>> Jen: Hey there. Good morning, friends and faithful listeners. You've tuned into the Bible explained podcast. So I have a really special guest on the podcast today. This is probably the most special guest I've ever had and ever will have at any point in time. This is also the handsomest man I've ever seen on the planet, and, uh, he's making a face right now. This is the one and only Garett. This is my husband. Hi, Garett. >> Garett: Hello. Happy to be on.
>> Jen: Yes. Yeah, he looks real happy to be on. I had to drag him in here. He, did not want to do this episode. He still doesn't want to do the episode. He looks uncomfortable. So we'll just get right into the episode. We're going to be talking about first Corinthians seven, one through eleven today. And as we get into this episode, I'm sure you guys will be able to see why I wanted my husband on this particular podcast
episode, because I think he's going to have a lot of good insight. And this one is talking specifically about marriage. So let's get into this. I'll be reading out the w e b, as I always do. Now, concerning the things about which you wrote to me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman, but because of sexual immoralities. Let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband give his wife the affection owed to her, and
likewise also the wife, her husband. The wife doesnt have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise also the husband doesnt have authority over his own body, but the wife dont deprive one another unless it is by consent. For a season that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that satan doesnt tempt you because of your lack of self control. But this I say by way of concession and not of commandment. Yet I wish
that all men were like me. However, each man has his own gift from God bless, one of this kind and another of that kind. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am. But if they dont have self control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn.
But to the Mary I command, not I, but the Lord, that the wife not leave her husband, but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband, and that the husband not leave his wife. All right, Garett, so obviously you are married and you have a perspective on what we just discussed. So what do you think the overall picture is that Paul is trying to convey here.
>> Garett: So I think that Paul is really talking to men and women of ah Corinth at the time on what the sexuality that God bless designs is. And if we look back at the previous passages out of first Corinthians six, which if you're not following along every day, you should be, um, that there we see, referencing to Genesis two will become one flesh. >> Jen: Mhm. >> Garett: And your body is a temple. And it's not yours,
it's God's temple. So your body is not yours. And then Paul goes on to elaborate that, that it being God's, his design for your body is to be given to your spouse, or as Paul lays out in this celibate. So sex is for marriage, and if you are not married, then there's no place for sex in your life. And that's God's design for his temple, your body. >> Jen: Yeah. And, you know, that's probably a really hard statement, what you just said. I'm sure that a lot
of people will take that and be like, what? You know, sex can only be in marriage. And, you know, if I'm not married, I have no place for sex. So how would you, uh, respond to somebody that said that to you? Like, how dare you say something like that? >> Garett: Well, my response would be, first and foremost, my authority is the Bible, and so I'm going to take what it says. I believe in its inerrancy, but that next step is that I also believe that my body is
designed for something. And it's passages like this and passages out of the old testament that teach me that that design is not for my gratification, but for the gratification of my wife. And if I'm not married, then there is no sexual gratification that's necessary. That's not the design. >> Jen: So you're saying that sex is more of a serving kind of role? >> Garett: That's exactly what this passage outlines.
>> Jen: Okay, so that's an interesting perspective that I think a lot of people don't realize is that, I think most people think of sex as something that is gratifying to themselves and not something that should be done as like a serving kind of attitude towards the other person. >> Garett: Absolutely. I mean, we see in the world today that everything is taught to do your thing, focus on you. I need to grow myself.
I need to focus on myself. But we can see Paul here laying out the more difficult path, which he even says in here is celibacy. That's the difficult path. He says he wishes that more people could live that way. But he understands that desires will overcome us. But when he spells out the other design for our sex, which is in marriage, he says in verse five, do not deprive one another. He actually shows the importance of it. It's not just that we should avoid it. It's not a
dirty thing. It's a, uh, blessing that God has given us, but it's a blessing if used in the correct context. >> Jen: Yeah. And that actually brings me to the first verse, which says, now, concerning the things about which you wrote to me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. So, clearly, at some point in time, the corinthian church had written a letter to Paul specifically asking about marriage.
And a lot of people think that one of the questions the uh, 1 Corinthians had was that they were wondering if it's even good to get married at all. Like, should you go so far in your christian walk as to not ever be married, kind of like Jesus was? Or is it still okay to become married, um, and fulfill that part of your life or whatever? And Paul says, in answering your question, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. So what do you think about that, Garett?
>> Garett: Well, yes, so we can reference another letter, and I'm just paraphrasing here, but imitate me as I imitate Christ, is what Paul teaches us to do. Paul is doing that. And living a celibate life, that's an admirable thing to do. Um, but to take it, that extra step. He also outlines here that it is a weakness that we have, that we will tend to sexually sin. Again, going back to first corinthians six, these sins are not external
like most of our other sins. They are internal. They're damaging to us as a temple. >> Jen: And that's what's so different about sexual sin as compared to other sins. >> Garett: Yes. Yeah. And this is a particularly damaging one, and one that we struggle with self control. And we can see, for example, with the catholic practice of priests being celibate, that is an admirable practice to pursue. Same thing for nuns. It is an admirable practice to pursue. But we can
see that we are all sinful. Nobody's perfect. We emulate Christ, but we are not like Christ. We cannot be sinless. And so because of that, when we choose to live an unmarried life and be celibate, if we are not strong enough to sustain that, what we end up doing is far worse than what we would do than needing to have that sex in marriage that so many of us do need. >> Jen: You know, Paul says it's good for a man not to touch a woman,
but then he continues on. But because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband. So Paul's not saying that. Uh, I think he argues in a way here that the celibate life is better. And the reason I think he argues that is because when you're a christian and you live a celibate lifestyle, you can focus more directly on the ministry that you're doing, rather than focusing on your spouse. Your
attentions are kind of divided if you're married. And I think that's what Paul is getting at. But Paul does not ever, at any point in time, say that marriage is not good, because, once again, God designed marriage. That was the very first thing, pretty much, that God bless put in place, was marriage between a man and a woman. So Paul isn't saying, like, oh, you know, marriage is never good. You should always be celibate. Of course not. And that was the question that the
uh, 1 Corinthians had. And maybe they had that question because Paul did live a celibate lifestyle and maybe even promoted that from time to time. And Paul is clarifying here, like, yes, celibacy is good, especially if you're gonna live a lifestyle like me, because I don't have to, like, focus on my spouse. I can focus, uh, more directly. >> Garett: Um, we are told to be the bride of Christ. As a church, we are the bride of Christ.
And so when we have these marriage relationships, they are critical. They are taught, they are designed to us by goddess. They're designed into us by God bless. So it's obviously something that's very important. But we also are told that we are designed to be the bride of Christ. And so the idea of having the need for this sexual relationship can take you away from that responsibility as well. Unless you have an extreme level of discipline. Um, you can end up in
a strong christian marriage. You can still end up creating an idol out of your spouse. >> Jen: Oh, yeah, absolutely. And I can't say that I haven't done that throughout the years with you, but, you know, the one thing that I regularly struggle with, and, you know, that this is a problem, is if I don't organize my day correctly, I am still working on the podcast or still working at this ministry until, like, 10:00 at night. >> Garett: Twelve.
>> Jen: That's actually not a joke there. A, uh, couple nights ago, I was up till, I want to say, like, one in the morning doing something because I forgot to do something. You know, so I wasn't in bed. I wasn't, like, hanging out with Garett or anything. I was working. And so if I don't schedule out my day correctly, you know, Garett gets home, and I'm still, like, working, and we don't get a
chance to hang out as much. That's kind of where I think Paul is going at with that, with the whole celibacy thing. You know, say it was just me and I didn't have Garett, I could focus more on my ministry. It doesn't matter what time I am up till, because it's just me, but I have to focus. I have to think about my husband at the same time. And that's not a bad thing, though.
>> Garett: And that's the same for me. When we have meetings at the church and they start to run long, I can actually see it with every man on the team that everybody's kind of, like, looking at their phones, knowing that there's dinner at home, waiting, knowing that there's. They're going to hear, well, you told me you'd be home at 915, and it's 945. Um, and so that actually comes into my head. Well, I'm supposed to be devoting myself to important, God bless given responsibilities,
right? That shows that there can be some idolatry of a healthy christian marriage. It'll just like every other sin. It'll sneak in and it'll crop up, and it will take some of your focus off of the main goal, which is emulating Christ. >> Jen: Yeah, but moving forward, it says in verse three, let the husband give his wife the affection owed to her, and likewise also the wife, her husband. And you know what? I remember
reading something. I don't remember where I found this, but somebody claimed that this was the most pro feminist sentence ever stated up until this point. And this particular verse changed the course of marriage from, like, Paul's day forward, because nobody believed that sex could be for the wife. So what do you think about that? >> Garett: Yeah, well, it's absolutely true.
Um, so many times, especially within the last, you know, 50 years, you can look at how culture paints Christianity as this evil patriarchal organization, uh, that oppresses women. Women's m rights did not exist prior to Christ coming and telling us that we are created equal and defining our roles. Our roles that are different but equal. We have different roles as a wife and as a husband. Jen and I live, uh, in our marriage very differently, but it doesn't make either of us more
important than the other. And so laid out right here shows that sex is not for the man. Sex is for you as the spouse, male or female, to give to your spouse. >> Jen: Mhm. >> Garett: Uh, as a man, you have a marital duty, that's what it says in the CSB to your wife. And as a woman, you have a marital duty to your husband. Yeah, that is very clear. >> Jen: I'm sorry. The CSB, just to clarify, is the christian standard Bible, which is what my husband's reading.
Um, but what does it say in your Bible, real quick? So you can clarify that a husband. >> Garett: Should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband. So, I mean, this verse, you can look at the rights that women have gotten over time. And I'm not talking over the last 50 years because it's inconsequential over the last several
thousand. But here is a, uh, point where Paul is writing a letter telling a large church that it is not just the woman's duty to the man, but the man has a marital duty as well. >> Jen: Mhm. And the way it's organized too, in the verse, I think is also important because it does call out the man first, which I think shows Paul was coming from a place where men didn't really believe that about their
wives so much. They kind of just believed, especially, I mean, think about the time of the period that Paul was living in with the Romans. They would buy their wives and strange things like that. This is timeless. Yeah. >> Garett: Uh, and I think one of the big things about this is not to pull this verse out of context. So we can see that the woman does not have authority over her own body, and the man does not have authority over his own body, but the
wife does. But this does not tell us that we should abuse our spouse, because for does not apply in our christian lives. Unless verse three does as well, in which our bodies are for the other one's pleasure. We are supposed to fulfill our marital duties. And so if my body is not mine but my responsibility is, then both three and four tie together. >> Jen: So importantly, can you explain that? If your body's not yours but your responsibility is. Can you explain that?
>> Garett: Well, I have a responsibility with my body for my wife. That's my responsibility. And so where my body is not mine, it belongs to my wife. I do have a responsibility to my wife. And so that's the really important thing is that I'm following both verses three and four. We added these numbers in. God bless didn't. So we need to be careful when we're going through that. We are always referencing
the verses around and we're getting context. Because if you were to just pull this and print it on a piece of paper, it can mean something very different. If you put just verse four or verses three and four. >> Jen: That's true. And to put it together, it says verses three and four. Let the husband give his wife the affection owed to her. And likewise, also, the wife, her husband. The wife doesn't have authority over her own body,
but the husband. And likewise, also, the husband doesn't have authority over his own body but the wife. So, yeah, all of that is talking about just being respectful to each other in marriage. I think that's kind of what it comes down to, is I respect my husband in a certain way, and he respects me in a certain way. And so if done the way Paul says it, can you imagine how much better, um, marriage relationships would be? But unfortunately,
it's not always done this way. But if it is done this way, you can see how good of a relationship that would be, that you're constantly focused on the pleasure, uh, of the other person and also focused on being respectful of the other person's body as well. Because, you know, don't. Don't forget, as Christians, we are considered to be temples of
the Holy Spirit. So being a temple and, uh, understanding that my husband is also a temple, I will treat my husband with the respect that is owed, because he also is housing the Holy Spirit. And so since all of our bodies are a temple, we have to have respect of that. >> Garett: It's just very important that we are servants. >> Jen: Mhm. >> Garett: And we are servants to God. And through God bless and through obedience to God. we are servants to our
spouses. And again, this is a revolutionary thing that would have changed women's rights in the world. And if you follow that forward where Christianity spread, so did women's rights. >> Jen: Mm hmm. Yes. And that might be a controversial statement. >> Garett: No kidding. Doesn't make it not true. But people don't like hearing that, right?
>> Jen: Yeah. Because I would argue, you know, a lot of women right now claim, oh, you know, women never really had rights in America up until, like, a certain point. But I would say that women are worse off now than they were 100 years ago by a long shot. And the reason I say that is because women are depressed now. You can look at the statistics. Women are miserable, and that is because they aren't following the design that
God bless put in place for them. And so you might be like, well, what about the women that are miserable also that are following God's design? Well, uh, it's mutual. Don't forget that the husband also has to follow it. And same goes for the wife has to follow it. So if you're a marriage relationship is not in a good place, it's probable that's because one spouse or the other is not
doing what God tells them to do. In this passage of first Corinthians seven and other passages that talk about marriage as well. >> Garett: Yeah. If you take a passage out of context and you apply it, it can be used to justify abuse. >> Jen: Mhm. >> Garett: But you can't take individual christian principles out of context and apply them and then hold the entirety of Christianity accountable,
because that's just ignorance. You're seeing somebody who's ignorant and didn't do the due diligence to become a true Christian, which is somebody who follows Christ. They just followed some of the things Christ did. Christ fed people. If you're a server at a restaurant, that doesn't automatically make you a Christian. If you follow Christ in all of these different ways, to
the best of our abilities, we're all sinful. But if you follow Christ in all of these ways, then you are a Christian, a follower of Christ. >> Jen: Yeah, thanks for that. Uh, moving forward, though, it says, don't deprive one another unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer and may be together again, that Satan doesn't tempt you because of your lack of self control. Now, I know that this verse has definitely been taken out of context.
Um, and I know women who have had their husbands take this verse out of context before, and vice versa. And vice versa for sure. And I mean, women, what is the one thing that they always do is if they're angry at their husbands, they deprive them of sex. You know, that is what women often do. And Paul says, don't do that. Don't, out of anger for your spouse, deprive them. Because, uh, that's not going to help the situation in the end. In fact, it might make the situation worse. So
we shouldn't deprive one another. But Garett, I'm going to ask this question. Do you think that this is talking about, like, in every single circumstance, the husband can't say no to his wife and the wife can't say no to her husband. >> Garett: No. No. Because again, we go back to verse three. We have a marital responsibility. We are to
uphold our marital responsibilities. And as a probably common occurrence in many marriages, if one party goes to initiate, even selflessly, and the other spouse is feeling very unwell, ill, headache, stomachache, whatevers happening that day, it is not fulfilling your marital responsibility to force something. Its hey, im trying to fulfill my marital responsibility to you. So suffer through this.
I mean, if we apply, take these verses, commit them to our hearts, and then apply them in a way that's serving the other, it's very easy to see, oh, this is a bad day for you. And out of love, instead of me serving you sexually, I will instead get, uh, you an ice pack and some water because you have a headache. And that is just as much a service, just as much a marital responsibility. We're servants to each other. Our bodies are not our own. Our bodies belong to each other.
>> Jen: Mhm. Right, exactly. It says you can deprive one another through consent. It says, um, so that you can, like fast. So you can fast. Sex. Like fasting doesn't have to just be food. And a lot of times the whole situation of fasting is to deprive yourself of something. So you can devote yourself to prayer or to worship more fully. Focusing, yes, focusing more fully on something.
But say, like you and your husband decide, or you and your wife decide that you're going to, for a little while, fast with the act of sex. But then, you know, your thoughts start getting real dirty or something like that, because you are not having sex. That is when Paul is like, all right, time to get back together.
>> Garett: No. So if you are going too fast and at a certain point in time, either party is missing it too much, maybe their thoughts are being consumed in a more lustful way that it shouldn't be. It might be time to rejoin in sex. It might be time to do that again in your marriage. Because we can see that Satan uses that as a temptation because of your lack of self control. And it's not the spouse's fault that the other spouse would cheat or lapse into something like
pornography. But we can see we have a lack of control. Paul admits to us that we all will have this lack of control, and we need to be acknowledging that in our spouse. >> Jen: Mhm. Right. And see, because women, you know, we're the helpers, we also have to help our husbands through some of these issues as well. >> Garett: And vice versa. >> Jen: And vice versa. I would actually argue that Garett helped me more than I helped him. Um,
in certain ways, yeah. But moving on to verse six, it says, I say this by way of concession, not of commandment. So Paul is admitting here, he's saying, this is not a direct commandment from God. However, it did end up in the Bible, and we have it. So it is something that is good to do that is what we should be doing is respecting each other, respecting each other's bodies. I wish, yet I wish that all men were like me. However, each man has his own gift from God, one of this
kind, another of that kind. So Paul's like, I have a gift of being able to be celibate. That is something that I can do. Now, some people do wonder if Paul actually was celibate his whole life, because since Paul was potentially part of the Sanhedrin, they say that the Sanhedrin, back in the days of Jesus were required to be married. And so some people wonder if Paul was married very early on in life, and either his wife left him or she died.
Now, the reason I think that Paul was actually not married at any point in time in his life is because he basically says that he was. I mean, you would never think that he was married based upon this verse. You would think he has been celibate for his entire life. And, you know, even with the Sanhedrin thing, um, there's always exceptions made. You can see that throughout history. And so it's possible that Paul was an exception, or
he wasn't directly part of the Sanhedrin. He just had enough standing with them that they took advice from him. That's where I stand on that. So Paul says, you know, some people have the gift of being able to be celibate, some people don't, he says, but I say to the unmarried and to the widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am. But if they don't have the self control, let them marry. For it's better to marry than
to burn. And I think your version says, to burn with lust, desire, to burn with desire. Most versions will say something like, burn with lust, burn with desire. It's kind of interesting that the web just ends it with burnt. >> Garett: Well, if it's sinful and it's something that becomes an idol in your life and it can pull you away from God bless, burn with lust, burn with desire. And burning could all mean the same thing. >> Jen: That's true. >> Garett: Um, it could be the thing that
pulls you away. And if that's the case, like he's saying right here, it's better to be married. Don't, um, seek your sexual gratification outside of marriage, and if you must have it, get married. Better to be married literally, uh, in pursuit of this. And then, of course, applying all of your christian responsibilities in that marriage. But it's better to go that direction than to let your lust pull you away from God and desecrate the temple that is your body.
>> Jen: Right. And what would you say to people who want to be married but can't find a adequate partner? >> Garett: So that is actually one of the things that Paul seems to address a little bit. It is something that you have to be looking for and you have to be pursuing. But if that's not your lot in life, then that's not your lot in life. You know, he says it's better to be that way. And so this should be an encouragement to those that struggle to find that partner is maybe that
is God's design for you. And that can feel unfair, and that can feel terrible. But these same things apply to so many different things in life. These same things apply to tragic accidents. These apply to chronic diseases and terminal diseases. Sometimes it is just the way that your life is going to work out. And if you are a believer in God, he's working it for good in some way. And so it's God's design for you in some, some ways, because you can. >> Jen: Use it for good.
>> Garett: Yeah. Yeah. Like, like you talked about earlier, and like I talked about earlier, the focus that you can put on a ministry, the focus that you can put on pursuing God, if you have the discipline and if you can keep yourself away from these, these sins of lust and these sins of desire, if you can suppress that or get past it, then you can be such a strong
advocate for Christ. Um, you can fulfill that great commission to such a higher degree because you have more time to devote to our true spouse in the future, which is christ. That's the direction we need to be looking. But here and now, I also have you as my wife, and it's just very important that we focus on christ in a marriage or outside of a marriage. The focus is on Christ in a marriage. We have responsibilities to each other that are non
negotiable. Paul says this is a ConceSsioN, not a commandmenT. We have plenty of commandments of how to be in marriage. So when we're in marriage to follow Christ, there is time that we have to focus away from Christ towards our spouse in pursuit of Christ, which is confusing. But I have a responsibility as a husband, Jen has
a responsibility as a wife. And if we are exclusively going and serving in ministries, exclusively volunteering, uh, at church, we've neglected our spouse, and that is wrong according to the word. >> Jen: Right >> Garett: So you have to follow that line where Christ is at the center of your marriage as well as at the top of your life. >> Jen: And, you know, speaking of the whole thing that you just talked about with, like, sometimes it's just
God's. I wouldn't say it's God's design for somebody to be sick, obviously, like, sin came into the world and, you know, caused sickness and stuff like that. But sometimes God allows it, and it's his. In his will. And something that Garett and I have been, you know, dealing with for the past several years is that we can't have kids. And so it's possible that, you know, that's something that God just does not have for us. When the majority of other people, when they get married, they will have
kids. That's the majority. So sometimes, like Paul is saying here, sometimes people don't get married. The majority do. I would say sometimes people don't, though. And sometimes that is God's will. For you to go through life unmarried. >> Garett: He can use these unfortunate things in your life as instruments for his will.
>> Jen: Yes, exactly. But to the married, I command not I, but the Lord, that the wife not leave her husband, but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband, and that the husband not leave his wife. So this is a direct command from God that Paul is stating here. >> Garett: It's a reiteration. >> Jen: Yes. >> Garett: These are laws already in existence that he's repeating here. So, again, we're going back to. This is a question from this church in Corinth.
And so, as he's responding to it, he's saying, all of this that I just talked about is a concession. It's something that we know that you need, something that will help you contend with your sin, but it's not a command. And he immediately follows it up with, but this is a command. And for those that would be in the scriptures, like many of these people, would have at least some exposure or have people around them that would have that exposure, he's just reminding them.
Yes, all of this that I just said is his concession. But the command is still there. And the command is this, which is that the wife is not to leave her husband, and if she leaves, she is to remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. Now, what's interesting is that's not an equal. The wife can remarry her husband or return to her husband. The husband is not given that same, uh, permission here. The husband is not to leave his wife, period.
>> Jen: Yeah. And why would you say that that is unequal? >> Garett: Because, again, we're seeing where certainly the world was at the time that the women could have been divorced and were divorced for next to nothing. And I say at the time today, this is still true. In much of the world. But we know that that happens from the man's side of things. In fact, it's only in the western world that it ever happens from the woman's side of the marriage.
But there's a protection that God gives, and he gives it here, and he gives it in deuteronomy, that a man cannot change his mind after his wife has married another. So there's no ability for a first husband, or, as we've read, multiple husbands, any of them, to have a claim to their wife after divorcing them. They can't just take her back. And so God actually puts in deuteronomy that they are forbidden to remarry a wife after she has married another, even if she's already divorced again.
>> Jen: Yeah. And why would that be? >> Garett: So that a man could not divorce his wife for the night, give her to another man, which is not a true divorce. He's still controlling her, and then after that night, have her divorce that new man and remarry her. So it really gives a protection for women that abusive people across the world, and again, still today, could not give out their wives for any reason. It would have blocked that entirely from deuteronomy forward
in the nation of Israel. And here we see that Paul takes it a step farther, that the, uh, wife not leaves her husband, but if she departs, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband, and the husband not leave his wife. So that protection moves forward even a little bit more. You are not to leave your wife. >> Jen: Yeah. So that's from the male perspective, where Paul is saying specifically to the men, they can't even be separated from their wives
except for adultery. That would be the one exception that the Bible always gives is adultery in the male's perspective. But in the woman's perspective, Paul is saying that separation is sometimes necessary on, you know, in those cases, separation is necessary if you are in a dangerous situation, like if your husband is violent
or cruel or something like that. Paul does specifically say to women that they can be separated from their husband, but if she departs, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. But if she has to leave, she can go live somewhere else for a while and remain unmarried. And her husband, then at that point, if his heart changes and he becomes like a new man, like, say, he becomes saved or something like that, and his life has changed, then the wife and the husband can get
back together. And I've actually known people that that. >> Garett: Has happened to, and it seems like it's something that's so unlikely, because in the case of an abusive relationship, you know, women m fear to flee, to fear to get away from an abusive husband. But, uh, it's okay for her to call the police. That man may go to jail. In jail, that man may find God. And so over a period of time, the woman has left her husband. I, uh, mean, he is in jail. There is a separation there. That is true.
But Paul says the wife not leave her husband. If she departs, let her remain unmarried. Your husband goes to jail. You wait, maybe he gets out of jail. He hasn't changed at all. And you don't go back to him, but you don't marry another. >> Jen: The last thing I would say is that Mike Winger did a really good video, uh, about is it okay for a woman to divorce an abusive spouse biblically. And one of the things that he said, I thought this was really good. In fact, I can link the video
in the description of the episode. He said that, yes, he believes that it is okay for a wife to divorce her husband in cases of serious abuse. God desires mercy and not sacrifice. And because God desires mercy, he wants us to be merciful towards other people as well. Now, what do you think about that, Garett? Do you agree with that?
>> Garett: I'm not going to disagree with Mike Winger, because if he did a podcast episode on it, he did 400 hours of research beforehand, and you just sprung that on me in a podcast episode. The first one I'm on out of first Corinthians seven. >> Jen: Yes. >> Garett: So I don't have the hundreds of hours of research that I'm sure Mike Winger put into it. Yeah. >> Jen: You're not gonna comment? >> Garett: I will not comment on that.
>> Jen: All right, that's fine. That's fine. Now, granted, though, this is in extreme circumstances. This is not just like every little whim we divorce our husband or our wives over. And that is what Paul is saying here as well, is that we don't, just, for the smallest little things, leave our husbands, leave our wives, something like that. This is, in extreme circumstances, that a wife would leave her husband. So. >> Garett: And this is for christians.
This is something for christians to be applying to their lives, that if a woman gets a divorce and say it might be whatever version of abuse or whatever, she decides that she leaves her husband, she's not to remarry. That does not make second. >> Jen: Ah. >> Garett: Or third marriages after somebody has met Christ invalid, because that is a totally different, um, application of rules to them because they are not under Christ in that
marriage. That is not a godly marriage. A godly marriage is a marriage done with Christ the center? When these marriages happen and people get divorced and then they're born again, there's questions on what the validity is of that second marriage, or whatever number marriage it might be. Um, I don't have any question for the validity of that marriage because the marriage, the first marriage that you do that is as a Christian with Christ at the center, that's your marriage.
Everything before that is as a sinful individual that does not yet know God. >> Jen: Yeah, thanks for qualifying that, Garett. And also, thanks for coming on the podcast. I hope you didn't hate it as much as you thought you would. >> Garett: Oh, I didn't. >> Jen: So that means you're gonna do one with me every week? >> Garett: I'm not gonna do one every week, but I might come on again. >> Jen: Yay. I'm excited. Alright, guys, this was my husband, Garett.
So, um, I hope you all enjoyed this episode and this perspective from a married couple doing a portion of scripture about marriage. And I hope that, uh, you guys were convicted by it or helped by it. And if you were, share it on your social media platforms. Tell people that the Bible explained podcast exists. But I'll see you guys all on Wednesday tomorrow as we discuss an episode from first kings. Happy listening. And God bless.