Intro and question re 1 Cor 7

[pquick]

Greetings to all, my first time posting in PB.
Pat Quick, Reformed Baptist, Male, 56, Married,
two unsaved grown boys.

Wondering about correct exegeting and interpreting 1 Cor 7

Exegetically, is it correct to interpret this as marriage is the remedy to personal lust? especially in light of verses 2 and 9?

Would you characterize this passage as a "scriptural formula" for those who can't control their lust, so you would counsel them "then you should get married". Calvin comments that it [marriage is the "remedy" for lust.] Did Calvin have a different meaning of remedy than our popular concepts of remedy / and Paul different concept of "to avoid"? If I avoid an obstacle in the road, I go around it and it doesn't affect me - I missed it. If I ask for a remedy from a Dr. for an ailment, I get medicine which is a remedy or cure. [it makes the ailment "go away"] Is marriage the "cure" for personal lust? i.e. marriage will make lust go away? In reading the commentaries, it seems that Calvin, MHenry, JFB, all say marriage is remedy for lust, but if it is, and they couldn't control themselves and only marriage to control, how would that not be a contradiction of

1Th 4:3 For this is the will of God, [even] your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

and

Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.


Thanking you in advance for your insights
Blessings, Pat

 

[MW]

It is good to bear in mind that "lust" can be broad as in a burning desire, and narrow as in unlawful desire. The "lust" in mind in 1 Cor. 7 is the broader definition.

 

[gwine]

Greetings Pat and welcome to the PB.

If the commentators of old are actually saying that marriage is a remedy (i.e. cure) for lust then I would have to respectfully disagree with them. Unless your heart is right you will have lustful feelings for your spouse in that you are only thinking of satisfying your "needs."

But if you consider that marriage, properly entered, will teach you to consider your spouse's needs and feelings above your own (as Christ's relationship to the Bride shows - Eph. 5), then I could see where the commentators would be justified.

 

[satz]

While you would definitely need to explain further, i would not be entirely uncomfortable with agreeing with the statement that marriage was the 'remedy' for lust.

Prehaps another way to look at it is that every human being has a sexual appetite that God created. Whilst some, like Paul may be able to control themselves for their entire lives, there are others for whom the natural desire is so strong that unless it is fulfilled in a God honoring marriage, it will, or could break out and try to find fulfillment in unlawful ways.

With respect to those who disagree, i do think that this passage is teaching that one of the purposes of marriage is for the fulfillment of a persons sexual desires. Off course we must keep in mind that 1 Cor 7 is not the only passage on marriage so we do not become unbalanced, but it seems to me the passage is fairly plain it what it says.