What did the Apostle Paul mean in 1 Corinthians 7:14?
1 Corinthians 7:12 But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. 13 And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
What does he mean by an unbelieving (non-Christian) husband or wife being "sanctified" by their relationship with a Christian spouse and about children from the marriage being unclean if the marriage is broken but holy if the marriage continues?
Jim2011-11-17T12:55:35Z
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Sanctified and holy both mean "to be set apart". And so as long as there is a believing spouse in the household, there is also a presence of the Holy Spirit in that household. And the Spirit works to draw sinners to Christ and set them apart unto Him through faith. The same principle applies in the work place. If there are believers in the workplace, they constitute an active presence of God's Spirit to come alongside the unbeliever.
There are three prepositions used in the bible that describe the proximity of the Holy Spirit in relationship to an individual. There is "with", which describes the Holy Spirit's ministry in the life of the unbeliever. There is "in", which describes the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the believer. And there is "upon", which describes the ministry of the Holy Spirit in a person who is totally surrendered to Christ and filled with the Spirit. And often times this "upon" ministry in one individual constitutes the "with" ministry in the life of an unbeliever.
And so the unbelieving spouse and children are both in a position to be drawn unto Christ, and eventually set apart unto Him, by the Holy Spirit's presence in the home via the believing spouse. And without that presence, then the children are going to naturally gravitate away from the things of God, hence the use of the term "unclean".
Many people see that "sanctified" term and they get the impression that it says "saved" or "justified" instead - which is not what it says. Sanctified means to be set aside for a specific purpose, just like a Christian is in relation to Christ and the world (John 17:17).
Context is key. Based on the previous chapter, 1 Cor. 6:15 talks about the vice of being joined to a harlot. A Christian being joined to an unbelieving spouse is still a legitimate union based on the faith of the believer, rather than being equivalent to being joined to an harlot.
Beyond this, fellowship is even more important. I'm sure you can understand, especially in the early church, that you cant just have any lost person coming to every type of gathering a Christian has (not talking about outreach here), for safety and testimony reasons, and Christians were not to fellowship with peolpe in the world. Note Paul's instructions in chapter 5 of this book.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
A the spouse of a saved person would be set apart from the typical reason given in the passage to not have fellowship or company with a person. Therefore, that person could be involved in fellowship, child training, marital counseling, etc... for the sake of the believing spouse.
The point of the passage is not to say that the children become unclean if there is a divorce. Point is to say that if the believing spouse didn't sanctify the unbelieving spouse (if it didn't work that way), then the children would be unclean.
Well lets look, Why should a Christian try to keep their marriage to a non-Christian together? Because God can be glorified in such a marriage, and do a work through the believing spouse to draw the unbelieving spouse to Jesus Christ.
Sanctified, in this context, does not mean that the unbelieving spouse is saved just by being married to a Christian. It simply means that they are set apart for a special working in their lives by the Holy Spirit, by virtue of being so close to someone who is a Christian.
The passage here Martin is not dealing with salvation or sanctification (being made holy before God) at all. Instead, it is dealing with the marriage relationship between a husband and wife, and this and the following passages deal specifically with the issue of a Christian who has an unbelieving spouse. Paul taught that Christians should not be “unequally yoked” (2 Corinthians 6:14) with unbelievers. Here in this passage, he clarifies that if a believer is already married to an unbeliever they should remain married as long as the unbeliever consents to do so. The reason this would be allowable is that the marriage relationship would be sanctified (holy or set apart in God’s eyes) based upon the faith of the believing spouse. Likewise, the children of that marriage will be legitimate in the sight of God despite the fact that Christians are not to be unequally yoked with the lost.
Christianity was not around for all that long at this point in time, so one spouse was becoming a believer while the other was not.
The other option was divorce, and God was against divorce. The person could not help being married when they were an unbeliever.
This happens today also. One person becomes a believer. This scripture shows that God values the marriage and the children of that marriage. This shows that God keeps this marriage and the children because of the believer. All come under His ways, His protection, His blessings because of that one person. We see this again and again in the Old Testament where all are spared because of one person. It shows the goodness of God. (Also, we read if the spouse is WILLING to stay...so it's OK if the spouse wishes to leave, the unbelieving spouse). This is very liberal thinking during that time period, so long ago now.