“But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn” (I Cor 7:9)
It is better to marry than to live in sin. We are, at all costs, to avoid fornication, and MARRIAGE is given for this reason.Don’t make your own rules; follow what He gives, and you will have life and peace.
The trick is NOT how many women I can sleep with, but can I be faithful to my wife? The trick is not how many, but can I remain faithful and steadfast in my single condition?
Marriage has been given; use it to your benefit.
First, we can have faults as believers, “I speak to your shame” (I Cor 6:5). We are not above correction. Scripture says, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable to you”, and again those who preach the gospel “admonish you” (Heb 13:17; I Thess 5:12). Don’t be put off by the admonishments of the Lord. You and I have SHAMEFUL things about us that can be forgiven, if we admit our sin. But, if we REFUSE to be reproved, we bring danger and harm upon ourselves and DESPISE the fear of the Lord.
Be not like the horse and the mule that won’t listen; receive counsel to the saving of your soul, health and joy of your life!
Secondly, we are different, “And such were some of you: but you washed yourselves, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God” (I Cor 6:6-11). Believers are clean. We have gone through the wash of Jesus Christ, come out on the side of holiness, and we love God and man. We are NEW creations.
We are NOT to live as the world or SEEK what the world esteems. We are a radically different and chosen people. We are the ones that God predetermined to save from the foundation of the world, the ones that He GAVE eternal life to, and this LIFE has changed us. He gives every child of God this power to prove the forgiveness of sins, and now we’re to live in newness of life, rejecting the old. Never go back to bondage; live the new life RADICALLY and completely.
Thirdly, joining the Lord Jesus to harlots is an abomination He takes special notice of for its filth, “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man does is without the body; but he that commits fornications sins against his own body (I Cor 6:15-18). Fornication is promoted in the USA, but not by God. It is an evil that defiles us, disturbs Him, and is FAR BELOW the inheritance we have been redeemed unto. It is not the way of the saints. Flee from it. Run to Christ and be clean of your past, present, and future. Believe the Lamb of God to escape something so defiling.
This is not an indifferent issue to be lightly examined. Scripture says, “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becomes saints” (Eph 5:3). You have been redeemed to a new life, and you are to LIVE it by the grace of God, not DRAWING BACK because of the sin that is in us, but obtaining mercy to live beyond our strength in holiness by the gospel.
Fourthly, it is good to be single, “It is good for a man not to touch a woman” (I Cor 7:1). Do not be duped by BELIEVERS who tell you and me it is better to marry; it is only better if the Lord Jesus has given you someone to marry, someone that you wish to be with sexually. We are not to think the happy life or full life starts AFTER we marry. According to scripture, single believers have more now. We have the ability to give ourselves to God WITHOUT distraction (I Cor 7:28-35).
Yes, it is HARD being single because we covet, lust, and naturally desire fellowship, but it is HARD because we make it hard by unbelief. We try to be happy WITHOUT doing what God says, thinking we’ll serve God when He gives a spouse to us, but it isn’t true. Live the LIFE that He gave you, and don’t say it is unsatisfying, because you say that Christ is insufficient, when you do so. Live to be “holy both in body and in spirit”, and you’ll experience EXACTLY what He says, that it is GOOD for us not to marry, if we can avoid it, if we have the gift (I Cor 7:34, 8-9).
Everyone can’t stay single, and we shouldn’t try. But, the Lord gives us SOMEONE to marry before it is time to marry.
Lastly, the marriage CONTRACT has certain obligations, “The wife has not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband has not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud you not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer” (I Cor 7:3-5). When you enter that contract, you covenant before God to live up to your end of the bargain. You say, “I will be the husband/wife God commands me to be. I am a child of God”. When marriage is hard, when sins have made separation, then the answer is not rebellion. The answer is faith in Christ that enables you to live godly with joy. Husbands and wives, don’t hate each other. Give YOURSELF to the other person implicitly. Do not withdraw because of sin, but by Christ, press forward into the wealth of SUPERNATURAL grace that is for you.
If we don’t FORGIVE, then we don’t know God. Let not the sun go down on your anger, and be reconciled and loving to the person GOD gave you whom you TOOK for yourself.
