The Blog

In verse four, Paul talks about how the wife’s and husband’s bodies do not belong to them alone but to their physical and spiritual partner. Spiritually, our bodies belong to God when we become Christians because Jesus Christ bought us by paying the price to release us from sin. Physically, your bodies belong to your spouses because God designed marriage so that, through the union of husband and wife, the two become one. Paul stresses complete equality in sexual relationships. Neither male nor female should seek dominance. Sexual pressure should not be the motive for getting married. Paul was telling couples who wanted to marry that they should not frustrate their normal sexual drives by avoiding marriage. It is better to deal with the pressure of desire than to deal with an unhappy marriage.

1 Corinthians 7:4-9

4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 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.