What does 1 Corinthians 7:13 mean?
Great tension can exist in a marriage when one spouse is a Christian and the other is not. This would have been especially true in Paul's day, when the difference between Christian spirituality and the wider culture was more pronounced. For example, a converted wife would no longer wish to participate in the worship of her husband's gods or idols. Should they just get divorced in order to free each other?In the previous verse, Paul said unequivocally that a Christian husband should not divorce his unsaved wife for this reason, so long as she is willing to continue being married to him. Now he says the same to Christian wives. If her husband is willing to stay married, she should not divorce him.
Paul explains how remaining married benefits the unsaved spouses and their children in the following verses, as well as what Christian spouses should do if their unsaved husbands or wives insist on a divorce.