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What Did Paul Really Teach about Marriage? #685 · Scripture Central

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  Let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own
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  husband. Hey listeners, this is Nick from
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  Scripture Central and today's podcast addresses the question
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  What did Paul really teach about marriage?
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  One of Paul's most misunderstood and misquoted teachings relates
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  to his views on marriage. His most extensive discourse on
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  the subject is found in his first epistle to the Corinthians
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  as he responded to their belief that it is good for man not to
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  touch a woman. Addressing multiple groups, Paul
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  defended marriage is a covenantal relationship.
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  First, Paul addressed those who were married directly.
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  Answering their concern, Paul declared to avoid fornication.
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  Let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own
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  husband. In other words, marital intimacy
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  is approved and helps avoid sin, although this is not clear in
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  the King James Version. According to a more recent
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  rendition of the text, Paul reinforced this idea as follows.
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  Let the husband grant conjugal rights to his wife, and likewise
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  the wife conjugal rights to her husband.
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  A wife does not hold exclusive rights over her own body.
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  Her husband also has rights. Neither does a husband hold
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  exclusive rights over his own body.
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  His wife also has rights do not deprive each other of intimate
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  relations. Paul only grants 1 concession to
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  this rule, namely, if both the husband and wife decide to
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  temporarily stop sexual relations so they may spend time
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  in prayer, even though Paul would not normally agree that
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  sexual relations should be suspended even for extended
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  periods of prayer. As noted in First Corinthians
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  Chapter 7 verse five, Given these members disposition, he
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  was willing to meet them halfway.
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  Furthermore, Paul counseled those who were married to avoid
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  divorce, stating that marriage was a commandment from the Lord.
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  He even extended this counsel to a married partner who was not a
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  member. Paul counseled them to avoid
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  divorce in the hopes that the member spouse might bring the
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  gospel into their home, sanctifying their spouse and
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  children. Paul believed that husbands and
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  wives with testimonies of Christ could be instrumental in
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  conversion and eventual salvation of their disbelieving
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  spouses, as noted by Richard D Draper and Michael D Rhodes.
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  While the wider Greco Roman world would divorce at every
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  whim, the Lord viewed marriage as a sacred covenant that should
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  only be exited in very few circumstances.
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  Next, Paul addressed the widowers and widows to this
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  group. Paul stated his opinion that it
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  is good for them to remain, even as I am possibly referring to an
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  unmarried status following the death of a spouse.
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  In general, Paul offered his opinion that they should not
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  remarry unless they could not control their passions.
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  While this could be seen as a negative view of marriage,
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  according to Rhodes and Draper, Paul's point was that those
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  whose sexual passions kept them from total devotion to the
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  gospel should marry or they would lose their souls.
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  Part of Paul's hesitance to promote remarriage might be
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  explained by his later comments to those who had never been
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  married. Paul spoke of an impending
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  crisis that led him to believe that it's best for a person to
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  remain as he is for the coming season.
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  That is, those engaged should see their marriage through,
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  while those not courting anyone should be cautious and choosing
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  to pursue a relationship at that time.
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  Thus, his advice at that moment appears to be based on some
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  immediate situation that the Corinthian church was facing.
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  Paul apparently wanted to spare them additional pain caused by
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  this looming yet undefined time of trouble.
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  This echoes the Lord's instruction to not marry that
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  was given to the prophet Jeremiah in light of the
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  impending Babylonian invasion. While we are not sure what the
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  crisis in Paul's day was, it is possible that it dealt with
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  developing steps towards heresy and apostasy and needed to
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  prepare spiritually and serve individually against persecution
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  and conflict. The last group Paul addressed
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  were those currently serving in the ministry.
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  While this context is largely absent from the Greek
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  manuscripts, verse 35 does clarify that Paul's words were
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  intended to promote good order and undistracted service to the
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  Lord. Furthermore, the Joseph Smith
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  translation of the Bible clarifies that the Council given
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  in First Corinthians Chapter 7 verses 29 through 35, is limited
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  in scope to those who were currently serving as
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  missionaries. Ultimately, Paul admonished them
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  that because the time is short, they needed to focus on their
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  ministry first and foremost. However, Paul knew that this
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  advice could not be applied to everyone who had been called to
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  the ministry, and so he offered further advice to them.
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  In verses 36 through 38 specifically, Paul told them
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  that they should already be engaged.
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  There were valid reasons why these missionaries should marry
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  their fiance's in lieu of or in addition to their missionary
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  service. Still, it was preferable to 1st
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  fulfill one's mission Because of this, Paul wrote.
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  So one who marries his fiancee does well, but one who does not
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  get married does better, having first finished their temporary
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  call from the Lord. Throughout his epistles, it
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  becomes clear that Paul had a high regard for marriage.
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  In a later letter, Paul even described marriage as a mystery.
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  This word carried over into English from the Greek word
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  mysterian, which originally understood to describe the
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  sacred rites associated with some kinds of temple worship.
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  As such, throughout all of Paul's writings, marriage is to
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  be seen as a sacred covenant connected with a temple
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  ordinance. To avoid misunderstanding or
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  misconstruing Paul's council regarding marriage in First
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  Corinthians Chapter 7, these passages must be placed in their
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  proper context. Both missionary service and
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  marriage were held in great esteem by Paul and were needed
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  in their own time, with nuanced recommendations given for
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  different circumstances. Ultimately, according to Paul,
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  neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without
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  the man in the Lord. Latterday revelation clarifies
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  that only when a man and woman are sealed in the temple by
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  proper priesthood authority can they receive the fullest
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  blessings from their Heavenly Father as taught by President
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  Russell M Nelson. This life is the time to prepare
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  for salvation and exaltation in God's eternal plan.
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  Salvation is an individual matter.
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  Exaltation is a family matter. Thank you for listening to this
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  presentation from Scripture Central.
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  For more information, please visit scripturecentral.org.