Neal Pollard
Yesterday, as part of a Bible class on 1 Corinthians, it fell my lot to teach chapter seven. This tends to be a controversial chapter, one in which too many teachers, preachers, elders, and other church leaders have misled people and asserted a doctrine known as “The Pauline Privilege.” Among the arguments used to defend this position, people say:
- “Not under bondage” (15). If an unbeliever departs, the believing mate who is abandoned is free to remarry.
- “God has called us to peace” (15). Peace includes the idea that the abandoned is free to remarry (this is not seriously or widely taught as credible).
- “Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called” (18-24).
We spent our time in class dealing with the main argument, the first argument concerning “not under bondage” (watch class here). This position cannot be right, as it has Paul contradicting himself (see 7:10-11) and, in doing so, contradicting Jesus (see Matthew 19:1-9). “Under bondage” means enslaved and is never used in the New Testament as the marriage bond. Paul uses a different word for the marriage bond (cf. Romans 7:2; 1 Corinthians 7:27,39). Paul is saying one is not enslaved to his or her unbelieving spouse, and the Christian should not choose the spouse over Christ. Paul had said not to leave the non-Christian mate (12-14), but if divorce occurred he had already given the two options available in verses 10-11: “remain unmarried…or be reconciled.”
One other matter that is often used in arguing a broader acceptance of divorce and remarriage than Jesus taught in Matthew 5 and 19. The argument is made that a person is allowed to stay in whatever condition they are in when they obey the gospel. So, if one has been married and divorce multiple times when they become a Christian, Paul is saying it is acceptable to stay in that situation. He compares it to circumcision and slavery, so the argument goes.
The central problem with this is that it also makes Paul contradict himself and Jesus in the explicit teaching on marriage, divorce, and remarriage. Remember that after Jesus states His authoritative position, the apostles lament that if such was the case it would be better not to marry. No one would conclude this of this position.
It also misunderstands the point Paul is making. It is a summary of the position he set forth in verses 12-14. If you become a Christian and are married to a non-Christian, don’t dissolve the marriage. Under the Old Law, “mixed marriages” were forbidden (Exodus 34:16) and those that were formed had to be dissolved (Ezra 10, Nehemiah 9). These new Christians may have been influenced by such teaching and wondered if that applied to them. Whatever they may have thought, Paul makes clear that they should stay married.
Without a doubt, sorting through and untangling the real-life circumstances of people’s marriages is among the hardest challenges to face in being faithful to Jesus and His will. Our task is to show the compassion of Christ and lovingly minister to all who are confronted with challenges and struggles. While our hearts break for difficult situations, we are not at liberty to pick and choose which commands and teachings of His to teach and which to ignore or change.
