Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ 1 Corinthians

[Blue Jay]

Because we can sanctify each other 1 Corinthians 7:14

Because we can sanctify each other 1 Corinthians 7:14

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

Comments??

[jimwalton]

The chapter is about divorce. It means that through the believing wife the marriage relationship is sanctified so there is no need of divorce if the unbelieving husband will agree to stay with her (v. 13). It doesn't mean the husband is automatically saved (a distinctly unbiblical idea). Instead, if either the husband or the wife is a believer and the unbelieving partner agrees to stay in the marriage, the marriage is "holy" and there is no reason to get a divorce. Neither one is "contaminated" by staying in the marriage with an unbeliever.

In the OT, the holy being contaminated by the impure was an important idea. But we see in the ministry of Jesus that the flow was reversed. Jesus was never contaminated by contact with the impure (whether lepers or demons, etc.). Instead, his holiness "overwhelmed" the impurities of the other, and they were healed, or cast out, or raised from the dead, etc.

Here Paul's thought is along those same lines. Don't worry about being "contaminated" by contact with impurity. Instead, be a force for holiness and righteousness in your relationships, here, specifically, marriage. Holiness is more powerful than uncleanliness.