Context No. 1681 of 4322 · 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 7:12-16: in context

12But to the rest I—not the Lord—say, if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is content to live with him, let him not leave her. 13The woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is content to live with her, let her not leave her husband. 14For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. 15Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace. 16For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Paul turns to marriages where only one partner believes. If a believer has an unbelieving spouse who is willing to remain, he says, let the believer not divorce them; for the unbelieving partner is made holy through the believing one, and their children are holy. Yet if the unbeliever chooses to leave, let them go; the believer is not bound in such a case, for God has called us to peace. And he adds a hopeful question: how do you know, wife or husband, whether you may not save your spouse?

Paul's counsel to the believer in such a marriage is to stay, if the other is willing, and it rests on a striking idea: that the presence of one believer sanctifies the home. The unbelieving spouse and the children are not dragged down by the believer's faith but lifted, set within the reach of grace, made holy through the believing one's presence among them. The believer is not defiled by living with an unbeliever; rather, the household is touched, set apart, brought near to God, by the one who belongs to him. There is encouragement here for anyone who is the lone believer in a family or marriage, who may feel outnumbered, isolated, wondering whether their faith makes any difference in a home that does not share it. Paul says it does. Your presence is not neutral; it sanctifies, it brings the household within the orbit of grace, it holds open a door. And then the hopeful question: how do you know whether you may not save your spouse? The believer's faithful presence, patient love, and quiet witness may, in time, be the means by which the unbelieving partner comes to faith. This is not a guarantee, and Paul is realistic; if the unbeliever insists on leaving, the believer is not bound, for God calls us to peace, not to endless bondage. But where the marriage can hold, the calling is to stay and to hope, to be the sanctifying presence in the home and the possible means of a spouse's salvation. The lone believer in a household is not powerless; they are, by grace, a door held open.

If I am the lone believer in my family or marriage, do I feel isolated and powerless, or can I take to heart that my presence sanctifies the home, holding it within the reach of grace, and can I stay faithful and hopeful, being the quiet witness through whom, who knows, God may yet draw those I love to himself?

Sources

1 Corinthians 7:14: the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife... but now they are holy
1 Corinthians 7:16: how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband?
1 Peter 3:1: even if any don't obey the word, they may be won by the behavior of their wives without a word