Paul's Instruction in 1 Corinthians 7 Amidst Church Immorality
The Apostle Paul addresses the issue of sexual immorality within the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 7, providing guidance on marriage, singleness, and divorce. This chapter is part of a larger letter written from Ephesus around A.D. 57, in response to reports of dissension and various abuses, including a particularly egregious case of sexual immorality [5, 6, 9].
Paul begins chapter 7 by acknowledging the prevalence of sexual immorality, stating, "But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband" (1 Corinthians 7:2, World English Bible [1]). This instruction encourages marriage as a means to avoid widespread sexual sin [7]. The context of 1 Corinthians reveals that the church in Corinth was struggling with significant moral issues, including a man having sexual relations with his stepmother, a practice considered unacceptable even by pagans and forbidden by both Mosaic and Roman law [8]. Some members of the Corinthian church also held the attitude, "I am allowed to do anything," which Paul counters by emphasizing the need for disciplined lives among Christians [10].
Paul's advice in 1 Corinthians 7 is comprehensive, covering various marital states. He advises that, while celibacy can be an ideal, it must be tempered with an awareness of physical realities, suggesting that most Christians should marry [7]. He also addresses the sanctity of marriage between believers and unbelievers, stating, "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy" (1 Corinthians 7:14, World English Bible [2]). This passage implies that the believing spouse has a sanctifying influence on the unbelieving partner and their children, preventing the children from being considered "unclean" [2].
The apostle's instructions are not merely prescriptive but also reflect a broader principle: "Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies" (1 Corinthians 7:17, World English Bible [4]). This verse suggests that believers should generally remain in the state in which they were called by God, whether married or single, circumcised or uncircumcised, slave or free. John Gill notes that Paul's advice on abstinence from marriage was particularly relevant "at that time" [11].
The issues in Corinth were not limited to sexual immorality; Calvin highlights that the church also experienced "envyings, divisions, and contentions," along with "quarrels, lawsuits, and avarice" [9]. Paul's letter, therefore, serves as a comprehensive guide for a church grappling with numerous ethical and theological challenges. The emphasis on purity and holiness in 1 Corinthians 7 aligns with Paul's broader call for believers to "cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 7:1, World English Bible [3]).
Sources
- 1 Corinthians “But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. -- 1 Corinthians 7:2”
- 1 Corinthians “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. -- 1 Corinthians 7:14”
- 2 Corinthians “Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. -- 2 Corinthians 7:1”
- 1 Corinthians “Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies. -- 1 Corinthians 7:17”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Corinthians, First Epistle to the — Was written from Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:8) about the time of the Passover in the third year of the apostle's sojourn there (Acts 19:10; 20:31), and when he had formed the purpose to visit Macedonia, and then return to Corinth (probably A.D. 57). The news which had reached him, however, from Corinth frustrated his plan. He had heard of the abuses and contentions that had arisen among them, first from Apollos (Acts 19:1), and then from a letter they had written him on the subject, and also from some of the "household of Chloe," and from ”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Corinthians, First Epistle To The — was written by the apostle St. Paul toward the close of his nearly three-years stay at Ephesus, (Acts 19:10; 20:31) which, we learn from (1 Corinthians 16:8) probably terminated with the Pentecost of A.D. 57 or 58. The bearers were probably (according to the common subscription) Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus. It appears to have been called forth by the information the apostles had received of dissension in the Corinthian church, which may be thus explained:--The Corinthian church was planted by the apostle himself, (1 Corinthia”
- 1 Corinthians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Corinthians 7:2: 7:2 Because of widespread sexual immorality, Paul encourages most Christians to get married (7:9). He tempers the ideal of the celibate life with awareness of physical realities.”
- 1 Corinthians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Corinthians 5:1: 5:1-8 Paul confronts sexual immorality in the church and instructs the Christians to expel a shameless offender from their fellowship. 5:1 sexual immorality: A man was having sex with his stepmother. Such behavior even pagans didn’t do: It violated both the law of Moses (see Lev 18:7-8) and Roman law (Gaius, Institutes 1.63).”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 83: the Corinthians, where envyings, divisions, and contentions rage; where quarrels, lawsuits, and avarice prevail; where a crime, which even the Gentiles would execrate, is openly approved; where the name of Paul, whom they ought to have honoured as a father, is petulantly assailed; where some hold the resurrection of the dead in derision, though with it the whole gospel must fall; where the gifts of God are made subservient to ambition, not to charity; where many things are done neither decently nor in order: 526 526 l Cor. 1:11; 3:”
- 1 Corinthians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Corinthians 6:12: 6:12-20 Paul gives several reasons why Christians must not engage in sexual immorality. 6:12 “I am allowed to do anything” seems to have been a popular attitude among some Christians who were sexually immoral. Paul counters this attitude by emphasizing that not all things are helpful; true Christians must lead disciplined lives (cp. 10:23; Gal 5:13).”
- 1 Corinthians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Corinthians 7 (introduction): INTRODUCTION TO 1 CORINTHIANS 7 In this, chapter, various cases concerning marriage being proposed to the apostle, are answered by him; and he discourses of the nature, use, and end of marriage, and of the duties of married persons to one another; and gives advice to such as were unmarried, and points at the advantages of a single state, where it can be continued in without danger. Some of the Corinthians having written to him upon these heads, he returns for answer in general, that abstinence from marriage was most advisable; that is, at that tim”