1 Corinthians7:14

Because the children are brought into this discussion, it appears to be more about the family unit as it relates to procreation, than about the spouse’s personal spiritual condition. We know from other parts of Scripture that holiness is imparted by a holy God; it is never the result of human action alone, or of a human condition, such as being married to the right kind of person. Therefore, my paraphrase says “a home is made holy” instead of “the spouse is made holy”. Paul is using what I call “ancient short-hand” to say “The condition of the spouse that would otherwise make the home be considered unclean before God, is mitigated by the condition of the spouse that is right before God, making the home be considered holy.” Paul mentions the spouse because it is the spiritual condition of the spouse that is the problem, but the true focus is on the home and the results of the spiritual conditions of both spouses on that home, especially the way those conditions affect the children.

God does not punish children for having parents that do not agree regarding following Jesus.

The Old Testament concept that everything is either clean and holy, common and clean, or common and unclean, carried over to the New Testament. We do not need to follow all the regulations of the Law given through Moses, but we do need to follow the principles taught by those regulations. Everyone is born into the world in a condition of common and clean, thus allowing them a fair start at life. Their choices and actions make them clean and holy, or common and unclean (From Rich Oka’s blogsite, https://messianic-revolution.com/l11-2-four-truths-you-should-have-been-taught-when-you-were-born-again-but-werent/).

Paul’s words in the second half of this verse indicate that Paul believed, along with all other Jews, that everyone is born into this world in the condition of common and clean. One might assume that, if the believing spouses connection with God did not mitigate against the unbelieving spouse’s negative spiritual condition, then the children would drop from common and clean to common and unclean. But it does mitigate and they are taken one step up to be clean and holy. This confirms that everyone is born in the middle and can go either direction after that.

Obviously it is best if both spouses are living according to the conditions of God’s covenant, but apparently, if only one of them is doing so, the children can still be considered under that covenant until they are old enough to make their own decisions on the matter.

Marriage was considered a holy state, and the marriage bed was considered holy unless something contaminated was brought into it (such as pornography, adultery, etc).

But the Old Testament Law also taught that one should not mix two things that are different. That is another spiritual principle that carries over to the New Testament. If you are a follower of Jesus, do not seek to marry someone who is not a follower of Jesus.

As Paul saw a situation developing in which a household could be divided with one parent following Jesus and the other parent not following Jesus, he apparently had some questions. My guess is that this came to his mind in part because of his own situation. Scholars think that Paul probably had a wife because he was climbing the ranks of the respected leaders of his day, all of whom were married. It is thought that when Paul gave his life to Jesus and experienced a radical life change, his wife left him and went back to live with her father. But Paul knew that there would be cases in which a married person would become a believer after getting married, and the unbelieving spouse would not leave, and he wondered what that meant for the children. Would they start life with a disadvantage spiritually (common and unclean)?

God must have given Paul an answer to this question in some direct way, an answer which Paul shared at this point with the Corinthians. The answer was that the children are not disadvantaged, in fact God grants them a special status. Instead of starting out as common and clean, they will start out as clean and holy. The things a spouse goes through when not married to another believer will be noticed by the children and will be a powerful witness to the work of God in a human life. God chooses to look at the fact that one spouse is going above and beyond what is normal in order to live for Him; He does not focus on the fact that the other spouse does not follow Him at all. In this way, the home and the resulting children are not disadvantaged by a situation out of their control.

Fredric Louis Godet reminds us that “whatever touches the altar will be holy” (Ex 29:37). His point is that if a believing parent offers a child to God in prayer, that child is considered holy by God (Godet’s commentary on 1 Corinthians, p. 334).

I am convinced that this passage has nothing to do with infant baptism, or else Paul would have made that clear. Baptism of infants is not specifically mentioned anywhere in the Bible, so Paul would not have been able to hint at something that had never been mentioned, he would have had to say it clearly, but he did not do so. We must remember that Paul thought like a Jew, and infant baptism was not a part of Jewish thinking.

SUMMARY:

1. God gives children of a marriage in which only one parent is a believer in Jesus a special status by being considered clean and holy, not just common and clean.
2. If a parent offers a child to God in prayer, that child is considered holy until his own actions change that status.