Bible Questions with Michael Pearl
Episode 067: How is a Child Sanctified?

Episode Transcription:

Michael Pearl:  Hi, I'm Michael Pearl and this is a year I’ll go on social security if there is any left. In the meantime, I am here to answer your Bible questions and see what we can come out with. And so, Jared has been receiving your questions online and I am by the telephone and I have stopped worked here and go answer them if I can. So, Jared what's the first question?

Rebecca:  Hi, this is Rebecca and my Bible question is for Mike. Several times I've heard you talked about sanctification. And my understanding is sanctification was maybe set apart special but when a husband leaves his family, the children are no longer sanctified, if he leaves and they're divorced. If he leaves and they just stay separated and not divorce, do the children still lose their sanctification and can you please explain what the meaning of sanctification is in this instance? I really appreciate your thoughts on this, Mike. Thank you. Bye-bye.

Michael:  OK. Well, you need to go back to the passage there in I Corinthians chapter seven. Let me locate the exact verse and you missed that a little bit and so, what it says there concerning marriage and divorce. It says, "And unto the married I command." This is in the I Corinthians 7:10, "And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, let not the wife depart from her husband. And if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And let not the husband put away his wife." And then he says, verse 14, "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. Otherwise your children are unclean, but now are they holy." So, what this says is... Let's go at our chart board. Here is the unbelieving. Well that’s a long word isn’t it? Man, good thing I had a big chart board. Here is the unbelieving husband and then here is the believing wife.

She is a believer. OK. Now, down here are the little kids. He says that if a wife is married to a husband that doesn't believe and he wants to depart, that's divorce in the Bible. He wants to depart. She can't stop you, let him depart. But it says to stay together otherwise your children become unclean. Now, notice what happens. The children do not become unclean or un‑sanctified if the husband departs as long as...

Let's read the text. Let's read the text and you'll see it. But if the... Verse 7:13, I Corinthians 7:13, "But if the woman which has a husband that believes not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife." So, in other words, this husband is in a state of... in a bubble of sanctification.

Now, this doesn't mean that he is saved. That means that he is set apart because he got this believing wife praying for him. And the children inside this sanctification circle, too, because God is blessing this family based on the prayers of this wife. God is blessing the husband based on the prayers of this unbelieving husband, based on the prayers of this wife.

The unbelieving husband sanctified by the wife. Unbelieving wife is sanctified by her husband else where your children unclean but now are they holy. But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart, a brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases. For God is called just peace. When this man departs and goes out here, he is out from under the sanctification.

But the children are not out from under the sanctification. They are still within the circle of sanctification. But now, if this woman departs over here, it said, if she goes over here, and leaves the marriage and leaves the husband with the children then they are un‑sanctified because now, she stepped outside of the marriage and left him over here with the kids.

So, dear lady, if you're a Christian, you're saved and your husband has left you and you have your children at home with you, they are just as sanctified now as they were before your husband left because he was not the sanctifying element. You are the sanctifying element.

Announcer:  If you would like to ask a Bible question, email us at [email protected] or call at 931‑805‑4820.