1 Corinthians 7 Part Two: No Matter Who, Where, or When

Let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches. Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not undo his circumcision. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised. Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter. Keeping God’s commands is what matters. Let each of you remain in the situation in which he was called. Were you called while a slave? Don’t let it concern you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity. For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of people. Brothers and sisters, each person is to remain with God in the situation in which he was called.

Sadly, Paul’s words to the Corinthians are also taken out of context by people trying to justify un-Christlike attitudes. Here Paul’s intent is not to argue that Christians who own slaves should not free them. These eight verses are examples intended to reenforce the point that he has just made about divorce: It is best to remain in the condition that we were in when we came to faith. J. Paul Sampley writes, “Paul does not require believers to leave their social setting. As we shall see shortly, this is partly a function of Paul’s conviction that the end of the ages is near and, therefore, there is no need of altering social structures, but it also reflects his profound belief that the gospel can be fully lived whatever one is or whatever one’s circumstances (cf. 2 Cor. 4:7).” (NIB, Vol. 10, 880)

Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is faithful. Because of the present distress, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. However, if you do get married, you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.

In v27, Paul repeats again his overarching message of this chapter. “Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.” Remain in the condition that you are in presently. As previously stated in the quote from J. Paul Sampley, Paul recommended that each Corinthian should stay in the state that they were in when they came to faith in Jesus Christ as a proof that the gospel is effective no matter the circumstance. Also as we see here, Paul states that a Christian who seeks a change in his or her status only invites distraction. It is the apostle’s opinion that life is already difficult enough for the Christian; why add more trouble to it in the time that remains? 

This is what I mean, brothers and sisters: The time is limited, so from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none, those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they didn’t own anything, and those who use the world as though they did not make full use of it. For this world in its current form is passing away.

We learn here that Paul believed that to expend effort trying to change our status—whatever it may be—would be wasted since the end was near. He suggests here that the Corinthians begin the process of distancing themselves from worldly cares. Status no longer matters nor does condition or circumstance. “For this world in its current form in passing away.” But some might ask if this still holds true today, since Paul was apparently mistaken about the timeline. My answer is a good old non-committed maybe. It depends on what Paul means in the ending of verse 31.

If Paul means to tell the Corinthians that they needn’t worry about status and circumstance because the judgement is imminent, there may be some room to question this teaching, since the apostle’s advice was shared nearly two millennia ago and there has been no “passing away.” The end is nigh; sell your possessions and look skyward toward heaven. I hear Bill Murray’s repeated slogan in Stripes: “It just doesn’t matter. It just doesn’t matter.” But if the literal end of all things doesn’t happen or is not near, how can we even consider living as Paul advises in v29-31? The Shakers heeded this advice, and today there remains a single active Shaker community in the United States. But perhaps Paul means something different.

“For this world in its current form is passing away.” Later in 2 Corinthians Paul declares that “in Christ there is a new creation. The old had passed away, and, see, the new has come.” If Paul is not talking about the final judgement being near, what is he? Earlier in his letter to the Galatians, Paul informs the congregation that he “no longer lives, but it is Christ who lives [within him].” And it is this very same idea that he may be communicating to the Corinthians—that in Christ the faithful must reevaluate and engage the world in a different way. Believers must begin to see themselves through different eyes. In fact, this theme is repeated in Paul’s later letter to the Romans, who must stop living into their old identities and into Christ’s. For Paul, the new world, the kingdom of God is not something that will come but something that already has in Christ—although it is not yet completely visible. In fact, Paul will soon state to the Corinthians that, “now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor 6:2, NJV)

 want you to be without concerns. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. But the married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife—and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but to promote what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.

If the kingdom of God has been inaugurated, then the Corinthians are bound to seeing that it is made real or made known. Paul believes that the Christian who keeps part of his or her mind on the world’s concerns will have a more difficult time pleasing the Lord—or carrying out His will—since, “his interests are divided.” Remember, this is Paul’s teaching and not the Lord’s by his own admission. However, this does not mean that we must ignore it. On the contrary, his observation is correct. Who among us has never been distracted from what we know should be done by things that, to quote Bill Murray again, “Just [don’t] matter”? Paul actually tells us this in the very next passage: that since this teaching is not from the Lord, it is for each of us to decide how best to “please the Lord” and submit to His will. Paul just argues that his way is “more excellent”. 

If any man thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, if she is getting beyond the usual age for marriage, and he feels he should marry—he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married. But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will) and has decided in his heart to keep her as his fiancée, will do well. So, then, he who marries his fiancée does well, but he who does not marry will do better.