BEN F. VICK, JR.
Some have argued that 1 Corinthians 7:15 grants another cause for divorce. However, this would contradict the Lord's words in Matthew 19:9. The view would also miss the context and meaning of the verse. Looking at the context, Paul wrote:
"I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. 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. For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?" (1 Cor. 7:8-16.)
The Corinthian saints had several questions on marriage for Paul, who answers them in this chapter. We assume the questions are based on the answers given. Paul said it was good not to marry, but in order to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife and every wife have her own husband. They have sexual obligations to each other (7:1-5). Paul spoke by concession, not by commandment. Paul wished that all could be as he (that is, celibate), but not all could do that. Each has his own ability or gift (1 Cor. 7:6-7).
Paul then addresses the unmarried and widows and says it would be good to remain single as he, but if they cannot contain their desires, it would be better to marry (7:8-9). This advisement was made because of the present distress (7:26). Persecution would make the marriage difficult.
In the next section, Paul speaks to the married. He states, "yet not I, but the Lord." In other words, the Lord had addressed this during his personal ministry (Matt. 19:3-10). Paul's words were not simply to believers but to all. The Lord's teaching on marriage and divorce was not only for those in a covenant relationship with God, but it was universal for all. Likewise, Paul's words here are universal. The wife is not to depart from her husband, and the husband is not to put away his wife. Verse 11 reads, "But and if she departs…." This is a third-class conditional clause expressing that which is not really taking place, but probably will take place in the future." (Summers, p. 109.) Paul was not saying in verse ten, do not depart and then, in the following line, granting her permission to leave. He was saying: If it happens. What was the wife to do? Remain unmarried (single) or be reconciled to her husband.
In the next section (7:12-16), Paul addresses the question of what a believer should do if married to an unbeliever. He wrote, "But to the rest speak I, not the Lord." Paul was not giving his opinion here. He was saying the Lord did not address specific cases of believers being married to unbelievers. What Paul says does not contradict what the Lord said during his ministry. The apostle's words are in complete harmony with the Lord's. If any brother has a wife who is not a Christian, and she is pleased to dwell with him, he is not to put her away. Likewise, if a wife is married to an unbeliever and if he is happy to live with her, let her not leave. A marriage in which a believer is joined to an unbeliever (given both have the right to be married) is a God-approved marriage; otherwise, the children of that marriage would be "unclean," that is, illegitimate.
But what if the unbeliever departs? (1 Cor. 7:15.) The believer cannot keep the unbeliever from departing if he or she wants to leave. Paul said, "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." The apostle said, "a brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases." The words "not under bondage" are translated from two Greek words in the New Testament (οὐ δεδούλωται). "Bondage" means enslaved. "Not" translates the Greek negative (οὐ). The Greek verb in the perfect tense indicates past action with continuing results. The meaning is: You were not under such a bondage, nor are you now under that kind of bondage. The Greek word (δουλόω) for bondage is used 133 times in the New Testament. It is never used of the marriage bond. There is another word in Greek (δέω) for bound or bondage, found 44 times, three of which refer to the marriage bond (Rom. 7:39; 1 Cor. 7:27, 39). Paul says that a Christian never was nor is not now enslaved to give up Christianity to keep one's mate.
Does this then free the deserted believer to marry again? Absolutely not. Jesus said (and Paul does not countermand his words), "And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." (Matt. 19:9). The word "except" means "if and only if." The only ground for divorce is "fornication."