1 Corinthians 7:17

But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.

In the previous section the apostle had addressed himself to the wedded couples in the congregation, where both husband and wife were Christians. He now speaks to such Christian men and women where the wife or the husband were not members of the Christian community. And he here again makes the application of the principle of Scriptures to a special circumstance. Jesus had had no occasion to deliver His opinion with regard to such cases, and therefore Paul brings his sentence. The fundamental matter was clear, his inspired judgment applied it to the point in question. The husband and the wife are placed on an equal footing. The Christian brother having an unbelieving wife, who is well pleased to dwell with him in marriage, should not dismiss her. And a Christian woman having an unbelieving husband under the same conditions, should not think of deserting him. So far as the Christian part of any married couple was concerned, the rule of the Lord, made at the institution of holy wedlock, holds good. The Christians should never take. the first steps, nor in any way be guilty of inciting a separation in marriage. The existence of mixed marriages is to be deplored deeply, and in many cases they result in trials and temptations which make the term "marriage-yoke" altogether fitting; but so long as the unbelieving party recognizes the validity of the marriage-tie and lives in harmony with this belief, the believing party cannot repudiate the spouse. '

The apostle now meets an objection which Christians might be apt to make as to the dangers of such a continued union with an unbeliever: For sanctified is the unbelieving husband in the wife, and sanctified is the unbelieving wife in the brother, in the Christian. Although not consecrated by the sanctifying power of faith, the unbelieving party, by virtue of the intimate, vital union which is the essence of marriage, participates in the consecration of the believing party in this way, that he or she is linked to the Church of God through the believing spouse; the sanctity of the marriage-tie includes both husband and wife. "The believing wife is a sanctuary to her husband, even though he be an unbeliever, for he is her husband; and the believing husband is a sanctuary to his wife, even though she be an unbeliever, for she is his wife. " This is made more evident by the case of their children: Else, then, your children are unclean, but now they are holy. If the state of matrimony, even where the marriage has been entered upon with an unbeliever, were not a holy state, then the children would be unclean. But now the children are considered holy, therefore also the state of marriage, even if it is a mixed marriage; the children are to be considered members of the Christian community on account of the Christian parent. "They are not holy in their own persons, for St. Paul does not speak here of that holiness; but they are holy unto you, that your holiness can be engaged in their care and can educate them, that you will not become desecrated in them as though they were an unholy thing."

These rules are in force as long as the unbelieving spouse maintains the validity of the marriage-bond. But if the unbeliever separates (himself from his spouse) let him separate; if the non-Christian insists upon severing the marriage relation, this is not to be refused; the separation may take its course. In that case the believing spouse suffers the breaking of the marriage-tie, and the brother or the sister in the congregation is not kept in bondage under such circumstances; they are not to be told that they are still bound, but may consider themselves free, just as though the other party had died. Of the formalities which are to be observed before the civil court the apostle says nothing, since it is self-evident for a Christian to pay due attention to them. According to the will of God, putting away of the spouse is forbidden, but He does not forbid the repudiated spouse to accept dismissal. This is confirmed still more strongly by the addition of the words: In peace, however, has God called us. Should the Christian spouse insist upon continuing the marriage relation in spite of the repudiation, this would lead to hatred and strife. If the unbelieving party has broken the peace of wedlock by considering marriage as a contract which may be dissolved at the whim of one or both of the contracting parties, then the Christian is free from the bond of marriage, suffering what he has not sought and cannot avoid.

The apostle now refers to probable scruples that the Christian spouse might feel in case of such a separation: For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband; or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? There is a possibility, of course, that a Christian husband or wife may succeed in gaining the other party for Christ. But why cling to him, or her, on so ill-founded a hope, especially if the unbelieving spouse has rejected the Christian? "Therefore it is not only presumption for a Christian to marry with the idea that he may bring about a marriage in the Lord afterwards, but it is also uncalled for and meddlesome, if a brother or a sister would want to consider himself bound to an unbelieving spouse in the hope of moving his heart by such faithfulness and thus converting him. " In the entire matter of marriage, and especially of mixed marriages, the rule holds: Only, as the Lord has dealt out to each one, as God has called each one, so let him conduct himself. If the Lord has given to a Christian a spouse that shows unusual kindness in observing all the demands of the marriage relationship in accordance with God's institution, let him live in wedlock as a true partner of their mutual joys and sorrows. But if, by the dispensation of God, the unbelieving party severs the tie of marriage as based upon God's institution, then the Christian may accept the liberty thus forced upon him with a good conscience. Thus the apostle ordained in all the churches. All congregations observed the same rules in this very important matter, lest a diversity in Christian customs harm the cause of the Lord. "Christianity does not disturb existing relations, so far as they are not sinful, but only aims to infuse into them the right spirit, according to the will of God."