Bought at a Price: How to Live Before God

Message given by Frantz Galland on June 14, 2026 at Paris Beaugrenelle church, 1 Corinthians 7:1-24.

Introduction: A Question the Church Has Always Had to Settle

What do you do with your life, married or single, when you belong to Christ? Can you stay with a spouse who isn't a believer? Does your social status, your family situation, have to change just because Jesus has entered your life?

These questions aren't new. The church in Corinth, shaped by Greek philosophy, had developed a distorted theology of the body. Some visited prostitutes as if nothing were wrong. Others, on the opposite end, believed that a true Christian should give up marriage altogether, or at least give up marital relations if already married. Paul receives a letter full of their questions, and he answers them point by point in 1 Corinthians 7.

This chapter isn't easy. Frantz Galland admits as much right away: after tackling the subject of incest in the church in chapter 5, he expected an easier chapter next. It wasn't. But God's word speaks to you today exactly as it spoke to the Corinthians: married couples, mixed-faith couples, single people, widows, everyone is addressed here.

The foundation was laid in the previous chapter: you no longer belong to yourself. You were bought at a price. Paul builds everything else on this foundation. Two practical consequences unfold in this text:

1. Living to glorify God, married or single (v. 1-16)
2. Living according to the calling you've received from God (v. 17-24)

Outline of the Message

1. Living to Glorify God, Married or Single (1 Corinthians 7:1-16)

a) Without excessive spirituality (v. 1-2)

When Paul writes, "It is good for a man not to touch a woman," he's very likely quoting what the Corinthians had written to him. A group of ascetics was arguing that Christians shouldn't marry, or if already married, should abstain from all marital relations.

Paul immediately corrects this excess. He points back to the created order and highlights the danger of temptation that comes from a lack of self-control. Everything God created is good, including intimacy between husband and wife, as long as it happens within the framework God designed: marriage. You can glorify God through a healthy sexuality lived within the boundaries He set.

b) Seven marks of marriage as God designed it (v. 2-11)

Frantz points out eight characteristics that Paul lays out in these verses. They apply to married couples, but also to young people who may one day marry.

1. An exclusive relationship. The possessive is repeated four times in verse 2: "her own husband," "her own husband," "his own wife," "his own wife." The day you say yes to your spouse, you say no to everyone else. You belong to each other for the rest of your lives.

2. A protective framework. Verse 2 says it plainly: "because of sexual immorality." In Corinth, on the acropolis, stood a temple dedicated to Aphrodite, staffed by as many as a thousand sacred prostitutes. Temptation was everywhere. Today, the danger is no smaller. The pull toward affairs is in front of your eyes constantly. Marriage is a shelter against human frailty.

3. A gift from God. Marriage is a gift, but so is singleness (v. 7). "Each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another." If you're married, your spouse is a gift from God. Don't forget to tell them so, often.

4. A duty of mutual commitment. "Let the husband render to his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife to her husband" (v. 3). The Old Testament, in Exodus 21, speaks of food, clothing, and marital rights. Paul elsewhere (Ephesians and Titus) writes that husbands are to love their wives. Before it's a contract, marriage is a covenant. A spouse who walks away from their marriage "because the feelings are gone" hasn't understood the covenant the Lord brought them into.

5. A sacred space of mutual giving. In verse 4, Paul says the wife's body belongs to her husband, and likewise the husband's body to his wife. What God has entrusted to you must be handled with care, tact, love, and sensitivity. God is the true owner; He entrusts it to you for a time. This realm of intimacy is to be jealously guarded from every outside eye and every intrusion.

6. A place of unity. "By consent" and "together" (v. 5). These two words should govern the whole of a couple's life, including their intimate life.

7. A place where God is at the center. Verse 5 speaks of a shared season set apart for prayer. Jesus reminds us of this in Luke 18:1: "that they ought always to pray and not lose heart." Praying together regularly is essential to a couple's spiritual health. Frantz shares his own testimony: "Nélie and I have been praying together for 40 years. We're not perfect, but looking back, we can see how much God's grace has rested on our lives and on our family."

c) As the spouse of an unbeliever (v. 12-16)

Paul is careful to say in verse 12: "I, not the Lord, say." This doesn't weaken the authority of what he says. He simply doesn't have an explicit word from Jesus on this particular point, unlike verse 10, where he points back to Mark 10:9: "What God has joined together, let no man separate." Paul remains fully aware that he is speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (v. 40).

His word to spouses of unbelievers is a wonderful promise: "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy" (v. 14).

Note well, this verse doesn't give a believer permission to marry an unbeliever (2 Corinthians 6:14: "Don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers"). But Paul wants to show that a particular grace rests on the unbelieving spouse and on the couple's children because of the believing spouse.

If this is your situation, take heart. God is using you to bring a holy influence into your marriage and over your children. Even when you see nothing, even when it's hard, keep going, keep praying. The church is praying for you and for your spouse too. God hasn't spoken His last word. "Those who know your name will put their trust in you, for you, Yahweh, have not forsaken those who seek you" (Psalm 9:11 WEB).

Frantz tells this story: "A sister prayed every day for her husband. They grew old together, married for 60 years. For decades, her husband remained unconverted. At 80, he finally gave his life to Christ. Shortly after, that sister went home to be with her Lord. Her work was done."

d) A word on divorce and remarriage

Scripture allows two exception clauses for the ending of a marriage:

• Unfaithfulness or adultery (Matthew 5 and 19)
• Desertion by an unbelieving spouse (v. 15): "If the unbeliever departs, let him depart. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases."

Personally, Frantz doesn't know of any others in Scripture.

2. Living According to the Calling You've Received From God (1 Corinthians 7:17-24)

The main idea: live a life of obedience, trusting in God's sovereignty. The believer is called to accept the condition the Lord has placed them in, Jew or Gentile, slave or free.

Verse 18 can sound strange: "Was anyone called having been circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised." Paul was likely referring to certain Jews who, to hide their origins, tried to surgically reverse their circumcision.

The exhortation to remain before God in the situation you were in when you were called (v. 24) touches on contentment: welcoming what the Lord permits in your life. Each of us finds ourselves in a unique context, with unique relationships. This is the portion the Lord has assigned you (v. 17).

Frantz shares his own experience: "When I got saved at 18, my father was furious. He would have preferred, he told me later, that I be on drugs rather than converted. To him, I'd joined a cult. But I trusted the Lord: I couldn't simply walk away from my family situation like that. Just because the relationship was tense didn't mean I should slam the door. I understood that the Lord was calling me to stay right where I was, to be faithful, and to pray for my dad. Over time, I saw him change. When he got cancer, he began to reconsider his life. He was healed of it. After he died, we found a little note in his desk drawer: 'Thank you God for healing me of my cancer.' He had walked with God in his own way."

The Lord doesn't call you to reject your particular circumstances, but to be a witness and to live as someone bought at a price (v. 23), when that's possible, of course, which isn't always the case.

Think of Joseph in the Old Testament: how he glorified God in such a difficult situation. At school, at work, in your family, or in any other relationship, you can always glorify God right where you are. That's the portion the Lord has assigned you. You're not called to shake off the yoke, but to be faithful right where God has placed you.

Key Takeaways

1. You no longer belong to yourself. You were bought at a price. This is the foundation that gives meaning to your life, married or single, at work, in your family.
2. Marriage and singleness are both gifts from God. Neither state is more "spiritual" than the other. Each of us is called to glorify God right where we are.
3. Christian marriage is a covenant, not a contract. Exclusivity, protection, commitment, unity, shared prayer: seven marks that flow out of this covenant.
4. A particular grace rests on the unbelieving spouse and children of a mixed-faith couple because of the believing spouse. Take heart, and keep praying.
5. Contentment is a spiritual fruit. Stay faithful in the context where God has placed you. Like Joseph, you can glorify God in the middle of hard circumstances.

Personal Application

• If you're married: does your spouse know regularly that they're a gift from God to you? Do you pray together? What needs to change this week so that God is at the center of your marriage?
• If you're single: do you welcome your singleness as a gift from God for today, or as a lack you must fill at any cost? How can you glorify God in this season, without excessive spirituality or compromise?
• If your spouse isn't a believer: have you stopped believing God can reach them? Take heart in the promise of verse 14. Keep praying and keep living out a holy influence, even when you see nothing.
• Look at your context, work, school, family, neighborhood. Do you see it as a burden to shake off, or as the portion the Lord has assigned you so you can glorify Him there?
• Where are you with contentment? What are you waiting to change before you'll finally be happy before God, when God is calling you to glorify Him now, right where you are?

Scripture References

• 1 Corinthians 7:1-24 · the main text of the message
• 1 Corinthians 6 · the foundation: bought at a price
• 2 Corinthians 6:14 · don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers
• Mark 10:9 · what God has joined together, let no man separate
• Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 · unfaithfulness as grounds for divorce
• Exodus 21:10-11 · marital duties
• Ephesians 5:25 and Titus 2:4 · husbands and wives loving each other
• Luke 18:1 · always pray and never lose heart
• Psalm 9:11 · God does not forsake those who seek Him

FAQ

Is singleness spiritually inferior to marriage?

No. Paul is clear: marriage and singleness are both gifts from God (v. 7). Neither one is more "spiritual" than the other. A single person can glorify God just as fully as a married one, sometimes with even more freedom to serve, as Paul himself did. The question isn't your marital status, but whether you're living before God right where He's placed you.

Can I separate from my spouse because I no longer have feelings for them?

No. Paul commands married couples not to separate (v. 10-11). Marriage is a covenant, not a contract you cancel once the passion fades. This covenant even reflects the one God made with you the day you accepted Christ. Scripture allows only two grounds for a marriage to end: unfaithfulness (Matthew 5 and 19) and desertion by an unbelieving spouse (v. 15).

What should I do if my spouse isn't a believer?

Don't separate if they're willing to live with you. Verse 14 holds out a wonderful promise: your spouse and your children are "sanctified" because of you, a particular holy influence rests on them. Keep praying and keep bearing witness. God hasn't spoken His last word. Many have seen their spouse come to Christ after decades of waiting.