Marriage, Mixed Marriages, and Understandable Separations. Best not to Be Married

1 Corinthians 7

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,..

Romans 3:23-24

• A man and woman are married to meet each other’s bodily needs.
• A husband and wife should not deprive each other of their needs.
• It is best for the unmarried to remain unmarried.
• Marriage, mixed marriages, and understandable separations.
  • When married in the bonds of Jesus Christ.
  • When a spouse finds Christ after being married, but not the other spouse.
  • When an unbeliever leaves a Christian spouse.
• Outward signs are meaningless, only living for Jesus is meaningful.
• Let’s live for Jesus without trying to change the world.
• It is best for virgins to remain unmarried and without sexual relations.
• Do not have emotional attachments to the people and things of this world.
• It is necessary to serve Jesus Christ without worldly distractions.
• Consent or non-consent of the marriage of virgin daughters.
• Widows and Widowers are happiest not to remarry.

A man and woman are married to meet each other’s bodily needs. “Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me:” 1 Corinthians 7:1a. The Corinthians wrote a letter to Paul asking questions about sexual conduct, and the following scriptures is his reply. “It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.” 1 Corinthians 7:1b.-2 The best practice is to dedicate our life entirely to Jesus Christ, without any sexual interaction with another person. However, because of sexual immorality it is necessary to limit our sexual activity to one lifetime partner. That partnership is one man with one woman. “Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.” 1 Corinthians 7:3 A husband is there for his wife when she has affectionate desires, and a woman is there for the man when he has affectionate desires.

A husband and wife should not deprive each other of their bodily needs. “The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.” 1 Corinthians 7:4 The wife and the husband are there for each other. When a man has sexual desires, the woman should offer her body to him, and when the woman has sexual desires, the man should offer his body to her. “Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” 1 Corinthians 7:5

The thing that has power over physiology enflames our passions or extinguishes our passions to make it impossible for followers of Jesus Christ to live by the teachings of the Bible. It enflames sexual passions and behaviors towards others outside the marriage bond. It blasphemes God, makes a mockery of Jesus Christ, and tramples on the Holy Spirit as it syncs people to live by the mark of the beast. Casual sex, LGBQT+ relationships, etc. are rampant in the world today. “But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment. For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.” 1 Corinthians 7:6-7 Paul was not married and refrained from all sexual activity to dedicate his life to Jesus Christ, he considers that a gift.

It is best for the unmarried to remain unmarried. “But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am;” 1 Corinthians 7:8 For all of us who are unmarried, it is better for us to stay that way, just the way Paul did. “…but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” 1 Corinthians 7:9 Unfortunately, those who govern by the mark of the beast reserve marriage and social integration for those who live by the mark of the beast. They do not do marriages which are formed in the bonds of Jesus Christ. They cause people to burn with passion and use sexual gratification as a reward for living according to the mark of the beast. Christian marriages are ruined. Those who govern by the mark of the beast have been given power to make war with the saints and to overcome them, all except whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 13:7-8).

Marriage, mixed marriages, and understandable separations.

When married in the bonds of Jesus Christ. “Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.” 1 Corinthians 7:10 -11 As followers of Christ, a divorce is equivalent to a separation from Him because the marriage is bonded by the Spirit of Christ. That divorce should never happen.

When a spouse finds Christ after being married, but not the other spouse. “But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. ” 1 Corinthians 7:12-13 Paul is careful not to deviate from the word of God, but what He says is not from the laws of the Old Testament, which was considered the only word of God, but the words are from the Holy Spirit. If we come to Jesus Christ while married, and the spouse rejects Jesus, it’s not necessary to get a divorce. “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.” 1 Corinthians 7:14 When a spouse has respect for the Christianity of the other spouse, it brings them in harmony through the Spirit of Christ, which is a process of sanctification. That unity cleanses the children. However, conflict between spouses makes it hard on the children, as one parent teaches the children the Gospel and the other spouse teaches the child to reject the Bible.

When an unbeliever leaves a Christian spouse. “But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace.” 1 Corinthians 7:15 If an unbeliever leaves the relationship, don’t try to stop them, a follower of Jesus Christ is not under any obligation to reconcile with them. A person dedicated to the mark of the beast will never find a common bond with a person who is the home of the Spirit of Christ. It would be constant conflict, but God has called us to peace. “For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?” 1 Corinthians 7:16 Hoping to save a spouse who rejects Jesus Christ is not something we should plan a future on. “But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And so I ordain in all the churches.” 1 Corinthians 7:17 Each one of us should continue to walk in Jesus Christ, our marital status comes second. Corruption has entered into the churches of today to the point that Jesus is no longer the central focus of living for God.

Outward signs are meaningless, only living for Jesus is meaningful. “Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised.” 1 Corinthians 7:18 Circumcision was a law in the Old Testament that required males to be circumcised. Some of the Jews were not circumcised when they came to Jesus Christ, and some Jews were circumcised before coming to Jesus. Paul says that once we come to Jesus for the remission of sin, there is not anything else we need to do to be right with God. “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.” 1 Corinthians 7:19 Outward signs are meaningless, such as circumcision, and the only thing that matters is that we follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let’s live for Jesus without trying to change the world. “Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called.” 1 Corinthians 7:20 Whatever station in life we were in when we came to Jesus Christ, don’t change it. “Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it.” 1 Corinthians 7:21 Don’t be concerned about living arrangements, educational level, or employment status, etc. but if it is possible to change it in the Spirit of Christ, then do so. “For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave.” 1 Corinthians 7:22 Whatever we are in this life, we belong to Jesus Christ. “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” 1 Corinthians 7:23 We must oppose the thing that has the power to make us a slave to the thoughts, emotions, feelings, and behaviors it forms within us. It wants to synchronize us to the mark of the beast. Jesus Christ died on the Cross to atone for sin to make us the home of the Holy Spirit. “Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called.” 1 Corinthians 7:24 Let’s live for Jesus Christ without trying to change the world.

It is best for virgins to remain unmarried and without sexual relations. “Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy.” 1 Corinthians 7:25 Paul is speaking on the authority of the Holy Spirit, although what he is about to say is not mentioned among the laws of the Old Testament. Jesus Christ appointed Paul to that task. He is going to talk about virgins, those who have not been married nor exposed to sexual contact. “I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—that it is good for a man to remain as he is:” 1 Corinthians 7:26 It is best to stay that way, unmarried and without sexual contact. In today’s present distress, marriage is formed on the basis of discarding the need for Jesus Christ and trampling on the Holy Spirit. They want couples to be receptive to the thoughts, emotions, feelings, and behaviors imposed upon them by the thing that has power over physiology. They want marriages to be synchronized to the mark of the beast. On top of that, the world is filled with sexual promiscuity. In that distress, it is best to remain a virgin.

Do not have emotional attachments to the people and things of this world. “Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.” 1 Corinthians 7:27 If you have a spouse, don’t seek a divorce in order to live a single lifestyle, and if you are separated from a spouse then remain single. “But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you.” 1 Corinthians 7:28 It is not a sin to marry, but marriages bring trouble through fleshly and carnal concerns, and Paul would prefer to spare us of those worldly concerns.

“But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none,” 1 Corinthians 7:29 For people who have spouses, let go of one another in the flesh and give each other to Jesus Christ. The bond of marriage is in the Spirit of Christ. “…those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess,” 1 Corinthians 7:30 Let’s let go of the emotions and esteem attached to the fleshly world and let go of an emotional attachment to possessions. “…and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away.” 1 Corinthians 7:31 Whatever we have in this world that we use, let’s not misuse it in a way that is contrary to life in Jesus Christ. The world is passing away, but the Gospel of Christ is eternal.

It is necessary to serve Jesus Christ without worldly distractions. “But I want you to be without concern. He who is unmarried is concerned for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 7:32 Unmarried people have their focus on pleasing the Lord Jesus Christ. “But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife.” 1 Corinthians 7:33 Married people have their focus on worldly concerns and how to be in a right relationship with their spouse. We should be focused on keeping a right relationship with Jesus Christ. “There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband.” 1 Corinthians 7:34 The Holy Spirit wants us to serve Jesus Christ without distraction, as written, “And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.” 1 Corinthians 7:35

Consent or non-consent of the marriage of virgin daughters. “But if any man thinks he is behaving improperly toward his virgin, if she is past the flower of youth, and thus it must be, let him do what he wishes. He does not sin; let them marry.” 1 Corinthians 7:36 Fathers may have virgin daughters and may feel like a tyrant not to give consent for them to marry. If the virgin is not a child and old enough to marry, then consent to their marriage. It is not a sin against God to let them marry. “Nevertheless he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but has power over his own will, and has so determined in his heart that he will keep his virgin, does well.” 1 Corinthians 7:37 If fathers decide to withhold consent from their virgin daughters marrying, then they do well. “So then he who gives her in marriage does well, but he who does not give her in marriage does better.” 1 Corinthians 7:38

Widows and Widowers are happiest not to remarry. “A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 7:39 All marriages must be in the Lord Jesus Christ. Marriages are for life, but if a spouse dies the other spouse is free to marry whomever they want to, as long as it is a Christian marriage in the Spirit of Christ. “But she is happier if she remains as she is, according to my judgment—and I think I also have the Spirit of God.” 1 Corinthians 7:40 Once freed from a marriage, it is best to stay single.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1