Crux Sola: Formed by Scripture to Live like Christ
Why did Paul have to be so insistent when teaching Gentiles that they had to maintain purity in marriage relationship? Wouldn’t it have been assumed that sleeping around was sinful and that singular commitment to one’s wife was a clear implication of the gospel? F.F. Bruce helps the modern reader put Paul’s context into perspective:
“The general attitude is frequently illustrated by a quotation from Demosthenes’s oration Against Neaera: ‘We keep mistresses for pleasure, concubines for our day-to-day bodily needs, but we have wives to produce legitimate children and serve as trustworthy guardians of our homes.’ “
(Bruce, 1 and 2 Thessalonians WBC, p. 87)
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