“(25) 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. (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
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. (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.” (1 Corinthians 7:25–31, NASB95PARA)
Something was going on at the time of Paul’s writing this
letter. It may have been a localized or regional distress, or it may have been
the first pangs of the coming Roman persecution which was to begin a few years
after this is written or it may even have been related to them living in the
last days of which none of them knew the exact timing. Whatever the situation,
it was significant enough that Paul was encouraging them to hunker down and not
seek any drastic changes to their lives. These opinions of Paul were not
commandments, but considerations in light of whatever else might have been
going on in their bigger picture.
Writing to them as a trustworthy apostle of Christ and one
who knew the freedom of being single and free of the care of marriage, Paul
encouraged them to remain in whatever state they were at the time. For the
single person or “virgins” God had not redesigned His plan for men and women,
but as a single person (male or female) there was a freedom that they would not
have in marriage.
Similarly, he wrote to the married person that he or she was
not to seek to be released from their marriage. And, if for some reason they
had been released from their wife (or a husband) they were not to seek to get
remarried. Citing the cause of the unspecified “present distress” they were all
to seek to remain as they were.
To both the single and the unmarried Paul followed his wise
advice by saying should the single or released person marry or remarry that
they had not sinned. The exact parameters of this freedom need to be considered
in relation to the context of the other verses in Scripture that deal with
divorce and remarriage.
For those who did marry or even remarry, Paul continued,
that they needed to keep their priorities straight. Marriage is God’s
institution for one man and one woman to come together as husband and wife, and
then within the context of that union each was to keep the priority of their
relationship with God. Their spouse was not to be their god. They may share
some very special things, but this bond is intended to be shared as they
individually and as a couple worship and follow God and serve the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is the meaning of living as if they had none (husband or wife). It
is not a life of negligence, but of properly placed love for one another out of
their love for God knowing that their interests as Paul would soon write truly
were divided.
Marriage is not easy. Some do much better than others. Some
marriages thrive, and some are a battle. Some are filled with weeping and
others with rejoicing, while most have some of both. Paul knew that the bonds
of love would surely be tested as the things of life with two people in the
same home with varying desires create the friction that surely would happen.
None of us know the length of our days, and for these
believers the distress surrounding them may have signaled an expectation that
their days may indeed be shortened. In light of this they were to live as if
the things around them were not worth acquiring for the purpose of possessing
and the things of the world not worth indulging to the exclusion of living for
God. We live in the world, but we do not live for the world. One day it will
all pass away. This is true whether we leave it by death or by our Lord coming
to take us with Him. I don’t have a clue of its origin, but I’ve heard is said
in a variety of ways that you will not see a hearse towing a U-Haul.
“But godliness actually is a means of great gain when
accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we
cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these
we shall be content.” (1 Timothy 6:6–8, NASB95)
No comments:
Post a Comment