The Contribution of 1 Corinthians 7: 1-11; 15; & 25-28 Towards Guidance on Marriage, Separation, Divorce & Remarriage for Christians in the Church: An Exegetical Study of 1 Corinthians 7: 1 – 11; 15; 25 – 28

Abstract

The subject of marriage, separation, divorce and remarriage is extensive and controversial in the church today. The reality is that divorce, the very thing that God hates has become so rampant in society today and has extended to the church. Additionally, we are living in the postmodern world with evolving trends whereby Millennials and Gen Zers prefer to steer away from marriage due to the fear of divorce and will go to great lengths to avoid marriage and the commitment that comes with it. Different bible scholars have presented different views on this subject, despite drawing their conclusions from similar bible texts. The objective of this study was to understand the place of marriage, separation, divorce and remarriage in the Jewish and Greco-Roman Society, which may have influenced Paul’s guidance to the church in Corinth. The other objective was to conduct an exegesis to examine the contribution of 1 Corinthians 7: 1-11, 15, 25-28 in providing guidance on the subject of study in the church today. The researcher did a background review to understand the cultural context of Corinth at the time that Paul wrote the text to the Corinthian church. An extensive review of other scholars writing on the subject was also done.  The researcher then conducted an exegesis of the selected text and addressed various exegetical issues raised. Drawing from the study, the researcher proposes, that marriage is important but has its obligations that are demanding to the married persons, hence the need for maturity for persons in marriage.   It emerged from the exegesis, that the choice to remain unmarried whether one is single by virtue of not having been married before or one is divorced, would ideally be as a result of one having received the supernatural gifting from God to remain unmarried. This is a gift to some and not to all and is therefore not to be imposed across the board.   It also emerged that there are cases where spouses end up getting divorced for varied reasons. As such, the believing partner left behind is to make peace with that fact and allow the partner to leave the marriage. Beyond this, the partner being divorced is not compelled to live in the bondage of a marriage that is non-functional. Additionally, the church should embrace persons who have been divorced and should provide support to them, instead of being the cause of stigma. From the exegesis, we can reasonably conclude that remarriage would be acceptable, for those who for various reasons have found themselves single again.  This is particularly for people who have not been bestowed with the gift of singlehood by God and feel the desire to be united to someone else in marriage, to avoid falling into the temptation of sexual immorality. Finally, we can conclude that the church should be involved in provision of guidance to unmarried couples, and they must provide regular follow up for couples beyond the wedding day, in order to support healthy marriages.