The Corinthians asked Paul, “If you happen to be married, and you’re married to a pagan from a previous marriage,” then the question was, “Should I get rid of my husband?  So, when I’m told not to defraud my husband, what about the effect of this pagan on my purity, my spirituality?  Am I defiled if I remain in this relationship with the pagan?”  He goes on into verse 12, and he says, “But to the rest, speak I, but the Lord: If any brother has a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.  And the woman which has a husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.”

 “The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband.  Else were, your children unclean, but now are they holy.  But if the unbelieving depart, let them depart. A brother or sister is not under bondage, in such decrees: but God has called us to peace.  For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband?”  Now, he’s making reference both ways.  He’s saying, “If you stay, there’s a chance you can win your husband, but there’s no guarantee of that.”  Paul’s saying that.  He’s also saying in this, “How do you know you will?  So, if he leaves, let him leave.”  But the children—and this how we kind of got off in this, “The children, then, are sanctified by the believing party.”  Amen?  All the way back to what I stated, “Husbands, when you’re talking and demanding things of your wife that are not biblical, you’re like this unbeliever and these children are sanctified by the Lord and the believing party.”  So, if you’re going to hold to your position that is not scriptural, your wife does not submit to you in that particular situation.

Be careful what you say, men, as the spokesman of God.  We get frustrated.  We find ourselves in places where it’s going against our discomfort, our philosophy.  We, somehow, want to demonstrate and get favor in the family by decisions we make that may be contrary to Scripture, and we’re going to hold to that position.  I’ll say it again, ladies, you’re a helpmeet—speak up—don’t back off the Word of God.  I’m not talking about standing there and arguing and trying to persuade him.  I’m talking about making a statement.  “This is what the Bible says, that’s what I’m doing.”  As for me and my house—believing party.  Amen?  “As for me and my house, we’re going to serve God.”  And when you see, then, ladies, how powerful your role is, how important your role is, and the necessity of doing it in meekness.  When your husband is your hero, when your husband is your covering, when your husband is your lover, then these things are done with gladness and not drudgery and not under command.

So, we see how relationships, then, are to work themselves out through communication, each performing their own roles.  So often, when the subject is presented, and the majority of the times it’ll be the husband, the response cannot be, “I don’t want to talk about that.  We’ve talked about that before.  You always want to talk about that.”  Well, why not resolve it?  The resolving will be accomplished by the obeying of the order that God has established; amen?  No one party sets the course—its agreement.  The agreement is arrived at through each preferring the other better than themselves.  You don’t go into it demanding your will.  You go into it looking for the fruit that comes from giving.  For it is more blessed to give than to receive, preferring and being the servant more than being the served.  We understand that part of the underlying principle was seen in the protection that it gives to the natural powers that are in us and our members.  And though it’s not unique to men, it’s prevalent in men.  So, in your preference for your husband, ladies, you’re assisting them.  You are blessing them through keeping this God given order and in the union that we have in the physical relationships.