1 Corinthians: Not in VainSýnishorn

I t becomes increasingly evident as we make our way through 1 Corinthians that this church had a particularly warped view of what it meant to be truly spiritual. 

In the previous passage sexual sin was being excused as merely physical behaviour, with no spiritual impact. Here in chapter 7, we see evidence that some married individuals were taking a similar tack and arguing that sex within marriage was actually sub-spiritual. This is clear from Paul’s quotation of the Corinthians’ position in verse 1. Conversely, the apostle’s response is to say that married couples actually have a spiritual obligation to keep having sex (vv. 1–5)! The ‘spiritual’ Christian will give themselves to their spouse, in line with the promises they made at their wedding. 

Therefore rather than one marital status being more spiritual than the other, Paul is clear that marriage and singleness are both gifts from God (v. 7). His point is not to make people anxiously question which gift they have, nor to encourage people to assert they have the ‘wrong’ gift, but to affirm that both are valid ways in which we can serve God and know his provision. In fact, the best way to work out which gift we have is to ask what is our present state! We all begin with the gift of singleness; some of us then exchange it for the gift of marriage, and half of us then exchange it back for singleness upon bereavement. 

True, in some situations Paul particularly advises getting married (v. 9), but this seems to be more about dealing with a destructive or shameful public pattern of behaviour, rather than merely the presence of sexual attraction. 

The repeated use of ‘remain’ (vv. 11, 20, 24) is a challenging call to contentment amidst the overwhelming sea of endless options before us. This is highlighted by two examples: first, a Jewish Christian who is concerned that he bears on his body the mark of the old covenant, circumcision, and second, a slave who is seeking to buy his freedom. Change is not wrong, but our identity is in Christ, not our circumstance, and our focus should therefore be on serving God in our present state: ‘Keeping God’s commandments is what counts’ (v. 19b).

Reflection

How could you invest in your current situation and help yourself (and, if applicable, your spouse) to get on with serving God?