Preserving Purity Through Preserving Marriage

Christ Commands Preserving Marriage for the Sake of Preserving Purity

In 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, Paul writes:

To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife.

This is a command from the Lord Jesus Christ himself: spouses should not divorce. Preserve marriage. Yet people do divorce, even in the church. What then? If divorce happens, remain unmarried or be reconciled. Why? Because remarrying another commits adultery, introducing impurity.

Jesus teaches in Matthew 5:32:

But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Similarly, in Matthew 19:7-9:

They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

From the beginning, God's design for marriage excluded divorce except by death. Moses permitted certificates of divorce due to hardness of heart—unwillingness to make marriage work. Even in cases of fornication, repentance and forgiveness are required. Luke 17:3-4 commands:

Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.

This applies to a spouse's fornication: rebuke, and if they repent—even seven times—forgive. Marriage reflects Christ and the church, who never divorces us despite our unfaithfulness (Ezekiel 16). Scripture does not override the call to forgive.

Divorce for emotional affairs, pornography, or abuse does not permit remarriage without adultery. Only physical sexual immorality allows remarriage without a second sin, but even then, forgiveness is the higher call. Paul emphasizes preserving marriage, not terminating it, to maintain purity in a church rampant with sexual sin.

Preserve Purity Through Preserving Marriage Even with an Unbelieving Spouse

Verses 12-16 address mixed marriages:

To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Do not enter unequal yokes (2 Corinthians 6:14), but if saved after marriage to an unbeliever who consents to stay, preserve the marriage. It is valid and holy because of the believer's righteousness. The unbeliever is "made holy" (hagiadzo)—set apart and purified in the relationship. Your children are holy, not unclean. The believer's purity sanctifies the marriage.

If the unbeliever departs, you are not enslaved—free to peace. But if they stay, glorify God in that union. Marriage, even mixed, preserves purity and testifies to the gospel.