1 Corinthians: Chapter 7 (verses 17–40)

In the previous article, we saw how Paul addressed matters of marriage and sexuality. In the next section of this chapter, he moves on to address the theme of each person leading the life which God calls them to.

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 (1 Corinthians 7:17).

The emphasis on “call” adds to what he wrote in verse 15: God has called you to peace. Believers live in peace partly by knowing and following God’s call. Paul makes the point that God calls people who are in various situations, as he will go on to outline, including their social status, marital situation, and religious background. God has a purpose for Christians in the situation where they find themselves, and Paul refers to it as “the place to which God has called him” and the life that the Lord has assigned for them.

Paul wasn’t suggesting that believers should never change their status or place in society. He said that they should know that God has called them and follow what He has shown them and the life He has assigned them to. Paul’s view was that generally believers should remain as they are in relationships and service unless God assigns them to other tasks.

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. For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called (1 Corinthians 7:18–20).

Paul made the point that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision mattered. Old Testament Law that required male circumcision as a sign of God’s covenant with His people had passed away and was not required for Christians. Paul opposed Jewish Christians who wanted gentile converts to be circumcised. He reminded the Corinthians that he always defended the uncircumcised in the church and didn’t allow others to convince them that being circumcised was necessary for salvation or for status in the church.

Whether one is circumcised or uncircumcised, believers should remain as they are and not be convinced to change; nor should they take pride in being circumcised or uncircumcised. While in general Paul believed that the uncircumcised should remain so, at one point he encouraged Timothy to be circumcised for the sake of peace in the church (Acts 16:3); but he never taught that circumcision was required.

Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) (1 Corinthians 7:21)

In the New Testament, the Greek word doulos is translated as either bondservant, servant, or slave, depending on the Bible one is using and the context of the Bible verse. The ESV Bible translates doulos as bondservant (as in the case of this passage) when it is referring to a more limited form of servitude.¹ Paul reminded the Corinthians that if someone was a bondservant (or slave) when they became a believer, then they shouldn’t feel that they needed to change their social status. However, if they could gain their freedom, they should do so.

For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ (1 Corinthians 7:22).

He explained why bondservants and slaves shouldn’t be disheartened about their social status. Any believer who is enslaved or in servitude is the Lord’s freedman. Slavery was widespread throughout the Mediterranean world at this time. Paul comforted those who were unable to become legally free and reminded them of their inner spiritual condition of freedom in Christ. He pointed out that the status of bondservant or slave carried no dishonor; rather slaves are equal in Christ to those of higher social status. As Paul wrote elsewhere: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).²

You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men (1 Corinthians 7:23).

Paul closed this discussion by repeating what he said earlier: You were bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). All believers have been bought through the price of Christ’s blood. They have been set free from the dominion of sin through Jesus’ death. Because they have this freedom, believers must not become slaves of men.

Paul encouraged the believers to think of themselves as free men and women regardless of their situation or social status, because Christ had set them free through His death on the cross. Paul emphasized that Christ’s purchase of the church, which He obtained with His own blood, meant that the church’s new identity in Christ required different behavior on the part of believers.

So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God (1 Corinthians 7:24).

Paul refers to the Corinthian believers as brothers [and sisters] as he repeats the general rule of remaining in the condition that one is called. These words point to the fact that one can know when to change their situation if they depend on God.

At this point in his letter, Paul responds to a different question from the Corinthians’ letter, returning once again to matters relating to marriage and divorce.

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 (1 Corinthians 7:25–26).

The “betrothed” are referred to as virgins in most other translations. These women were probably engaged but not yet married. It seems there was disagreement among Corinthian believers as to whether engaged couples should go ahead and get married. Paul stated that Jesus had not taught specifically on the matter (I have no command from the Lord). Paul may have meant that the Corinthians’ present distress (translated in some Bible versions as crisis) presented a unique problem which neither Jesus nor the Old Testament addressed. Nevertheless Paul, as an apostle, had the authority to give his judgment.

In qualifying his answer by saying I think, Paul offered an opinion or preference rather than an absolute rule. He made it clear that his preference came from the circumstance the church faced in that day. His opinion was that the unmarried should remain unmarried because of the present distress.

It is rather difficult to know exactly what Paul meant by the present distress. Some famines occurred around this time in history, and he may have been referring to famines in Greece that were causing difficulties for the people of Corinth. In a later chapter, Paul noted that some of the Corinthian believers were hungry when they came to the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:21). In light of these difficulties, Paul suggested that unmarried people should remain unmarried. This didn’t mean that virgins should never marry, nor that this was intended to be an ongoing state of affairs, but rather was a temporary pause on weddings based on the present crisis.

Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife (1 Corinthians 7:27).

Paul was probably thinking of those who were betrothed or promised in marriage. Paul didn’t want those who were betrothed to each other to break off their engagements, rather he suggested that they postpone them. He also suggested that those who had been released from marital obligations not look for a wife. His main points were that those who were already engaged should not yet wed, and those who had broken off their engagements should not yet seek to enter new marriages.

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 (1 Corinthians 7:28).

While Paul thought marriage was inadvisable due to the crisis of the time, he was not stating that it was a sin to marry. Those who did get married were to do so with their eyes wide open to the troubles they would face. Due to the famines in the area, Paul likely meant that marriage would make it harder to put food on the table. He encouraged caution to those who were unmarried, as he wanted to keep them from such troubles.

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 (1 Corinthians 7:29–31).

Addressing the Corinthian believers as brothers (also translated as brethren or brothers and sisters) shows Paul’s concern for their well-being. He thinks about all the believers—the married, divorced, widowed, engaged, and single. He makes the point that time is short, and the world in its present form is passing away. He mentions various types of people—those who are married, those who mourn, those who are happy and rejoice, and those who have dealings with the world.

All these activities are honorable in Paul’s view, but they are geared toward this earthly life, “the present form of this world” and its day-to-day affairs, which is not eternal. He was concerned that believers were investing themselves too deeply in these matters, and he encouraged an eternal perspective. Christians should live as if they have no wives, no mourning, no happiness, no possessions that take up their attention. Of course, Paul’s words shouldn’t be taken in an absolute sense. Elsewhere, he showed a balanced view of marriage responsibility and sexuality (Ephesians 5:22–33), happiness (1 Thessalonians 5:16), mourning (Philippians 3:18), and possessions (1 Timothy 6:8). Here Paul reminds the Corinthians that these legitimate aspects of life should not command their focus.

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 (1 Corinthians 7:32–34).

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 (1 Corinthians 7:35).

Paul personally saw an advantage for Christians in remaining single. Such individuals would be able to be undivided in their service to the Lord. A married person would be divided between their desire to please the Lord and their obligation to please their spouse. However, Paul clarifies that he is not writing a command or using his position as an apostle to tell unmarried people not to marry. Rather he is instructing his readers to help them in considering whether or not to marry.

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 (1 Corinthians 7:36).

While Paul considered remaining single the better option at the time, he knew that it wasn’t the only right choice. God ordained marriage (which Jesus reaffirmed in Matthew 19:4–6), which meant that its legitimacy couldn’t be overridden. He qualified his advice by saying that engaged women who were getting older in years should not postpone marriage. If someone is convinced that getting married is right for them, they should feel free to marry. They are not sinning.

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 (1 Corinthians 7:37–38).

Paul points out that there should be no compulsion. The person who chooses to marry is making the right choice, as is the person who chooses not to marry. It seems as if some members desired to control others in these matters, whereas Paul refused to let them do so. He expressed his recommendation about postponing marriage given the present crisis; however, he knew that the individuals involved had to make their own decisions. Those who married did right, and those who chose not to marry did right as well; both options were acceptable.

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 (1 Corinthians 7:39–40).

Paul returns to matters regarding widows. He begins by reminding the reader of the well-known policy that marriage continues throughout life, but only to the death of a spouse (Romans 7:2). Upon the death of her husband, a widow is free to marry.

While Paul allowed for remarriage, in his opinion, a widow would be happier if she remained unmarried. This advice was geared to the Corinthian situation. Because his opinion might have seemed contrary to general biblical principles which favor marriage, Paul wanted to make sure that no one dismissed his opinion too quickly, as he reminded them that he also had the Spirit of God.

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Note
Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptures are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.