Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

Review:

I.

The Command to Married Believers (vs.

10-11)

A. Paul teaches how Marriage among Believers reflects Christ and the gospel

In the end, the scope of the covenant of marriage is that God would be honored in his creation and his character would be reflected in those who love him.

In the relationship with God and his covenant people, marriage has always been the picture used to depict this relationship.

The Lord was the husband of Israel.

When Israel lusted after pagan gods and idols, they were called spiritual adulterers against their groom, the Lord.

In NT times, Jesus gives parables of the Messiah being like a bridegroom coming for his bride on their wedding day and those attendants in the bridal party were not ready for his return.

Paul solidifies that marriage imagery even more by describing in Eph 5 that the relationship between husband and wife is a frail reflection of Christ and his bride the church.

Finally, in Revelation, the great gathering of the church to Christ is depicted in a wedding feast in heaven,

In everything, as believers in Jesus Christ, we must understand that our fallible marriage were the plan of God to be a picture to the world of a savior who loves and unlovable people and who sacrificially gave of himself unconditionally in love.

Are marriages are not perfect pictures of the gospel but God does not need them to be perfect.

He calls us to be faithful to live as married persons under the Lordship of Christ and He will use as a shining lights of his glory and his glorious salvation in His good providence.

Unbelievers that reflect marriage fidelity are participating in God’s good design and are unaware.

Believers have been enlightened to the importance of faithful marriages as they point to Christ and therefore we are compelled by Scripture to live as God calls us to live in his covenant love and our covenant bonds of marriage.

For Paul, this is the foundation of his instruction to the believers in Corinth.

They were needing biblical instruction because culture was moving them out of sync with what God desires for marriages.

Culture of that day provided temptations for the Corinthian church.

One particular problem was the sexual promiscuity that led to believers wanting to abstain from sexual intimacy with their spouses in order to devote themselves fully to the Lord.

Paul warns against such actions as counterproductive to God’s good design.

Secondly, it is clear that some believers even were wanting to go so far as divorce their spouses for such reasons and Paul had to intercede with biblical wisdom from God.

Here are a few aspects that Paul deals with in verses 10-11 in regards to marriage between believers in Jesus Christ.

1. Permanence v10

Permanence reflects faithfulness.

God is faithful and unchanging.

He will never fail us and so we have his good promises that we can rely on, that we can hope in throughout our lives.

By the power of the Spirit within us, we aslo are called to faithfulness to those whom God has given us in marriage relationship.

This reflects his character of faithfulness as he lives in us.

1 Corinthians 7:10 (NASB95)

10 But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband....and that the husband should not divorce his wife.

Paul is speaking to believers in v 10-11.

These are both considered followers of Jesus Christ.

Both holding to the standards of holiness and obedience to God’s good design for marriage.

Under NO circumstances.....should a believing wife leave her believing husband, or vice versa.

There should be no reason to for both should be living in Christ-likeness towards one another, reflecting the holiness of God in the marriage.

Paul is addressing this issue because Christians in Corinth were desiring to get divorced for spiritual reasons, as if being married was a distraction to their walk with Christ.

As Paul addressees the woman first in these verses, we might assume that he was answering a particular question from or an issue with a believing woman who wanted to divorce her believing husband.

Paul uses the two GR words in these verses both synonymously referring to divorce.

In Roman-greco culture, women had just as much legal writes as men to walk of of a marriage.

Leaving physically would led to legal divorce.

In Jewish culture, only men could initiate a divorce which is why women had to be given certificate of divorces.

If Jewish women did not receive those certificates, a Jewish woman could not remarry and that Jewish husband had a write to take that woman back whenever he pleased, if he wanted.

So the issue in v 10-11 is that divorce between believers is prohibited.

It does not reflect the character of God and it does not reflect the desire of God who states in Malachi 2:16

Malachi 2:16 (NASB95)

16 “For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel

Of course, in this fallen world, we want to talk about conditions, the what if questions that led to a myriad of more questions.

Paul will not deal with all those answers here in the rest of his letters.

We have to take all of the wisdom of God and apply it to these circumstances.

What if my husband is abusive?

What if my husband is addicted to pornography?

What if my wife is lazy and neglects her duties as a wife?

All of these particular scenarios are not specifically dealt with here by Paul.

But the overarching command of God’s call to permanence is a good place to start.

God does not want followers of his Son seeking divorce with their spouses.

The reason is given in verse 11,

1. Permanence v 10

2. Reconciliation v11

Paul does address one major issue of his day, divorce for the sake of remarriage.

If a believer is seeking to divorce because he or she has lost that loving feeling, or is seeking a relationship with someone else, then that believer is in sin and this is a matter of church discipline.

The church should step in an address issues that might lead to restoration not violation of the marriage covenant.

So Paul states that reconciliation is the key.

Reconciliation is the second aspect of marriages between followers of Christ, behind permanence.

The wife or husband should seek reconciliation with marriage conflicts instead of seeking the dissolution of what God had joined together.

The believer seeking the divorce should remain unmarried in Paul’s teaching because reconciliation is the goal of a Christian marriage.

This stands apart from unresolved conflict in marriages of unbelievers.

Resentment wins the day in so many of these relationships so that the erosion of love and fidelity continues in that marriage relationship until one partner or both cannot take it anymore.

They do not forgive They do not reconcile.

They sweep it under the rug and every unresolved conflicts is like walking around with small shards of glass in your shoes.

One, two or three is bearable, but eventually, you have had enough.

Reconciliation is the key because again, Christ is the center of marriages between believers.

There should exist forgiveness, self-denial, serving the needs of others over oneself, honor, and respect.

If there is not, the church is there to intervene and apply spiritual guidance and discipline if necessary.

The church aids in reconciliation.

If not, then its because one of both of the spouses are rejecting the truth of God’s word, rejecting the wisdom of believers in the church and therefore, according to Matthew 18, they should be considered an unbeliever.

What about adultery, pastor?

Isn’t adultery a way out of marriage between believers?

Well, Jesus did address divorce in Matthew 19 and so for the sake of clarity about the subject, let us revisit this passage that we previously look at in our study through the gospels.

Jesus wisdom also give notice that God’s design of permanent faithful marriage is the goal and most pleasing in his sight.

B. Jesus Affirms God’s Good Design for Marriage (Matt 19:3-9)

What did Jesus teach regarding divorce?

Context: Jesus is dealing with the culture of his day just as Paul does as he writes 1 Cor.

For Jesus, the issue of marriage and divorce was from a Jewish context, while Paul’s was more a Roman-greco one.

For Jesus, we will see he is dealing to two prevading teachings on divorce from two leading Jewish authorites among the people.

These two groups stemmed from the Jewish teachers of Hillel and Shammai.

Both taught from different interpretations of the OT passages on divorce in Deut 24.

Those under the teaching of Hillel belived that divorce was

Notice that Jesus takes them back further in the Pentateuch, to Genesis, which was also written by Moses to clarify that God ordains and sanctifies the permanence of marriage.

Jesus is trying to get them back on track on this issue of marriage since they had taken the Lev 24 passage and clearly misinterpreted it before the people.

He reminds them of 3 foundational elements of marriage:

A. Differing Genders

Along with the creation of the martial union, Jesus reminds the Pharisees that marriage was between one man and one woman.

Even in Moses day, the idea of sexual immorality that led to divorces were a result of sexual sin in various forms like incest, homosexuality, etc.

To try and create marriages that are between two men, two woman, or biological relatives is to go against the natural plan of God for marriage for differing genders of husband and wife.

People who want to honor God and the union of marriage that He created will not try and dilute, manipulate or change the order in which God designed it.

Marriage only fitting before God when it is a marriage between a man and a woman.

All others versions can be called marriage in the eyes of earthly magistrates and officials but it is not marriage blessed by God nor supported by His church.

A.Differing Genders