Faith & Love: A One Year Bible Reading Plan - Part 9Sample

As we read 1 Corinthians 7, we are reminded that we are not living under a new law, so Paul is not stating a new law under the new Covenant about marriage to the people of Corinth. He shows us that the relationship between man and woman, husband and wife, is an earthly model or earthly representation of our relationship with God.

God instituted marriage in Genesis, and hereafter Paul addressed most of the sexual conduct that was happening in Corinth. This chapter comes and settles Paul's opinion on healthy sexuality under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Paul commands married husbands and wives not to deprive each other of sex or get divorced in a misguided attempt to be more spiritual. It goes against the purpose God has intended intimacy to be. We know as married people that intimacy and sex lead to a better connection between husband and wife.

We also see Paul speaking to the unmarried, and I believe, yet again, Paul is not saying that there are laws, but there are guidelines that keep us safe from Idolatry, guilt, shame, and pain. He states that if you have the self-control as an unmarried person to stay single and only have intimacy with God, but if one cannot control his or her urges, they should marry.

When we start understanding that God wants an intimate relationship with us, and His desire is for us to live according to His design, then we can take 1 Corinthians 7 along with other scriptures that Paul also wrote and start building healthy sexual relationships as God intended.