1 CORINTHIANS
Chapter 7, Verses 1-24
“Keeping Your Wedding Vows!”
[4-3-22]
Review: “As A Christian My Conduct Affects The Body Of Christ!”
1 Corinthians 6:18-20) [NAS] Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.
19) Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
20) For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
THINK OF THIS: There are many sins and bad habits I could engage in that are more physically destructive to my physical body than sexual sins. Smoking can destroy my lungs; alcohol can ruin my liver; drugs can completely wreck my physical body; and eating too much can destroy my health immeasurably. However, none of these things has the negative affect that sexual immorality has on my physical body as it relates to God’s mystical body, the Church.
A CLOSING NOTE: God is telling us that He owns our physical bodies and that we are, therefore, to refrain from sexual immorality in order to glorify God with our bodies.
This Week’s Lesson: “Keeping Your Wedding Vows!”
1 Corinthians 7:1-24) [NAS] Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman.
“not to touch a woman” – “An Old Testament phrase which means not to marry (Gen. 20:4, Gen. 20:6; Gen. 26:11; Prov. 6:29)” [PNT].
2) But because of immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
3) Let the husband fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband.
4) The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
5) Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
**6) But this I say by way of concession, not of command.
QUESTION: What is Paul telling us in the above verses?
ANSWER: It is, in some cases/situations, preferable to be single. However, the majority of us are not suited for the single life.
QUESTION: Who’s in charge of romance in the marriage?
ANSWER: The husband and wife are equal in this regard. Each must consider the other’s needs.
NOTE: The husband has authority over his wife’s body and the wife has authority over her husband’s body.
7) Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that.
Acts 26:10) [GNB] That is what I did in Jerusalem. I received authority from the chief priests and put many of God’s people in prison; and when they were sentenced to death, I also voted against them.
QUESTION: Whs Paul ever married?
ANSWER: According to some if he were a member of the Sanhedrin, who made such decisions to sentence some to death, as his voting seems to indicate, then he was married. All who were such members were required to be married.
QUESTION: If he had been married what happened?
**ANSWER: The next verse might indicate that he was a widower. Or, she might have left him when he converted to Christianity.
QUESTION: Why shouldn’t most Christians remain single?
ANSWER: They don’t share the same ability to control their carnal desires as Paul did.
8) But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.
9) But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn.
QUESTION: What is Paul saying to the “unmarried” and the “widows”?
ANSWER: It’s better for them to remain single if they have that same self control Paul has.
10) But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband
11) (but if she does leave, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not send his wife away.
12) But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, let him not send her away.
13) And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, let her not send her husband away.
14) For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.
15) Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace.
**16) For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?
QUESTION: Should a wife divorce her husband?
ANSWER: No! However, if she does she is to remain unmarried or reconcile to her husband.
QUESTION: What happens if she does remarry?
ANSWER: Paul is teaching believers what they ought to do as Christians. He is not suggesting here that remarriage is the unforgivable sin, or that if you make new vows to God that you must break those vows, divorce your new mate, and stay single.
QUESTION: What should married people do?
ANSWER: They should stay married to each other.
QUESTION: Can a Christian divorce an unsaved mate?
ANSWER: If that unsaved mate desires to stay married then the Christian is to stay married.
QUESTION: If the unbelieving husband saved because his wife his a Christian? Do the children of their marriage have salvation transmitted to them?
ANSWER: Note:
“Clearly he only means that the marriage relation is sanctified so that there is no need of a divorce. If either husband or wife is a believer and the other agrees to remain, the marriage is holy and need not be set aside” [Robertson].
QUESTION: Why should a Christian stay married to an unbeliever?
ANSWER: Their Christian example could lead their unsaved marriage partner to salvation.
QUESTION: What should Christians do if the unbeliever divorces them?
ANSWER: They are not bound by their wedding vows in such cases. Note:
1 Corinthians 7:39) [NIV] 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.
NOTE: The bondage of verse 15 is explained in verse 39. A Christian is not bound by their wedding vows when their unsaved mate divorces them. I personally believe Paul is teaching that such an individual is free to remarry. – MORE ON THIS NEXT WEEK –
17) Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk. And thus I direct in all the churches.
18) Was any man called already circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised.
19) Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.
20) Let each man remain in that condition in which he was called.
21) Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that.
22) For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave.
23) You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.
24) Brethren, let each man remain with God in that condition in which he was called.
QUESTION: What do these verses have to do with the subject of marriage?
ANSWER: If you came to Christ while living in your third marriage, then remain in that marriage.
1 CORINTHIANS
Chapter 7, Verses 25-40
“Marriage During Times Of Persecution!”
[4-5-22]
Review: “Keeping Your Wedding Vows!”
1 Corinthians 7:12-16, 24) [NAS] But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, let him not send her away.
13) And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, let her not send her husband away.
14) For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.
15) Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace.
16) For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?
QUESTION: Can a Christian divorce an unsaved mate?
ANSWER: If that unsaved mate desires to stay married then the Christian is to stay married.
QUESTION: If the unbelieving husband saved because his wife his a Christian? Do the children of their marriage have salvation transmitted to them?
ANSWER: Note:
“Clearly he only means that the marriage relation is sanctified so that there is no need of a divorce. If either husband or wife is a believer and the other agrees to remain, the marriage is holy and need not be set aside” [Robertson].
QUESTION: Why should a Christian stay married to an unbeliever?
ANSWER: Their Christian example could lead their unsaved marriage partner to salvation.
QUESTION: What should Christians do if the unbeliever divorces them?
ANSWER: They are not bound by their wedding vows in such cases. Note:
24) Brethren, let each man remain with God in that condition in which he was called.
NOTE: If you came to Christ while living in your third marriage, then remain in that marriage.
This Week’s Lesson: “Marriage During Times Of Persecution!”
1 Corinthians 7:25-40) [NAS] Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy.
“virgins,” – “In verses 25-38, the apostle is addressing himself to the unmarried, whether male or female” [BBC].
“No doubt in the letter from Corinth it was asked whether a father should place his virgin daughters in marriage. In the East to this day the marriage arrangements are made by the parents [PNT].
NOTE: Note the following verses:
26) I think then that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is.
27) Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
28) But if you should marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin should marry, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.
QUESTION: What was Paul’s answer to the question regarding virgin daughters?
ANSWER: Getting married is not a sin, but because of the “present distress”/persecution of believers you will have more “trouble in this life” if you’re married. Consequently, it’s better to remain as you are. Of course married individuals should stay married, but unmarried individuals would be better off if they stay unmarried until the persecution passes. Note the following comment:
“Days of persecution are coming on, and you may be led to the stake, and in those fiery trials your families may be torn asunder, and a part be put to death. Or you may be poor, and oppressed, and driven from your homes, and made wanderers and exiles, for the sake of your religion” [Barnes].
29) But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none;
30) and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess;
31) and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.
29) (NLT) Now let me say this, dear brothers and sisters: The time that remains is very short, so husbands should not let marriage be their major concern.
30) Happiness or sadness or wealth should not keep anyone from doing God’s work.
31) Those in frequent contact with the things of the world should make good use of them without becoming attached to them, for this world and all it contains will pass away.
QUESTION: What did Paul mean when he wrote “the time has been shortened”?
ANSWER: He could have been referring to the second coming of Christ, or he might have meant that persecution could result in death for any of them.
QUESTION: What was he talking about in the remainder of the above three verses?
ANSWER: Don’t cling to what you think you have; it could be gone quickly.
32) But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
33) but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife,
34) and his interests are divided. And the woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
QUESTION: What’s the advantage of being single, such as Paul was?
ANSWER: You can have undivided devotion to the Lord when you’re not married.
**QUESTION: Is it wrong for a married person to seek to please his/her spouse?
ANSWER: Absolutely not! Married individuals should seek to please their marriage partner. Paul is simply saying that marriage causes a natural division of our devotion into two parts; devotion to the Lord and devotion to our wife/husband. Normally that’s fine. Peter, and the other Apostles were married. However, during persecution it makes things more difficult.
35) And this I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is seemly, and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.
36) (NLT) But if a man thinks he ought to marry his fiancé because he has trouble controlling his passions and time is passing, it is all right; it is not a sin. Let them marry.
37) (NLT) But if he has decided firmly not to marry and there is no urgency and he can control his passion, he does well not to marry.
38) (NLT) So the person who marries does well, and the person who doesn’t marry does even better.
“Acts unbecomingly, either by throwing temptation in the daughter’s way by constraining her to remain unmarried, or by exposing her to the disgrace which was supposed to attach to the unmarried state. But Paul, in his preceding words, has regarded the latter consideration as set aside by the peculiar circumstances of the time” [Vincent].
QUESTION: Most commentators agree with the KJV. They believe the question is should a father give his virgin daughter in marriage?
ANSWER: If he does he “does well;” if he does not he does “better.”
NOTE: Again, Paul is giving this counsel in the face of persecution.
39) A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
40) But in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
NOTE: The bondage of verse 15 is explained in verse 39. A Christian is not bound by their wedding vows when their unsaved mate divorces them. I personally believe Paul is teaching that such an individual is free to remarry.
NOTE: There are three reasons someone can remarry while their “ex” is still living: 1) he/she was unfaithful; 2) he/she deserted him/her; 3) it happened when he/she was still unsaved.