1 Corinthians 7:10-11
The Lord calls married believers to covenant faithfulness and reconciliation.
10 But to the married I command—not I, but the Lord—that the wife not leave her husband
11 (but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband not leave his wife.
The Lord calls married believers to covenant faithfulness and reconciliation.
Paul relays the Lord's command that married believers must not separate and teaches that reconciliation should be pursued if separation occurs.
Having addressed unmarried believers and widows, Paul now turns directly to those already married. He distinguishes this instruction by noting that it reflects the command of the Lord, echoing Jesus’ own teaching about the permanence of marriage. Within the broader flow of chapter 7, Paul is clarifying how believers should live faithfully in their present circumstances. His guidance reflects both pastoral realism and theological conviction about the covenant nature of marriage. The emphasis is not merely legal restriction but the preservation and restoration of marital unity.
Corinthian believers lived within a Roman legal system where divorce was relatively easy to obtain and socially common. Paul’s instruction contrasts with the cultural ease of divorce by reaffirming the permanence of marriage as taught by Jesus.
Marriage, Singleness, Calling, and Undistracted Devotion to the Lord
In light of the present age and the believer’s belonging to Christ, marriage and singleness are both gifts to be stewarded with holiness, faithfulness, contentment, and undistracted devotion to the Lord.