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Are
Children of Christian Parents Saved? Pastor Paul W. Martin English Standard Version 14For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. New International Version 14For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. Author's Translation of Verse 14: For, the unbelieving husband has been made holy (perfect passive indicative / 3rd person singular - Greek: agiazo) in the wife and the unbelieving wife has been made holy (perfect passive indicative / 3rd person singular - Greek: agiazo) in the brother; otherwise, then your (2nd person plural) children are (present tense) unclean, but now (they) are holy (Greek: agios). [1] Introduction For many years, good Christians have quoted 1 Corinthians 7:14 as proof that their baptized children are truly saved. Even though there is no mention of baptism in this verse, is it not hard to see how this interpretation came about. In fact, those of us who hold to Believer's Baptism do not always have a good answer to this verse as we speak to our paedobaptist brethren. We do not need to be ashamed of this verse, however! A careful look at what it says, and the context in which it says it, will confirm this verse has nothing to do with the salvation and baptism of children. The Context of 1 Corinthians 7:10-16 The context of 1 Corinthians 7:14 is clear. Paul is giving instructions on divorce and remarriage. Specifically, he is urging the Corinthians to never divorce or separate from their spouses. If a separation does occur, they are to remain single or else be reconciled to one another. In the course of this discussion, Paul brings up the case of a Christian who is currently married to an unbeliever. In other places, Paul demands that Christians marry Christians (See, for example, 1 Corinthians 7:39 "A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord."). Thus, the situation Paul is addressing here must be that of a couple where one of the spouses has been converted after marriage. Paul makes it clear, however, that even though the other spouse is not yet born again, this is not an excuse or reason for the converted spouse to separate or divorce - verse 13: "If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him." Then follows verse fourteen. This verse begins with the Greek preposition gar which means "for." Verse 14, then, is giving a reason why it is true that believers should not divorce or separate from their unbelieving spouses. It is not saying anything about baptism! Unpacking the Words With this context in mind, we turn to the verse to see what it actually says. "Here is a reason," Paul says, "that you should not divorce your unbelieving spouse." Essentially, that reason is that your unbelieving spouse "has been made holy." Now, we know from the rest of Scripture that this cannot mean that the unbelieving spouse is saved! An "unbelieving Christian" is an oxymoron - it is self-contradictory. And the context proves this quite well as Paul will go on to talk about the spouse's need to be saved in verse 16. Yet, this same word "has been sanctified" or "has been made holy" appears at the end of the verse to describe "the children" that "are holy." Clearly, this does not mean the children are saved either! What then, is Paul saying? Some of the problems in understanding what Paul was getting at are caused by our English translations. Most of them take the "sanctifying" or "being made holy" as a result of being married to the believing spouse. But Paul does not say "the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife" (as ESV and others). He uses the Greek preposition en which simply means "in." The causal meaning ("because of") is remote at best and just plain wrong at worst. Thus, Paul is saying that in you (the believing spouse) your spouse is holy. The problem now is figuring out what that means. This is not as hard as it may look. Clearly, Paul is not suggesting "in" in a physical sense. Rather, we would be justified in translating the phrase: "in the realm of the unbelieving spouse." Paul is saying then, "Stay with your unbelieving spouse after your conversion since in relation to you, or 'in your realm,' that spouse has been made holy." In other words, you will not be defiled by remaining with them. Holy Unbelievers? The question remains, in what sense has an unbelieving spouse "been made holy" "in the realm of" the believing spouse? As we have already shown, it was not by being married to the believer - it was not a cause and effect relationship (i.e. once we are married something intrinsically occurs in you to make you holy). For help on what Paul meant, a quick look at Acts 10 is in order. Acts 10 9The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13And there came a voice to him: "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." 14But Peter said, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." 15And the voice came to him again a second time, "What God has made clean, do not call common." 16This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. 24And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26But Peter lifted him up, saying, "Stand up; I too am a man." 27And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 28And he said to them, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me." Here, Peter is given a revolutionary lesson from the Lord. No longer is a good Jew to consider anything (people, plants or things) as ceremonially unclean. [2] This is a massive step in the early church coming to terms with the New Covenant. The Old Covenant stipulation, that the Israelites remain aloof from non-Israelites, is abolished. Peter can eat and drink with the Gentiles (a fact so revolutionary that he forgot it for a while when in Galatia!). In the same manner, it is appropriate for Paul to write the Corinthians that unbelieving spouses "have been made holy." It is an action that took place in the past with abiding results into the future. That action did not occur the moment one of the married partners was converted. it took place when Christ established the New Covenant. Paul is telling the believing spouse that they cannot excuse themselves from their marriage on the grounds that their unbelieving spouse is "unclean" and will defile them. No, that spouse has been sanctified in the sense that all humanity has been sanctified - they are holy to you - and this holiness has nothing to do with them being saved. This is a crucial explanation since Paul had said earlier in the letter (chapter 6) that these Christians must avoid any action that would "defile" their bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit. How easy it would have been for an uninformed believer to feel that remaining with their unbelieving spouse would be displeasing to God - Paul is ensuring that this error is not made. And Sanctified Children. Paul then switches gears to speak about the children. I do not think he is speaking about the children of the unequally yoked couple alone - rather he is addressing all the children of all the families in the Corinthian church. I believe this is accurate since he switches from the 3rd person to the 2nd person plural - he goes from saying, "they" to "you." He moves from the 3rd person "test case" to the 2nd person plural form of direct address. He is making an appeal to all the families of the church and saying, "Consider your kids." He transitions to this discussion of the children with the very unique epei ara ("otherwise then"). [3] Here, the translators understand the phrase to imply parallel, not progression. Or, stated another way, Paul is bringing up the case of children by way of analogy, not cause and effect argumentation. Paul is not saying here that, "Since your unbelieving spouse is married to you that makes them saved." Neither is he saying that "since your children have you (a believer) as a parent that that makes them saved!" Rather, Paul is saying that your children are the same to you as your unbelieving spouse - holy, sanctified. In other words, Paul is using parallel arguments. Remember, he is explaining the reason why a believer should not leave an unbelieving spouse. He tells them they must not do it since both the unbelieving spouse and the children are now made holy to them. In essence, Paul is saying "Would you abandon your children just because you became a Christian and that makes them somehow unclean to you?" The implied answer is, "Of course not!" So, in the same way, you must not abandon your spouse! That is the whole point of the verse. Here again, we are sadly misled by our English translations. The Greek does not say that "your children would be unclean." It says "your children are unclean" (present indicative of eimi). Paul is not suggesting some cause and effect relationship between the parent's salvation and the child's salvation. This verse has nothing to do with the salvation of the child. All he is saying is that you cannot separate yourself from unbelievers in your family just because they are unbelievers. [4] Again, the whole context of the verse is whether or not the believer should divorce their unbelieving spouse - just because that spouse is an unbeliever. The unequivocal answer is "no." If a divorce or separation does occur, the believer is bound either to remain single or be reconciled to their original spouse. In the case that someone thinks their spouse being unconverted is a good enough reason to divorce them, Paul says that makes as much sense as you abandoning your children! May it never be! Since your children are "holy" / "sanctified," just as your spouse is "holy" / "sanctified," you must do all you can to keep the marriage together. The Rest of The Story In
verses 15 and 16, Paul confirms this flow of thought when he says
that for the sake of "peace," the believer must allow the unbeliever
to leave / divorce if they demand it. The believer
is bound to remain in the marriage unless the unbeliever will
not "consent to live with" (:12) the believer because of
For, as Paul says, "Wife, how do you know whether you will save your husband? Husband, how do you know whether you will save your wife?" (:16) You do not know if staying in the relationship will result in the conversion of the unbelieving spouse. God nowhere promises this to be the case as His sovereign grace testifies. Indeed, Peter and others have given good instructions on how to evangelize in the context of marriage, but even so there is no promise of a guaranteed conversion. [5] Conclusion Far from teaching that some children are "more inclined" to salvation than others, or that only the children of a marriage where at least one spouse is saved have any chance of being saved, Paul is merely saying that unbelief does not make someone like a leper to us! You would never abandon your children just because they are not saved, so you must never abandon your spouse. This interpretation is not fanciful or imaginative; it is merely dealing with the words of the text as they appear in their context. To find baptism or conversion in this verse requires far more imagination and a blind eye to the reason for these words being written in the first place. The interpretation we have suggested here adds further weight to Paul's whole point - marriage is sacred and must be maintained at almost any cost. even when that cost means day to day life with someone who does not yet share your delight in Jesus Christ. Appendix Here is the complete text of the passage: 1 Corinthians 7:10-16 English Standard Version (ESV) 10To
the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife
should not separate from her husband 11(but if she
does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her
husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife. Comments? Contact Pastor Paul W. Martin, Grace Fellowship Church, Toronto, ON. Website: www.gfcto.com. Email: info@sympatico.ca.. [1] See Appendix at end of article for a complete quotation from each version. [2] The word translated "unclean" is the same word used in 1 Corinthians 7:14 of the children being "unclean." It refers to ceremonial, moral or physical impurity - context alone determines which of these. [3] Interestingly, this rare word combination is only used in one other place in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 5:10), translated there as; "in that case" - NIV; "for then" - KJV; "since then" - ESV. This verse is also speaking about our relationship with unbelievers and says that we are not to cease relations with the ungodly. Doing that would equal us having to leave the world. For more on the idea of analogy as opposed to cause and effect, see http://www.eng.auburn.edu/~sjreeves/personal/1cor.html [4] This is assuming that the children are unbelievers. not a foreign assumption if one believes in original sin and divine election (see especially Ephesians 2:3). Therefore, it is staggering to read comments from Calvinistic (yet covenantal) authors like Leon Morris who remark on this verse: "Until he is old enough to take the responsibility upon himself, the child of a believing parent is to be regarded as a Christian." (1 Corinthians - Tyndale New Testament Commentary; IVP, 1996, 105). This is like saying a child is saved at his infant baptism, loses his salvation at some undefined "age of accountability," then gets saved again when he believes for himself! [5] See 1 Peter 3:1-6. Although this paragraph does not promise the conversion of the unbelieving husband, it is certainly optimistic that the right kind of living will go a long way in the providence of God to opening up the doors to belief! |
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