Remaining As You Are

"Are you bound to a wife? do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? do not seek a wife. but even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you."
– 1 Corinthians 7:27-28

There was a letter written to the Apostle Paul by the Corinthian church, and he was responding to their questions (1 Corinthians 7:1). No church at that time had the New Testament written out for them like we have today. They had what we now call the Old Testament Scriptures. They also had their culture and their traditions. Jesus had fulfilled the law when dying on the cross for our sins. Those born-again of the Holy Spirit were now Christians. Now it was time to walk in Christ, and the people were still learning how to do this in their various situations and relationships.

In chapter seven, Paul first addressed Christians married to Christians (7:1-11). He then moved on to Christians married to non-Christians (7:12-24). Now he began speaking to those who were unmarried. I do not believe that Paul was against the institution of marriage. After all, the Bible tells us, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and has obtained favor from the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22). I also do not believe that Paul is sharing his opinion, as some have claimed. Paul was proclaiming God’s Word and what Jesus had already taught while on earth (Matt. 5:31-32; 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12; Luke 16:18). I believe the Apostle Paul to be a Spirit-filled man writing as the Lord moved on His heart (2 Peter 1:21). We need to accept Paul’s words as the inspired, infallible Word of the Lord.

At the time of this writing, the fathers of unmarried girls arranged their marriages. The Corinthian church was learning, and parents wondered how to handle these new freedoms in Christ. They did not know the new “rules of engagement.” So they were asking what they were supposed to do with their virgin, unmarried children, and widows. Were they supposed to get married, get remarried, or stay single?

Paul’s counsel was that you should do so if you could remain single. Although marriage is beautiful when done correctly in the Lord, you have to remember that it is a union between two sinners bringing in differing points of view and temperaments. It must be built on a sure foundation of Christ and lived out with love outlined for us in 1 Corinthians 13. God takes marriage seriously, and it should not be done lightly because God hates divorce (Malachi 2:14-16). Yet if done correctly, the two become one, and they can grow together and discover the joy of serving the Lord together. Although this is the case, remaining single may also allow you many additional freedoms to serve Him. Whether you are married or stay single, keeping God first in your life will always keep you in His will and on the right path.