natalie’s blog

What is the basis for the marriage covenant that God instituted? We see in the very beginning that God instituted marriage because of His unique creation of the sexes. When a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves unto his wife, they become one flesh and God joins them together in a lifelong union.

The marriage covenant is not specific to Christians, but was established at the outset of God’s creation of the human race and is equally binding on all marriages between a man and a woman.

We have seen how Jesus upheld the lifelong covenant of marriage in His teaching. Now we will look at Paul’s teaching on marriage.

We first see Paul refer to the marriage covenant in his letter to the Romans:

“For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.”

Romans 7:2-3

Paul clearly upholds marriage as established by God in the beginning – as a lifelong covenant that ends only when one of the parties dies.

We next find a lengthy discussion of marriage by Paul in I Corinthians 7. Specifically, we see Paul address a situation where an unbelieving spouse departs from a believing spouse:

“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.”

I Corinthians 7:15

This departure (or putting asunder) was what Jesus expressly commanded against:

“And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

Matthew 19:4-6 (emphasis added)

Is Paul now saying that the departure of an unbelieving spouse would render the marriage covenant established by God no longer binding? Certainly not. We have already seen that Paul understood the marriage covenant to be terminable only by death.

If someone is “under bondage” to another, they are obligated to follow them wherever they go. They are constrained to do whatever the one to whom they are in bondage requires of them. Numerous places in Scripture, we are taught that those who are bound to earthly masters are as freemen in Christ. Servitude to an earthly master did not exclude one from being a servant of Jesus Christ. And to the extent that the one to whom they were in bondage did not require them to violate the law of God, they were to continue their servitude to that person. Nowhere in Scripture are we taught that we are no longer bound to the law of God.

In the case of an unbelieving spouse who departs, Paul exempts a believing spouse from continued bondage to that person. They are to let the departing spouse leave and are not obligated to go with them. The departure is a physical separation initiated by man, but does not nullify the marriage covenant as instituted by God. The man and woman have become one flesh – joined together by God – and only death will end the union.

The one who departs does so in violation of the law of God. This does not make the law of God any less binding on the one who remains. If anything, the believing spouse ought to be more resolved than ever to remain faithful to their marriage covenant. For while an unbeliever may completely disregard the law of God, believers recognize that the very faith through which they are saved also establishes the law. (Romans 3:31)

Paul wraps up this discussion of marriage by saying:

“The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.”

I Corinthians 7:39-40

So we see that Paul continues, in his teaching on marriage, to uphold marriage as it was originally instituted by God – as a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman.

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