Topic: WHAT IF THE UNBELIEVER DEPARTS?
THEME SCRIPTURE:
1 Corinthians 7:15-16 (NKJV)
[15] But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. [16] For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?
MESSAGE:
We noticed from our previous devotion, that, a marriage can exist between a believer and an unbeliever. Firstly, a believer might have married an unbeliever with the intention or hope of converting the unbeliever. Secondly, out of sheer stubbornness, a believer might have known that the spouse was an unbeliever, but still went ahead to marry that person. Thirdly, both husband and wife might have been unbelievers before marriage, but one became a believer after marriage. Last, but not least, when the believer claims he/she didn’t know the spouse was an unbeliever at the time of marriage. Such claims are often questionable; nonetheless, all four scenarios can result in a believer cum unbeliever marital relationship.
In our previous devotion, we established that if the unbeliever is willing to live with the believer, the believer should not divorce the unbeliever. The verse 16 of our theme Scripture throws more light. It says, “For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?” (1 Corinthians 7:16). How wonderful it would be if a believer cum unbeliever marriage leads to the salvation of the unbeliever!
But the question is, what if the unbeliever seeks separation or divorce? The answer is in the verse 15 of our theme Scripture: “But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace” (1 Corinthians 7:15). The word “depart” in this verse also means, “to separate one’s self from” or “to divorce.”
If the unbeliever departs, LET HIM DEPART! Then, the Scripture added, “…a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases.” In other words, the believer is not bound by the marital vows any longer, should the unbeliever depart. He/she is FREE to marry again!
