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More I Corinthians commentaries

I Corinthians 4:1-5
Whose opinion really matters?

I Corinthians 4:6-13
God is looking for genuine humility

I Corinthians 4:14-21
Discipline in Love

I Corinthians 5:1-13
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I Corinthians 6:1-11
Don’t Sue the Brethren

I Corinthians 6:12-20
Stay Sexually Pure

I Corinthians 7:1-11
Counsel for Christians married to Christians

I Corinthians 7:12-24
Counsel for Christians married to non-Christians

I Corinthians 7:25-40
Counsel for the Christians who are not married

I Corinthians 8:1-6
Love Is More Important than Knowledge

I Corinthians 8:7-13
Be sensitive to conscience

I Corinthians 9:1-10
The Pattern of Self-Denial

I Corinthians 9:11-18
Paul Surrenders His Rights

I Corinthians 9:19-23
Being a Servant To All Men

I Corinthians 9:24-27
Dealing with Christian liberty

I Corinthians 10:1-5
The Dangers of Overconfidence

I Corinthians 10:6-13
God Will Help You Resist Temptation

I Corinthians 10:14-22
Eating Meat Offered to Idols

I Corinthians 10:23-33
Principles that Govern Christian Liberty

Counsel for the Christians who are not married

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I Corinthians 7:25–40
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)

As a boy I remember a young lady coming to my mother for counsel concerning her marrying a man much older than herself. She was saying that if it didn’t work out she could always get a divorce. My mother told her marriage is for life and not for trial. (Lou Nicholes - Missionary/ … More

Marriage
  1. Unmarried Christians (vv. 25-40). The question was, “Must a Christian get married?” The extreme Jewish view was that it was a sin if a man reached twenty years of age without being married. Paul points out that the single man or woman has greater freedom to serve the Lord.

Paul had already addressed a brief word to this group in the beginning part of this chapter. He addresses this passage primarily to the parents of girls who were of marriage age. He asks them to consider several factors when they make their decision about whether to marry or not to marry.

  1. Consider the present circumstances (vv. 25-31). It was a time of distress (v. 26) when the world was going through change (v. 31). Those who marry must be ready to accept the trials that will accompany it (v. 28).
  2. Face the responsibilities honestly (vv. 32-35). There is no need to rush into marriage and create more problems. Marriage requires a measure of maturity, but age is no guarantee of maturity. As much as possible, we should live unhindered by burdensome mortgages, investments or debts that will keep us from doing God’s work.
  3. Be aware that each situation is unique (vv. 36-38). Because each situation is unique, parents and children must seek the Lord’s will. It takes more than two Christian people to make a happy marriage. Marriage does not hold two people together but only love and respect (Eph. 5:33) with commitment does.
  4. Remember that marriage is for life (vv. 39-40). It is God’s will that marriage is a lifetime commitment. There is no place for a “trial marriage” and thinking that if things don’t work out we can always get a divorce.

Application

Paul is saying that I should be content in the stage of life that I’m presently in, whether I’m married or single. I should never be so concerned about what I could be doing for God somewhere else that I miss great opportunities right where I am.

I Corinthians 7:25-40 (English Standard Version)

Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry--it is no sin. But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better. A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

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