roblaine wrote:I'm hoping that someone here can give me some advice. I have a family member who is married and neither he or his wife are Christians. They are on the brink of divorce and it is no secret in the family that it is likely going to happen very soon. If they were Christians I would have little doubt about whether their actions would be sinful or not. However, they are not. I'm know that in 1 Corinthians 7, Paul teaches that if a believer is married to a unbeliever, and the unbeliever desires to leave that they should let them go.
7:12 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.
7:13 And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him.
7:14 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.
7:15 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.
But what if both parties are unbelievers? Are they still free to leave?
Any clarity on this would be greatly appreciated.
God bless,
Robin
Without a just cause for putting away a spouse, divorce is always sin whether by a christian or a nonbeliever.
Dont mistake 'free' to leave as meaning that there no real marriage there if there is an unbeliever....or as some teach, that the marriage is UNconditional on the part of the believer (if say they are being abused or cheated on...that wasnt Pauls intent).
What Paul is showing there is simply that we as believers should hold marriage far more sacred and holy than unbelievers probably will.
Bear in mind that in Corinth these believers seemingly thought that they were to leave the unbelieving spouse, not for any real reason, but becuase they thought they were 'defiled' by the unbelieving spouse (if you read that part of 1 cor 7 there its very easy to see and it makes the whole passage much more clear as to Pauls actual intent).
Paul isnt telling them that the believer can never leave the believer...but is instead telling these folks who were asking him if they could just up and leave because they became a believer that no...they should not end a marriage just beucase they were now a believer and the spouse was not....how did they know that they wouldnt be key in that unsaved spouse coming to Christ ....
Paul shows them that they arent defiled, nor are their children, because their spouse is 'sanctified' because they are believers (there is more to that part once you really start to understand Pauls personality a lot better)
So they should not just leave this marriage for no just cause simply because their spouse is an unbeliever.
That is the context of 1 Cor 7:12-15 there.
But if this unbeliever doesnt want to remain in the marriage, then we are to let them leave.
Again, this isnt saying that there can be NO circumstances where the believer could file for divorce...read the first part of the chapter....'now concerning these things which you write'...Paul is clearly answering questions that they were asking him about...so there is a very definite context to his answers here...just showing that we shouldnt put away a spouse just because we believe and they do not *IF* they are pleased to remain with us
(the greek shows a mutual pleasantness..ie not an abusive marriage)
G4909
1) to be pleased together with, to approve together (with others)
2) to be pleased at the same time with, consent, agree to
2a) to applaud
Even if the unbeliever leaves us, and we allow them too, 'sin' is still committed by the person who puts away their spouse unjustly...whether they are a believer or not.
Not sure if this is enough..you can check out our study archive if you want to see more on the topic as a whole (click the WWW below and follow the links)
