"Successful marriage requires falling in love many times with the same person"

And now, the second challenging scripture:

Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife. But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned (1 Corinthians 7:27-28 KJV).

You might be able to take this verse and make a good case for remarriage but only IF you totally ignore the context!

The Apostle Paul, in the 7th chapter of his first letter to the believers at Corinth, writes on the topic of "Marriage". The chapter is divided into three parts: 1- General Questions, 2- To Married Believers, 3- To Unmarried Virgins.

1- Now about the QUESTIONS you asked in your letter. In I Corinthians 7:1-9. the Apostle Paul answers certain questions that some believers in the church had asked.

2- Now, for those who are MARRIED I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord (I Corinthians 7:10 NLT). Then in verses 11-24, he gives specific instructions to married couples.

3- Now concerning VIRGINS: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy (I Corinthians 7:25 NAS). Then in verses 26-40, he gives specific instructions to virgin unmarried men and women.

This second challenging scripture,1 Corinthians 7:27-28, is clearly within the instructions to virgin unmarried men and women, thus it cannot be used to refer to a married man or woman or to one who is divorced.

At this point, I can hear the shouts of protest, "But you're forgetting the word 'wife' is used three times ..."

Let's look at the word "wife". In the original Greek, the word is "gune": a woman, a wife but in the New Testament KJV, the word is translated "wife" every time but one! The word "husband" comes from the Greek "aner": a man, a husband but in the New Testament KJV, the word is translated "husband" every time but one. The modern language translations usually translate these words "wife" and "husband" as well.

However, the only way you can determine if gune means unmarried woman or engaged woman or married woman and if aner means unmarried man or engaged man or married man IS FROM THE CONTEXT OF THE PASSAGE! 

We're all familiar with Matthew 1:18-20, the birth of Jesus. Matthew refers to Joseph as "husband" and later in the passage Mary as "wife, who had "not yet come together" (or given their marriage vows and consummated the marriage). In other words, they were "espoused" or "betrothed". Today we would say "Joseph and his fiance" and we wouldn't use the terms "husband and wife" until they were married! But the Jewish betrothal and wedding customs were more strict. The promise to marry was binding and the only way a man could put away his betrothed was if she had been found to be unfaithful during the betrothal or separation period.

But you ask, "What about the words 'bound' and 'loosed'? Don't they refer to the married state?" Actually, they refer to both the betrothed and the married state. Again, you must determine from the context whether the couple is betrothed or married.

The Apostle Paul makes it quite easy for us to know for sure who he's talking to!

In 1 Corinthians 7:10, he tells us clearly he's writing to married men and women and this continues on to verse 24.

In 1 Corinthians 7:25 on, he tells us clearly he's writing to virgins (and virgins can either be unmarried or betrothed) and this continues on to verse 38.

Thus, in verses 27 and 28, the message is: "Are you (virgin betrothed man) promised? don't break it off! Are you (virgin unmarried man) free to marry? don't! But if you (virgin unmarried man) marry, you've not sinned; and if a virgin (unmarried woman) marry, she hasn't sinned."

In verse 39, Paul summarizes his thoughts with "A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. In my judgment however, she is happier if she stays as she is - and I think that I too have the Spirit of God." (1 Corinthians 7:39 NIV)

Considering the Jewish wedding customs and looking at the context, it's impossible to use Paul's instructions to justify remarriage after divorce!

Next: Chapter 6 Resolving the Challenges Matt. 19:3-11

Key to translations used in this article: NLT  New Living Translation; KJV  King James Version; NIV  New International Version; NAS  New American Standard; ETGNT  Wuest's Expanded Translation Greek New Testament