God is Pleased With One

 DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

GOD IS PLEASED WITH ONE

1 Cor 7:8-16

8 Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. 10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. 12 To 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. 13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14 For 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. 15 But 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. 16 How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

NIV

More instructions regarding relationships between husband and wife, however, first Paul makes the point that if a person is single whether they have never married or a spouse dies, they should remain single. Now is this included in the part that was Paul and not the Lord, or the part that is the Lord and not Paul? The question that arises out of his statement about controlling ourselves in sexual desires seems to be the opposite of God's design for us. He gave us the desires and the sensual pleasures so that we would fill the earth. The fact is that we should burn with desire to fulfill the plan of God, however, that should be strictly within the marriage contract. The problem was that was not the case in the Corinthian church and thus Paul needed to lay down some ground rules. Still, there are cases today where a believing spouse lives with a non-believing spouse. However, this truth exists that even if one of the spouses is a believer, the other non-believing spouse is set apart, declared holy, and sanctified by God. The reason, although Paul does not explain that in full, is that through marriage the two shall become one flesh, thus the unbelieving spouse is one flesh with the believing spouse and both are declared holy and blameless in the sight of God, sanctified and consecrated by the blood of the Lamb. Of course, each person must come to repentance on their own and the unbelieving spouse will need to eventually come to Christ for salvation. This is why the believing spouse should remain married to the unbelieving spouse. However, the Lord still blesses the marriage because of the children produced by such a union. Once again, Paul is making it clear that marriage is between one man and one woman for the purpose of bearing offspring. Any other kind of union between people is sexually immoral and thus an abomination in the sight of God, which was going on in that Corinthian church. Whether those kinds of unions occur today is up to each of us to consider. However, we know that the marriage of one man and one woman is the expressed plan of God for that is how he created us, male and female. This most recent phenomenon of sexual identity is not the plan of God and therefore is the plan of Satan. We know that God’s plan was as he created us, for the expressed purpose of filling the earth, procuration of our species as it is with all the species God created, even the plants produce seeds of their own kind, multiplying. Let us live as one with our spouse, one in body, one in spirit, and one mind, as we love the Lord as one, for God is pleased with us being one.