“The Choice To Marry Or Not: Upholding The Commandments!”

“The Choice To Marry Or Not: Upholding The Commandments!”(I Cor.7:1-18).
Paul’s letter to the Church in Corinth is very telling of a Church plagued with many problems. The letter is a reply to a letter sent to him in which many worrisome issues were raised.
The lessons implied by the letter is that a congregation of converts does not automatically become a congregation of saints. By the way, every saint has an unsaintly past.
Just like the Corinthians we have a tendency of wanting to continue with our old habits and practices until we have to be reminded that once in Christ we have become new creations, abandoning old things and embracing the new. The temple to Aphrodite on the Acrocorinth above Corinth used to have in service about 1000 priestess prostitutes. Imagine the reasoning of new converts in the Corinthian Church coming from amongst them or adherents of Aphrodite!
It is also implied that a congregation of believers cannot know it all, and that when in doubt and confusion it is good to seek counsel from those who have groomed us in the faith. That is what the Corinthians did by writing to Paul raising those worrisome questions. Questions which if not properly handled could breed a congregation of syncretistic and compromising Christians who will think that they are alive, meanwhile they were dead.
One of the pertinent questions raised was concerning marriage. As to whether a man should marry or not, Paul prefered celibacy, but with the prevalence of immorality it is better for each man to have his own wife and vise versa. In this union there is need to satisfy the sexual urges of each partner.
The better thing for widows and the unmarried is to remain this way, but where they cannot control themselves, let them marry.
An enstranged wife should remain unmarried, seeking reconciliation. This is contrary to what Seneca once said was existing in the Greek world where “women were married to divorce and divorced to remarry.” For the Christian divorce is out of the question.
A Christian man or woman should not divorce the partner because the partner is not a believer. The unbelieving spouse is sanctified through the believing spouse. Besides, it may be that you the believing spouse is the one who will save your unbelieving partner.
As a general rule, “each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned him and to which God has called him.” Christian Jews should not be compelled to undo their circumcision, nor should Christian Gentiles be compelled to be circumcised. God in Christ calls all of us to circumcise our hearts in order to allow the Lord Jesus Christ to come in and have a dwelling place.
On this issue we all have a choice to make; a decision to marry or not to marry. But once the decision has been made, the LORD’s commandment must be adhered to.
Prayer: Holy Spirit guide us on the choice to marry or not to marry and strengthen us to live within the confines our our choices. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
(To be continued).