1 Corinthians 7:25-31 says...
Today's verses are 1 Corinthians 7:25-31, which read,
v.25, 26 - 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. 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.
Paul has went from speaking to those who are married, divorced, or widowed to the virgins who have never been married and also have kept themselves pure before the Lord. What Paul tells them is from him who has been trustworthy to God in answering and following God's call of salvation on his life. Because the Bible is written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what is given is of God through his servant Paul.
His opinion or advice which is now in the canon of Scripture is for the virgins to be content the way they are and especially because of the upcoming persecutions to those who hold the Christian faith. To remain single and serve the Lord for the cause of Christ in the face of persecution is Paul's message. It would be better to face the culture they are in as a single person than one who would be married and with possible children to care for.
v.27, 28 - Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.
Paul knows that we go to extremes at times so he qualifies the statement that he just gave. Paul thinks ahead for the questions or assumptions his readers might have to instruction that is given. The assumption might be that it is a sin to marry. Another assumption might be that this would be a reason to get a divorce because of the persecution to come. To both of these questions and assumptions Paul says that they are false.
If one is married then they are to stay married. If one is divorced by Biblical grounds or single by death, then do not be quick to remarry is his counsel. If that one does remarry then it is not a sin under the Biblical principles given and if a virgin marries during this time it is also not a sin. Paul, as an Apostle of Christ is giving warning to spare them the upcoming trouble of life that he sees on the horizon. He loves them like children and wants them to be solely for God first and foremost in front of everything in life.
v.29-31 - 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; 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; 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.
Paul uses a string of illustrations to make the point that our time is short on this earth to serve the Lord. Our spouses are important; our weeping and rejoicing is important; or buying and the world we live in is important but in the face of what is to come it is like nothing to the Christian. It is a comparison used not to disregard those things but to accentuate the greater love. Jesus used this technique when He said that you are to hate your brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers to love Him. The love of Jesus needs to be first in our lives so that we love our brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers with the greater love of the Lord than our very own.
Paul wants us and the Christians in Corinth to be so focused on our walk with the Lord that those other things of our lives seem to be nothing but in actually they will be cared for better than if we did not focus on total surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. I will end with the thought that Paul is acknowledge that "our world is a changin'" and isn't that so. The way that we go forward in our changing world is by holding onto more tightly the first relationship we have in this life and that is with the One who died on the cross and rose from the grave.
"Lord, as we read in on the conversation between Paul and the Corinthian church may we see the conversation You are trying to have with us. Is there anything in this world that has taken Your place in my life? May the reality sink in that if there is something then I can't love others or have a proper perspective on this life in the state I am in. I am actually loving less and caring less than if You were in the rightful place in my life. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.25, 26 - 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. 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.
Paul has went from speaking to those who are married, divorced, or widowed to the virgins who have never been married and also have kept themselves pure before the Lord. What Paul tells them is from him who has been trustworthy to God in answering and following God's call of salvation on his life. Because the Bible is written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what is given is of God through his servant Paul.
His opinion or advice which is now in the canon of Scripture is for the virgins to be content the way they are and especially because of the upcoming persecutions to those who hold the Christian faith. To remain single and serve the Lord for the cause of Christ in the face of persecution is Paul's message. It would be better to face the culture they are in as a single person than one who would be married and with possible children to care for.
v.27, 28 - Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.
Paul knows that we go to extremes at times so he qualifies the statement that he just gave. Paul thinks ahead for the questions or assumptions his readers might have to instruction that is given. The assumption might be that it is a sin to marry. Another assumption might be that this would be a reason to get a divorce because of the persecution to come. To both of these questions and assumptions Paul says that they are false.
If one is married then they are to stay married. If one is divorced by Biblical grounds or single by death, then do not be quick to remarry is his counsel. If that one does remarry then it is not a sin under the Biblical principles given and if a virgin marries during this time it is also not a sin. Paul, as an Apostle of Christ is giving warning to spare them the upcoming trouble of life that he sees on the horizon. He loves them like children and wants them to be solely for God first and foremost in front of everything in life.
v.29-31 - 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; 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; 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.
Paul uses a string of illustrations to make the point that our time is short on this earth to serve the Lord. Our spouses are important; our weeping and rejoicing is important; or buying and the world we live in is important but in the face of what is to come it is like nothing to the Christian. It is a comparison used not to disregard those things but to accentuate the greater love. Jesus used this technique when He said that you are to hate your brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers to love Him. The love of Jesus needs to be first in our lives so that we love our brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers with the greater love of the Lord than our very own.
Paul wants us and the Christians in Corinth to be so focused on our walk with the Lord that those other things of our lives seem to be nothing but in actually they will be cared for better than if we did not focus on total surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. I will end with the thought that Paul is acknowledge that "our world is a changin'" and isn't that so. The way that we go forward in our changing world is by holding onto more tightly the first relationship we have in this life and that is with the One who died on the cross and rose from the grave.
"Lord, as we read in on the conversation between Paul and the Corinthian church may we see the conversation You are trying to have with us. Is there anything in this world that has taken Your place in my life? May the reality sink in that if there is something then I can't love others or have a proper perspective on this life in the state I am in. I am actually loving less and caring less than if You were in the rightful place in my life. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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