Is it a sin to marry? I asked because Jesus our Savior never married. I don’t know whether the twelve disciples had wives. Why did Paul say to be like him and not marry? Also, Proverbs 31:3 said, “Do not give your strength to women…”
Marriage is an institution created and ordained by God as we read in Genesis 2:18, “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” We then read in Genesis 2:24, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto HIS WIFE: and they shall be one flesh.”
However, with that said, marriage is not for everyone. The Lord Jesus never married because He came with a purpose. He came to die for the sins of the world. We read of Him in 1 John 2:2, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” In the person of the Christ, “God was manifest in the flesh.) (1 Timothy 3:16). It was not His intention to partake in the married life and bear children. The very thought of that raises many, many theological questions. So, suffice it to say that Christ did not come to be married. He came to save sinners from their sins.
The Apostle Paul addressed the subject of remaining single in 1 Corinthians 7:7-9, “For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.” There is not a mention in the scriptures that Paul had ever been married. Some speculate that he might have been a widower, but there is no real evidence for that assumption. Why would Paul say that it would be better to remain unmarried? He answers that question in 1 Corinthians 7:26, “I suppose therefore that this is good for the PRESENT DISTRESS, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.” At that time, there was great distress for those who professed the name of Christ. Persecution, martyrdom, abandonment followed those who were true believers. Life would be so much more complicated for the believer if he was married.
However, as Paul pointed out, “But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.” Few people were really created to remain single. Surely, if the Lord determined that a man or woman were to remain single so that they might serve him unhindered, He would remove the desire for a marriage partner. The fact that most of them could not contain themselves from desiring one of the opposite sex, was an indication that the Lord HAD NOT called them to a life of being single. Indeed, it is better to marry than to burn with desire for a partner. Paul went on to say in verse 28, “But and if thou marry, THOU HAST NOT SINNED.”
Paul asked this question in 1 Corinthians 9:5, “Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?” (NKJV). Paul and the other apostles certainly had the RIGHT to be married. There was no commandment for any of them to remain single. We know that Cephas (Peter) was married. We read in Matthew 8:14-15, “And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw HIS WIFE’S MOTHER laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.”
We read in Proverbs 31:3, “Give not thy strength unto women…” This is not speaking of marriage, but of the sin of wasting your time and energy in elicit sexual relations with women. This is sin and should not be a part of the Christian’s life. (303.4)