I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife—and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.
If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if his passions are too strong and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married. But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing. So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does better.
A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.
- 1 Corinthians 7:32-40
This passage is a continuation of Paul’s thoughts from the previous section, so I would encourage you to read that blog post (or at least 1 Corinthians 7:25-31) before continuing with this post. In that section, Paul’s main point was that romantic relationships and material possessions should not be what’s most important to us.
Still speaking primarily to those who are unmarried, Paul shares that married people have more concerns than unmarried people (verses 32-34). A single person only needs to focus on what God is calling him or her to do, whereas a married person also needs to show concern for their spouse. When married, a person’s focus is divided between their spouse and God. Paul spells this out for both men and women, indicating that neither gender is immune to this division of loyalties. It may be easier for those who are single to follow God as they do not have to be concerned for a spouse as well.
Remember that Paul said in verse 25 that what he is telling the Corinthians is not a direct command from God but rather sharing his thoughts, though it is inspired by the Holy Spirit. In verse 35, Paul shares that he tells this to the Corinthian church “not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.” This advice from Paul is not to deprive them of the joys of marriage, but it is to help them follow Jesus better and more fully in their lives. The ultimate goal of every believer should be undivided devotion to the Lord.
It is likely that Paul is bringing all this up because of all the sexual immorality that was happening at the church in Corinth. You may recall that Paul explained at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 5 how someone in their congregation was committing incest. While that in and of itself is definitely an issue, the other issue he immediately brought up to the people was that they were not condemning this sin but rather boasting about it. Clearly, the Corinthian church needed some assistance in getting their priorities straight concerning sexual issues and romantic relationships, which is why Paul writes such a long section of this letter primarily focused on those issues.
Paul continues writing on the topic of romantic and sexual relationships in the rest of this passage. In verse 36, Paul brings up the situation of an engaged couple. If the man’s passions become too strong, then they should ignore Paul’s earlier advice about if you’re single to remain single (or even if you’re engaged to remain engaged) and get married. They are not sinning in the act of getting married, and they should pursue that relationship in a healthy, Christian way.
But in verse 37, Paul gives another scenario of a man who has more self-control and can better control his sexual passions. If he feels he should not get married and can properly contain himself, then he should not get married, and that is the right thing to do. In Paul’s opinion, the man who can better control himself and remain unmarried is better (verse 38), likely because of the thought Paul started this passage with, that the unmarried person does not have divided loyalties between God and spouse.
Paul emphasizes in verse 39 that marriage is a life-long covenant. While Paul’s advice permits a Christian widow to remarry, assuming the new husband is also a Christian, he also encourages her to stay unmarried (verse 40a). Again, this ties back to Paul’s thought of being fully focused on God rather than focusing on both God and one’s spouse.
Paul ends this section by stating, “I think that I too have the Spirit of God” (verse 40b). This shows the reader that while this whole section (1 Corinthians 7:25-40) is Paul’s opinion, he believes that this opinion is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Since this entire letter is included in our Bible, the Christian tradition and the early church fathers agree with Paul that all the words in this letter are truly inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
What does this all mean for us today? Paul gives a lot of rules and guidelines here, and our culture and time are different than that of the first-century church in Corinth. But the key principle to take away from this is to follow what God is leading you to, whether that be to get married or stay single.
God is truly omniscient and knows everything – past, present, and future. That means we should listen to His guidance and trust Him in all things, including our romantic relationships. We should also make sure that we are focusing on the gospel of Christ and living lives that give God all the glory and honor that He is due, no matter what that looks like in our earthly circumstances.
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