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1st Corinthians 7
Bound by a Spouse to the World
Marriage and a believer's body care
Exclusive rights
(1) Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. (2) But because of
immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.
In response to a letter written to Paul about marriage matters, Paul first alludes to his single life of "not touching a woman" as the preferable life style to serve Christ for reasons he addresses later. However, because singleness might be fertile ground for temptations, believers are free to marry, but it must be one man with one wife and visa versa, exclusively
Body access
(3)The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. (4)The
wife
does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have
authority over his own body, but the wife {does}
The body of a woman was made for a man and the body of a man was made for a woman. A spouse is the caretaker over that which the other spouse has authority over. The authority and design come from God.
Body deprivation
(5)Stop depriving
one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self control
There are sometimes good reasons for "depriving" one's spouse, but the abstinence must be agreed to by the other spouse...and it must be only temporary. There are two appetites of the body that can be 'put on pause' from time to time in order to devote oneself more fervently to prayer...sex and food. Abstaining from sex is the more risky of the two because there is no such thing as being tempted to eat food outside of marriage. And Satan is ever watching for opportunities to make us fall.
The unencumbered vessel
(6) But this I say by way of concession, not of command. (7)Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and
another in that. (8)But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.
Paul’s advice to single and widowed believers is to stay unmarried for reasons given in verses 33 and 34. He says, "even as I", twice in these verses. Paul is recommending to others a road of single service that he himself is walking down and thoroughly familiar with.
For some, being able to stay single is a gift from God. Jesus said some are born with this gift while others are able to receive it. But despite the benefit of single service to God, it is not a command but it is a 'word to the wise' (Matt.19:11-12).
Paul's undistracted devotion to the Lord is one of several ways in which he stands as our great example---second only to the Lord Himself (1Cor.4:16, 11:1, Phil.3:17).
The option
(9)But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn {with passion.}
When in doubt, a believer’s body should be placed in the sexual sanctuary of marriage rather open to the elements of the burning flesh. Married believers of course are equipped to carry on faithful service to the Lord, but they do so in a distracted way. The testimony and work of a believer who falls into immorality is usually irreparably harmed and disruptive to the church body, and it gives cause for outsiders to blaspheme Christ. Because the burning factor has so much downside risk, a simple self analysis must occur before a believer chooses a single lifestyle.
A believer's marriage - mirror or mission field
Marriage between two believers
(10)But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (11)(but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.
The relationship between man and wife in a marriage of believers is to reflect the relationship between Christ and his Bride, the Church (Eph.5:22-33). The man is to care for and nourish his wife as his own body, just as Christ loves and cares for His Body, the church. The wife is to respect her husband as her head, reflecting the respect the church has for its Head.
Christian husbands and wives are connected in two essential ways. They are both one in Christ and one in the flesh (Gen.2:24). As such, God is not a disinterested third party to the marriage and hates it when the marriage bond is torn asunder . (Matt.19:6).
Paul recognizes that some separations between Christian married couples do occur and so commands that if the wife does leave, she is to remain unmarried and work on being reconciled to her husband. Likewise, the husband was not to divorce his wife since this would mean issuing a certificate of divorce implying that the wife could remarry (Deut.24:1-4).
The Old Testament law allowed for divorce and remarriage . Jesus clarified that the divorce permitted by Moses was because of the hardness of heart---a condition that occurred after the fall of Adam; rendering the heart incapable of true forgiveness. Furthermore, if a man divorced his wife for any reason other than infidelity, and remarried, he was committing adultery (Matt.19:8-9) .
When marriage is a mission field
(12)But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. (13)And a woman who has an unbelieving
husband, and he consents to live with
her, she must not send
her husband away.
These two verses are perhaps in answer to how an Old Testament law, prohibiting a Jew from marrying a foreigner (Deut.7:2-3), should be applied to a believer who found himself married to an unbeliever.
Old Testament dietary and marriage laws that were intended to keep God's people apart from the heathen were eliminated in the New Covenant. All believers are now commanded to move out among unbelievers for their salvation. Paul's command therefore is for the believing spouse to remain married to the unbelieving spouse.
(14)For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.
Otherwise, to leave the unbelieving spouse and children would effectively leave them exposed only to things unclean. For some, the best way to serve Christ is to remain married to an unbeliever.
(15)Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such {cases,} but God has called us to peace.
The Bride of Christ is not bound by Old Testament Law that allowed for the man to put his wife away only if any "indecency" was found in her. If the unbelieving spouse leaves, the believer is to let them go. There is no command to remain unmarried nor to seek reconciliation.
The believer now dwells in the peace of God, in the land of the living, with the fellowship of saints.
Should the believing spouse remain unmarried? If we apply the principles previously set forth by Paul, the believing spouse should prayerfully consider a single life of undistracted service to the Lord. However, by extension of Paul's 'burning principle' of verse nine, the believing spouse is free to remarry.
(16)For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?
This is quite a contrast with chapter ten of Ezra where we see God's Old Covenant purpose in keeping his people free from the wickedness of the surrounding nations. But whenever we see God's harsh treatment of the heathen in the OT and the mercy of the NT, it brings to mind the balance of God’s hatred and judgment on sin and his love and mercy for the sinner. In the New Covenant age of grace, God has commanded that his people move out into the world and as beacons to the lost. For evangelism sake, a believer is to remain with an unbelieving spouse.
Come as you are
(17)Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk. And so I direct in all the churches.
The Promised Land was apportioned among the tribes of Israel as God directed Joshua. On various feast days the Israelites traveled to Jerusalem and gathered as one people. But aside from those feasts, the people were to be content to work and walk in the lot of land they had been assigned.
In the following verses, Paul instructs the Corinthians to walk in the lot that God had prepared for them, much as Joshua had directed the tribes to walk in their lots of the Promised Land.
Called to walk in a circumcised heart
(18)Was any man called when he was already circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? He is not to be circumcised. (19)Circumcision is nothing,
and uncircumcision
is nothing, but {what matters is} the keeping of the commandments of God.
Physical circumcision was a symbolic ceremonial law of the Old Covenant but is meaningless within the New Covenant. Gentiles were not to think they were missing out on God’s blessing by remaining uncircumcised. Nor were the Jews to strive to be like Gentiles.
Don't change a thing! Come as you are! We shall all be one in the Lord. We
shall live the reality of what circumcision was but the shadow---victoriously walking in the word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, no longer abiding in the lusts of the flesh (Col.2:11).
Called to serve the Master
(20)Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called. (21)Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that. (22)For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord's freedman; likewise he who was called
while free,
is Christ's slave. (23)You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.
Slaves were common in the Corinthian society. If a slave became saved, his desire to be a freeman must be secondary to his calling to serve the risen Lord (Col.3:22-24). He was not to take up the fight for freedom as his life’s cause.
With Christ as our Master, he is the one we should aim to please. Only in Him do we have the true freedom worthy of our life's cause. He has paid much for our service to His word; we dare not shortchange him with divided allegiance (Matt.6:24).
Come as you are
(24)Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that {condition} in which he was called.
For the third time in eight verses (vs. 17, 20 and 24) Paul exhorts the Corinthians not to seek to change from who they were when God called them. God will change us on the inside.
Single hearted for Christ
(25)Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy.
Paul's advice to remain single is based on his knowledge and experience of being a chief sinner turned chief apostle. His obedience to abide in his gift of singleness enabled him to have a singular focus and freedom in the only One to whom he is bound.
Unfettered by the world is preferred
(26)I think then that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. (27)Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. (28)But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.
The Lord speaks of distresses to come (Lk.21:23). At the time Paul wrote this letter, the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 67 was a few short years away. When it came, the bonds of marriage would add greatly to the hardships endured by Christians.
Despite these distresses at hand, a married man was not to seek to be freed from his wife, but to remain devoted to his spouse and children. And although a single man was free to marry, he would be wise to remain single and free from the pain of shepherding a family through the coming tribulations.
Bound to the world
(29) But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none;
There are many blessings of a Christian marriage, but one major downside is that it further binds husband and wife to a fallen world that is passing away under God's judgment. The time was growing short for married believers to continue living normal marriages. Plans that usually accompany marriage, such as children and a home, would lose their priority. Children would only add to the burden of those who must suffer the great persecutions of 70AD.
Joy and sadness springing up in new
places
(30)and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice;...
In this world, things cause us to weep or be joyful. Certain events, achievements and failures can either make us happy or sad. There came a day in 70AD---as there will come again one day----when all the world's joy will lose its appeal. And that which normally makes us weep will seem as nothing compared to the weeping to come.
The spiritual reality of earthly treasures
(30)...and those who buy, as though they did not possess; (31)and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.
When tribulation comes, all worldly investments and possessions will lose their appeal. At various times and places throughout the last 2,000 years, believers have faced severe persecution. During those times, all the world has to offer grew acutely dim as they stored up treasures in heaven (Matt.5:10-12).
The world that seeks to bind us is not only a trap that will cause heartache but, to add insult to injury, it's passing away. The world binds our hearts to heartache and tribulation...then, poof! ...it’S gone
Bound to Christ
"Occupied"
(32)But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; (33)but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he
may please his wife, (34)and {his interests} are divided. The woman who is unmarried,
and
the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
Driving along a highway at night it is common to see the words, 'No Vacancy', hanging outside a motel or the message 'Occupied' on an airplane restroom door. With marriage comes a sign that says, "occupied with things of the world". Its flashing indicates we have limited availability for service to the Lord. A faithful servant of Christ who is amassing riches in heaven will have the sign "Occupied on things up above" flashing in his mind all day long.
The time we spend in worldly cares will have no benefit at the Judgment Seat of Christ. But if we set apart our bodies to the Lord, as well as our thoughts and service, we will reap greater rewards in heaven.
(35)This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.
1) freedom from the cares and troubles of a vanishing world that is set against things of God.
2) freedom to serve and honor the Lord single-mindedly, undistracted by devotion to a spouse.
So heads we win and tails we win!
Guidelines for Fathers of Daughters
The end does not justify the means
(36)But if any man thinks that he is acting unbecomingly
toward his virgin {daughter,} if she is past her youth, and if it must be so, let him do what he wishes, he does not sin; let her marry.
Dating back to Old Testament times, it was the father’s responsibility to decide when and whom their young virgin daughters would marry. He would determine who was to be bound to the world through marriage and who was to remain single. To these fathers at Corinth, Paul has two guidelines (Deut.22:16):
Guideline 1. Don’t let your desire for the benefits of a single life for your daughter, create an environment of bad form.
The father presumably would decide out of love for his daughter, but love does not act in bad form. If when she is older, the daughter clamors to be married, the father should not stubbornly apply unappreciated pressure for her to remain single. The end does not justify the means.
Do not let others make your decision
(37)But he who stands firm in his heart, being under no constraint, but has authority over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin (daughter), he will do well.
Guideline 2. Don’t let others overly influence you into any decision you make concerning your daughter. If others decide to keep their daughter single, that’s fine for them. But there is no command to preserve a daughter’s singleness, so don’t let anyone tell you there is. It must be your decision and your decision alone.
The preferred approach
(38)So then both he who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.
From the time of Genesis, fathers have arranged for their daughters to be married without weighing the pros and cons. But now there is an option. God invites all to be single devoted handmaidens of his Son.
Nonetheless, the Corinthian father need not be burdened with maintaining the singleness of his daughter. Whatever he chose to do was fine. Although both decisions were acceptable, the decision for singleness until she was old enough to make her own decision, was preferred.
Free to be bound in the Lord
(39)A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
When she was young, a women’s singleness was to be decided by her father. But if her husband died after she was married, the choice to remain single was hers alone.
In the Old Testament, if a husband died the widow was to marry a brother of the deceased husband (Deut.25:5-10). Under the New Covenant, the widow is free to marry anyone she wishes as long as the man is a believer. If a woman will not be bound solely to the Lord, at least her body must be bound only to fellow member of the Lord's spiritual Body.
Good advice
(40)But in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
Here for the fifth time in this chapter, Paul advises the single Christian to remain single. This is not a commandment from the Lord but Paul’s opinion. And since Paul is offering this opinion while speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we can consider it advice from the Lord.
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© 2015 by Steve Popovich