1 Corinthians 7: 7-14 (Part 31) Corinthian Confusion

• Over marriage—7

• Over the use of liberty—8-10: 1) Can lose to legalism; 2) Can abuse it

• Over worship—11

• Over tongues—12-24

General teaching on marriage, 7:1-7

• To those considering marriage, vv. 1-2: 1) “Good” (commendable), v. 1--it does not denote the opposite of evil (in this context it is not moral good); 2) “Not to touch a woman”—euphemism for sexual relations; 3) Not to be taken absolutely (7:1) because . . . a) Contradicts Genesis 2:18; b) Contradicts the present passage; c) If taken in absolute sense, it falls into the category of demonic doctrine—I Tim. 4:1-3; d) He does not say “good onto to marry” because single life and abstinence are the same thing in the Bible; e) The advice of v. 2 is a safeguard against evil—not a low view of marriage; f) Why address women and men individually?—sexual temptation affects both equally; g) Two fundamentals, v. 2b: 1) “let have”—marriage is intended to be permanent; 2) “His/her own”—intended to be monogamous

• To those who are married, vv. 3-7: 1) Those that are married need to consider their mutual indebtedness, v. 3; 2) Those married must consider the surrender of personal rights

Questions--7:1

• The questions of the church were not the same as the problems of the church

• He deals with carnality before he deals with their questions

• He doesn’t allow their questions to take away from the real issue

• Must maintain distinction between a perceived problem and a real problem

Concepts in 7:3-4

• Concept of mutuality

• Concept of obligation

• Concept of surrender