1 Corinthians · chapter 7 of 16
Updated on
1 Corinthians 7 is Paul's answer to the Corinthians' questions about marriage and singleness. He affirms that each spouse owes the other conjugal duty, that married people should not separate, that a believer with an unbelieving spouse should pursue peace, and that each should serve the Lord in the condition in which he was called, valuing both marriage and singleness.
From this chapter on Paul answers the matters about which the Corinthians had written to him. He begins with marriage and single life, delicate topics in a city with many sexual pressures and in a church where some held extreme ideas. Paul writes with balance and distinguishes between what the Lord teaches and what he offers as apostolic advice.
Paul answers what they wrote: it is good for a man not to touch a woman, but because of sexual immorality each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. Spouses must fulfill their conjugal duty and not deprive one another, except by agreement and for a time, to devote themselves to prayer. Paul wishes all were as he is, but each has his own gift from God. To the unmarried and widows he says it is good to remain as he is, but if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry.
To the married he gives a command of the Lord: the wife should not separate from her husband nor the husband divorce his wife. To the rest he says, speaking for himself, that a believer should not divorce an unbelieving spouse who consents to live with him, and that if the unbeliever separates, the brother or sister is not enslaved, for God has called them to peace. In general, each should remain in the condition in which he was called, circumcised or not, slave or free.
About virgins Paul has no command of the Lord, but he judges that because of the present distress it is good to remain as they are, though anyone who marries does not sin. The time is short and the present form of this world is passing away. He wants them free from anxiety so as to serve the Lord without distraction. The engaged may marry without sin, and a widow is free to marry whom she wishes, only in the Lord, though she will be happier if she remains as she is.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Each spouse should fulfill the conjugal duty to the other, and neither has exclusive authority over his or her own body. It is a teaching of mutuality: the giving is reciprocal.
Paul wishes that everyone were as he is, but he acknowledges that each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. Both marriage and singleness can be a calling.
If the unbelieving spouse wants to separate, let it be so, and the brother or sister is not enslaved in such cases. God has called his people to peace, which guides all the teaching on mixed marriages.
Each should live as the Lord assigned and as God called him. Paul does not say no one should change circumstances, but that life with God can be lived in any situation.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Each must fulfill his or her conjugal duty to the other. — 1 Corinthians 7:3
Answer: By mutual agreement, to devote themselves to prayer, and then come together again. — 1 Corinthians 7:5
Answer: That each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. — 1 Corinthians 7:7
Answer: That the wife not separate from her husband and the husband not divorce his wife. — 1 Corinthians 7:10-11
Answer: Let the spouse go, since God has called them to peace. — 1 Corinthians 7:15
Answer: So that they may serve the Lord without distraction. — 1 Corinthians 7:32-35
1 Corinthians 7 offers mature guidance for those who are married, single or widowed. It asks married couples for mutual giving and faithfulness; it shows singles that their situation is not a lack but an opportunity to serve the Lord. In a youth or couples group, this chapter helps us talk honestly about commitment, intimacy and waiting.
It also comforts those who live in a home divided in faith. Paul does not ask them to abandon their spouse, but to live so that peace and witness speak. And it reminds everyone that the most important calling is to belong to the Lord, whatever our marital status.
1 Corinthians 7 closes with advice to widows and with Paul's claim that he too has the Spirit of God. In chapter 8 he answers another of the Corinthians' questions: what to do about food offered to idols and how to care for the conscience of weaker believers.
Paul repeats the Lord's teaching that married people should not separate. For the case of an unbelieving spouse who leaves, he says the believer is not enslaved. Christians understand differently what this phrase implies for remarriage, and it is best studied together with what Jesus taught on the subject.
Paul does not say the spouse is saved by the other's faith, but that his or her presence in the home is under God's influence and care, and that the children are not outside his favor. Salvation still depends on personal faith.
He does not present it as superior in general, but recommends it because of the present distress and because it allows serving the Lord with fewer anxieties. He also says that marrying is not a sin and that each has his own gift.