Sacred Principles for Body, Mind, and Marriage

To reflect the character of Christ, you must safeguard your soul through strict moral principles and the careful preservation of your body as a holy templeRC 150+1. We live in the perilous last days where immorality and licentiousness are the prevailing sins of the age, requiring a firm commitment to virtueRC 150.2+1.

🛡️ The Only Safeguard for the Soul

• Strict Moral Principle: In a world where iniquity abounds and the love of many professed followers of Christ is waxing cold, moral principle is your only securityRC 150.2+1.

• Control of Passions: Every Christian is required to restrain their passions and ensure they are governed by principle rather than impulseRC 150.4.

• Avoiding Participation: The decline in spiritual fervor among believers often stems from a failure to stand clear of surrounding iniquity or being partakers in it in some senseRC 150.2.

🧠 The Connection Between Mind and Body

• Nervous System Communication: The brain nerves are the exclusive medium through which Heaven communicates with you and affects your inmost lifeRC 150.5.

• Vital Power: Any disturbance in the circulation of electric currents in the nervous system diminishes your vital powers and deadens the sensibilities of your mindRC 150.5.

• Fleeing Fornication: You must flee fornication because this specific sin is an offense against your own body 1 Corinthians 6:18.

🥗 Physical Habits and Spiritual Health

• Simple Diet: Because we live in a time of great boldness in vice, a simple, non-feverish diet is essential to help you control your passionsRC 150.6.

• Rejecting Mere Gratification: You should never consult the gratification of taste at the expense of your physical, intellectual, or moral healthRC 150.6.

• The Body as a Temple: Your body is not your own but is the temple of the Holy Ghost, bought with the precious price of Christ's blood 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

✨ Your Responsibility to God

• Preserving the Habitation: God has entrusted you with a physical habitation that you must care for and preserve in the best possible condition for His gloryRC 150.7.

• Glorifying God: You are commanded to glorify God in both your body and your spirit, recognizing that the Spirit of God dwells within you 1 Corinthians 3:16RC 150.7.

• Overcoming Discouragement: Although the strength and prevalence of iniquity can be discouraging, you must remain a lover of virtue and true goodnessRC 150.3.

1 Corinthians 7:1-24

1 Now concerning the things whereof you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

3 Let the husband render to the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife to the husband.

4 The wife has not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband has not power of his own body, but the wife.

5 Defraud you not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

6 But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.

7 For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man has his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.

8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.

9 But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.

10 And to the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:

11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother has a wife that believes not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.

13 And the woman which has an husband that believes not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.

14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.

15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God has called us to peace.

16 For what know you, O wife, whether you shall save your husband? or how know you, O man, whether you shall save your wife?

17 But as God has distributed to every man, as the Lord has called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.

18 Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.

19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.

20 Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.

21 Are you called being a servant? care not for it: but if you may be made free, use it rather.

22 For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.

23 You are bought with a price; be not you the servants of men.

24 Brothers, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.

The principles found in 1 Corinthians 7:1-24 emphasize that marriage is a divine institution designed for holiness, and while individual circumstances vary, every person is called to remain in a state of consecration to God. 1 Corinthians 7:1-241MR 160.3+1.

💍 The Sacredness of the Marriage Relation

Marriage was established in Eden at the creation of the world as a divine ordinance and should stand as firm as the Sabbath of the fourth commandment1MR 160.3. It was never the design of Christ to enforce celibacy upon any class of men, for He came to restore marriage to its original sanctityCCh 133.2+1. In the home, a husband is to stand as the priest and house-band of his household, and the wife is to walk interestedly by his side in spiritual unity20MR 288.4. True religion does not counterwork God's plans for man and woman to be united in holy wedlock to raise families that symbolize the family in heavenST August 30, 1899, par. 5.

🛡️ Chastity and Moral Responsibility

• Avoiding Defilement: The requirement for personal purity in thought and deed is paramount for those who bind themselves to God's serviceSBBS 106.5+1.

• The Snare of Passion: In an age of corruption and licentiousness, it is essential that followers of Christ stand in marked contrast to the world through their chastity and virtueAH 329.2+1.

• Self-Control: Women should exercise reason and not be led by blind impulse, realizing they are accountable for forming connections that ennoble rather than debase future generationsSA 106.1.

• Sanctification of the Body: A wife is not bound to yield to demands controlled by base passions that injure her body, which she is enjoined to possess in sanctification and honorAH 126.2.

📜 Divorce and the Higher Law

While the laws of the land may grant a legal separation for various reasons, they do not necessarily free individuals in the sight of God1MR 159.2+1. Adultery is the only sin that can place a husband or wife in a position where they are free from the marriage vow before God17MR 156.1+2. Marriage is a union intended for unity, and unless this absolute breach occurs, the original marriage subsists in the Bible light2SP 221.1+2.

✨ Remaining in Your Calling

• Focus on Transformation: Rather than seeking to change their marriage status for trivial offenses, individuals are urged to seek a transformation of disposition and characterAH 345.1+1.

• Service to God: Every person, whether married or single, should consider themselves as a member of the Lord's family and work toward the sanctification of their soul temple17MR 100.1+2.

• Consecration of Influence: The manifest spiritual power of piety in the home is what keeps children pure and prepares them for the kingdom of God7BC 919.1+1.

• Living for Eternity: Regardless of one's social or marital state, the life spent doing the will of God is what abides forever 1 Corinthians 7:20-24ST June 4, 1902, par. 4.

🕊️ True Sanctification and the Home

The work of grace and sanctification begins in the home, which is the first field of missionary effortPUR October 9, 1902, Art. A, par. 6+2. True sanctification is not found in the renunciation of society or the forced vows of the convent, but in revealing practical godliness in all of life’s relationsAA 560.1+2. We are called to be perfect in our sphere, putting away murmuring and conforming our lives to the will of heaven 1 Corinthians 7:171NL 78.4.

1 Corinthians 7:25-40

25 Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.

26 I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.

27 Are you bound to a wife? seek not to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.

28 But and if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.

29 But this I say, brothers, the time is short: it remains, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;

30 And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;

31 And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passes away.

32 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried cares for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:

33 But he that is married cares for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.

34 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

35 And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare on you, but for that which is comely, and that you may attend on the Lord without distraction.

36 But if any man think that he behaves himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let him do what he will, he sins not: let them marry.

37 Nevertheless he that stands steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but has power over his own will, and has so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, does well.

38 So then he that gives her in marriage does well; but he that gives her not in marriage does better.

39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.

40 But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.

The counsel provided in this passage emphasizes that while marriage is a sacred and honorable institution, the unique pressures of the "present distress" and the shortness of time make a life of undistracted devotion to God highly desirable for those who can receive it 1 Corinthians 7:26+1BDOC 30.25.

🛡️ Counsel for the Present Distress

The recommendation to remain single was given in view of the intense persecution and tribulations the early church was to suffer 1 Corinthians 7:26BDOC 30.25+1. In times of crisis, those with families often face greater difficulties in remaining steadfast, as their energies and concerns are naturally divided 1 Corinthians 7:33-34BDOC 30.25. However, choosing to marry is not a sin; it is a lawful relation that God continues to bless when conducted with a spirit of holiness 1 Corinthians 7:28RH September 25, 1888, par. 6+1.

⏳ Living in View of the Shortness of Time

We are living in the last fleeting moments of earth's history, and the time is indeed very short 1 Corinthians 7:29ARSH February 6, 1855, page 172.8+1.

• A Shift in Focus: Because the fashion of this world is passing away, believers are urged to use the world without abusing it, holding temporal interests—such as business, marriage, and even sorrow or joy—with a holy detachment 1 Corinthians 7:30-31RH September 25, 1888, par. 6+1.

• Urgency of the Message: The wrath of Satan increases as he knows his time is short, making it vital that we do not let our minds be entirely engrossed in the things of this life, such as marrying and giving in marriage Revelation 12:1219MR 138.2+1.

• Preparation for the End: Just as in the days of Noah, many today are so consumed by temporal affairs that they are unprepared for the sudden destruction coming upon the world Matthew 24:37-39LDE 112.1+1.

🕊️ The Advantage of Undistracted Devotion

The unmarried state allows for a more singular focus on the work of the Master 1 Corinthians 7:32BDOC 30.25+1.

• Undivided Interests: A person who is not bound by marriage can often give their strength and time more fully to missionary efforts without the cares of a family distracting their purpose 1 Corinthians 7:343SM 66.4+1.

• Singleness of Heart: This devoted state is a gift "given" to some, enabling them to serve God with a whole-souled purpose that is a terror to evildoers and a light to the world Matthew 19:11-12BDOC 30.25+1.

• A Personal Choice: There is no enforcement of celibacy; rather, it is a choice made for the kingdom of heaven’s sake by those who find they can better serve the Lord in that condition Matthew 19:12BDOC 30.25+1.

💍 Marriage "Only in the Lord"

For those who do choose to marry, the instruction remains clear: a believer is at liberty to marry, but "only in the Lord" 1 Corinthians 7:39.

• Avoid Unequal Yokes: God has expressly forbidden His people to unite with unbelievers, as such unions are a snare that leads the soul away from Christ 2 Corinthians 6:14-15LYL 84.1+1.

• Preserving Individuality: Even within marriage, a woman should never surrender her judgment or conscience to the absolute control of her husband, but must keep her loyalty to the Saviour supremeLYL 23.1+1.

• Sacred Responsibilities: Marriage is a school from which we never graduate in this life, requiring a lifetime of unselfish love and a steadfast purpose to help one another heavenwardCCh 126.2+2.

✨ The Final Reward

In the resurrection, the saved will be as the angels of God, where they neither marry nor are given in marriage Matthew 22:30DA 605.4+1. Until that day, whether single or married, the call is to serve God with singleness of heart, making the most of every opportunity to shine as lamps in a dark world Colossians 3:22AH 32.5+2. If we build ourselves up in our most holy faith, we shall be kept through the hour of temptation that is coming upon the whole world Revelation 3:105T 297.3.