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INDEX
Desertion (1)
Sabbath Observance
I Corinthians 7:15
speaks of the wilful, physical desertion of a believer by his or her unbelieving
spouse: "But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a
sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to
peace."
Many argue that "not under
bondage" means that the deserted believer is no longer married and so is
free to remarry. However, there are insuperable problems with this view.
First, the text says nothing about
remarriage, as such. Remarriage, while one’s spouse is living,
has already been ruled out in the
preceding context. Two, and only two, options are given to the divorced person:
either "remain unmarried" or "be reconciled" to your
husband or wife (11). Also at the end of this great chapter on Christian
singleness and marriage, the apostle forbids remarriage while one’s spouse is living (39).
Second, Christ teaches that fornication
is the only ground for divorce: "whosoever shall put away his wife, saving
for the cause of fornication, causeth her to
commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery"
(Matt. 5:32;
cf. 19:9). Desertion
is not a ground for divorce, for Christ permitted only one ground and not two.
Third, this view presents marriage as
bondage and the husband and the wife as two slaves in servitude. For, if the
deserted Christian is able to remarry, "not under bondage" must mean
that he or she is no longer married. Yet the Bible teaches that marriage is a "one flesh" union between a man and a woman
(Gen. 2:24),
a covenant of companionship
(Mal. 2:14),
which pictures Christ’s bond with His bride, the church
(Eph. 5:22-33).
Through
human sin, marriage may be experienced as a sort of bondage. However, if
this experience (and not the marriage itself) is said to be the "bondage" of
I Corinthians 7:15,
then the text is merely saying that
the hardships of living with an unbeliever are over once he or she deserts you.
Then the text would say nothing about the bond of marriage itself being broken
nor would it allow remarriage.
Fourth, Scripture teaches that God breaks
the bond of marriage only at death. "The wife is bound by the law as long
as her husband liveth [even if she has been
deserted!]; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom
she will; only in the Lord" (I Cor. 7:39).
"For the woman which hath an husband is bound by
the law to her husband so long as he liveth [even if
she has been deserted!]; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law
of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth,
she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her
husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress,
though she be married to another man" (
The correct interpretation lies in the
right understanding of the key phrase "not under bondage" (15). Those
"under bondage" are slaves, those reduced to servitude. Deserted
believers are not enslaved to their spouses and so do not have to pursue them
and pressurize them to return. Thus "not under bondage" does not mean
"not bound to your wife." "Bound" and "bondage"
are two similar looking and similar sounding words, but they are markedly
different. The Greek words which we translate "bound" (I Cor. 7:27, 39) and "bondage" (15) are likewise
different. Never does God’s Word describe the holy
state of matrimony as "bondage!" "Bondage" is slavery,
whereas "bound" speaks of a connection, here, that of marriage, a one
flesh union (27, 39). The RSV and the NIV, probably in order to promote the
misinterpretation of I Corinthians 7:15, twist God’s Word. The deserted
believer, they mistranslate, "is
not bound [in marriage]."
Being "not under bondage," the
deserted believer is called to "peace" (15). He or she is not to feel
guilty or ashamed or anxious. The deserted believer has been forsaken for his
or her faith by his or her unbelieving spouse and so he or she has done nothing
wrong and is not to blame. The child of God, in such circumstances, is to
accept and acquiesce in God’s providence and not go
chasing his or her spouse all over the country. After all, the believer has
peace with God through the righteousness of Jesus Christ (
Next time (DV), we will consider
the tradition of the church’s interpretation of
I Corinthians 7:15
and desertion. Rev. Stewart
Let no man
therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an
holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days
(Col. 2:16).
A reader asks, "How does
Colossians 2:16
fit with Christian teaching on the Lord’s Day?" Some in
the church
world today have become very legalistic regarding the Sabbath and, by precept
upon precept, have driven many aspects of Sabbath
observance out of the whole area of Christian liberty—contrary to what Paul writes in
Colossians 2:16.
Others, misunderstanding Christian freedom, have all but destroyed the Sabbath.
They hold that the Sabbath is no different from any day of the week, and, while
it is preferable to attend church on the Lord’s Day, one could just
as well change worship services from the Lord’s Day to other
weekdays, and involve one’s self in any weekday
activities on the Lord’s Day. Every day of the week, so it is said, is Sabbath.
Let me mention first that Paul is warning against a misuse of the Sabbath in
Colossians 2:16.
The whole passage proves this. Paul explains to us that the powerful work of
Christ on the cross blotted "out the handwriting of ordinances that was
against us" (14). Christ, in other words, fulfilled the law for us.
Paul goes on
to apply this to the life of the church. Some claim, and perhaps correctly,
that Paul was waging war against an early form of
Gnosticism present in
That Paul is
opposing such thinking is clear from verses 17 and 18, while the positive
statement of the truth is found in verse 19. In verse 17 Paul makes clear that
those laws about meat, drink, holydays, feasts of the new moon, and Sabbath
days "are a shadow of things to come," and so they were fulfilled by
Christ. One need only read Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy to see how many
laws there were concerning these things.
It is well to
note that the plural is used here, indicating that the reference is to the
entire Sabbath cycles: the seventh day of the week, the seventh year, the
fiftieth year which was the year of jubilee. Christ has fulfilled them and they
are no longer binding on Christians who must stand in the liberty of their
redemption.
Nevertheless,
the Sabbath day is binding on the Christian, for it is a part of the decalogue, and, in fact, belongs
to the first table of the law in which we are instructed how, specifically, we
are to love the Lord our God. Those who want to pull the fourth commandment out
of the law of God cannot and may not do this; if they insist, they will do the
same to the other commandments.
Yet, so it is
argued, the fourth commandment requires refraining from work on the seventh
day of the week. That is no longer in force. The fulfillment of the fourth
commandment means that every day of the week is Sabbath. Yet, those who teach
that every day is Sabbath, actually practice that no
day is Sabbath.
It is well to
point out that the law itself gives us hints of its deeper character and its
fulfillment in Christ. The very introduction to the law reminds us that we are
delivered from the slavery of sin: "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the
The
fulfillment of the law does not mean that the Sabbath is no more to be kept,
but it does mean that the day is fulfilled by Christ’s perfect work. It is fulfilled
in this way. The fourth commandment laid down a fundamental principle of the
law:
It was the
same principle of the whole law: Blessing in the keeping of the law, but
cursing in the transgression of the law. And, because the human race fell in
That Christ
fulfilled the law means that He bore the curse which was due to us; and He also
earned for us the gracious power to keep the law perfectly—a perfection which
will not be ours until heaven and is true of us now only in principle. That fulfillment
was through Christ’s cross and resurrection on the
first day of the week. And so the church of the new dispensation keeps the
Sabbath on the first day of the week in joyful commemoration of Christ’s perfect work.
Now we do not
have to work six days without sin to earn rest; we are graciously given that
rest on the first day of the week so that we may (and can and will) work for
six days in Christ’s kingdom and to God’s glory, for we work by the power of the new dispensation
Sabbath. Because we now have the freedom of Christ and are able to keep the
law, the "Sabbath" becomes for us a day in which we lay aside our
earthly labours and devote the day to our spiritual
lives, especially as God has given us the corporate worship of the church in
which the gospel is preached and the sacraments are administered. We ought to
be everlastingly thankful for this great blessing! Prof. Hanko
Covenant Protestant Reformed
Fellowship
Lord’s Day services at 11 am & 6 pm • Ballymena Protestant Hall, Galgorm
Road
Pastor: Angus Stewart,
Phone: (028) 25 891 851 • E-mail: pastor@cprf.co.uk • Website: www.cprf.co.uk