Singleness is the best to serve God

1 Cor 7:25-40

Purpose Statesmen: To those who are single it is great for them to remain single and devote themselves to the Lord because the end of this world is imminent.

Introduction

the goal of life...

The reasons to stay single (v.25-35)

25 Now about virgins:

(a) stay single because of “the present crisis and troubles in life” (v.26).

I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26 Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is.

27 Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

(b) … because time is short… the world is passing way (v.29 a-31).

29 What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; 30 those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31 those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

(c) Because it is better to be free from concern (v.32-35).

32 I would like you to be free from concern.

An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife—34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

To the engaged (v.36-38)

36 If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if his passions are too strong and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married. 37 But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing. 38 So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does better.

To the widows (v.39-40)

39 A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. 40 In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that I too have the Spirit of God. 1

1 Anon, 2011. The New International Version, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Lord x7

married/marries/ unmarried x 12

Singleness: “On the contrary, it is a conscious commitment to a life of abstention in this area with the deliberate purpose of serving God more fully1”

1 Bray, G., 2012. God Is Love: A Biblical and Systematic Theology, Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Present crisis on v.26

Paul often refers to Christ’s return, but he does not associate anangkē with it. When he uses this word it has meanings like ‘compulsion’ (v. 37), ‘compelled’ (9:16), ‘hardships’ (2 Cor. 6:4), etc., but never the events preceding the second coming. It seems here to denote more than the opposition the Christian always encounters. Some pressing constraint lay hard on the Corinthians at the time of writing (Bengel says firmly, ‘The famine in the time of Claudius, Acts xi. 28’). Whatever the precise meaning, Paul’s friends were at that time in unusually difficult circumstances, and in view of the troubled times Paul felt it best for them to stay as they were. When high seas are raging it is no time for changing ships.1

1 Morris, L., 1985. 1 Corinthians: an introduction and commentary, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Contemporary reflection on the “present crisis”.

While Christian fathers have no absolute right to forbid or allow daughters to marry in our culture, still their influence ought to be strong. And while at the time of writing there is no persecution that would recommend them to urge singleness, there are many situations where desperate daughters would marry anyone rather than remain unmarried, in which case fathers should insist that it is “better” not to marry.1

1 Adams, J.E., 2020. I Corinthians and II Corinthians, Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies.