Back to Index

Back to The Good Fight

QUESTION: What are the rules on how a husband should treat his
wife? Should a woman put up with anything if her husband is not
fornicating? (i.e. alcoholism, gambling, beating her or the
children)

     a. "Rules":
          1) Mal.2:14-16--Not to deal treacherously/companion
          2) Matt.19:5,6-Leave, cleave, one flesh.
          3) 1 Cor. 13:4-8.
          4) Eph. 5:25-28,33.
          5) Col. 3:19
          6) 1 Pet. 3:7

     b. What to do.
          1) Questions such as these cause us to see the need for
preparation for marriage, and for wisdom in selecting one's
partner. In many cases one does not begin the drinking, gambling,
or ill temper after the marriage. Often these were habits
(sometimes well developed habits) before the marriage, and the
prospective spouse might think she (or in some cases, he) could
change him once they were married, or perhaps it might never have
occurred to her that these things would develop into real problems.

          2) There are no doubt occasions when the life of the wife
or children is in real danger, and it is necessary for her to
separate herself from her husband that she might be removed from
the dangerous situation. 
               a. Should this occur, one must realize that she is
still bound to her husband (Rom. 7:2,3)

          3) So far as divorce is concerned, there is but one cause
(Matt. 19:9). Drinking, gambling, and physical abuse are all sins,
but none of these is fornication; hence, none is a scriptural cause
for divorce. 

          4) Peter addresses the situation where the wife is a
Christian but whose husband is not a Christian (1 Pet.3:1-6).    
          5) Just remember that you can be a Christian, you can do
what is right, regardless of whether you spouse does or not.



Back to Index

Back to The Good Fight