I Corinthians 7:25

First Corinthians 7:25

In First Corinthians 7:25-26 the Bible says, "Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful. I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be."

One of the teachings of First Corinthians chapter 7 is that it is good for a person to be unmarried. It is also good to be married if one so chooses, but First Corinthians chapter 7 gives some of the reasons why a person might wish to remain unmarried. As in the rest of the Bible things must always be considered in the light of their context. An important verse in this context is verse 26 that says, "this is good for the present distress." We do not know specifically what Paul was talking about when he said "the present distress", but it was more than likely one of the many persecutions that did arise against Christians in the various communities of the Roman Empire. The point that Paul is making is that you may find yourself in a situation where marriage and a family just is not a good idea because it will only lead to extra hardships and sufferings for everyone. That would have been the case during a great persecution. Someone who was single and had to flee a city for his life with only the shirt on his back would be able to do so much more easily than someone who was married and with a family. Someone who only had his own life at stake would suffer a lot less than someone who had a spouse and children to lose.

Even though we may not be currently suffering those kinds of persecutions, some Christians today should use the same Biblical principal and at least consider the circumstances of our modern society before choosing marriage. It is okay to get married, but it is wise to step back and consider what sufferings you just might add to your life that you otherwise would not suffer had you remained single. Because of Jesus, we are not under law, so there is a great freedom of choice. Just make sure that you make the best choice based on who you are, and how God has made you, and with what perspective He has helped you to view the world.

If we consider family life, and if we consider any present distress, then it should at least give us some pause to think and to pray. For example, in our society because of how much the world has gone crazy, it is going to be more and more difficult to find someone who will make a good life-long partner, someone who loves the Lord, and who can be counted on to be faithful to you. That is one of the reasons that it is important for young people to be involved with their church groups. Your greatest sufferings will come from those who are the closest to you. When your children are small they will step on your feet, but when they are older if things do not work out, they will step on your heart. Before having children, you should prayerfully consider what might go wrong. There are no guarantees. It is more and more difficult to raise children in this world and to not see them corrupted or destroyed; which is a good reason to do home schooling and to be involved in the church activities.

Concerning marriage and other life-changing decisions, Paul wanted the Corinthian Christians to look at the practical side of things as well as the emotional side. To that end we read the rest of First Corinthians chapter 7. It says in First Corinthians 7:27-33, "Are you bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife. But and if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she has not sinned. Nevertheless, such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you. But this I say, brothers, the time is short: it remains, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passes away. But I would have you to be free from cares. He that is unmarried cares for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But he that is married cares for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife."

Paul makes it clear that marriage is perfectly proper and acceptable if you so choose, but he is looking on the practical side of things. Each day has 24 hours, and you can only do so much in a given day. Someone who is married will have more responsibilities from a family and household standpoint than someone who is not married. You can serve God if you are married, and you can serve God if you are not married; but the person who is not married will have more opportunities to use his time spreading the gospel or preparing sermons or other things. Of course, those that are married can partly make up for this difference by working as a team in the service of the Lord. Two people working as a team will be able to accomplish more than one person working alone.

First Corinthians 7:34-38 says, "There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is proper, and that you may attend upon the Lord without distraction. But if any man think that he behave himself improperly toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, he sins not; let them marry. Nevertheless he that stands steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but has power over his own will, and has so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, does well. So then he that gives her in marriage does well; but he that gives her not in marriage does better."

In considering the meaning of this passage of scripture, an important principle to remember is that which is given at the end of verse 35. It says, "that you may attend upon the Lord without distraction." You are in this world in order to follow and serve the Lord. Jesus said that to follow Him is a straight and narrow path. Anything that distracts you or that gets you off that path is not a good thing. You must be careful when you consider marriage and when you consider who you will marry, that you are not entering into a situation that will take away from your capacity to serve the Lord. No one can make this decision for you. If you have wisdom from God to understand yourself and to understand the person you are interested in, then you will know what you should do. And if you decide to marry, you have not sinned.

In First Corinthians 7:39-40 the Bible says, "The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God." If you want to read about the romance of marriage, then read the Song of Solomon. First Corinthians chapter 7 deals with some of the more practical issues regarding the concept of marriage. Romance may bring two people together, but it might take more than romance to keep them together. It might take a commitment to the concept of marriage as a life-long bond. What God has joined together; let not man put asunder. In the long run things will work out better if you are committed to make your marriage work. That is the principle of the Bible, and that should be the principle by which you live.

Some people may not have lived by such a principle. Some people may have been divorced for reasons that are not scriptural. What should do they do? They should do the same thing that anyone should do who has failed in other ways. If the divorce was due to anything that they did wrong, they should ask Jesus to forgive them and then they must start over from where they are now. If they are in their second or third marriage or whatever, they should now have the same commitment to marriage as those who have been married only once. That is one of the benefits of serving a merciful and compassionate God: He allows us to have a new start in life when it is necessary.

After dealing with the subject of marriage and divorce, Paul addresses concerns that the Corinthians had concerning meat that was offered to idols. If in the pagan society an animal was offered to an idol, was it right or wrong for a Christian to eat of the meat from that animal? In First Corinthians 8:1-3 Paul introduces the subject by saying, "Now as touching things offered to idols we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if any man think that he knows any thing, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him."

In reference to these things that the Corinthians had asked Paul, the answer has to do with what you know. If you know what God’s Word teaches on these subjects and other subjects, then you will know what is permissible and what is not. It all comes down to what you know. The more that you know, the more that you will know what is right and what is not right. But as you grow in knowledge, there is especially one thing that you should look out for: becoming puffed up by your knowledge, because "knowledge puffs up." There is one thing that is more important than knowledge: love. Nothing is more important than love. The greatest commandment is to love God, and the second greatest commandment is to love your fellow man. If you grow in knowledge, but do not grow in love then you are not growing at all.

One of the ways to avoid becoming puffed up by knowledge is to remember what the Bible says in First Corinthians 8:2 that says, "if any man think that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know." The only way that a human could become puffed up by knowledge is if they compare themselves to other humans. If they were to compare themselves to the infinite, all-knowing God, then they would realize how little they know. Human beings use only a small percentage of their intellectual capacity. No matter how much you learn, you could have known more if you had used your time better to learn and if you had used your mind more fully. Therefore, you have nothing to be puffed up about. "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies." If you are selfish, you will think about yourself and how much you know, and you will be puffed up by it. If you have love for others, you will think about them, and what you can share with others in order to build them up. You will want to learn in order to know what to say, and in order to say the things that will help them. Then you will not be puffed up by what you learn. Jesus said to Peter, "If you love me, feed my sheep." You cannot feed the sheep, if you do not know what to feed them.

In order that the Christians in Corinth might know what was right concerning meat that was offered to idols, Paul said to them in First Corinthians 8:4-6, "As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many), But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him."

The first way to look at this issue makes it very clear that for the Corinthians living in ancient Greece, there was nothing wrong with eating meat, even if that meat came from animals that were sacrificed to idols. We are not under law, but under grace; and we are permitted to look at things from a perspective that gives us the greatest possible freedom of action. It should not bother a Christian in Corinth that the meat was offered to an idol because we know that the idol is nothing. We serve the God who made all things, and He made meat for the belly. The pagan may have thought that he was making an offering to an idol, but the Christian knows that the idol is no god, and that what was done was no different than what is done at the butcher shop: an animal was killed and made available for consumption.

But for a Christian there is another principle that should also govern their actions. On the one hand there are things that are permitted, things that are not sinful in and of themselves, but a Christian should also be governed by another principle: what effect will my actions have on others? Concerning this second principle, Paul said in First Corinthians 8:7-13, "Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. But meat commends us not to God: for neither if we eat are we the better; neither, if we eat not are we the worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that weak. For if any man see you that have knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; And through your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you sin so against the brothers, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world stands, lest I make my brother to offend."

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