith and is willing to honour the marriage, she must not leave him.

The husband with an unbelieving wife is not to leave his wife. He becomes a Christian after marriage as such his wife still an unbeliever. In such a situation, the Apostle Paul advises the man to keep the marriage. It may be that the wife is an idol worshipper still living in great unbelief and darkness.

The Apostle Paul observed that in the situation where a wife leaves her husband, she should remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband.

The Apostle Paul encouraged the heart of wives who may be contemplating leaving their husband, breaking the marriage covenant, to honour their vows before God. God will bless them in being faithful to the vow they have made.

For the Apostle Paul, God has given him the gift of singlehood whereby his focus was the ministry God entrusted to him as an apostle to the Gentiles. He explained that not everyone is called to the same state of celibacy. He addressed the unmarried and widows that if God gives them the strength to remain single, they may continue as they are.

There are times in a marriage when husband and wife give themselves to fasting and prayer. During those times, they would abstain from their marital rights, refrain from any physical intimacy by mutual consent. But such times are observed only temporarily.

William MacDonald observed well, “In marital union there is a dependence of the wife upon the husband and vice versa. In order to carry out God’s order in this holy union, both husband and wife must recognize their interdependence.”