Summary
Beyond Opinions
God does not speak in opinion language. He did not suggest to Adam and Eve that, in His estimation, a certain tree might be best avoided. He did not recommend to Moses that a quick exit from Egypt would be advisable. He commands. He speaks with authority, with imperatives, with "thus saith the Lord." This is the foundation that makes 1 Corinthians 7 such an interesting passage to read carefully—because Paul appears, at first glance, to step out of that pattern.
In chapters 7 through 11, Paul is responding to a list of questions sent to him by the church at Corinth. When he addresses marriage and divorce, he distinguishes between two answers. To one question he says, "To the married I give this command, not I, but the Lord" 1 Corinthians 7:10, drawing on Jesus' own teaching in Matthew 19. A few verses later, addressing a different question—what should a believer do when married to an unbeliever?—he writes, "To the rest I say (I, not the Lord)" 1 Corinthians 7:12. Is Paul now offering his personal opinion? Should an asterisk be added: Paul's two cents?
The answer is no. Scripture itself rules that reading out. 2 Peter 1:20–21 declares that no prophecy of Scripture comes by human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. And 2 Peter 3:15–16 explicitly places Paul's letters alongside "the other Scriptures." Paul himself writes that he speaks "in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit" 1 Corinthians 2:13, and immediately after his counsel on mixed marriages he adds, "I think that I too have the Spirit of God" 1 Corinthians 7:40. When Paul says "I, not the Lord," he is simply noting that Jesus did not address this particular case during His earthly ministry. Paul is not switching from revelation to opinion; he is writing under the same apostolic authority, applying the Lord's mind to a question Jesus had not specifically taken up.
On the substance, Scripture recognizes two grounds that may open the door to divorce: adultery (the case Jesus addresses in Matthew 19) and malicious desertion (the case Paul addresses here). Malicious desertion can take more than one form—physical abandonment, but also patterns of abuse and the hardened refusal to reconcile—where sin has effectively broken the bond of marriage. Where an unbelieving spouse is content to remain, however, the believer is not to initiate divorce. The marriage stands.
This matters far beyond the question of marriage. We live in a culture awash in opinions, where "that's just how I feel" is treated as the end of the argument and personal preference is quietly elevated to the status of truth. Christians are tempted to do the same with God—to baptize our feelings and call them His will. The comfort of “Beyond Opinions” is that we have a standard outside ourselves: the inerrant and infallible Word of God, which judges our thoughts rather than being judged by them. And the same Word announces that Christ has borne even the sin of exalting our opinions above His voice.
Biblically grounded faith and biblically grounded leadership therefore do not traffic in surveys or opinions; they share convictions rooted in Scripture. The Lord moves His people from "well, I think…" to "thus saith the Lord." That is freedom, not bondage—freedom from the tyranny of our own shifting feelings, anchored instead in ancient words ever true.
Video citations
- “Beyond Opinions” 5-5-24 — Would you open up your Bible's please for our time and gods word today to first Corinthians the seventh chapter. First Corinthians chapter seven, if you're using a few edition of Holy Scripture,…