Sermon Tone Analysis

1 Corinthians 7:10-16: https://www.bible.com/bible/59/1CO.7.10-16.ESV

Not everybody gives up on their marriage because things are not good.

When it comes to Marriage in Corinth, many were actually giving up.

The Verb tenses used in the passage today tell us that the kinds of divorces that he is describing are actually happening.

These are part of the report that he has received about division...

When we think of the division in the church, we have to realize that often division in the church goes down to the core relationships.

There is division among friends, there is division among families, and often there is division between husbands and wives.

That is clearly the case here.

The Division may be related to some of despicable sin in the church, leading some to ungodly looseness, and some to ungodly celibacy.

it has caused the Gospel to drained of its potency, and the testimony of the church is being ruined before the watching world.

Yes the Glory of Christ is at stake!

What if I told you that your marriage has the potential to reveal Christ, or to lead someone to Hell?

The book ends of this section is talking about glorifying God in your body...

1 Cor 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.

So glorify God in your body.”

1 Cor 7:23 “You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.”

Whereas we were describing the unmarried and the widow getting together for the glory of God, now we are now talking about the married... staying together is for the Glory of God.

What circumstances will give you the opportunity to glorify God in your marriage?

There are two in the text:

1.

When you have seem to have irreconcilable differences... Stay together for the glory of God.

1 Cor 7:10-11"to the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife.

The specific people in question: In our passage, marriage is the generic word for “all kinds of marriage”, and it is related to a few kinds of divorce.

Remember: The Corinthians have come from all kinds of backgrounds.

Slaves and free, jews and gentiles, prostitutes etc… old verb, to marry, and still married as the tense shows.

John McArthur described some of the kinds of marriage in Corinth.

contubernium - A contubernium was an official relationship between a free citizen and a slave or between two slaves in ancient Rome.

A slave involved in such relationship was called contubernalis.

usus - by usus (habitual cohabitation) A cum manu acquired by usus was simply the cohabitation of the husband and wife for the duration of a year, after which ownership of the wife was transferred to her partner and she was considered taken by the decree of yearly possession.

This process required no ceremonial practices.

coemptio in manum - The matrimonial process of coemptio, in essence a notional sale of the woman to the husband, could be transacted at any point during the marriage.

The transaction was conducted by a scales-holder in the presence of at least five witnesses, all of whom were adult male Roman citizens.

confarreatio, - In ancient Rome, confarreatio was a traditional form of marriage.

The ceremony involved the bride and bridegroom sharing a cake of spelt, in Latin far or panis farreus,hence the rite's name.

The Flamen Dialis and Pontifex Maximus presided over the wedding, and ten witnesses had to be present.The woman passed directly from the hand (manus) of her father or head of household (the paterfamilias) to that of her new husband.

Here the generic is applicable to two married people assumed to be believers.

SInce it is contrasted with the next category.

The Specific Problem in question: “This charge” “instruction” is for two married believers.

Note: the charge.

this word is not used for the instruction of non-believers.

This is not to the unmarried and widows that precede this and not for the one with an unbelieving spouse that followed.

Te hcharge is: do not leave, and do not send away.

The context is not exhaustive, but is addressing the division in the marriages of the church where one spouse seems to play the role of super-spiritual, and is living in celibacy in spite of martial obligations…now they are wanting to escape… .

This is the “she” in this case.

Paul already corrected that to say that this is a phony spirituality.

Why the difference in “separate” and “divorce" are there different implications?

A wife leaves… She goes back to her family.

A man sends away.

Women were property, issue of ownership etc…

Leave (to separate, to part) (5563) chorizo from choris = separately, apart from, from) in the active sense means to cause to separate or divide, to put apart putting a space between.

The emphasis of chorizo (especially in its literal uses) is on distance.

In the passive sense, chorizo means to separate oneself (put some space between), to be separated, Chorizo is used in 1Corinthians as the equivalent of divorce (see below).

Utley - “Women did not have the right of divorce in Judaism, but they did in Roman society.

Just because a given culture allows or disallows something does not mean that believers should avail themselves of the right or turn it into a taboo!”“Not

I but the Lord”: Mark 10:9 “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

You will wilfully violate the words of Christ.

Divorce (863)(aphiemi from apo = from, put distance between + hiemi = to send) means to dismiss or release someone or something (e.g., forgiveness is releasing someone from a "debt" so to speak) from a place or one’s presence, to let go, to send away and in the present context means to divorce.

Divorce is total marital separation, complete abandonment of the relationship.

.

Knofel Staton writes that "Divorce in the first century was even more common than today.

One first-century historian writes that people got married for the purpose of getting a divorce, and got divorced for the purpose of getting married again, it was not uncommon for a person to have been divorced and remarried several different times (ED: SOME SOURCES SAY SOME MEN AND WOMEN GOT DIVORCED UP TO TWENTY TIMES!)”.

The Specific instruction:

“Not” separate, and “not” divorce.

Remain unmarried (as a consequence): Note these are not suggestions from Paul but commandments, must remain in the present imperative.

ii. or if they have already left...”Reconcile” - the exchange of hostility for a friendly relationship.Be Reconciled - and if already separated/divorced be reconciled in the aorist imperative, the former calling for continual (lifelong) commitment and the latter conveying a sense of urgency (where passive voice is probably best viewed as a so-called divine passive, for reconciliation would need to be a supernatural, miraculous work of the Holy Spirit.

In other words reconciliation refers to the transformation of a situation of hostility to a situation of peace and trust, here applied to the reconstitution of a faltering marriage.

Note: Arnold - A Christian wife should not leave her husband for any other reason than adultery.

Women in the church at Corinth may have been leaving their husbands under the guise of being super spiritual.

However, God’s perfect will is not to dissolve a marriage but that a marriage should be permanent.

It is commanded that a woman should not divorce her husband.

Paul did not include the “exception” clause given by Christ.

Why?

That seems commonly understood since people were already so flippant about the reasons.

He is dealing with a particular people with a particular problem.

It is assumed that the “exception” clause was known and accepted by all in the Corinthian church, but it had no relevance to the problem of somthing something to do with their desire for abstinence in a relationship, or that there was no fulfillment for the spouse...

Scriptural Support:

God hates divorce…Mal 2:15-16 “Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?

And what was the one God seeking?

Godly offspring.

So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.

“For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts.

So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.””

D is only a gracious “concession” for innocent people, but never God’s best.

Divorce only enters in as a consequence of sin.. Matt 19:5-6 “and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

So they are no longer two but one flesh.

What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.””

Application: If you are married, tough it out, and if you are not married… realize there is no easy escape… choose wisely...

2. When you seem to have incompatible foundations... stay together for the glory of God.

And a woman who (is herself a believer) has an unbelieving(apistos) husband, and he consents (suneudokeo) to (present tense - continually) live (oikeo) with her, she must not send her husband away (aphiemi) - As in the preceding passage Must not send...away is a command in the present imperative with a negative implying that such a practice was already going on among the saints at Corinth.

Paul commands it to stop.

You are to stay together for the Glory of God!

The specific people in question: “The rest”are those who are contemplating divorce because their spouse is an unbeliever.

that if any brother has a wife/husband who is an unbeliever,

Unbeliever (571) apistos from a = without + pistos = believing, (faithful) means lacking in faith, without faith, disbelieving, unbelieving - in this context apistos is one who does not believe the Good News about Jesus Christ (1Ti 5:8, Titus 1:15, Rev 21:8).

Paul repeatedly used apistos in his letters to the church at Corinth because of their great need to understand how to interact with unbelievers (1Co 6:6; 7:12,13,14; 10:27; 14:22, 2324; 2Co 6:14 15).

Apistos is used most often in the Corinthian letters - Matt.

17:17; Mk. 9:19; Lk. 9:41; Lk. 12:46; Jn. 20:27; Acts 26:8; 1 Co. 6:6; 1 Co. 7:12; 1 Co. 7:13; 1 Co. 7:14; 1 Co. 7:15; 1 Co. 10:27; 1 Co. 14:22; 1 Co. 14:23; 1 Co. 14:24; 2 Co. 4:4; 2 Co. 6:14; 2 Co. 6:15; 1 Tim.

5:8; Tit.

1:15; Rev. 21:8

The specific problem in question: The believer is sending the unbeliever away in spite of the fact the unbeliever wants to stay.

“and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.” consents: Consents (4909) suneudokeo from sun = together with + eu = good + dokéo = think) literally means to "think well with", and so to consent or to give hearty approval to something (cf Lk 11:48).