Grace Church - Wednesday night series - 1 Corinthians Pt 15

Marriage
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1 Corinthians 7:25-40 (ESV)
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Paul is clearly single and is wanting to say that single life is better in serving the Lord.

Joy is not the circumstances but in the way that you see life.  What are you putting your efforts into.  

25 Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.

Betrothed = one who has been promised to another for marriage, equivalent would be engagement for today.  Command from the Lord, same as last week.  It is not that it is not guided by the Spirit, he is giving judgement that he feels is being guided by the Spirit.  

26 I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is.

This does not mean that we should not marry, if it were true then a generation of Christians would never happen.  

27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a  wife.

Be content in the calling that God has placed on you.  It really applies to all manner of life.  

28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that.

Marriage is not a sin, nor is staying single.  

What are the troubles that he is talking about here?  Unclear.

29 This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none,

30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods,

31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

Time is short, You need to live as if you are living for the Lord.  Living for god you do not need the material things.  You do not let anything have your full devotion.  It is OK to have a wife and the things of the world, just not to let them rule you.

32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.

33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife,

34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband.

35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

Key passage in these verses, "I want you to be free from anxieties".  If this was good then he would want us all to have it.  All the examples that he gives here are all bad things.  Not two good and two bad.  You should not be anxious about the things of the world or spiritual things either.  

36 If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin.

37 But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well.

38 So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

The equivalent here is the length of engagement.  Do not create a sinful environment by keeping things going on to long if you can not handle it.

39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
40  Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

Marriage is for life or till death you part. You are not bond to that marriage if the spouse when they die.  You should however marry to one who is a Christian.