Deeper Reflection
SCRIPTURE PORTRAYS MARRIAGE AS “BOTH A CREATION ordinance, intended for companionship and procreation, and also since the fall as a divine remedy against sin”¹¹. Sex has a particular place of great importance in marriage. Sex in marriage serves as a protection against “temptation to sexual immorality” (v.2).In verses 1 to 5, Paul addresses the issue of sex in marriage. There were members in the Corinthian congregation who “advocate total abstinence from sexual union”¹², using the maxim “It is a good thing for a man not to have sexual intimacy with a woman”¹³ (v.1). Paul’s response to this is: Sexual union is a “duty” that a married couple “must fulfil” toward each other (v.3). “Duty” is “literally ‘the payment of what is due’”¹⁴, implying that married couples are “indebted to one another sexually”¹⁵. Why? Because “by the marriage vow each relinquishes the exclusive right to his or her body, and gives the other a claim to it”¹⁶ (v.4). The application that Paul intends is not “You owe me”, but “I owe you”. “You owe me” is selfish demand; “I owe you” is self-giving love. Paul’s emphasis is on the full mutuality and reciprocity of sexuality in marriage – against the prevailing culture of sex being viewed as the husband’s privilege and the wife’s obligation.On this ground of marital love, Paul gives this exhortation: “Do not deprive one another” in meeting and giving to each other’s sexual needs and fulfilment (v.5a). Note that the backdrop to this exhortation is “so that Satan may not tempt you” (v.5b).

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¹¹ John R. W. Stott, 84 ¹² Anthony C. Thiselton, 1 Corinthians: A Shorter Exegetical & Pastoral Commentary (Eerdmans, 2006), 101 ¹³ Anthony C. Thiselton – his translation of 1 Cor 7:1 ¹⁴ Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Eerdmans, 1987), 279 ¹⁵ Gordon D. Fee, 279 ¹⁶ F. F. Bruce, 1 and 2 Corinthians, The New Century Bible Commentaries (Eerdmans and Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1971), 678