Better than yesterday’s pizza…
First – Read the Passage
My “Sunday’s Leftovers” on Corinthians series make no sense if you don’t read the chapter first. Here it is. 1 Corinthians 7 [+/-]1 Corinthians 7
[7:1]Now concerning the matters about which you wrote:
"It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a
woman." [2]But because of the temptation to sexual
immorality, each man should have his own wife and each
woman her own husband. [3]The husband should give to his
wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her
husband. [4]For the wife does not have authority over her
own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does
not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
[5]Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement
for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to
prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not
tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
[6]Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. [7]I
wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own
gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.
[8]To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good
for them to remain single as I am. [9]But if they cannot
exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better
to marry than to burn with passion.
[10]To the married I give this charge (not I, but the
Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband
[11](but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else
be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not
divorce his wife.
[12]To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any
brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents
to live with him, he should not divorce her. [13]If any
woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents
to live with her, she should not divorce him. [14]For the
unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and
the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband.
Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is,
they are holy. [15]But if the unbelieving partner
separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or
sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.
[16]For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your
husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save
your wife?
[17]Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has
assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is
my rule in all the churches. [18]Was anyone at the time of
his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove
the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his
call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. [19]For
neither circumcision counts for anything nor
uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.
[20]Each one should remain in the condition in which he was
called. [21]Were you a slave when called? Do not be
concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom,
avail yourself of the opportunity.) [22]For he who was
called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord.
Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ.
[23]You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of
men. [24]So, brothers, in whatever condition each was
called, there let him remain with God.
[25]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. [26]I think that in view of the
present distress it is good for a person to remain as he
is. [27]Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free.
Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. [28]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. [29]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, [30]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,
[31]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.
[32]I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried
man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please
the Lord. [33]But the married man is anxious about worldly
things, how to please his wife, [34]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. [35]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.
[36]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. [37]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. [38]So then he who
marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from
marriage will do even better.
[39]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. [40]Yet in my judgment she is
happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too
have the Spirit of God. (ESV)
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Dazed and Confused?
Don’t be alarmed – most are. It is VERY helpful to know some things before you read this chapter. First of all, most scholars think Paul is writing to correct some folks who think Christianity means they should withdraw from the world. They apparently were saying that, as Christians, they had already escaped this age and entered the next, and so they should remove themselves from the world and be purely spiritual. Ever known somebody like that? Well, church history is full of that kind of thinking, and it is a trap. They were saying that sex was bad, marriage was no longer necessary, gender roles were unnecessary, etc. At least, that’s the prevailing theory on what Paul was writing to, and it does make the chapter seem to make sense.
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