1 Corinthians 7:36-40
Today's verses are 1 Corinthians 7:36-40, which reads,
v.36 - But if any man thinks that he is acting unbecomingly toward his virgin daughter, if she is past her youth, and if it must be so, let him do what he wishes, he does not sin; let her marry.
Okay, as we continue our study in the book of 1 Corinthians we come across practices of the day that Paul is speaking to. Some maybe hard to understand but let's try to step into the time of the Corinthians. Paul is a cheerleader for being single and holy for the purpose of the spread of the gospel just as he is.
Apparently there are fathers of daughters who have never been married, i.e. virgins, who the fathers have dedicated to the Lord. A vow was taken or given much like the Nazarite vow of the Bible of young men. The daughter is past her youth, so she is of child bearing age. The father has taken on the responsibility of caring and providing for her as a single woman in the day. She now wants to marry. Paul is telling the fathers that it is not a sin to break that vow and allow their daughters to get married.
v.37, 38 - But he who stands firm in his heart, being under no constraint, but has authority over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin daughter, he will do well. So then both he who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.
The father who has a virgin daughter who has made this vow to dedicate her to the Lord to be single and holy to serve and the daughter is not wanting to get married, as Paul says, "being under no constraint," and she is not changing his will or his heart, then the father does well to provide and care for this daughter to continue in single life dedicated to the Lord. As I read this, no one is being forced against their will. Each has a voice in this matter and a vow taken by the father can be broken when the daughter is of age to speak her mind and heart.
Paul still is the cheerleader for an army of single workers for the Lord as he qualifies that both situations are good, the father who gives his daughter to be married and the father who cares and provides for his daughter to remain single and solely devoted to the Lord's work. The option of one providing for this to happen, to be single and serving, is given by Paul as the better option. Again, Paul is pushing back against a culture that is all about marriage in the positive and many sexual sins of immorality in the negative with a Christianity that focuses on our individual relationship with Christ that trumps any other relationship in our lives.
v.39, 40 - 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. But in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
Paul turns his eyes back to those who are already married and gives this example that could be taken both ways between a wife or a husband. A spouse is bound to the other spouse as long as the other lives. This is the way it is intended to be. As we have said before, the bond is only broken because of death, or divorce resulting from adultery (but this is not a given) and divorce that is the result of the unbelieving spouse deserting the believing spouse. So in the case of the spouse physically dieing, the living spouse is free to marry but "only in the Lord." The spouse is to marry, if they choose to, to another believer in Jesus Christ.
Paul puts on his cheerleader uniform again and adds that it is his opinion that if you are in that position with the death of your spouse to stay single. It is his opinion that you will be happier. He gives this opinion as someone in the Spirit of God who is actually living out this fully devoted single life to God. He is speaking from experience to living this way.
This is the end of this subject and what do we make of all of this? I think a take away I have is seeing the passion that Paul has for the gospel of Christ to be spread and the ability to do so when other factors of life are left in God's timing and God's way for your life rather than societal standards or maybe societal sexual sins that are being promoted. It is okay to be single for the Lord your whole life. Even in our world, we put a high emphasis on marriage and we should but not to bring down the high emphasis we should be giving to those who live a single life holy onto the Lord for the service of the Lord.
God knows what He is doing with our lives and we need to listen to His voice and not that of the world around us. His plans are so much better than ours and His plans could be that we be single for longer than what society thinks we should or for our entire life while we are serving Him. If the Lord wants us to be married and serve Him through that avenue then He will make that happen. Maybe the questions are "Is my relationship with the Lord greater than my relationship with others?" "Will I listen and follow His lead in this area of my life even when the society and maybe family members are pressuring me to do something else?" "Will I be single for the Lord and be content and will I be married for the Lord and be content and will I let the Lord determine which I am?"
"Lord, even though parts of this passage may seem foreign to us because of a different culture and norms, they do speak to us as we promote our relationships with others over our relationship with You. My relationship with You is to dictate and regulate my relationships with others and so many times that has been flipped on its head. My relationship with others has dictated and regulated my relationship with You. Please forgive me. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.36 - But if any man thinks that he is acting unbecomingly toward his virgin daughter, if she is past her youth, and if it must be so, let him do what he wishes, he does not sin; let her marry.
Okay, as we continue our study in the book of 1 Corinthians we come across practices of the day that Paul is speaking to. Some maybe hard to understand but let's try to step into the time of the Corinthians. Paul is a cheerleader for being single and holy for the purpose of the spread of the gospel just as he is.
Apparently there are fathers of daughters who have never been married, i.e. virgins, who the fathers have dedicated to the Lord. A vow was taken or given much like the Nazarite vow of the Bible of young men. The daughter is past her youth, so she is of child bearing age. The father has taken on the responsibility of caring and providing for her as a single woman in the day. She now wants to marry. Paul is telling the fathers that it is not a sin to break that vow and allow their daughters to get married.
v.37, 38 - But he who stands firm in his heart, being under no constraint, but has authority over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin daughter, he will do well. So then both he who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.
The father who has a virgin daughter who has made this vow to dedicate her to the Lord to be single and holy to serve and the daughter is not wanting to get married, as Paul says, "being under no constraint," and she is not changing his will or his heart, then the father does well to provide and care for this daughter to continue in single life dedicated to the Lord. As I read this, no one is being forced against their will. Each has a voice in this matter and a vow taken by the father can be broken when the daughter is of age to speak her mind and heart.
Paul still is the cheerleader for an army of single workers for the Lord as he qualifies that both situations are good, the father who gives his daughter to be married and the father who cares and provides for his daughter to remain single and solely devoted to the Lord's work. The option of one providing for this to happen, to be single and serving, is given by Paul as the better option. Again, Paul is pushing back against a culture that is all about marriage in the positive and many sexual sins of immorality in the negative with a Christianity that focuses on our individual relationship with Christ that trumps any other relationship in our lives.
v.39, 40 - 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. But in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
Paul turns his eyes back to those who are already married and gives this example that could be taken both ways between a wife or a husband. A spouse is bound to the other spouse as long as the other lives. This is the way it is intended to be. As we have said before, the bond is only broken because of death, or divorce resulting from adultery (but this is not a given) and divorce that is the result of the unbelieving spouse deserting the believing spouse. So in the case of the spouse physically dieing, the living spouse is free to marry but "only in the Lord." The spouse is to marry, if they choose to, to another believer in Jesus Christ.
Paul puts on his cheerleader uniform again and adds that it is his opinion that if you are in that position with the death of your spouse to stay single. It is his opinion that you will be happier. He gives this opinion as someone in the Spirit of God who is actually living out this fully devoted single life to God. He is speaking from experience to living this way.
This is the end of this subject and what do we make of all of this? I think a take away I have is seeing the passion that Paul has for the gospel of Christ to be spread and the ability to do so when other factors of life are left in God's timing and God's way for your life rather than societal standards or maybe societal sexual sins that are being promoted. It is okay to be single for the Lord your whole life. Even in our world, we put a high emphasis on marriage and we should but not to bring down the high emphasis we should be giving to those who live a single life holy onto the Lord for the service of the Lord.
God knows what He is doing with our lives and we need to listen to His voice and not that of the world around us. His plans are so much better than ours and His plans could be that we be single for longer than what society thinks we should or for our entire life while we are serving Him. If the Lord wants us to be married and serve Him through that avenue then He will make that happen. Maybe the questions are "Is my relationship with the Lord greater than my relationship with others?" "Will I listen and follow His lead in this area of my life even when the society and maybe family members are pressuring me to do something else?" "Will I be single for the Lord and be content and will I be married for the Lord and be content and will I let the Lord determine which I am?"
"Lord, even though parts of this passage may seem foreign to us because of a different culture and norms, they do speak to us as we promote our relationships with others over our relationship with You. My relationship with You is to dictate and regulate my relationships with others and so many times that has been flipped on its head. My relationship with others has dictated and regulated my relationship with You. Please forgive me. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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