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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Corinthians 7:25 - 7:28
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The question of celibacy in general:
v. 25. Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord; yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.
v. 26. I suppose, therefore, that this is good for the present distress; I say that it is good for a man so to be.
v. 27. Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife.
v. 28. But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless, such shall have trouble in the flesh; but I spare you.
In this section Paul again presupposes the general rule, based upon the institution of marriage and its blessing by God, that the normal adult will be found in this state. His words, therefore, again concern a peculiar exception, and he applies his judgment to the case as it exists, the difference between principle and individual case thus being upheld. Concerning the unmarried, especially the virgins, he had no command of the Lord which would be applicable at all times and under all circumstances, and so he offered his inspired suggestion to cover this exception, as he had received grace from the Lord to be faithful. Because the mercy of the Lord had been effectually shown in his case, making him a faithful servant of the Lord, therefore his advice also is trustworthy. And so he gives his opinion, as at the beginning of the chapter, to the effect that it is good, advantageous, praiseworthy, for a person to be so, that is, to remain unmarried. But note that he includes a restricting clause which throws a flood of light upon the entire chapter: On account of the distress now existing. The word distress, literally "narrowness, pinching stress," signifies such straits and difficulties as are found at the time of oppressions and persecutions. Such a time was then upon the Christians, not only on account of the enmity of the Jews, but also on account of the increasing unfriendliness of the Gentiles. The tyrant Nero had but recently taken possession of the throne, and the first severe persecution of the Christians was instituted by him. With such present distresses and imminent perils, it is true indeed that the advantage was on the part of the unmarried. See Mat_24:10.
Paul now applies his advice in detail: Are you bound to a wife? Do not be seeking separation. Are you (as a bachelor or widower) without a wife? Do not be seeking a wife. In the former case the lawfully wedded person sins by trying to break the marriage-tie; in the latter case the one that does not accept the advice of Paul is making himself liable to many forms of unpleasantness. But Paul does not want to be misunderstood as coming into conflict with the general rule of God, so he hastens to add: But if indeed you have married, you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. The Corinthian Christians were not to set up a false ascetic ideal in forbidding marriage. There was no sin connected with entering into that state or with being in that state. The only thing was, as Paul states: But affliction for the flesh such will have; I, however, am seeking to spare you. He is not referring mainly to the special cross of the married woman, Gen_3:16, but to all forms of tribulation which are liable to strike the body, the physical life, in such times as were upon the Christians. Persecution was more bitter to endure for the married, because to the perils threatening the body and life there were added the cares and worries for the well-being of the members of the family. Very often, indeed, the alternative lay between duty to God and affection to wife and children. It is in that sense that Paul desires to spare them, to save them a good deal of temporal adversity by giving them his advice.