1 Corinthians 7:5-12 (New International Version)
5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
8 Now to the unmarried[a] and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
I. The gift of marital intimacy (vv. 5-7)
• Mutual
•
• There is no command to abstain for prayer because marital sex is not
• Sex in marriage is a
II. The language of intimacy (vv. 7-9)
•
•
• A key point of this passage is to address
•
•
•
III. The covenant of intimacy (vv. 10-12)
• Marriage is designed to reflect God’s
• There are only two possible loves:
• Love can never be purchased or sold because love is a
• The two becoming “one flesh” is a
•