I Corinthians 7:25-31

“Fulfilling Marital Duties: Part IV”

Sermon by

Mark A. Horne

 

        You may be wondering why I am spending so much time on I Corinthians 7. The simple answer is that it is a long chapter. The hard answer is that Paul is writing to his church on a subject that they have questions about. There were issues concerning marriage that Paul felt he needed, not just to inform his readers about, but to make a point with them about. Paul spends a lot of time on this subject called marriage because he knew the kind of society they lived in and the influence they were under.

 

        I am of the same opinion in our present day situation. Our family structure has become severed to the point that our nation's children are confused and misguided about what a relationship is and ought to be. The marriage relationship, which is a covenant bond, has become a union for most where there is no relationship, and there is no bond.

 

        Alvin Toffler, the author who wrote Future Shock in the seventies, predicted this in a Look article in 1971:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My own hunch is that most people will try to go blindly through the motions of the traditional marriage, and try to keep the traditional family going, and they’ll fail. And the consequence will be a subtle but very significant shift to much more temporary marital arrangements, an intensification of the present pattern of divorce and remarriage and divorce and remarriage to the point at which we accept the idea that marriages are not for life. I’m not endorsing it, but I think it is likely to be the case.”

 

 

 


 

        A prediction that has turned out to be a reality hasn’t it? The mindset during the last twenty to thirty years has taken shape and the mindset of what a marriage is has changed drastically.

Dr. James Dobson says, “The traditional family has been buffeted, damaged, weakened, and undermined in recent years.” Have I a solution, no and yes. No to the fact that the society and culture we now live in is not mine to fix. God has ordained it as such and that should be left in His hands. Yes to the fact that He has given His words to which we are to learn from and understand, even concerning the institution He has set in place, marriage. I Corinthians 7 is Paul’s attempt to the Corinthians in making them understand the place of marriage in the life we live.

 

And I believe we can gain three points from our passage we read this morning:

 

1)   Be content with your present state of relationship.

2)   Live to bring glory to God and enjoy Him forever.

3)   The world as we know it is passing away.

 

I

 

        Be content with your present state of relationship. In verse 25 Paul refers back to verse 1 and the issue that brought him to write this passage of Scripture. When Paul says “virgins,” he is referring again to those he talked about in verse 5. These could be young widows or widowers who have already been married once and is asking the question if they should marry again. This could mean those engaged couples with the meaning of “fiancée.” Kistamaker suggests the meaning to refer to some in the Corinthian church that were trying to live a very ascetic life. However one views the term, Paul is referring to a state of condition, that is the person is not married. And he is not referring to one gender; the term is used plural sense and encompasses both men and women.

        It is to these people in the church that Paul thinks he needs to give advice to. It is to these people that Paul has been led by the Holy Spirit to make a fair judgement having received the mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Paul is addressing his flock as one who understands their situation and because of the mercy of Jesus, he addresses them with care and compassion, kindly helping them in their time of confusion and need. He has been inspired and states to them that a state of celibacy is preferable in this life than that of being tied to one person.

        Now realize that Paul is not giving them a command to be celibate and not marry, he is making a personal judgement based on what the Lord has inspired Him to say. Paul regards what he is saying as presumably true but it has particular certainty. It is not something that should be controversial. Verse 26 states that Paul is thinking that the state we are in is the best state to be in, the proper state, the more honorable state; in this life we are living. Why do I say we? I am saying we because Paul is referring to the life being lived. The present state of crisis is the whole state of being. It is the time between the first and Second Coming of Christ, and we are just as much apart of that as the Corinthians were.

        Paul is careful because he does not want to condemn marriage, or declare it unlawful. That would be against God’s word. Paul is not intending to go beyond God’s word as Matthew 19:5 states, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife and the two shall become one flesh.” Paul is stating that the relationship we are in is the relationship based upon the mercy and grace of God. God has given us the person we are with. He has placed us in the situation of being a widow or widower. He has kept us from finding that right person for a reason. Be content about where you are. If that condition is to change, God will let you know. He will show you who the right person is for you.

 

II

       

Therefore, live to bring glory to God and enjoy Him forever. Verse 27 begins a series of questions that Paul asks his readers where he answers them. Paul asks, “Are you married?” But it is not married as we think of marriage today. It is marriage, as we should think of marriage. The expression is that of bondage. It is that of which has been brought together and is not suppose to separate under any circumstance other than what the one who has brought them together determines. In other words our marriage is one that should be continuous form the time it was set in place by the saying of our vows. It is the duty to continue the marriage relationship. Paul says this duty must be done because God has made it so. In doing the duty, do not seek divorce. The NIV makes this phrase a simple command. But is not. The intention is that of an imperative command. Paul tells them that under the marriage relationship one should not continuously be seeking to divorce, to be set free from that which God has put in place. One should not always be looking for greener pastures.

On the other hand, those who are not married should not always be looking to marry. One should not make finding a partner a compulsion. The goal is not to be looking for another person to live with or even a person at all. The goal is to bring glory to God and to enjoy Him forever. If you want to make your marriage work, I believe you have to face up to whether you are living your life for God’s glory. If you are trying to bring God glory in you life that includes your marriage, then you will be blessed. If you are not trying to bring Glory to God then tough times awaits. Calvin states that when we are in such a state, it “represses the dislikes that are wanting to creep in, in that every person may continue to live with his or her spouse willingly and cheerfully.”

And for those whom God has chosen to be single at this time, if you do marry, you haven’t done wrong. You will just come into a different state of being. You will come to be with the person God wants you to be with. Those who are widows and widowers have the freedom to marry. Those who are engaged have the freedom to marry.

But for all, marry and be married with caution. There is trouble in the flesh. This is why Paul leans to the notion of celibacy. Paul wants us to understand again that marriage has troubles that one who is single does not have to worry about when bringing glory to God. Married people have anxieties and distresses that arise from the affairs of the world. Marriage in itself is not evil. It just is another institution that the world tends to look at as vulnerable and attacks with severity. When that occurs, we have to be cautious and guard ourselves from the temptations that are awaiting us.

 

III

 

        We have to realize the world as we know it is passing away.  In verse 29 Paul states that “the time is short.” Time is being drawn together. The world as we know it is coming to an end. And even the secular world sees glimpses of this happening. Hillary Clinton said this in a speech at George Washington University on May 8, 1994:

 

 

 

 

“If it ever did [the American Family] no longer does consists of two parents, two children, a dog, a house with a white picket fence, and a station wagon in the driveway. Instead of families looking like the Cleavers on Leave it to Beaver, we have families that include test-tube babies and surrogate moms. Instead of Sunday-night family dinners, we now have cross-country telephone conference calls. Instead of aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas, we have nannies and day-care centers.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

        What we have to do she stated is to rely on the “extended family” to fill in the void of the traditional family. We need to rely on neighbors and friends and fellow citizens.

        First Lady, and now Senator Clinton was right in the fact of being attuned to the needs of those around us. Yet she was wrong in what Scripture states about how the family relationship should be set up. She misses the point that marriage is in itself a purpose set by God to remind us of who He is and what He has done for us through Jesus Christ. Marriage is a remedy for inconsistency in a world that has enough evil from the entrapments of the devil. Paul exhorts his readers with an exhortation that lies with us today. Carry yourself in life as with a holy indifference toward the world. Married persons are to live together chastely in the fear of the Lord. Marriage is to be made use of so that we can direct our hearts up to the Heavenly One. When we have wives and live as though we don’t have them then we are looking to the future rather than the past. We are setting our minds on the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the things in this life are only sacred gifts of God. The things that are given to us are to help us in this life. We should not abuse them and allow them to become hindrances for what we are waiting on. The mind of the Christian is not to take up with the earthly things or to repose them. If we truly want to be a good husband or wife, if we truly want to fulfill our duty to our partner, then we are to live every moment as if we are about to depart from this life. Paul uses many examples of using things but not abusing them. The term is used in a sense of using worldly things until it is completely no more. There has been a papyri found where this term in verse 31 that indicates use was used in a sense by a woman who was accusing her husband of squandering her dowry. Paul wants us to understand that the worldly things are for our use and not to be fuel for lust. When we allow this to happen, then it gets in the way of our relationship with our spouse. We focus on money, status, and personal pleasure and not in glorifying God and Jesus’ return.

        For the world as we know it is fashionable. It is splendorous. It is something and things that we vainly uphold as elegant and solid. But we know as Christians, it is passing away. One day we will be in a true and glorious world where Christ is haled as supreme.

 

 

Let Us Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, I pray today that you will help us in our duty toward our spouse. Help us to realize that we should be content with the place in life you have graciously given us. Help us to live a life worthy of you glory that we may enjoy you forever. And help us to look forward to the coming day of Christ’s return. For in all of these things we may be a better husband or wife. In Your Most Precious Name, Amen.