Covenant Reformed News – December 2005, Volume X, Issue 20
This article provides a detailed exegetical treatment of 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 regarding the conjugal duty in Christian marriage, establishing that sexual relations are the rule rather than the exception and addressing three conditions for temporary abstinence (mutual consent, brief duration, and religious purpose). The author uses this passage to refute false teachings that denigrate marriage and sexuality, including Roman Catholic perpetual virginity doctrine and Methodist celibacy advocacy, arguing that Scripture honors the marriage bed as undefiled and holy.
The Duty of Sex in Marriage (4) There is an exception to the duty of sex in marriage (besides that of physical impossibility) if three conditions are met. First, it must be “with consent” (I Cor. 7:5)—not a unilateral decision of the husband or of the wife but of both together. Second, it must “for a time” (5)—not for the rest of their lives or for years but for a specified period. Afterwards they must “come together again” sexually (5). Third, the sexual abstention must be “that ye may give...