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NASB | 1 Corinthians 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified [that is, he receives the blessings granted] through his [Christian] wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be [ceremonially] unclean, but as it is they are holy. |
Bible Question:
I viewed the other discussions concerning this verse, (1 Cor. 7:14, one even says, that just because the unbelieving spouse is sanctified through the believing husband, that does not imply that the unbelieving spouse is saved in any way shape or form. Is it the marriage between the believing spouse and the unbelieving spouse that is sanctified, or is the wife sanctified as the text appears to indicate to me. I don't see where this verse says the marriage is sanctified, rather the verse states that the unbelieving spouse theirselves is what is sanctified through marriage with the believing spouse. So if "sanctified" means set apart for God, and also means holy, how is it possible that the unbelieving spouse is said to be "sanctified" (or holy) and yet be unsaved. How is this possible? New Creature |
Bible Answer: The spouse is sanctified (i.e. set apart). This ties into the discussion we were having before regarding being part of the visible church and enjoying the benefits of God's covenant community and yet being unregenerate. I think the best way to illustrate it is to look at the Old Testament example of Israel. The descendants of all of Jacob's sons were set apart as a nation for God's own possession. Circumcision of the males was the sign and seal of that separation from the Gentile nations. Does that mean that every single Israelite was saved? I think we would both agree that such was not the case. So we had sanctified people who were not justified people. As you ask, how is this possible? Apparently there is a biblical distinction between being outwardly sanctified in the 1 Corinthians 7:14 sense and being made more like Jesus Christ, which is what we most often think of when we come across the word "sanctification." I understand 1 Corinthians 7:14 to be saying that the family of a believer is set apart in a special way, that God regenerates individually but also works corporately among families and the church itself. Many argue that this is the basis for the household baptisms we see in the book of Acts, when all living in the new convert's household are "set apart" even though there is no indication in Scripture that anyone else but the head of household actually believed in Jesus Christ. A foreign concept to individualistic America, to be sure, but the question remains whether it is a Biblical one. --Joe! |