A Mystical Union (Genesis 2)

"Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman" (Gen. 2:22).

In Ephesians 5 marriage is described as analogous to or symbolic of the relationship between Christ and His church. This comparison is filled with many practical implications for the married couple. As a follow-up to our study on 1 Corinthians 7, we will spend the next week examining those implications and exploring how marriage can be compared with the mystical union believers have with Christ.

We first encounter marriage as symbolic of our mystical union with Christ in the creation of Eve. Though created as a separate person with a distinct personality all her own, Eve was formed of the same substance as man. B. M. Palmer writes, “She is made in every respect the counterpart of the man. With perfect identity of nature—corporeal, intellectual, and moral—there runs through her entire organization the distinction of sex. The same yet different, the likeness and the variation mark her throughout as the complement of the man.… In like manner, believers are ‘created in Christ Jesus;’ and with them, of course, the church. Only in Him could they become the subjects of that grace through which they believe and are saved.… As the woman was taken from the man in her individual subsistence, so all the seed of Christ are individually renewed by the Holy Ghost (thus, we are said to be created in Christ Jesus). And as the woman in her distinction returns to the man, in the movement of her own affections, so does the believer return, in the action of his faith to that glorious Head in whom first he was chosen to eternal life.”

Just as we are not simply unified in Christ by a legal declaration, neither are the husband and wife unified merely by law. It is a spiritual and vital union, and therefore, mysterious in its nature, just as our union with Christ is mysterious. If we treat marriage as something more than a legal compact, if we treat it as it truly is, we will enter into it more soberly and thoughtfully. We will think more seriously about the person with whom we want to be united. The marriage union is as intimate as Eve’s relationship with Adam. She was part of him, and in marriage the husband and wife are part of each other—a perfect analogy of our union with Christ. We are members of His body, not only representatively, but spiritually and vitally.

What does it mean to be spiritually united with Christ? (John 15) What are some practical implications of this union in the believer’s life? What does it mean to be spiritually united in marriage? Make a list of practical implications of that union for the husband and the wife.

The Sanctified Spouse (1 Corinthians 7:14-16)

"For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife …" (1 Cor. 7:14).

The word “sanctify” in these verses means to cleanse, to render morally pure, to consecrate, to regard as sacred, and to hold in reverence. Any person or object consecrated to God, or employed for His service, is considered to be sanctified or holy. Thus, the temple in the Old Testament, its utensils, the sacrifices, the priests, the altar, are called holy. Those things that are not consecrated to God are called profane, common, or unclean. To transfer anything from one class, from the profane, to that which is set apart for the purposes of God, is to sanctify it. “What God has cleansed you must not call common” (Acts 10:15). The Hebrew people were sanctified by being separated from other nations and employed in the service of God, and all who joined them within the fold of the theocracy were called holy. Their children were holy, and so were their wives. “If the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches” (Rom. 11:16).

It must remain clear, however, that this does not mean that parents and children who are consecrated to the Lord and subject to the benefits and blessings of Christ in an outward sense are necessarily born again. “In none of these cases does the word express any subjective or inward change,” Hodge wrote. “Children born within the theocracy, and therefore holy, were none the less conceived in sin, and brought forth in iniquity. They were by nature the children of wrath, even as others, Eph. 2:3. When, therefore, it is said that the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife, and the unbelieving wife by the believing husband, the meaning is, not that they were rendered inwardly holy, nor that they are brought under a sanctifying influence, but that they were sanctified by their intimate union with a believer, just as the temple sanctified the gold connected with it; or the altar the gift laid upon it, Matt. 23:17, 19.… The pagan husband, in virtue of his union with a Christian wife, although he remained a pagan, was sanctified; he assumed a new relation; he was set apart to the service of God, as the guardian of one of His chosen ones, and as the parent of children who, in virtue of their believing mother, were children of the covenant.”

What are some practical ways that an unbelieving husband or wife is sanctified by his or her believing spouse? How are children blessed by their believing parent? What is the hope given in these verses to the believing spouse? Pray for the salvation of the covenant children in your church and for those unbelieving wives and husbands.

The Unbelieving Spouse (1 Corinthians 7:12-13)

"If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her" (1 Cor. 7:12).

It would not have been uncommon in the early church, as it is not uncommon today, for one person in a marriage union to be born again while the other remained in an unregenerate state. Such circumstances are difficult as one party in the marriage finds new life in Christ and begins to flower under the radiance of His grace, while the other remains in bondage to sin, having no love for Christ, for His people, or for the binding authority of God’s Word. It would have been tempting for the Corinthians, as it is for many today, to abandon their marriage for the sake of happiness and freedom. But, such action, no matter how much it is based on noble reasons and desires, is not approved by God. Neither the husband nor the wife, both of whom were allowed to divorce under Greek and Roman law, had the option to divorce their unbelieving spouse.

Paul’s statement that his teaching concerning such matters is his and not the Lord’s is not a question of inspiration. Since Christ did not deal with this specific issue, Paul had no precedent to which he could direct the Corinthians. But this does not mean that his teaching is any less binding or inspired than the teaching of Christ while He was on earth. “The rule which the apostle lays down is, that such marriages are lawful, and therefore there is no obligation on the Christian party to dissolve the connection,” Hodge wrote. A marriage is just as binding between two unbelievers as it is between two Christians. And likewise, a marriage is just as binding between an unbeliever and a Christian. If the unbelieving party in this instance wants to remain in the marriage, the marriage may not be dissolved.

The difficulty of living with an unbelieving spouse cannot be understated. While the Scriptures maintain that the marriage must continue in such cases, it does not leave the Christian without hope. God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. He can change the hardened heart of an unbelieving husband or wife. And He can give us the grace to live with someone who rejects that which we hold most dear, who seems to stand in the way of our sanctification and desire to serve the Lord. Even in such difficult circumstances, God’s grace is sufficient.

If you know someone married to an unbelieving spouse, pray for them today. Ask God to give them peace, to look to God for fellowship and leadership, and to trust in Him in the midst of their trials. If you are married to an unbeliever, pray that God will increase your trust in Him and meditate on the verses below.

Unlawful Divorce (1 Corinthians 7:10-11)

"And a husband is not to divorce his wife" (1 Cor. 7:11).

Paul’s distinction in these verses between his commands and those of the Lord is not a distinction between what is inspired and what is not. The “Lord” here refers to Christ, and the distinction that Paul intends is between what Christ had taught while on earth and what Paul by His Spirit was inspired to teach. Paul’s teaching here is the inspired word of the Lord and, in the case of verses 10–11, is the teaching of Christ Himself when He was on earth (Matt. 5:32; 19:3–9; Mark 10:2–12; Luke 16:18).

Paul tells the Corinthians that they did not need further instruction from him on the matter of divorce because Christ had already dealt with the issue. Jesus taught his followers that the marriage bond could not be dissolved whenever either party had the whim. The wife had no right to leave her husband, and the husband had no right to put away his wife. This teaching is particularly applicable today as the divorce rate has skyrocketed. Marriage is treated today as a human institution that can be dissolved by human authority. But marriage is instituted by God and established by His authority; therefore, it can only be dissolved according to His laws. The main reason divorce is so prevalent today is because of this breakdown in authority. Our generation denies the authority of God and thus His authority over the marriage union.

According to the teaching of Christ, adultery annuls marriage because it is a breach of the specific contract involved in marriage. And so does, for the same reason, willful desertion, which Paul deals with in the following verse. “The plain doctrine of the passage before us, as well as other portions of the Word of God, is that marriage is an indissoluble covenant between one man and one woman for life, admitting neither of polygamy nor of divorce,” Hodge wrote. If the covenant be annulled, it can only be by adultery and willful desertion; nothing else is a legitimate ground of divorce.

If a person does leave their spouse, he or she must remained unmarried or be reconciled to his or her spouse. “There are cases undoubtedly which justify a woman in leaving her husband, which do not justify divorce,” Hodge wrote. “The apostle teaches, however, that in such cases of separation, the parties must remain unmarried.”

What is Jesus’ teaching about marriage and divorce? How does this go against the common practice not only of the world today but much of the church? If you have had wrong ideas about marriage and divorce, confess them today and conform your thinking to the instruction and laws of Christ.

Better to Marry than Burn (1 Corinthians 7:8-9)

"… but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry" (1 Cor. 7:8).

One of the key arguments Paul gives in exhorting the unmarried to marry has to do with self-control. But, at the same time, we must not understand Paul as advocating a marriage based solely on the physical relationship. It is wrong for two people to marry just to have an object upon which to release their passions. Paul is clearly speaking of a particular situation in the context of broader teachings on marriage in which there is mutual love, respect, and self-sacrifice.

“Marriage, according to Paul, does for man in the sphere of nature, what union with Christ does for him in the sphere of grace,” Hodge wrote. “The truth is that the apostle writes to the Corinthians as he would do to an army about to enter on a most unequal conflict in an enemy’s country, and for a protracted period. He tells them, ‘This is no time for you to think of marriage. You have a right to marry. And in general it is best that all men should marry. But in your circumstances marriage can only lead to embarrassment and increase of suffering.” ’ Embarrassment because they might not be able to fulfill their duties, and increase of suffering because of the added responsibilities on account of a family. In this sense, Paul wishes the unmarried in Corinth could be like him. But if they could not control themselves, they must marry. The problem among the Corinthians was clearly one of self-control. Paul says “it is better to marry than to burn.” This might seem to depreciate marriage as if it were nothing better than the mating relations between animals. But Paul is not depreciating marriage here because that would be in contradiction to the rest of Scripture, which emphasizes the nobility of marriage.

Self-control is a grace given from above, and in the case of sexual restraint, more grace is given. If a person is not given the grace to be single, he must think about getting married, not simply to satisfy his physical cravings, but because it would be very difficult to live with such passionate desires if he has not been given the grace to do so. In such circumstances, he must not be talked out of marriage by those who exalt celibacy. He, instead, must make necessary preparations in his own character and his circumstances to become married.

Select one or two single people in your church to pray for today. If you are single yourself, do the same. Pray that they be protected from their own desires until they are married. Pray that God give them self-control and patience. Pray that they prepare their hearts and lives for getting married, if they have not been called to singleness.