Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 Corinthians 7:13

"And the woman that hath an unbelieving husband, and he is content to dwell with her, let her not leave her husband." — 1 Corinthians 7:13 (ASV)

Paul now adds instructions beyond those given by the Lord Jesus— instructions having to do with mixed marriages, where one partner has, since marriage, become a Christian. Paul addresses himself to this problem by saying, “To the rest [to the others with marital questions] I say this....” According to the way Paul writes, there were mixed marriages in the Christian community in this pagan city. Since he preached in Corinth for over a year and a half (Acts 18:11, 18), with many turning to the Lord, we may conclude that while he was still with them some marriages became mixed marriages. Had he at that time given them advice about this? Doubtless he had. But the problem then was probably not so acute for the unbelieving partner when the other partner was a new Christian. The unbelieving one may have thought this stand for Christ was a passing fad or a superstition. As time went on, however, the condition in these Corinthian homes was becoming more serious. In spite of Paul’s teaching about Christian living and the sanctity of the home (cf. Ephesians 4–6). the unbelieving partners in some instances were threatening to leave their Christian husbands or wives. So Paul was confronted with the question, “What should the Christian marriage partners do?” We should note first, in the light of 2 Corinthians 6:7–14:1 (cf. Ezra 10:10), that Paul would not have allowed an already-professing Christian to marry an unbeliever. But on the question of what should be done by a husband or wife who has turned to the Lord after marriage, Paul is decisive. If the unbelieving partner is content or willing to live with the Christian, then the Christian must not divorce the partner—for the sake, Paul implies, of the marriage bond God has ordained.

Rather (v.14), the Christian partner should think of the truth that the Lord can use him or her as a godly, holy influence in such a mixed family relationship and in helping that family to be consecrated to God. The word “sanctified” (GK 39) does not refer to moral purity—Paul is certainly not teaching that the unbelieving partner is made morally pure through a believing spouse. What the word emphasizes is a relationship to God, a claim of God on the person and family to be set apart for him (cf. Acts 20:32; 26:18). The tense of the verb stresses that the unbeliever who is in a Christian family has already become and continues to be a part of a family unit upon which God has his claim and which he will use for his service. The same is true of children born in such a family. They are “holy” (GK 41) and not “unclean” (GK 176)—i.e., not spiritually separated from God, as is the case in unbelieving families. The Bible’s teaching elsewhere about Christian parents and their covenant children set apart for God is also relevant to this passage. Consider Ge 17:1–14, where the children of God’s people of the OT were included among God’s covenant people, and Ac 2:38–39, where God’s promise applied to the children of all believers (cf. Ephesians 2:12–13). Covenant children are to be counted a part of God’s people and should be nurtured in the Christian faith and in the fear of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4).

Dealing with the actual situation at Corinth, Paul realizes that in some instances the unbelieving marriage partner will not stay. So he teaches that in such an event (v.15), the believer must let the unbelieving partner go. Paul adds two reasons: First, in this case the believer is not “bound” (GK 1530), for the unbeliever by willful desertion (the other legitimate reason for divorce besides sexual immorality; Matthew 19:9) has broken the marriage contract. Second, God has called his people to live in peace, which would not be possible if the unbelieving partner were forced to live with the believer.

The force of v.16 tempers any tendency to foster or encourage a rupture in the marriage. For Paul is teaching that the believer must try to keep the mixed marriage together in the hope that the testimony of the believer will be used by God in his providence to bring the unbeliever to Christ.