It doesn't help at all.
I know what it says, but my husband does not have authority/power over my body. In what sense do you think that he might?
He has no power to stop me from getting ill or needing surgery.
He does not have the authority to stop me from getting a haircut, pierced ears, a tattoo or even plastic surgery should I want/need it.
He certainly does not have the authority, or right, to force sex upon me at every opportunity.
In Paul's day it was a pretty male dominated society. No one would have been surprised at a man having power over his wife. What, I think, would have been shocking was for Paul to have insisted that a woman had equal power over her husband's body. In other words, you are equal in the marriage relationship; if you feel you have power over your wife, she has power over you too. That alters things a bit; it means the husband no longer has the right to treat his wife like an object.
I love going to blue letter bible, selecting a verse and using their free commentaries, here is one by david guzik...
"
2. (
1Cr 7:3-6) The principle of mutual sexual responsibility in marriage.
Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband
does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife
does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment.
a. Instead of
a man not to touch a woman, within marriage a husband must
render to his wife the affection due her. It is wrong for him to withhold
affection from his wife.
i.
The affection due her is an important phrase. Since Paul meant this to apply to every Christian marriage, it shows that
every wife has affection
due her. Paul doesn’t think only the young or pretty or submissive wives are
due affection; every wife is
due affection because she is a wife of a Christian man.
ii. Paul also emphasizes what the woman needs: not merely sexual relations, but
the affection due her. If a husband has sexual relations with his wife, but without true affection to her, he is not giving his wife what she is
due.
iii.
Affection also reminds us that when a couple is unable – for physical or other reasons – to have a complete sexual relationship, they can still have an
affectionate relationship, and thus fulfill God’s purpose for these commands.
b. On the same idea,
also the wife to her husband: The wife is not to withhold marital affection from her husband. Paul strongly puts forth the idea that there is a
mutual sexual responsibility in marriage. The husband has
obligations toward his wife, and the wife has
obligations toward her husband.
i.
Render to his wife: The emphasis is on giving, on “I owe you” instead of “you owe me.” In God’s heart, sex is put on a much higher level than merely the husband’s privilege and the wife’s duty.
c.
The wife does not have authority over her own body: In fact, these obligations are so concrete, it could be said that the wife’s body does not even
belong to herself, but to her husband. The same principle is true of the husband’s body in regard to his wife.
i. This does not justify a husband abusing or coercing his wife, sexually or otherwise. Paul’s point is that we have a
binding obligation to serve our partner with physical affection.
ii. It is an awesome obligation: out of the billions of people on the earth, God has chosen
one, and
one alone, to meet our sexual needs. There is to be no one else.
d.
Do not deprive one another: Paul rejects their idea that husband and wife could be more holy by sexual abstinence. In fact, harm can come when they
deprive one another, as they open the door to the tempter (
so that Satan does not tempt you).
i. The word for
deprive is the same as
defraud in
1 Corinthians 6:8. When we deny physical affection and sexual intimacy to our spouse, we
cheat them.
ii.
Do not deprive: Sexual deprivation in marriage has not only to do with
frequency, but with
romance also. This is why Paul tells husbands to
render to his wife the affection due her. Deprivation in either sense gives occasion for the deprived to look elsewhere for fulfillment – and to destroy the marriage.
iii.
For your lack of self-control: It might be easy to think that self-control is expressed by
abstaining from sexual relations in marriage, but Paul says that to
deprive one another is to show a
lack of self-control, and a lack of self-control that will leave one easily tempted by Satan."
Above commentary from Blue letter Bible, David Guzik commentary on 1 corinthians:
Study Guide for 1 Corinthians 7 by David Guzik
If you want a more varied viewpoint I can post other expositors on this issue, but they will most likely agree because the text is very clear.
