Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven Avery
She stands for the marriage. By the grace of God ne becomes unconfused and the marriage is unabandoned.
It works better with strong church support and belief, that a covenant marriage is forever. Conviction helps.
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And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. 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. For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?
(1Co 7:10-16)
Paul is relaying two sets of instructions, pertaining to two types or classes of cases. In the first case, he simply reiterates what Christ taught, "yet not I, but the Lord..." In the second case he asserts he is giving his apostolic judgment. This means that the second case ("to the rest speak I, not the Lord") concerns a matter NOT DISCUSSED by the Lord in the Gospel accounts or maintained by then-current oral tradition.
The second case involves a believer married to an unbeliever, ie a mixed marriage as concerns religion. Jesus did not address such marriages, most likely because such were already forbidden by the Law so would not be under contemplation in the contexts in which Jesus' teachings were given concerning marriage. Paul however had to deal with a situation that Jesus did not directly address: the case where a gentile heathen couple experience a conversion on the part of one of the parties.
In the second case concerning mixed marriages Paul states that IF worse comes to worse and the unbeliever decides the marriage is now a no-go, then the believer is "not under bondage in such cases". This seems to me to indicate that in the case of a mixed marriage, if the heathen partner decides to dissolve the marriage the believer is no longer bound to that partner.
It seems that what you are saying makes the two cases identical, that is, the same response is given for both cases. Yet this seems contrary to the plain statement of Paul that he is giving information NOT given by Jesus in His original marriage teaching. If the response to both cases were identical, then Paul would not need to say "to the rest" nor would he need to specify that he is giving apostolic judgment in contrast to Christ's known declarations. The two cases are different, and the two solutions are different.
Otherwise, saying "not under bondage" literally has no meaning. How can one not be under bondage (ie not be bound) in a marriage if they are just as bound to the marriage after the separation as they were before?
Again, though, Paul's statement here applies to mixed marriages not to marriages between two persons both in covenant with God. (And, of course, this is not concerning a case where a Christian decides to marry a non believer, either.)
Can you elaborate on how you understand this entire passage? And why?