But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.
If the unbelieving depart, let him depart. Translate, 'separateth himself:' offended with her Christianity, and refusing to live with her unless she renounce it.
Brother or a sister is not under bondage - is not bound to renounce the faith for the sake of retaining her husband. (So Deuteronomy 13:6; Matthew 10:35-37; Luke 14:26.) The believer has not the same obligation in a union with an unbeliever, as in one with a believer. In the former case he is not bound, if the unbeliever wish to separate, to force such a one to stay in continual discord; in the latter, nothing but "fornication" justifies separation.
But God hath called us to peace. Our Christian calling tends to "peace" (Romans 12:18), not quarrelling-therefore the believer should not ordinarily depart from the unbelieving consort (1 Corinthians 7:12-14). Better still it would be not to enter such unequal alliances at all (1 Corinthians 7:40; 2 Corinthians 6:14).