1 Corinthians 7:3-4, Power Over Own Body

1 Corinthians 7:3-4 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. 4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.

Marriage with its comfort and satisfaction is God’s prescribed wisdom for preventing fornication. The word “fornication” describes all sorts of lawless lusts. And thus, in the marriage, both husband and wife has given the power over their own body to their better half. Any relationship outside the marriage covenant is a violation of the partner’s rights. [Matthew Henry]

MacArthur commented clearly, “God honours sexual desire and expression within marriage. In fact, failure for Christian husbands and wives to submit sexually to the authority of their spouses brings dishonour to God because it dishonours marriage…Sexual expression within marriage is not an option or an extra. It is certainly not. as it has sometimes been considered, a necessary evil in which spiritual Christians engage only to procreate children. It is far more than a physical act. God created it to be the expression and experience of love on the deepest human level and to be a beautiful and powerful bond between husband and wife.” This is the meaning of Genesis  2:24, the man “shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh“.

May the marriage bond between husband and wife be cherished. Amen.