1 Corinthians 7:25-40 - Devotion to the Lord

Marc Minter
1 Corinthians  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Main Point: All Christians, and especially young single ones, are to order their lives such that devotion or service to the Lord is promoted and prized.

Notes
Transcript

Introduction

On September 30 (right at a week ago), the pope of the Roman Catholic Church gave a talk at St. Peter’s Square in Rome. This talk was the pope’s response to several critiques he’s received from some of his more conservative cardinals. These religious leaders asked Francis to clarify his teaching about a number of issues, including homosexuality and women in the priesthood.
In his typical fashion, Pope Francis gave an answer that only made things less clear, not more. He said that the “teaching” and the “doctrine” of the Roman Catholic Church has not changed, but bishops and priests should use “pastoral prudence” on the local level regarding the application of doctrine.[i]
Now, this is certainly true, so far as it goes… Application is always messier than doctrine. But Francis more than implied that sin can sometimes be blessed as righteousness, and rebellion can sometimes be affirmed as obedience. The way he says it, the application can sometimes completely contradict the doctrine; and that (friends) is just nonsense.
In the Evangelical world, a similar argument has been in use, and on some of the same subjects. On September 28 and 29, Andy Stanley (the leader of North Point Community Church in Georgia) hosted a conference “designed for parents” and “ministry leaders” of “LGBTQ+ children.”[ii] Stanley told participants that the conference would offer and promote a “quieter middle space.”
One attendee said the conference was “safe, supportive and affirming” of LGBTQ+ people and relationships.[iii] That same person said, “Andy preached a sermon” last Sunday which included “1 minute” for the claim that “North Point still teaches that ‘biblical marriage’ is between one man and one woman” and “48 minutes” of complete affirmation “of LGBTQ+ folks in the church.” Like the Roman pope, Stanley and other Evangelicals seem to be arguing that we can believe historic and biblical doctrine and at the same time affirm and even offer God’s blessing to those who reject and defy it.
But this sort of confusion – the pseudo-Christianity that says you can hold to true doctrine and somehow live in complete contradiction to it – well, this is not only confusing, it’s downright dangerous. People like Pope Francis and Andy Stanley are telling folks that there is some other “version of biblical Christianity” besides historic and biblical Christianity.[iv] And this sales pitch may offer you a ticket to ride God’s blessing, but it leads to the destination of God’s curse.
It is my perception that this sort of muddled and squishy version of Christianity is in our day what theological liberalism was in J. Gresham Machen’s day. Exactly 100 years ago (in 1923), Machen published a book called Christianity and Liberalism. There he argued that the liberal theologian who abandons “one Christian doctrine after another” has not embraced a different form of Christianity, “but areligion which is so entirely different from Christianity as to belong in a distinct category.”[v] In other words, it’s not Christianity anymore.
In Machen’s day, Christians were being told that they must let go of their impossible doctrines – the virgin birth of Christ, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and the historical reality of Adam, Eve, Noah, and Jonah. “To claim that such doctrines are true or that such characters are historical,” they said, “is to build a wall that unbelievers simply cannot climb.” “Put down your doctrines,” they said, “and live good moral lives, and you’ll be the sort of Christians who win the lost.”
In our day (100 years later), it’s not our doctrine (at least in my experience) that the world demands that we put down (maybe because far too few Christians even talk much about doctrine anymore). Rather, today (it seems to me) that the emphasis is on our practice. “You can believewhatever doctrine you want,” they might say, “as long as you don’t draw lines between good and bad behavior… as long as you don’t demand that anyone repent of anything… as long as you don’t ever say that someone can’t or shouldn’t say or do a thing.”
Friends, in every generation, there will be those who want Christians to stop being so serious about doctrine and ethics, about knowing Christ and about following or obeying Him. But don’t be fooled by those who tell you that all is well when God’s word says otherwise. Throughout the OT, false prophets regularly told the people of God that they had nothing to worry about just before God’s judgment came to destroy them. And the NT warns us that until Christ returns, “corrupted” and “disqualified” people will teach what is “opposed [to] the truth,” and folks with “itching ears” will listen to them because it “suits their own passions” (2 Tim. 3:8-9, 4:3-4).
Today, we’re continuing our study through 1 Corinthians, and we’re going to read another portion of the letter that is highly interested in calling Christians – especially young and single Christians – to live regulated or ordered or disciplined or devoted lives with an eye on the imminent return of Christ.
Far from being a time to sow your oats or find yourself or drift aimlessly… our passage today is calling for undivided devotion or service to the Lord… the kind of attention and diligence that seems nearly ridiculous to ask for (much less command or expect) in our day and culture.
But I’m going to make my case from the Scriptures, and I’m going to ask for it anyway… I’m going to call all of us to an increased devotion to serving and to knowing and to living for Christ.
May the Holy Spirit help me preach, may He help us all to hear His word, and may He help us to believe and to obey it.
Let’s stand and read together from 1 Corinthians 7:25-40.

Scripture Reading

1 Corinthians 7:25–40 (ESV)

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.

Main Idea:

All Christians, and especially young single ones, are to order their lives such that devotion or service to the Lord is promoted and prized.

Sermon

1. The Subject at Hand (v25)

Verse 25 begins a new section of this letter from the Apostle Paul. Well, it’s really a new subsection of a larger section that started at the beginning of chapter 7. Paul said there, “Now concerning the matters about which you wrote” (1 Cor. 7:1). As we’ve talked about before, it seems that the Corinthians had sent some questions to Paul in a letter of their own. They were asking about various aspects of Christian living, in light of the gospel and the rest of Paul’s biblical teaching.
Paul first addressed the regulation of sexual desires (1 Cor. 7:1-9). In short, sex (and every aspect of it) is only for the covenant relationship of marriage (a biological man and a biological woman who stay together for life). Therefore, Christian men and women ought to get married and enjoy one another.
In the next subsection of Paul’s teaching, he addressed the regulation of the marriage relationship(1 Cor. 7:10-16). He taught that whether Christians are married to Christians or to non-Christians, they should stay married if possible. They should not divorce unless their spouse simply will not stay in the marriage.
In fact, Paul urged Christians to think of their own home and families as their immediate and most influenceable mission-field. The presence of a Christian (even one) in the home provides everyone else there with a golden opportunity to hear the gospel and to see faithful Christian living in a way that they would not otherwise be able to do. Therefore, Christians ought to stay married and bear witness to Christ in their home, even if no one else seems to have a love for Christ. You just might be the evangelist God uses to save your spouse and/or your kids.
The third subsection of chapter 7 (1 Cor. 7:17-24) is sort of a summary teaching on the fundamental principle and posture of Christian living. Paul says Christians must understand that God Himself has “assigned” and even “called” us to live in the “conditions” we have (v17, 24). We should aim to make our situation better, if we can. But we are not to make better circumstances our primarygoal or aim. Instead, we are to “remain with God” (or live for Him and with His help) in “whatever condition” we find ourselves (1 Cor. 7:24).
Then we arrive at our text for today (v25-40). And this passage is “concerning” or dealing with or regulating the lives of those who are “betrothed” (v25). The word there is literally “virgins” (v25), and I don’t know why the ESV translators thought “betrothed” was a better word. All the other main English translations use the word “virgins” (v25). The idea here is young “unmarried” or “single” adults, since unmarried people are supposed to be “virgins.”
Yes, this is the clear and comprehensive teaching of the Bible. Unmarried or single people (even adults!) are not to engage in any sexual activity. They are not to view pornography, not to sleep around, and not to live together. And if their “passions are strong” and they find themselves unable to “behave properly” (v36), then they are to “marry” (v36). As we read earlier in 1 Corinthians 7, “it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (1 Cor. 7:9) because “Satan” will “tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (1 Cor. 7:5). Indeed, “sexual immorality” (which includes any sexual deviation from God’s design for marriage) is something we ought to “flee from” and not play with or indulge (1 Cor. 6:18).
Friends, our culture today seems bent on convincing us that our sexual desires and our sexual expression are what define the very nature of our existence – “I am what I feel!” But the Bible teaches us that sexual desires (like all other desires) must be regulated according to God’s design – “I am what God tells me I am; and I must do what God tells me I must do.”
In other words, to live as faithful Christians is fundamentally to trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sins (to hear and believe the gospel), and to aim to bring our whole lives (desires and all) into conformity to God’s good design. If our idea of Christianity is going to match up with the Bible, then it must include an ongoing and sometimes agonizing practice of self-denial and a disciplined effort to resist sin and to obey Christ.
One more quick textual note before we go any farther than v25… Look there again with me. For the third time in ch. 7, Paul distinguishes his own “judgment” from the “command” of “the Lord” (v25). As I’ve said before, Paul is not saying that his Apostolic command is of lesser weight than other commands in the Bible. Rather, Paul sometimes points to stuff Jesus said during His earthly ministry as the basis of his teaching, and sometimes Paul gives a command based on his own Apostolic authority both to interpret and to apply the teaching of the whole Bible.
Paul was a capital “A” Apostle or spokesman for Jesus in the world. He was commissioned by the risen Christ to speak with the authority of heaven and to make “rules” that are to be obeyed “in all the churches” (1 Cor. 7:17). In other words, Apostles (like Jesus) have the authority to give commands that must be obeyed in the lives of Christians everywhere… both then and now.
All of Scripture is the very word or “breath” of God (2 Tim. 3:16-17); and, therefore, all of it should be believed and obeyed as divine revelation.
So, what is the subject at hand in our passage? It is God’s instructions and commands about how the lives of single adults should be regulated.

2. Remaining with God (v26-28)

In v26, Paul says, “in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is” (v26). This is a repetition of what Paul has already said in the previous section (1 Cor. 7:17-24). We will get to what he means by “present distress” in just a bit, but we want to note here that whatever Paul says in our text this morning should not be removed from its broader context (v26).
Paul is still very interested in calling the Christians in Corinth to live in keeping with their circumstances as faithfully as they may, with God’s help. And that’s why he says what he does in v27-28. “Are you bound to a wife?” or “Are you committed to be married?” (v27). Then, “do not seek to be free” (v27) or “released” (NASB) or “loosed” (KJV). “Are you free from a wife?” (v27) or “Are you free from such a commitment?” (NIV). Then, “Do not seek a wife” (v27).
Now, it’s important to note that Paul is not saying that marriage is prohibited. In fact, he says exactly the opposite in v28, “if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned” (v28). The point is not to avoid marriage per se, but to recognize that marriage doescome along with “worldly troubles,” in some sense (v28).
And here, Paul is not talking about the trouble of marital conflict – two sinners living together and trying to make a life together are certainly going to run into trouble sometimes. But rather, Paul is talking about the sort of “troubles” (v28) or “anxieties” (v32) that are intensified by living not only as a Christian in a “distressing” world but as a married Christian in a “distressing” world (v26).
As we shall see, Paul often wrote like he was living in the “last days” before Christ’s final return. And Paul knew that the “last days” would be a time of “difficulty” for Christians (2 Tim. 3:1), a time of Christian “persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12), and a time when “evil people… will go from bad to worse” (2 Tim. 3:13). And the “anxieties” of living in such a “distressing” time are multiplied for those who are responsible not only for enduring faithfully themselves but also for caring for a spouse and a family while they endure.
The point here is that marriage is not a hindrance to faithful Christian living, but it does inevitably seem to “divide” our “interests” (v34).
We will unpack all of this a bit more in a moment, but let me point out that Paul apparently thinks that faithful Christian living in the world presents far more of a challenge than many of us are likely to believe. Our whole passage is a call (especially) for young single Christians (but not only for singles) to live with a resolute and “undivided devotion to the Lord” (v35).
But many Christian parents today are trying to raise their children and teens to aim primarily for worldly success, and only secondarily (at best) for Christian knowledge and virtue. Isn’t that what we’re doing when we emphasize career and sports and social networking over regular home discipleship and church participation and invasive conversations about sin, holiness, and following Christ?
Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t prepare our kids to meet the world. We definitely should! But I am saying that many Christian parents would do well to place more emphasis on preparing their kids to meet God… and preparing them to cling to Christ and to live for Him amid a “distressing” world (v26).
Our passage this morning reads like a fatherly word of wisdom to wide-eyed young adults who are headed out into the harsh and perilous world. Paul wants to “spare” them of “worldly troubles” (v28). He wants to help them “remain” with God (v26) and to better understand “the present distress” they are about to face (v26). He wants them to remember that the “present form of this world is passing away” (v31), and he wants to “promote good order” in their lives so that they will live with “undivided devotion to the Lord” (v35)… so that they will be ready to meet the Lord when He comes… and so thatthey will remain as faithful disciples between now and then.
Brothers and sisters, may God help us to speak to our children and teens with this same parental transparency and care. And if you’re a teen or young adult, I pray that the Lord will help you recognize that faithful Christian living is indeed a challenge so that you won’t be surprised by how hard it seems out in the world.

3. The End is Near (v29-31)

If we wanted to, we could spend a great deal of time on just these three verses (v29-31). Paul is clearly saying here that “the end is near,” and he rattles off a series of phrases that seem to imply a pessimistic escapism, which would contradict the Christian ethic of living as faithful witnesses in the world.
Let’s don’t spend a lot of time here, but let’s do understand the main thrust of what Paul is saying. First, he is saying that the end is near; and second, he is calling for Christians to live with a looseninggrip on the cares of this world.
In v29, Paul says, “This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short” (v29). And just in case we are not sure about what “appointed time” he’s talking about, Paul says in v31, “thepresent form of this world is passing away” (v31). Clearly, Paul means to say that the “present… world” is coming to an end, and the “appointed time” for Christ’s return (both for judgment and for salvation) is right around the corner.
And Paul is not the only biblical author to speak this way. On the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter said that the arrival of the Holy Spirit was then (2,000 years ago) the fulfillment of a prophecy from the Old Testament, which said, “in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh” (Acts 2:17). In other words, Peter said that Pentecost was “the last days.”
The author to the Hebrews used the same phrase in the same way. The book of Hebrews begins by saying, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, who he appointed the heir of all things” (Heb. 1:1-2). And similarly, Peter wrote (in 1 Peter 1) that Christ “was made manifest [or “reveled”] in the last timesfor the sake of you who through him are believers in God” (1 Pet. 1:20-21).
The point I’m making here is to say that from the Bible’s perspective, the “last days” are not a small sliver of time right before the return of Christ, but the “last days” are all of the time betweenChrist’s first and second coming. We don’t know how long that time will be, but all of it is the “last days.” There is nothing more to be done in God’s plan of redemption. We are eagerly awaiting the final return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The stage is set, and the Lord will return, but we do not know exactly when. Therefore, every generation of Christians, from the first century to the twenty-first century, has lived as though Christ could return this instant… because He may!
And every Christian generation was right to think and write and live as they did… as though Christ’s return was imminent. His return is always imminent! Since that day on the Mount of Olives, right outside of Jerusalem, when Christ ascended into heaven, and the promise was made, “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go” (Acts 1:11)… since that day, the return of Christ has always been just around the corner!
As one of the great recent hymns says, “Don’t drop a single anchor, we’re almost home… Through every toil and danger, we’re almost home… How many pilgrim saints have before us gone?... No stopping now, we’re almost home.”
“This journey ours together, we’re almost home… Unto that great forever, we’re almost home… What song anew we’ll sing ‘round that happy throne… Come faint of heart, we’re almost home.”[vi]
And because this glorious reality is true… because these are the last days, and because Christ may indeed return at any moment… Paul is urging his reader to live with a loosening grip on the cares of this world. Spouse and family are not to distract from “devotion” to Christ (v29, 35). The pain of “mourning” and the song of “rejoicing” are not to distract from “devotion” to Christ (v30, 35). And the practical affairs of “buying” goods and “dealing” in business are not to distract from “devotion” to Christ (v30-31, 35).
I don’t think that Paul is saying (and I’m certainly not saying) that we should neglect our worldly responsibilities. No, we should live faithfully and diligently and actively and even joyfully in this world, for as long as we are here. But we should remember that this world will soon be gone, and our grip on Christ should be tightening even as our grip on this world becomes looser.

4. Order and Devotion (v32-40)

This entire section of v32-40 is written with Paul’s desire for the Christians in Corinth to “be freefrom anxieties” (v32), his desire to “promote good order and to secure… undivided devotion to the Lord” (v34), and his desire to see them “behave properly” (v36) and “under control” (v37). Neither marriage nor singleness is prohibited as “sin” (v36), but each condition is one in which the Christian may “do well” (v37-38).
I think it would be helpful for us to consider three truths that are presented to us here in this portion of our text: (1) Marriage is not the chief or highest goal for Christians, (2) many young and single Christians ought to get married, and (3) promoting and prioritizing devotion to the Lord is the chief or highest goal.
First, marriage is not the chief goal for Christians. Clearly, the Scripture teaches us that marriage is not the only way that Christians can live for Christ. In fact, our passage affirms what all married Christians know from experience – that “the married man” (v33) and “the married woman” (v35) are both “anxious” or “concerned about” (NASB, NIV) the “worldly” cares of marriage and childrearing.
In this case, “worldly” does not mean sinful, but temporal. Many of the cares of marriage and family are temporal or earthly. The husband must provide for and protect his wife, generally arranging his life so as to care for his family. So too, the wife must help and support her husband, generally arranging her life so as to care for her family. And both husband and wife are to “please” one another (v33, 34), or to accommodate or to be at peace with one another.
Again, this is not sinful or necessarily negative at all. The whole Bible is shot through with good commands and teaching on the responsibilities of marriage and raising/discipling children. But marriage and family does come along with “cares” or “anxieties” that can divide our “devotion to the Lord” (v35). We can easily become more concerned about having a safe or luxurious or prestigious situation for our families in this world than we are concerned about eternal matters.
Therefore, we ought not look down on unmarried Christians. We ought not assume that single adults are somehow lesser Christians simply because they are not married. And we ought not teach our children that the most godly and important goal they should have is marriage. Children and grandchildren (and great-grandchildren) are certainly a blessing from the Lord, but marriage and family are not the highest goals of Christian living… and single adult Christians are just as capable of living with “devotion to the Lord” as married ones (v35).
Second, many single Christians ought to get married. Keeping all that I’ve just said in mind, it is a reality that most young and single Christians will marry and ought to marry. Once again, we see that sex and marriage are closely joined in our passage, and a desire for sexual experience is a good biblical reason to marry.
In fact, God has designed us (male and female) to be attracted to one another and to produce offspring in exactly this way. Our attraction and desire for one another must be regulated by God’s design (even when that does not come naturally to us), and the Bible teaches us that marriage is the right context for it.
Verse 35 teaches us that Paul’s caution about the cares of marriage is not meant to “lay any restraint” on his reader, such that he or she would not pursue marriage (v35). And v36 says that a man with “strong… passions” toward a woman of the marrying age is a good reason to marry.
It seems to me that so many young people in our culture are wandering around aimlessly, largely because they have been told that marriage and family are not really a good use of their investment and sacrifice. So many people, young and old alike, are trying to build a world or a brand or a life that is entirely devoted to themselves… but the promotion of self is such a terrible purpose to live for… whether one is a Christian or not.
If you are a teenager or young adult, then please hear me when I say that one of the best things you can do for yourself and others around you is to invest in the life-long effort of getting married, raising children, staying faithful to your spouse, and working toward the construction of a well-ordered family. Nothing you can accomplish in this world will have such a lasting or meaningful impact on this world and the generations to come as this noble and sacrificial effort.
But remember, faithful marriage and a well-ordered family is not the highest goal. Both single people and married people can and should aim for something higher than marriage. And this brings us to my third truth from this section, which is the main desire Paul has in this passage we’re studying today.
Third, promoting and prioritizing devotion to the Lord is the chief goal for Christian living. I said already that v32-40 are written from Paul’s desire to help the Christians in Corinth to “be free from anxieties” (v32), his desire to “promote good order and to secure… undivided devotion to the Lord” (v34), and his desire to see them “behave properly” (v36) and “under control” (v37).
Whether single or married, Paul wants Christians to prioritize “devotion to the Lord” as the highest aim of their lives (v34)… not marriage or singleness. And the reality is that many good things in the world (even God’s good design for marriage) can threaten to “divide” our “devotion to” or “service to” (NET) or “attendance upon” (KJV) the “Lord” (v35).
It seems to me that the purpose behind Paul going to such lengths to describe the pros and cons of each (singleness and marriage) is to try to convince his reader to stop imagining a different circumstance in which he or she might better serve or know Christ. And if that’s true, then here is the place where our passage strikes the tone that reverberates all the way across the centuries that divide our culture from first-century Corinth.
Let me explain what I mean…
Remember that the overarching command (the comprehensive imperative) that Paul’s been applying throughout 1 Corinthians 7 is that verse at the end of chapter 6: “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Even in our passage this morning there is an echo of this command… “the unmarried man is anxious about [or “concerned about” (NASB)] the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord” (v32), and “the unmarried… womanis anxious about [or “concerned about” (NASB)] the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit” (v34).
But why emphasize this benefit of singleness? Well, because Paul has just spent the first half of chapter 7 talking about a wonderful benefit of marriage! And being the confused sinners that we are, we’re likely to think that the solution to our problem of sinful temptation and excessive worldly anxiety… is either marriage or singleness.
Surely, I’m not the only single person who has ever thought, “Man, once I get married, then my sinful temptation and ungodly sexual desires will go away… or at least they will be easier to deal with.” And surely, I’m not the only married person who has ever thought, “Man, if only I didn’t have a spouse and a family, then I would be much more patient and forgiving and joyful and peaceful.”
But neither marriage nor singleness as life-circumstances necessarily “glorify God” (1 Cor. 6:20) or promote “holiness” (v34). Each has its benefit, and both have their challenges. Christians are to order their lives – whether married or single – such that devotion or service to the Lord is both promoted and prized… so that we will “glorify God in our bodies” (1 Cor. 6:20).
But single people do have some distinct and pretty big challenges to growing in holiness and glorifying God, challenges that married people don’t have.
Single people don’t have a spouse who can both sin against them and build them up. Married Christians have a built-in partner in the pursuit of holiness, and our spouse will sometimes expose our sin and other times help us war against it. If you’re single, then you must actively invite others into your life who are able and willing to do this… and you can’t just cut them off when they sin against you.
Single people also don’t usually have children who can be the source of great joy and as well as unavoidable pain. If you’re single, then you would do well to invest some of your time and effort into something or someone that can’t or won’t give you anything in return. There is a great benefit to learning how to give yourself away for the good of others without expecting any payback.
Single people also typically have a ton of free time, which the whole world is encouraging them to spend on frivolous stuff. But, if you’re single and you really want to grow in holiness, then you will have to discipline yourself to turn off distractions and give yourself to spiritual disciplines (like Bible reading, prayer, thoughtful Bible application, confession of sin, theological inquiry, giving away your time and money, and intentional fellowship with other believers).
Scripture commands, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16).

Conclusion

Friends, we’ve walked through a passage today that has sometimes been used to cause no small amount of confusion among many Christians. I trust that I’ve explained my argument sufficiently, and I hope that I’ve argued persuasively, that this passage is not intended to exalt singleness or denigrate marriage. Rather, this portion of Scripture is part of a larger teaching on the priority of living to the glory of God… or ordering our lives to promote and prize devotion to the Lord.
As sinners in this world, we are prone to imagine that if our circumstances were only different, then we’d be better Christians. But that is just not true.
The lesson we ought to learn from our passage today is that neither marriage nor singleness are by themselves able to promote holiness in our lives.
And the call we ought to hear is that (whether married or single) we must devote ourselves to knowing and serving the Lord wherever we are… for only He can produce holiness in us… through the ordinary discipline of Christian living.

Endnotes

[i] See the full article with various links and quotes here: https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/news/pope-signals-openness-blessings-gay-couples-study-womens-ordination [ii] See Albert Mohler’s preemptive critique of this conference and Stanley’s trajectory and method here: https://wng.org/opinions/the-train-is-leaving-the-station-1695036498 [iii] See Zach Lamber’s post on Twitter/X here: https://twitter.com/ZachWLambert/status/1709905855984939519 [iv] See Denny Burk’s lengthy quote of Stanley where he uses this exact line of argumentation, and read Burk’s appropriate critique here: https://cbmw.org/2023/10/01/andy-stanleys-version-christianity/ [v] See a PDF of Machen’s book available here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Christianity_and_Liberalism/Bb0IAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 [vi] See the full lyrics and listen to the music of “Almost Home” here: https://www.mattpapa.com/songs/almost-home

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