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Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

1 Corinthians 7:25-28

Now, Paul turns back to his main theme and addressed the unmarried. In doing so, he is very clear about the fact that he is speaking as a trustworthy person, a man who is wise, but not for the Lord. As he gives his advice in this section, it is much like his advice in the previous text; remain as you are. If you are single, remain single. If you are engaged, remain faithful to your commitment. He gives this advice “because of the present crisis” (7:6), which begs the question: What crisis?

As you might expect, there are a great many theories about the “crisis”, and there really isn’t a way to be entirely certain about what he is intending here. We might just consider the context of the letter− Paul has written the church to correct a great many serious problems, including the presence of immorality in the congregation, so if I were going to hazard a guess, I’d be inclined to throw that one on the table. Yet the church is in the fledging stage everywhere, very vulnerable to persecution at any time, which could be described as a crisis. A bit later in this chapter Paul will mention that the whole world is messed up and this world will pass away (7:31): That could be what he means.

If Paul had written this letter to a modern-day church, I might suggest that the “crisis” is really all of the little crises we hear about every day! And that could also be what he means in the letter to Corinth.

What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. (7:29-31)

This paragraph comes pretty close to advice for all time, for although he didn’t say it directly, Paul is advising the people to change their thinking away from their everyday living circumstances to a more heavenly perspective. Since we have the benefit of hindsight, we can see that people nearly 2,000 years ago were all caught up in the day-to-day things of this life: Status in the community, pleasures and delights of this world, getting everything right in doctrinal arguments, paying the bills, raising the children, having some good times, what is for dinner… and so on. As we look back across all of those centuries since then, it’s easy for us to say that none of that stuff was really so important, for they all left this earthly life so long ago; hopefully they took care to ensure their eternal futures.

While it’s easy to see that looking back 2,000 years, it is much harder to think that way in the moment, isn’t it? Paul’s message clears up as he completes this section in the remaining verses of the chapter…

1 Corinthians 7:17-24

In the last section, Paul spoke about marital status, as he does in the final part of the chapter, but here he takes one of his little asides. In doing so, he also clarifies some of his meaning in 7:8-16. The theme of 7:17-24 is ‘don’t change your status’.

7:17-20 If a man was circumcised when he was called (when he became a Christian) he should not become uncircumcised; considering the impossibility of that in the first century, we can safely infer that Paul is speaking metaphorically here. So, if a Jewish person becomes a Christian, they remain a Jew. If a Gentile (uncircumcised) person becomes a Christian, they do not become Jews. This was an issue that Paul dealt with a number of times in his writings, and his comments here are quite consistent with all of the others; I doubt this is terribly confusing to anyone reading this in the 21^st century. The next part, however, might strike some as a little more difficult…

7:21-24 If a person was a slave when they became a Christian, they remain a slave. If a person was free when they became a Christian, they must remain free. The exception is that if a person who is a slave can obtain their freedom, then that would be a good thing to do. Most of us today know about slavery from history, but not all are familiar with a form of slavery that came to be called ‘Indentured servitude”. An indentured servant was a person who sold themselves into slavery for a certain period of time to satisfy a debt, and indeed thousands of people in the 17^th and 18^th centuries sold themselves into indentured servitude to escape the oppression of England and pay for the crossing of the Atlantic to get to America.

In ancient Rome, people sold themselves into slavery to pay debts, or to feed their children. A person who had a past due account could be taken to court and put into slavery to satisfy their debt. If such people started fleeing their lawful (in those days) masters because they became Christians, that would have had a disastrous effect on the Gospel, and since our priority must always be on making disciples of all Nations, Paul gave the instructions that we see here.

At the same time, his advice to people who are not slaves means that they need to handle their financial affairs very carefully, lest they find themselves in bondage to more than one Master.

With this set of priorities in better focus, some of Paul’s comments in the last section are easier to follow, particularly those concerning separation and divorce. Consider this: If a person’s accepting Jesus Christ began to cause divorces all over town, how long would it be before the cause of Christ found itself on the wrong side of a moral crisis? That would surely damage the cause of Christ and bring the Gospel into disrepute− thus Paul’s advice.

Now that we have a better feel for the context in this chapter, you can see why this letter is so tricky. If we took Paul’s comments in verse 10 that a wife must not separate from her husband, and applied that instruction to a woman in the 21^st century who was being regularly beaten up by her drunk husband, you would not only be doing a grave injustice, you would be engaged in false teaching, for the instruction was being given in a vastly different context in a vastly different set of circumstances that existed in c. 55 AD. Sadly, such false teaching has been going on for centuries, and it needs to stop.

1 Corinthians 7:8-16

This section is divided into three clearly marked parts that contain general instructions relating to family life. As they occur in this tricky section dealing with sex and marriage in response to an inquiry from the Corinthian church that we do not have access to, I, and I’m speaking only for myself, really cannot say much more about the section than that.

The first part begins with verse 8: Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. We know exactly who Paul is addressing his remarks to, the unmarried and widows. Keeping in mind Paul’s comments about celibacy in the last section, we shouldn’t be too surprised at what he says here, and that he rather grudgingly concedes that they should marry if they “cannot control themselves”.

The second of the three parts begins in verse 10: To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. Surprisingly, at least for me, he follows this “must not” by saying “but if she does…” which seems an unusual concession following an imperative statement, as it does.  So, if she leaves him anyway, she should remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband, and he shouldn’t divorce her.

The third part begins with verse 12: To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. In the next verse, he gives the same instruction to women, and then tells us that the unbelieving spouse is “sanctified” by the believing one and their children are not “unclean”. This would seem to be an Old Testament metaphor, making a comparison with a Jew being married to a Gentile. I say this realizing that there are several theories out there for understanding Paul’s intentions here. Once again, considering the strange context, I’m loathe to go much further than that, except to remind you that we are in a section dealing with sexual practices. It might just be that Paul is referring to couples in which infidelity has taken place, but there is no way to know for certain. Paul continues in verse 15 to say that if the unbeliever decides to leave the marriage, the believer should let them go in peace, for they are no longer bound together.

The section concludes with a statement that helps us to understand where Paul has been coming from: How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

I don’t know about you, but I sure wish I could find a copy of the letter Paul was responding to!

1 Corinthians 7:1-7

Paul addresses himself to married couples in these verses; that is something that becomes clear as we read through it, and even more clear when we get to verse 8 and he addresses the unmarried. Essentially, his message to the married is that they should restrict themselves to sexual activity within the marriage, and that in this, neither partner should deprive the other of marital comfort except by mutual consent for a time of prayer (7:3-5), and then to come together once more so that Satan cannot exploit human weakness to lead them away from righteousness.

This seems to me to be in general accord with Paul’s teachings for husbands and wives elsewhere in the New Testament (see Col. 3:19 ff. and Eph. 5:29 ff.). It has a practical component in that he recognizes the fact that humans are sexual creatures, and that a man or woman who is unfulfilled in that area is more likely to be tempted to stray than one who is not. There is also a deeper recognition, although Paul seems reluctant to mention it here as he did in Ephesians 5: The physical union of husband and wife is illustrative of the union between Christ and His Church, and thus it must be respected by everyone.

Now we come to something quite interesting which may explain Paul’s general attitude toward this issue:

I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. (7:6-7)

Verse 6 tells us that nothing in the preceding verses is a command, for it is a concession. Whenever I read this chapter, I get the impression, rightly or wrongly, that Paul takes a rather dim view of sexuality. I ask myself why he would do that, and I never have a satisfactory answer, not even enough to be sure that he had the view I think I see, so I always just move on…

Yet my vague impression remains.

Look at the last verse: Paul concludes his thought by making the issue revolve around spiritual gifts, as so much of this letter does later on. Sex is not a spiritual gift, but celibacy is, so when Paul says that he wishes everyone could be like he is,(which is celibate) doesn’t it seem that he is telling us, between the lines, that he has the spiritual gift of celibacy?

I tend to think so.

Spiritual gifts are given by God at His sole discretion, so we can’t run out and get one on our own, and if we could choose our gifts, I doubt that most people would choose celibacy. Yet for Paul it was different, for I highly doubt that he could have served God the way he did if he had a wife and family back home to support.

1 Corinthians 7

Chapter 7 is a new section, the third in this letter. We can be certain that a new section has begun because Paul says in verse 1: Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”

When we keep in mind that this letter was written to address problems that were facing the church in Corinth c. 55 AD, we can infer that they had written to Paul asking him for help in at least one area which we can glean from the text as concerning sexuality, celibacy and marriage. Since we are inferring and gleaning, you can imagine how many theories scholars have debated concerning this short section and considering the delicate and personal nature of Paul’s subject matter, you can also imagine how fierce those debates have gotten over the years.

As amusing as such arguments might be for some people, I won’t trouble you with a listing here of arguments. Oh, it isn’t that some of them aren’t quite interesting, no. It’s because there is simply no way to settle any of them. Here’s what I mean: Notice verse 1 above… We can see that they wrote him a letter, but Paul doesn’t mention what the letter was actually about. Of course, he really didn’t need to restate its contents, for they would have known already. Yet for those of us who came along later, it sure would have been nice to know what Paul is talking about. Then he goes on to quote someone: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”  Who said that− Paul or someone else? Was that Paul’s conclusion to the matter, or was there a question associated with this statement in the letter? Did this mean that it was better for a man to be celibate, or that is was better for a man to be a homosexual? Was someone making that case in the letter, or… what?

If this were a traditional Sunday school exercise, these questions would never come up; instead everything wonderful and nice would be conveniently assumed, and you are welcome to make those assumptions. However, we must acknowledge that there is really no way to answer these questions for sure, although we can gain insight from Paul’s comments, there is no absolute certainty and thus, context here cannot be a sure thing.

I did mention that this was a tricky book, right?

Look at verses 1 and 2 together:

Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.

Do you see how verse 2 begins with the word “but”? Grammar aside, a reasonable person might look at this and come away with the impression that Paul is telling people that marital sex is only appropriate when there is sexual immorality in the church or community. Of course, that would be silly in light of what comes later, but that is exactly how teaching with “proof texts” works, and since the exact context of this chapter is so difficult to establish, a fair argument could be made for that proposition. Of course, a better argument could be made that Paul is saying that husbands and wives should be celibate in their marriage unless they just can’t control themselves. Oh yes, from this chapter such an argument could be made, and it would be very difficult to overcome.

I would never make that argument myself however.

I’ve taken you through this little exercise so that you might get a feel for how tricky this section is to keep straight. As we go through the section, I will take big pieces of it, and try to glean basic principles that are in harmony with Paul’s other writings, and the New Testament as a whole, rather than discuss what this or that particular statement might mean for us, as I usually do.

I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:12-17

As we began our study I mentioned that we need to be careful with context in reading this letter, because if you don’t, you can find “proof” for something that Paul isn’t even talking about. This text is a great example of that: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone quote from this text a proof text to prove that smoking cigarettes is a sin. “The body is the temple of the holy spirit; smoking is a sin” (short version). Paul is talking about sexual immorality, not smoking.

In v. 12 he quotes things people say, in our day in a context like this, we might declare that we have a right to do whatever we want, the Supreme Court says so!

If he were writing this today, Paul might well point out that the Supreme Court will perish along with the rest of this world.

Essentially, Paul’s whole point here is simple: Our bodies are members of the Body of Christ, they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, they are created in the very image and likeness of Almighty God. They were designed and created for a Purpose, God’s Purpose. They are not to be abused by being united with, or become the playthings of, anyone outside of the purpose for which God created them. The union of husband and wife is an integral part of God’s Creation and of His Purpose for Creation, and any other union is a perversion of His image and of His purpose.

This is why Scripture makes such a big deal about sexual immorality: It is offensive to God. You see, the union between husband and wife pictures and foreshadows the union between Christ and His Church, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the union of humans and God. With this in mind, new look at the final verses:

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (6:18-20)

As you can see, there is a great deal more at stake in these verses than simply a person’s inconvenience or personal preferences.

Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 5:6-8

Paul continues in this unpleasant business with a metaphor of the unleavened bread of Passover, and another mention of their boasting and arrogance from the last section. They need to have an unleavened loaf, not a loaf that is full of the sins from their past, after all, Jesus has taken sin away, so they need to be a new loaf without the malice and wickedness of the past.

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. (5:9-11)

Here Paul moves from the metaphorical into the practical, reminding them that in his previous letter of instruction, he had warned the Corinthians not to associate with people who are sexually immoral. Apparently, they had misunderstood his instruction, thinking that he was referring only to people outside of the church.

This brings all of us to a very important point, one that is the subject of a great deal of confusion in our time. We should not be surprised when people who do not have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ behave as though they do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ− that is the normal state of things. Should we associate with such people?

Well, here’s a question to ponder… If we don’t associate with such people, then who will tell them about Jesus? Will they hear the Good News from the pagans?

The man being discussed here, the man who was sleeping with his father’s wife, was supposedly a brother in Christ! A brother (or sister) in Christ has already repented of the old way of living, and if they, after turning away from immorality, have jumped back into it, that is a very different story. In such a case, the shepherd must step in to protect the flock, and ask the person to leave until such time as they can demonstrate repentance.

Notice that Paul mentions more than just sexual immorality here, adding greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler to the mix. Can you see how such people could endanger the flock− can you see how such people might bring the Gospel into disrepute in the community? Remember, these people are supposed to be followers of Christ.

Paul wraps his comments up in 5:12-13, but we should bear in mind that his response is not only to protect the congregation, but also to bring the offender to repentance for the sake of their immortal souls (5:5).