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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
June 30
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Today's Pathway:
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Having discussed the wickedness of immorality, Paul spends most of chapter 7 dealing with marital relationships. Apparently, based on the wording of verse 1, he is responding to questions that the church at Corinth had sent to him. In verse 1 he says that,
"it is good for a man not to touch a woman".
A few commentators believe that this is Paul's way of saying that it is good to remain unmarried. He does talk about the merits of being single several different times in this chapter. Most commentators interpret this as being an additional injunction against fornication. However, having given a blistering condemnation of sexual sin in the previous chapter, it doesn't make sense that he would follow that up by simply saying "it's good not to be immoral". A literal interpretation of the verse would be that it would be good for a man to keep his hands off any woman to whom he is not married. The word "touch" means "touch", and is used in that normal way continuously in the New Testament. This does not mean that a man can't shake hands with a woman. However, It does mean that any sort of sensual physical contact should be avoided. It would be very rare that consensual fornication, particularly where believers are involved, would begin with the act itself. It would start with hugs and caresses, and gradually escalate. If a man is to "flee fornication" (I Corinthians 6:18), he needs to start doing it by fleeing from that which would lead to fornication.
In verse 2, Paul writes that men and women should get married rather than commit sexual sin. It should be noted that the physical relationship in marriage is appropriate and wonderful. Hebrews 13:4 states,
"Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled."
Proverbs 5:18-19 teaches this, as does the Song of Solomon. Marriage is God’s way to prevent premarital and extramarital sexual relationships. Notice that each person is to have his own wife or husband, not someone else’s wife or husband. The use of the singular in the words "wife" and "husband" also forbids polygamy. Though this was often practiced in the Old Testament, God never sanctioned it, and when He originally instituted the family He stated that a man (singular) was to cleave to his wife (singular) and that he and his one wife would be one flesh (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5).
Verses 3-4 deal with the marital bed. Without going into great detail, both the husband and the wife are to "render due benevolence" to each other. "Render" means to "give away", but most of the time that it is used in the New Testament it carries the idea of rewarding, recompensing, or paying a debt. "Due" means that which is owed, and "benevolence" simply means "kindness". While this could be applied in many ways between a married couple, the context indicates that the physical aspect of marriage is being referred to. This is particularly clear in verse 4 where Paul specifically mentions the bodies of the husband and wife. As mentioned yesterday, the believer's body does not belong to himself or herself. It belongs to God (I Corinthians 6:20), and it belongs to his or her spouse. In fact, Paul writes that the wife has power over the husband's body, and vice versa. The word translated "power" means to have authority or control. In verse 5 Paul says that refusing to "render due benevolence" is to "defraud" your spouse. He then says that the only instance where abstention is acceptable is if both spouses agree ("consent") to it, it is done for spiritual reasons ("fasting and prayer"), and it is then resumed ("for a time; come together again"). Failure to do this will open the door for Satan to tempt someone to not have enough self-control to remain faithful.
These are verses that can be awkward to teach from the pulpit. However, they are part of God's inspired Word, and need to be put into practice.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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