1 Corinthians is a pastoral letter, written to resolve doctrinal and practical problems within the local church. Paul’s authorship gives the letter apostolic application to all “the churches of God” (11:16).
The letter reveals some of the typical Greek cultural problems of Paul’s day, including the gross sexual immorality of the city of Corinth. The Greeks were known for their idolatry, divisive philosophies, spirit of litigation, and rejection of a bodily resurrection. Corinth was one of the most important commercial cities of the day and controlled much of the shipping between the East and the West. It was located on the narrow neck of land which served as a land-bridge between the mainland of Greece and the Peloponnesian peninsula. The city was infamous for its sensuality and sacred prostitution. Even its name became a notorious proverb: “to Corinthianize” meant to practice prostitution. The city’s chief deity was Aphrodite (Venus), the goddess of licentious love, and a thousand professional prostitutes served in the temple dedicated to her worship. The spirit of the city showed up in the church and explains the kind of problems the people faced.
Not to touch a woman is a euphemism for sexual intercourse and represents the spiritual challenge of this chapter. Regardless of how important sex may be, it is still a temporal arrangement and not a part of our eternal existence. Marriage itself is an earthly institution (Matt. 22:30).
7:1 Now, getting down to the questions you asked in your letter to me. First, Is it a good thing to have sexual relations?
Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.
5 Christian couples should overcome sexual selfishness and should not deprive one another. If sexual activity is interrupted in marriage, three conditions are necessary: mutual consent; a limited time; spiritual, not selfish, reasons.
2-6 Certainly—but only within a certain context. It’s good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder. The marriage bed must be a place of mutuality—the husband seeking to satisfy his wife, the wife seeking to satisfy her husband. Marriage is not a place to “stand up for your rights.” Marriage is a decision to serve the other, whether in bed or out. Abstaining from sex is permissible for a period of time if you both agree to it, and if it’s for the purposes of prayer and fasting—but only for such times. Then come back together again. Satan has an ingenious way of tempting us when we least expect it. I’m not, understand, commanding these periods of abstinence—only providing my best counsel if you should choose them.
7:6–9 Paul clearly states that he is speaking from personal preference when he challenges the unmarried to remain celibate (v. 35). Matrimony or celibacy is an individual and a relative matter depending, in part, on one’s ability to control sexual passion. The sexual drive is not sinful, and remaining unmarried instead of marrying embodies no superior moral virtue.
8-9 I do, though, tell the unmarried and widows that singleness might well be the best thing for them, as it has been for me. But if they can’t manage their desires and emotions, they should by all means go ahead and get married. The difficulties of marriage are preferable by far to a sexually tortured life as a single.
7:10, 11 Not I but the Lord: Jesus did not address every possible marriage detail. He did, however, ask His disciples to follow God’s original creation design and never to sever the oneness of their marriage bond (Matt. 19:3–9). A Christian couple is to bear witness to the world by keeping marriage indissoluble. They represent the truth of covenant love and should live and grow in a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation. Having dealt with the ideal of marriage, Paul, realizing the reality of stresses and human failure, mentions the permissibility of divorce (but even if she does depart [v. 11]). This permitted divorce has a strict regulation—no adultery, meaning there can most likely be no remarriage in this case except to the one from whom she was previously divorced (let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband [v. 11]). It is not clear why Paul addresses this from the woman’s perspective, but the principle applies to both genders.
7:12–16 To the rest: This section deals with the marriage between a believer and a nonbeliever. Jesus did not rule on this, so Paul must respond in his apostolic authority. Marriages in which one partner later becomes a Christian are valid and must remain intact. Any separation must be initiated by the unbelieving partner.
7:14 The ultimate reason for keeping a mixed marriage together is the holy influence of the believer’s life on the unbelieving partner, resulting in the possible salvation of the entire household.
7:15 When an unbeliever initiates divorce beyond a believer’s control, the believer is free from the relationship, and is not under bondage to keep it intact. Paul is silent concerning remarriage in such a situation.
7:17–24 The connection between the secular and the spiritual sphere is evident in this passage. In light of our eternal calling and destiny, the political and social distinctions of temporal life are not the most important. What matters is obedience to God. Even such a tragic state as slavery, from a social viewpoint, does not dictate the terms of a life in Christ. The paramount thing is for a believer’s spiritual life to remain constant and intact in an unredeemed, changing world.
7:25 Christ Himself gave no teaching on the subject under discussion; but Paul, while not disclaiming inspiration, stresses he is giving sound advice.
7:26 Paul presents his teaching in light of the tension between the temporal, unredeemed secular order and the believer’s spiritual life and calling. The present distress applies to the whole of this age, and does not refer to some special persecution in the first century. This entire age is stressful (vv. 26–28), temporal (vv. 29, 30), and distracting (vv. 32–35).
7:25–40 Paul does not exalt the single state above the marriage state, but he does have a personal preference and urges all groups of the unmarried to consider the wisdom and spiritual benefits of a celibate life. Among these various groups are divorcees (vv. 27, 28); unmarrieds who are free to make their own matrimonial choices (vv. 28–35); unmarrieds whose choices depend on others, most likely fathers (vv. 36–38); and widows (vv. 39, 40).
7:29–31 Because of the nature of this age and the reality of the Coming of Jesus Christ, believers are to adopt the attitude of finding the source of their life in Christ, rather than in earthly institutions, whether marriage, the social sphere, or the economic world. A Christian is to live intently and responsibly and yet see these realities as ultimately temporal.7:36–38 Behaving improperly probably means a father’s unfair treatment of a virgin daughter by refusing permission to marry, but other interpretations are possible. Marriage is not condemned. However, it should not be entered because of social pressure.
~New Spirit-Filled Life Bible Study Notes on I Corinthians 7
