Theological Commentary: Click Here
When reading 1 Corinthians 7, it is important to remember the context of Paul’s writing. The followers of Jesus in Paul’s day were convinced of the imminent return of the Lord. Therefore, Paul speaks as one who is awaiting the return of the Lord on a daily basis. This is why he can say that someone unmarried should stay unmarried and focus on the Lord instead. This is how he can say many of the things in this chapter that we find hard to hear. His perspective is different from ours.
We live in
the reality that the return of the Lord may be imminent. It may not be, either. Several thousand years has passed since the
coming of the Lord. Generations have
married and produced offspring. Our perspective is different than his.
That being
said, there are some things that we can absolutely learn. Just because Paul’s perspective is different
doesn’t mean that he doesn’t speak valuable truth.
For example,
take the parts of the passage that talk about marriage and how it impacts our
relationship with God. God created us
and He gave us the gift of marriage. However,
if I am married I do have to think about not just what God desires of me but what
my wife needs. My attention is split. Naturally, this isn’t a sin. God gave us marriage, certainly He knew what
would happen. But it is good to realize
that it will cause my focus to be split.
That being
said, it is really important to understand the underlying truth. There is nothing wrong with marriage. There is no sin in being married. The sin occurs when we allow sexual
immorality to enter into our life. As I
spoke about yesterday, sexual sin is invasive.
It takes root in our life and refuses to let go. It’s impulse can drive our life, even ruin
it. Paul’s greater concern in this
chapter isn’t marriage, it is keeping sexual sin at bay.
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