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[Previous: Divisions over Church Discipline] Issues of Sex and Marriage (6:12-7:40)Regarding Prostitution (6:12-20)The Issue (6:16)The Corinthians had taken the freedom we have in Christ too far and had been engaging in sexual acts with prostitutes (6:16). The Greeks, in their philosophy, saw the soul as spiritual and pure, while the physical body was impure and not connected to a person's true self. Therefore, one could participate in sexual immorality with the body without it polluting the soul. Response: Our Freedom Can Lead to Slavery (6:12)Paul responds to this wrong thinking by reminding the Corinthians, that just because they have freedom in Christ, that doesn't mean everything benefits us (6:12). Indeed, some activities may seem like an exercise in freedom, but it ends up enslaving us. Response: Our Bodies are a Temple of the Holy Spirit (6:13-20)Paul shows that there is a connection between the body and the soul. Yes, God will do away with the stomach and food in the resurrected body [1], but that does not give us an excuse to use our body for immoral acts (6:13). Indeed, our physical bodies are for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. In other words, within Christianity, our real selves are not separate from the body, but intricately connected with the body. As evidence for the connection to our bodies, Paul states that God raised Jesus' physical body from the dead in the resurrection and that God will raise our physical bodies from the dead as well (6:14). Our bodies are members of Christ's body. Therefore, if our bodies are connected with Christ, how dare we use our bodies to connect with prostitutes? In so doing, we are connecting the prostitute with Christ (6:15). When we engage in sexual immorality we are sinning against our bodies, and because our bodies are intertwined with our soul, we are sinning against ourselves and Christ (6:16-17). Indeed, our bodies are not just impure shells which will be shed after death. Indeed, our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit (6:19). God has bought our bodies with a price so that he might transform our physical bodies into something glorious through the resurrection. Therefore, we should flee immorality (6:18) and seek instead to glorify God with our bodies (6:20). Regarding Sexual Relations in Marriage (7:1-24)The Issue: Abstinence (7:1)While some Corinthians were involved in prostitution, others had taken the opposite extreme and were abstaining from sexual relations even within marriage. This issue needed clarification, so the Corinthians included the issue in a letter they wrote to Paul, asking him to comment on the maxim, “it is good for a man not to touch a woman.” (7:1). Response: Don't Deprive One another (7:2-5)Paul's response is that it is appropriate for husbands and wives to have sex. In fact, married partners are not to abstain from sexual activity, except for brief periods of time so that they can devote themselves from prayer (i.e. a sort of “sexual fasting”). But at the end of that agreed to period of time, husbands and wives should come back together again. Paul's reasoning is that if husband and wives deprive each other, it opens the door for Satan to tempt us with sexual sins (7:5). In fact, Paul states that one of the primary reasons for marriage is to avoid sexual immorality (7:2) Response: Paul's Opinion about Sexuality and Marriage (7:6-9)Paul understands that marriage is given by God and that sex within marriage is appropriate. However, if it was left to him, he would just as soon have everyone single (7:6-7). In fact, he recommends that the unmarried and the widow not get married, just as he is unmarried (7:8). However, to be single is a gift from God (7:7b), and if you don't have the gift of singleness, it is better to get married than to be overcome with sexual temptations (7:9). Response: The Lord's Command about Divorce (7:10-16)The General Rule: No Divorce (7:10-11)While Paul may have his opinions about being single, his instructions regarding divorce are not his opinion, but a command from the Lord Jesus. The command is simple. There is to be no divorce (7:10-11). If a wife does leave, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. This instruction to the wife may be interpreted to allow for a woman who is in an abusive situation to separate from her husband for her own safety. But she is not to remarry in such a case. No such option is given to the husband. He is not allowed to divorce at all. An Exception to the General Rule: Believers Married to Unbelievers (7:12-16)However, the no divorce rule has exceptions. Jesus himself gave an exception for sexual immorality (Matthew 19:9). Paul provides a second exception which deals a situation which Jesus didn't address (7:12a); namely, what about a situation where a Christian is married to a non-Christian. Paul states that as long as the non-Christian wants to remain married to the Christian, they are to remain married (7:12-13). However, if the non-Christian leaves, the Christian is to let them and should not pursue reconciliation (7:15). As long as the Christian remains in this mixed marriage, God's grace will “sanctify” the marriage (7:14). That is to say, the marriage is pure and holy from God's viewpoint and children born as a result of such a marriage are not to be considered unclean, but holy. This does not mean that the unbelieving spouse or the children are “saved,” but that there is nothing sinful about the marriage or the fruit of the marriage. However, if the unbeliever leaves, the believing spouse should not pursue reconciliation with some notion that their spouse will someday become a Christian. There is no way of knowing that if the marriage continued that the spouse would ever be saved (7:16). Response: Remain in your current condition (7:17-24)Often when someone converts to Christianity, they seek to make drastic changes to their life situations. Paul has just addressed one of those situations by telling new converts to remain married even if it is to an unbeliever. Now Paul calls on new converts not to make any other drastic changes to their circumstances. If they were slaves, it is okay to remain a slave; although it is also okay to seek freedom. If a new convert is married, stay married. If a new convert is unmarried, stay unmarried. The basic principle Paul is making is in 7:24. After conversion to Christianity, each one is to remain in the same life circumstances. There is no need to make dramatic changes right away. Regarding Virgins (7:25-40)Paul's Opinion about Virgins (7:25-31)Paul now addresses singleness and marriage, reiterating that this is not a command of the Lord's, but is the opinion of someone who is an apostle of the Lord (7:25). His reiterates his basic principle that we should remain in our current situation after converting to Christianity (7:26). The married are to remain married (7:27a). If you are unmarried, don't seek after a wife (7:27b). But if you do decide to marry, it is not a sin (7:28a). Instead, Paul is just trying to spare you from additional burdens and troubles in this life (7:28b). Paul knows that times of persecution will be soon upon the church in Corinth and throughout the Roman Empire (7:29). In such times, being married and having a family can be especially sorrowful (7:30-31). This is reminiscent of Jesus woe towards pregnant women and nursing moms during the time of the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:19). In times of persecution, those with families will suffer the most. In those circumstances, those who remain single will be better able to endure because their concerns will not be divided between their devotion to God and their devotion to their family (7:32-34). But Paul isn't putting on a restriction against marriage (7:35). He is just trying to help them in light of the struggles to come. Instructions for Giving a Daughter in Marriage (7:36-38)Finally, fathers should not think that they are doing something inappropriate by allowing his unmarried daughter to get married (7:36). If a father, however, decides to not give his daughter in marriage, for the aforementioned reasons, that is okay as well (7:37). Either option is appropriate (7:38), although Paul would prefer that she remain unmarried (7:38b). Instructions for Widows (7:39-40)The same goes for widows. If a woman's husband has died, she is free to marry other believers (7:39). However, in Paul's opinion, she'd do better if she remained single (7:40). While it may just be Paul's opinion, Paul's opinions should count for something, for he does have the Spirit of God (7:40). Footnotes
[Next: Issues of Freedom and Idolatry]
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