Married to Christ

Series on I Corinthians

IV Marriage

C Determination of the Priority of Marriage, Text: 7:17-40

Title: Married to Christ

Introduction

Let’s clear up any possible confusion first by referring to verse 40 where the New International Version has the words, And I think that I too have the Spirit of God. Perhaps it would be slightly clearer if it was translated “I think I also have the Spirit of God.” Still, those who wish to challenge the authority of Paul’s statements in our time pounce on these words and suggest that the teaching is optional. They misunderstand. This is supreme sarcasm. What were the Corinthians proud of? It was the gifts of the Spirit which they believed showed how spiritual they were. So, Paul is embarrassing them by saying you are so spiritual and you think you know everything, well i also have the mind of the Spirit of God, and i am an Apostle. Everything Paul says here is authoritative. the sarcasm is especially appropriate because at every turn in the road the Corinthians found something else to fight about. If we go back to verse 1 of this chapter we see that the Apostle is answering questions addressed to him by the Corinthian Christians, “Now for the matters you wrote about.” This question like the others arose from a conflict in the church where some were saying it is better to be married. and others were saying it is better to be single, and they were all claiming that they were right because they had the mind of the Spirit. They would have made good post-modernists. You have your truth and i have mine. Ultimately Paul crushes the whole debate by saying that neither is right and they have missed the point.

I Opinions in the Present

Paul summarizes the current pressures to conform to men’s opinions in verses 17-24, Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you-although if you can gain your freedom, do so. For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to. The central point of this portion is found in verse 23. We become the slaves of men when we allow their opinions to become more important than God’s. We seek the approval of men rather than Christ. Paul gives several practical illustrations of this. His discussion of marriage occupies the rest of the chapter, and throughout he makes the point that whether you are single or married serving Christ ought to come first. Here in this section he describes two other circumstances in which the opinions of men have become more important than Christ. One is slavery. Many household slaves were converted to Christ. Some of them thought that it was not enough to be free in Christ, and unshackled by His grace. They wanted to be seen by the world as free men. Paul did not favor slavery. He says in verse 21, “If you can gain your freedom do so,” but if you cannot, then you should not think of yourself as a slave because you are free in Christ. Paul’s advice here strikes at the heart of the whole social enterprise of our culture. I’s not that we shouldn’t try to alleviate suffering or change social conditions. We should says Paul. but our problem is that we think this is the answer. On a personal level we need to see that the calling of Christ inwardly transforms every situation when we make him Lord. To the Philippians Paul writes, i have learned in whatsoever state i am therein to be content. The other example the Apostle gives is circumcision. What a twisted situation he faced. On the one hand their were Jewish Christians insisting that all the Gentile believers should be circumcised, and on the other hand there were Jews who lived among the Greeks, Hellenistic Jews, who were so intimidated by the opinions of others that they went to the extreme of having operations to disguise the fact that they had once been circumcised. Circumcision was an embarrassment in the Roman world. Josephus tells us that during the Greek rule of the eastern Mediterranean several centuries before Christ, some Jewish men who wanted to be accepted into Greek society had surgery performed to make themselves appear uncircumcised when they bathed or exercised at the gymnasiums. They literally became uncircumcised surgically. The Roman Encyclopedist Celsus, in the first century AD, wrote a detailed description of the surgical procedure for de-circumcision. The practice was so common that considerable rabbinic literature addressed the problem. Jews Who had such surgery were referred to as epispatics, and that is the very term Paul uses here for uncircumcised. Paul says none of this makes any difference. you can’t live a life honoring to God if you live by the opinions of others. Dr. James Dobson writes, “One of the great American myths is that we are a nation of rugged individualists. We really have ourselves fooled at this point. In truth, we are a nation of social cowards. A major proportion of our energy is expended in trying to be like everyone else, cringing in fear of true individuality.”

II Obligations of the Present

Not only do worldly opinions interfere with serving Christ, but also worldly obligations, as Paul states in verses 25-35, Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. 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 we are not nourished by the bread from heaven, we will satiate ourselves with crumbs from the world. Paul talks mainly here about the obligations of marriage and suggests that it is his apostolic judgement that to remain unmarried is better. This is not so much a warning against marriage as it is a warning against the tyranny of the urgent. I don’t want you to think that single people have no problem putting Jesus first. Some who are unmarried love the free and easy lifestyle more than Jesus. Others who are unmarried love the idea of getting married more than Jesus. But marriage also brings its unique set of temptations. I think this is amply illustrated by Paul in a different vein when he writes his First Letter to Timothy. He states in 6:9 and 10, People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. it is not a sin to be rich. in fact wealth is something that a wise and diligent man accepts as a blessing from God, but being rich carries with it a unique set of temptations that may very easily turn us from Christ. In the exact same way marriage is desirable but it may turn us from Christ. When the obligations of wealth take a priority over Jesus it makes us useless in Christ’s service. Likewise when the obligations of marriage take precedence over Christ we become useless, and Paul says that these circumstances automatically place us in a vulnerable situation. Therefore we must be careful. In the context of the whole chapter with all of its counsel one thing stands out. Whether you have never been married, are currently married, or are divorced or widowed, and Paul deals with all of these, no matter what your condition, undivided devotion to Christ is the best way to live. Worldliness begins in the heart not in the actions, and it is the expression of a divided heart. Even churches are affected by this and it may appear quite innocent as expressed in this little ditty. “It seems that churches everywhere are doing things today to try to bring their attendance up by giving things away. They’re running buses all over town in a way they think is dandy, giving all the boys and girls that ride some bubble gum or candy. And maybe they’ll have a contest, give the winner a free plane ride, or offer them a ten-speed bike that would make one swell with pride. God does not use this kind of plan to save one from his sin, but uses visitation to bring the sinner in. So if you’re using this unscriptural plan perhaps you’d better stop, or your rewards in heaven might be just a lollipop.”

III Opportunities of the Present

Is Paul simply saying in this passage, bloom where you are planted? Is he saying that change is mostly bad? i think not. His emphasis in verses 36-40 is on seizing the opportunity, If anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if she is getting along in years 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 even 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. When single people are focusing their energy and attention on wishing they were married or married people are wishing they were single or married to somebody else then they are not seizing the opportunity. There are two major reasons Paul gives us in this passage for seizing our opportunities. The first is that Paul distinguishes between what is permitted and what is better. This is a point he made earlier in 6:12, and it is a very important point too. It means that if we don’t put the will of Christ first then we are wrong no matter what our state. Christians are not here simply to do what is legal, they are here to do what is most glorifying to God, and they will be happier if they do that according to verse 40! If we see that Jesus died for us and that we belong to Him as Paul says, we were “bought at a price,” then we will glory today in our opportunities. The second major reason is on Paul’s mind throughout this passage, but is summed up in verse 29. There is an urgency to seizing our opportunities. Even if Paul expected the promised return of Christ sooner rather than later, that does not mean that we 2000 years later can disregard it. He may have expected some disaster in this age. After all, Nero was on the throne and Christians were in jeopardy. We all live in the light of the brevity of our own lives. We also live as strangers and pilgrims here. We also are looking for and hastening unto that great day of God. This sense of urgency is indispensable to our seizing the opportunity to put Christ first. So whether we’re looking back to the cross or forward to the crown this is not a time to worry about worldly opinions and obligations more than we are concerned for the cause of Christ.