The Two, One Flesh

[Christsfreeservant]

“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, ‘The two shall become one flesh.’ But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:15-20 NASB1995)​

After God created man, he made woman as a suitable helper for the man from one of the man’s ribs, and he brought her to the man, and the man accepted her as bone of his bones, and as flesh of his flesh. And then the Scriptures teach, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24 NASB1995).

And this word “joined” means “to cling to,” which means to embrace, to hold on to tight, to stick closely to, to be close to in union with. And to be one flesh is to be united as one, no longer to be united with any other, but faithful to this person alone as his/her only mate. But this isn’t just about marital faithfulness, though it is certainly about that, but this is about how the couple perceive their marriage relationship to one another and their individual roles. So look with me how Adam regarded Eve as his mate.

He did not come across as a macho man who had to show the woman who was in charge, and to hold on to his own rights to live however he wants regardless of how that impacts his marriage relationship with his spouse. He did not treat her as though she was less, and as though he was greater, and as though she was of no value to him other than for sex. He treated her with dignity, with honor, with value, and with respect, as though she was part of him, not as someone separate from him for him to misuse.

And God created the woman, not from the bottom of the man’s foot for him to stomp on, but from his side, for she was to work alongside him in being his helper, and he was to receive her as his helper and not treat her as though she has no value and as though her thoughts don’t matter. For they were to be one body. So he was to treat her as he would treat his own body, in things that are good and not evil. And she was to be content in the position of being his helper and not having to be “large and in charge.”

But what does a helper do? A helper helps someone. A helper is one who assists, who is a coworker alongside someone else, a workmate, and a teammate. So the woman is not to be a slave to the man for him to demand things of her as though she is a slave, but he is to treat her as though she is his assistant, his companion, his helpmeet. And he is to show her honor and respect and to listen to her when she has good counsel to share instead of brushing her off as though she is not worthy of his consideration.

They each have their individual roles which they are to fulfill, and those roles are meant to compliment one another and to help one another and not to be produced or seen as a competition or as a threat, provided what is taking place is within the proper context of a marital relationship. As Christians and as marital partners, we should be willing to accept wise and godly counsel or just plain good and practical advice from one another, given in love with the right heart motivation and purpose, and for the ultimate good of the other.

And the reason that I am sharing with you all of the above is because it directly relates to what this passage is teaching about marital faithfulness versus living in adultery. How a man views, perceives, and treats his wife, and how she views, perceives, and treats her husband, has everything to do with how they view their marriage relationship and their own responsibilities to that relationship. If either one of them has a false perception of the other or of their marital role, or of male or female in general, it can impact them.

Basically, if a man sees his wife united as one with him, and not as a separate being, detached from him, and if he honors, values, and respects her as a human being and as his partner, his helpmeet, and as his other half, and if he truly clings to her and values her in her role, he will not chase after other lovers. Same with the wife, if she honors, values, and cares for her husband, and so she comes alongside him to be his helper, and so she ministers to him, she is also not going to wander off to other lovers.

But when the wife or the husband have the wrong concept of love and of marriage and of their biblical roles to work together as one, and not in competition with the other, or if they view the opposite sex with dishonor and disrespect or just as objects to be used, thinking only of themselves and of what they want, without regard for the other, that is when marriages begin to fall apart and one or both may end up in adulterous relationships or in romantic affairs or living sexually perverted lifestyles in utter selfishness.

But this is not just about the relationship between the husband and the wife, but it is about the relationship that Christians are to have as the bride of Christ with their husband Jesus Christ, and about what the husband and wife are to have together with Christ as a Christian married couple, as those who both profess faith in Jesus Christ. For we are to be faithful to the Lord in the same way we are to be faithful to one another, in that we are to cleave only to God and we are to have no other gods (lovers). But if we are not faithful to God, and sin is still our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

Refiner’s Fire

By Brian Doerksen

Purify my heart,
let me be as gold and precious silver.
Purify my heart,
let me be as gold, pure gold.

Purify my heart,
cleanse me from within
and make me holy.
Purify my heart,
cleanse me from my sin, deep within.

Refiner's fire,
my heart's one desire
is to be holy;
set apart for You, Lord.
I choose to be holy;
set apart for You, my Master,
ready to do Your will.

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The Two, One Flesh
An Original Work / August 12, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love