What is the meaning of 1 Corinthians 7:16? How do you know, wife, Paul speaks directly to a believing wife whose husband is not yet in Christ (1 Corinthians 7:13–14). • The question is gentle yet probing: you cannot see the end from the beginning, only God can (Isaiah 46:10). • It reminds her that her faithfulness today—patience, respect, and purity of life—matters even when results are unseen (1 Peter 3:1–2). • She is called to stay, if he is willing to live with her, because “the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife” (1 Corinthians 7:14). That sanctification is a real, set-apart influence, though not identical with salvation. whether you will save your husband? The phrase highlights possibility, not certainty. • Salvation is ultimately the Lord’s work (Jonah 2:9; Ephesians 2:8–9). • Yet God often uses close, loving witness to draw a soul (Romans 10:17; James 5:19–20). • So the believing wife lives out: – Consistent gospel testimony in word (Colossians 4:6). – Observable Christ-like conduct in deed (Matthew 5:16). – Trust that the Holy Spirit applies that witness in His timing (John 16:8). Still, she must not assume her presence guarantees her husband’s conversion; Paul wants her to live faithfully without carrying a weight only God can bear. Or how do you know, husband, Now the same challenge comes to the believing husband married to an unbelieving wife (1 Corinthians 7:12). • Spiritual leadership does not equal spiritual control. • He is to love sacrificially (Ephesians 5:25) and dwell with understanding (1 Peter 3:7), modeling Christ to his household. • The rhetorical question guards him from presumption and from despair—he doesn’t know the outcome, but he does know his calling. whether you will save your wife? Here Paul places both spouses on equal footing before God’s sovereignty. • If the unbelieving partner chooses to leave, the believer is “not bound in such circumstances. God has called you to live in peace” (1 Corinthians 7:15). • Staying or letting go must be guided by peace and by conscience, not by a mistaken belief that one can force salvation (2 Corinthians 6:14 balanced with 1 Corinthians 7:12–15). • The believer rests in promises like 1 Timothy 2:4—God “wants all people to be saved”—while acknowledging that repentance is personal and cannot be coerced. summary 1 Corinthians 7:16 asks husbands and wives to face a humbling truth: only God saves. A faithful spouse can powerfully influence an unbelieving partner through godly presence, loving words, and consistent conduct, yet outcomes rest with the Lord. Therefore stay when possible, release when necessary, and in every circumstance trust the God who alone brings salvation. |
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