On husbands and wives

Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. – 1 Corinthians 7.1-5

I almost hate talking about this passage. I am ashamed that for years I taught the first phrase of this first totally out of context. I used it to kick off a message about the importance of sexual purity. Boy was I wrong to use it an apologies to anyone who heard me and is reading this.

In actuality this passage is response to a teaching going around that God was against all sex. This idea that sex is bad and must be avoided is one that creeps up over and over in various denominations and sects and cults. Someone was telling the Corinthians that it is wrong to touch a woman – even in marriage.

Of course that is the quickest way to die off in a generation. That can’t be right.

So Paul clarifies it. Paul says that husbands and wives ought to enjoy the normal physical relationship that God designed for us. It is more than that though. Paul says that husbands and wives should not deny each other. We are sexual beings and the danger is that doing so would not satisfy those desires and could lead to unfaithfulness.

There is one exception. It is a kind of fast where husband and wife agree to abstain from sex for a time for prayer and fasting. Even that should only be for an agreed time.

It is a blessing that God is so practical about such a real part of our lives.