>> Jen: Hi, faithful listeners. Welcome to the Bible explained podcast. We have a lot to get to today because I'm going to try to finish out first Corinthians seven today. Last week I left off on verse 18, and so today we're going to be reading verses 18 through, uh, 40. So there's a lot to cover here. So I'm just going to go ahead and hop right in. First corinthians 718 40. I'll be reading this from the web, but make sure to grab, uh, the version of the Bible you prefer and also your delicious
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so they're doing really, really great work. Every single coffee purchase that you make, 10% goes toward pregnancy centers across the US, and then also another 10% if you use my link, which is listed in the description. Another 10% will benefit p 40 ministries, which is the ministry that, produces this podcast. All right, let's go ahead and jump right in and read this as you guys sip on some nice hot coffee. Was anyone called having been circumcised? Let him not become
uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not become circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the commandments of God. Let each man stay in that calling in which he was called. Were you called being a bondservant? Don't let that bother you. But if you get an opportunity to become free, use it. For he who is called in the LORD being a bondservant is the Lord's free man. Likewise, he who is called being free is Christ's
bondservant. You are bought with a price. Don't become bondservants of men, brothers. Let each man, in whatever condition he was called, stay in that condition with Goddesse. Now, concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the LORD, but I give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the lord to be trustworthy. Therefore, I think that because of the distress that is on us, that it's good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Don't seek to be freed.
Are you free from a wife? Don't seek a wife. But if you marry, you have not sinned. If a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have oppression in the flesh. And I want to spare you. But I say this, brothers, the time is short. That from now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none. And those who weep as though they didn't weep, and those who rejoice as though they didn't rejoice. And those who buy as though they didn't
possess. And those who use the world as not using it to the fullest, for the mode of this world passes away. But I desire to have you be free from cares. He who is unmarried is concerned for the things of the LORD, how he may please the LORD. But he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife.
There is also a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit, but she who is married cares about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. This I say for your own prophet, not that I may, uh, ensnare you, but for that which is appropriate, and that you may attend to the lord
without distraction. But if any man thinks that he is behaving inappropriately toward his virgin, if she is past the flower of her age, and if need so requires, let him do what he desires. He doesnt sin, let them marry. But he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no urgency, but has power over his own will, and has determined in his own heart to keep his own virgin does well. So then both he who gives his own virgin in marriage does well, and he
who doesn't give her in marriage does better. A, uh, wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives, but if the husband is dead, she is free to be married to whomever she desires, only in the LORD. But she is happier if she stays as she is in my judgment. And I think that I also have God's spirit. Mhm. This entire passage was basically talking about marriage, except for in verses 18 through 24, where Paul deviates a little bit. But overall, the entire thing
talking about marriage. Because apparently the corinthian church had sent Paul a letter specifically inquiring about marriage and whether or not it was actually okay for Christians to get married. Since Paul himself wasn't married and since Jesus wasn't married, the uh, 1 Corinthians probably had some questions about this. Maybe it wasn't wise to get married. Maybe, you know, it was just better to be a virgin for your entire life or something along those lines, especially since Paul
was celibate. And I'm sure that Paul probably promoted celibacy to several people because he's promoting it right here. So why wouldn't he promote the lifestyle that he chose? Even now in first corinthians seven, he is pretty adamant that celibacy is a really good way for somebody to live if they are able to live that lifestyle and if they want to live that
lifestyle. But then Paul also says in this letter, he clears up to the uh, 1 Corinthians, he says, no, celibacy is not for everybody, and, uh, marriage is not a sin. And, in fact, people should get married if they can't control their lust. Basically, it's better for them to get married in that situation, and they're not sinning if they do, in fact, uh, get
married. So, actually, my husband and I talked about that last week on the podcast, and, uh, my husband gave the male's perspective, and I gave some of the female perspective. So you should go listen to that episode if you didn't get a chance to yet. But then on Thursday, I talked about the, uh, mixed, uh, marriage. Say one person in the marriage is unsaved and the other person is saved.
What you should do in that situation, if you are the saved person in that relationship, like, say your spouse is not a Christian, you should not leave your spouse, especially if they are totally content with living with you and they don't have any problem with your christian lifestyle, you should very much be content to live with your spouse. So now, in verse 18 through 24, Paul kind of deviates a little bit, but it's kind of to prove a point about marriage. He says in verse 18,
has anyone been called being circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised. Now, you know, to people, especially back in Paul's day, reading this, they'd be like, what does he mean? Because somebody who is circumcised can't become uncircumcised. That's not possible. But Paul is just proving a point here. And the point is that circumcision is nothing.
Verse 19. And, um, uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping the commandments of God bless. So circumcision was always a big deal in Paul's day. In fact, there are many jews who believed that circumcision and the gospel were the only things that could get somebody to heaven. So you'd have to be both believing in Jesus, but also be circumcised to truly be saved. If you only believed in Jesus and you didn't get circumcised, you weren't saved. Like, tough
luck to you. That's what many people believed. And in fact, Paul was always battling this, um, time and time again in his day and age, which is why he mentions circumcision so often in his letters. He was always trying to counteract that because there's always so much legalism going around about the topic of circumcision. So Paul is arguing right here in verses 18 and 19 that circumcision is not what saves you. Circumcision in the long run is nothing. It doesn't get you closer to
God. The only thing that gets you closer to God is following the commandments of God, following the gospel message. That is the only thing that can get you close to God. And same with marriage. You know, being married and being unmarried, they make no difference whether or not you're, like, close to God. So being married doesn't make you closer to God, and being unmarried doesn't make you closer to goddesse. Now I will go into why Paul appreciates celibacy a little bit more than
marriage. And it's not because he thinks that celibate people are more holy. But once again, I'll get into that in a little bit. So Paul is basically saying, look, uncircumcision, circumcision, same thing. Married, unmarried, same thing. None of these things matter in your walk with Christ. The only thing that matters is following the commandments of God. So he says in verse 20, let each man stay in
that calling which he was called. So if God bless called somebody to marriage, that person should not try to be freed from marriage. But if they were called to an unmarried life, then that person should not seek to become married. But then again, if they're called to circumcision, they shouldn't try to get uncircumcised, even though that's not possible. And then vice versa, if they're uncircumcised, they shouldn't be trying
to get circumcised. So the entire premise of what Paul is saying is, be content with the situation that God has given you. Just be content and be happy with where God placed you in life. But he does mention slaves here right after this, because you can imagine slaves were not content. And I think slaves, I looked up the statistic and slaves, slaves made up about ten to 20% of roman population. There were a lot of slaves in Rome. There were a lot of slaves in Corinth. Many people that Paul
encountered were slaves. In fact, I think in one roman city, 40% of the people were made up of slaves. So slaves were everywhere. And because slavery is a nasty practice, how could a slave be content in his situation? But Paul talks to slaves right after this. He says, were you called being a bondservant? Don't let that bother you. And people might be like, oh, my gosh. Like, Paul was pro slavery. No, he absolutely wasn't, because he
qualifies right after this. He says, but if you get an opportunity to become free, use it. So, Paul obviously understood the awful nature of slavery in his day, and he didn't want slaves if they got the opportunity to become free, to misconstrue Paul's words and be like, oh, well, Paul says, I need to be happy to remain in the situation that I'm in. No, Paul says, of course not. Like, if you get the opportunity to become
free, why wouldn't you use it? Obviously, use it because God bless has called us, uh, to freedom. We are supposed to be free individuals, according to Christ, free to serve Christ, which is kind of an oxymoron, but that's sort of the situation. We were created to worship. That was the purpose that God created us for. We were called to worship, and we were also called to be servants of Christ, which, in a weird way, is the freest that we can possibly be, because we get closer to the design
that we are created for. For he who is called in the LORD, being a bondservant is the Lord's free Mandev. Likewise, he who is called being free is Christ's bondservant. Now, this would have really encouraged the slaves, you know, back in Paul's day, because the slaves were the dregs of society. But now Paul is saying, we're all the same under Christ. I am no different from a slave, and you are no different from me. Under Christ, we are
all equal. He plays no favorites. He doesn't dislike slaves more than free people. He loves everybody equally. We are all equal. We are all called to be free and to be servants to Christ. You are bought with a price. Don't become bondservants of men. And there you go. That's where Paul says, become free if you get the opportunity. You should not be bondservants of men. You should be
bondservants of Christ. So, brothers, let each man, in whatever condition he was called, stay in that condition with God. So just learn to be content. But if God gives you an opportunity to get out of something, to get out of a bad situation like slavery or like a bad marriage, then take that opportunity and use it, because he has called us to freedom. Now, in verse 25 through 38, Paul once again goes back into marriage, specifically involving virgins.
Now, virgins, in Paul's day and in all of Old Testament history, they were like beautiful flowers that were never supposed to be corrupted. You were supposed to honor the virgins, and virgins were supposed to be acting in an honorable way. So now in verse 25. Now, concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the LORD, but I give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the LORD to be trustworthy. So Paul's like, I think I'm trustworthy in this situation because God has granted me mercy.
So even though I don't have a direct command from God regarding virgins, I'm going to give advice in this situation. I think my advice is trustworthy. In verse 26, I think because of the stress that is on us, it's good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Don't seek to be freed. Are you free from a wife? Don't seek a wife. So Paul's repeating what he just said, but if you marry, you have not sinned. If a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet
such will have oppression in the flesh. And I want to spare you. There is no marriage ever. That is easy. There is not a single marriage that both parties have it all together. You know, my husband and I, over the years, we're going on a decade now of being married. We have had our share of problems on both sides, and I'm not going to air all of our dirty laundry, but we've had our problems, and there's no marriage out
there that hasn't had problems. There's no partner out there that isn't selfish sometimes or that isn't mean sometimes or grouchy sometimes, it doesn't happen. There's no perfect human being on the planet. And, you know, when Garett and I are fighting, that is the most distressed I will ever be. Like, beyond distressed. Stressed and distressed and sad and miserable. And I know my husband feels the exact same way. I don't get
like that with anybody else. Like, say, my sister and I get into a fight, which is very rare, but say we do, I don't feel the same amount of stress as I do when my husband and I are fighting. It's just very, very different. And Satan hates marriage because, one, marriage is a picture of God and the church, and two, because marriage produces children, and Satan hates children because he hates God's creation. He hates the image of God.
And so he's going to attack marriages. He does not like marriage. That means Satan is targeting marriages specifically. And Paul understands this. He says, it will be very distressing for you if you get married, because Satan is going to target that. And because when you have a bond like that with somebody else and they break your trust or they hurt you in some way or it feels like they betray you, that is the most distressing thing that can
ever happen to somebody. He says, I want to spare you from that kind of pain and affliction in your life. Then he says in verse 29, I say this, brothers, the time is short. That from now on, both those who have wives may be as those that had none, those who weep as though they didn't weep, those who rejoice as though they didn't rejoice, those who buy as though they didn't possess, those who use the world as
not using it to the fullest. For the mode of this world passes away, but I desire you to be free from cares. The world is eventually going to pass away and everything that is in it. We know that when Jesus comes back, he is going to make a new heaven and a new earth, and the old ones will pass away. And there's going to be different rules to this new heaven and this new earth that God bless makes. And marriage, as we know, does not carry to the afterlife.
If somebody is married here on earth, they're not going to be married in heaven. Jesus was extremely clear about that. He said, no, there is no marriage in heaven. People are not given to marriage. And that's because when we go to heaven, when we die, we're going to be married to Christ and
not to our earthly partner. And that bond that we have with Christ is going to be so much healthier, so much better than the bond that we have with our marriage partner here on earth, because the bond that we have with, with God bless is going to be absolutely perfection. You know, when Garett and I, once again, marriage is a picture of the unity between God and the church. When Garett and I are on the same page and we're not fighting, that's the happiest that I
am. I'm always really happy, like, when Garett and I are not fighting. And I can understand why marriage is such a wonderful thing and why God put me and Garett together, like, we form a really good team. But even when Garett and I are getting along really well, there's still flaws, there's still irritations that take place, like little ones between both of us. And things are still
obviously not perfect. But you can imagine that when you get to heaven, that marriage relationship that we're gonna have with Christ is going to be absolutely perfect. No irritations, no flaws, nothing bad at all. Everything good. So, yes, this earth will quickly pass away. When Jesus comes back the second time, he will make things different. He's going to come back not as a lamb for the slaughter like he did the first time, not like a servant like he did the
first time. He's going to come back like a warrior the second time, and he's going to judge the earth, and he's going to bring truth back to the earth. And then eventually, he's going to make a new heaven and a new earth after that. So all of these institutions on earth will be gone away. And, uh, because of this, Paul tells us to be ready, ready for Jesus second
coming. Paul says he desires people to be free from cares, to live in peace, to be free from suffering as much as possible, free from cares, until Jesus comes again. But now Paul talks about the benefits of celibacy. He says he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. There is a difference between a wife
and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the LORD, that she may be holy both in body and spirit, but she who is married cares about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. This is something my husband and I talked about on last week's episode. We both mentioned about how marriage causes us to not be able to focus on our ministries as much
as we would like to. My husband gave the example that when he's at meetings at the church, he starts getting antsy if they take too long, because he wants to get home to me, and he wants to eat good food and just, you know, spend a night with me. And on my part, you know, I mentioned about how this ministry, p four e ministries that I run, I have to schedule out my day correctly
so that I can spend nights with my husband. But, you know, if my husband was single and if I. Or if I was single, I could devote myself more fully to a ministry and my husband could vote, devote himself more fully to the church. So Paul says, you know, the celibate Mandev is not holier than the married man, not by any stretch of the imagination. But the celibate man can devote himself more fully to ministry. And same goes for the celibate
woman. They can devote themselves more fully to ministry and the things of God bless, rather than having to balance their home life and their ministry life. I say this for your own prophet, that I may not ensnare you, but for that which is appropriate, that you may attend to the LORD without distraction. So Paul says, it's good to be celibate because you don't have as many distractions.
Now, moving forward into verses 36 through 40, depending on the version that you're reading, it'll either say the father of a virgin or a fiance of a virgin. A lot of people believe that Paul was talking to the fathers of virgins here, but honestly, it goes either way. It could also be talking to a, uh, male fiance. Verse 36. If any man thinks that he is behaving inappropriately toward his virgin, if she is past the flower of her age, and if so, requires, let him do
what he desires. He doesn't sin. Let them marry. So if he's talking to the father of a virgin, you know, because back in Paul's day, it was the fathers that would set up the marriages, like arranged marriages was very common. And so Paul says, if a man has a virgin daughter who really wants to get married, and this dad thinks that he's actually doing something to hurt his virgin daughter, if he doesn't allow her to get married, then this father is doing nothing wrong to allow his daughter to
get married, because marriage is not a sin. Nobody is sinning if they become married. But then Paul says, however, if this father stands steadfast in his heart, having no urgency, but has power over his own will and is determined in his heart to keep his virgin, does well. So say this young girl who is a virgin, living in her father's house, there's no urgency to be married. She doesn't want necessarily to be married. A father shouldn't just find somebody to go marry her, because that was
very common in Paul's day as well. A, uh, father, if his daughter was getting to be a certain age, he'd start getting nervous because he doesn't want to keep taking care of his daughter for her entire life. And that is how bad arranged marriages ended up taking place, where the father would go find somebody that the daughter didn't want to marry or wasn't in love with. How common is that? I mean, how many stories have we heard about that exact situation taking
place? Paul says, don't do that. Fathers don't just marry off your daughters because they're getting older or something like that. Don't do that if they don't want to get married, if there's no urgency, and if she's content to remain a virgin in your house until she either finds somebody she wants to marry or say she just wants to continue to live as a virgin, don't
force her to go and get married. In fact, in that situation of you having a daughter who wants to remain unmarried, that virgin daughter, that situation is actually better than if your daughter wants to go out and get married. It's a better situation for everybody involved because now she can devote herself more fully to ministry. Now, I also believe, though, that Paul is not saying to fathers that, uh, they should force their virgin daughters to not get married,
right? In fact, he's saying here that it's possibly a sin for you to force your virgin daughter, if she wants to get married, to remain a virgin. He basically says that right here. So in a huge way here, Paul is giving a lot of authority to the virgin daughter. In this scenario, it kind of comes down to, does this virgin daughter want to get married? And if so, don't force her not to get married. But also, if she doesn't want to get married, don't force her to
become married. Paul's giving a lot of the power to that virgin daughter for her to choose whether or not she should be married. Even though the father, technically, in Paul's day, was considered to be the one to be in control of his virgin daughter, he had all the say in the world of who she was going to marry, when she was going to get married, at what cost she was going to get married. He had all to say. In fact, this chapter of the Bible is the most pro feminist chapter in the entire
New Testament. It changed the course of marriage once again. I talked about that with my husband last week. This chapter changed the course of marriage because Paul was giving rights to women when they previously had zero rights at all. You know, virgin daughters, in Paul's day, they had no rights. All their rights belonged to their fathers. And then once they got married to their husbands, then to conclude in verses 39 and 40, a ah, wife is bound by law
as long as her husband lives. But if the husband is dead, she is free to be married to whomever she desires, only in the LORD. But she is happier she stays as she is, in my judgment. And I think that I also have God's spirit. I love the way Paul ends that. He's like, I think I'm speaking in God's spirit when I say all of this, which obviously, he was the inspired word of God bless. God bless was speaking through Paul, penning these
words through Paul. So, to conclude, Paul talks about specifically two widows. If their husband dies, they are free to be remarried as long as they remarry somebody. This is all for christians, by the way. This entire chapter is talking to Christians, not to non Christians, just to, uh, um, clarify that. But a widow is free to get remarried only if she marries another Christian. She has to be equally
yoked, is what Paul says here. And then he qualifies all of this by saying, when I write this, I believe I have God's spirit. So the moral of first Corinthians seven is that we should be content in our marriage. We should be content if we are unmarried. And we shouldn't be seeking to change our situation unless God bless gives us a direct path out, a direct open door out. But otherwise, we should learn contentedness regardless of our situation.
All right, people, listeners. Well, this was kind of a longer episode, but we talked about a lot of content today in first Corinthians seven. I hope this clears up first Corinthians seven a little bit more for you because it is a very, um, criticized portion of scripture. A lot of critics of the Bible really like to go to first Corinthians seven and be like, oh, the Bible is so sexist, without understanding the context of what Paul is talking
about here. So I hope this cleared up a few things for you in first corinthians seven. If it did, share this episode with people that, you know, give it a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and also write a nice little review as well. Faithful listeners, I hope you all have a fantastic and wonderful rest of your day. I'll see you all tomorrow for an episode from First Kings. Happy listening and God bless.