Pastor's Blog
September 26, 2016
Check out these
passage from the Bible for the “answers”
What do they tell you?
Ephesians 5:21-33
(NIV)
“Submit to one
another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives, submit to your
husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as
Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their
husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your
wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to
make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or
wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way,
husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves
himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and
cares for it, just as Christ does the church-- for we are members of his
body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be
united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a
profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. However,
each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must
respect her husband.”
I Corinthians 7:1-40
(NIV)
Concerning Married
Life
7 Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have
sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But since sexual immorality is occurring,
each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with
her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and
likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her
own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not
have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 5 Do not deprive
each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may
devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not
tempt youbecause of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not
as a command. 7 I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your
own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
8 Now to the unmarried[a] and the widows I say: It is good for them to
stay unmarried, as I do. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should
marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must
not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or
else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife
who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce
her.13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to
live with her, she must not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband has
been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified
through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as
it is, they are holy.
15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister
is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16 How
do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know,
husband, whether you will save your wife?
Concerning Change of Status
17 Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever
situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them.This is
the rule I lay down in all the churches. 18 Was a man already circumcised when
he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when
he was called? He should not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing and
uncircumcision is nothing.Keeping God’s commands is what counts. 20 Each person
should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.
21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble
you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22 For the one who was a
slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly,
the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought at a
price; do not become slaves of human beings. 24 Brothers and sisters, each
person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when
God called them.
Concerning the
Unmarried
25 Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a
judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26 Because of the
present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is.27 Are you
pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a
commitment? Do not look for a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not
sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will
face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
29 What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now
on those who have wives should live as if they do not; 30 those who mourn, as
if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy
something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31 those who use the things of the
world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is
passing away.
32 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is
concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. 33 But a married
man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— 34
and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the
Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit.
But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can
please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you,
but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.
36 If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably toward the
virgin he is engaged to, and if his passions are too strong[b] and he feels he
ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get
married. 37 But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is
under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his
mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing. 38 So then, he
who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does
better.[c]
39 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. 40 In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that
I too have the Spirit of God.
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