Lessons #223 and 224
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Concern about marital status (1 Cor 7:24-28)
24 Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.
25 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. 26 Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. 27 Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. 28 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.
We have been considering the inappropriate concerns a believer should not have regarding one’s status quo at point of salvation because the overall message of 1 Corinthians 7:17-28 is there are appropriate and inappropriate concerns of one’s status quo after salvation. We have considered the first two of three inappropriate concerns a believer should not have regarding the person’s status quo at the point of salvation. The first we considered is that associated with ethnicity because the apostle dealt with the subject of circumcision in verses 18 and 19. The second we considered concerns social standing. This is because the apostle dealt with the matter of slavery in verses 20 to 23. A believer should not be concerned with his/her social standing in a society because in Christ there is no distinction among believers who were redeemed by the death of Christ on the cross. So, we proceed to consider the third.
A third concern the believer in Christ should avoid is that associated with marital status as given in verses 24 to 28. The apostle began his instruction regarding this concern by stating the general command he stated in the previous two concerns. This he did in verse 24. This is followed in verse 25 by a preface to what we describe as situational advice and command. The situation advice is given in verse 26 while the situational command is given in verse 27 with explanation of the situational command given in verse 28. We have, in effect, summarized the section that is before us that we are about to study. So, we begin with the general command of this section.
We asserted that the apostle began with a general command in verse 24 of the type he gave in the previous concerns he handled, because of the instruction should remain in the situation God called him to. This instruction is similar to the ones he used before stating a given concern in the two previous concerns. Before he indicated that believers should not be concerned about ethnicity or circumcision status, he gave the instruction in verse 17, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him. It is true the apostle did not use the same word “remain” used in verse 24 but the sense of continuing in a state one was before salvation is certainly implied in the instruction of verse 17. Similarly, before the apostle dealt with concern regarding social standing or slavery in verses 21 to 23, he gave the instruction of verse 20 Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. Thus, we are correct to assert that the apostle gave a general command in verse 24 that is in keeping with the ones he gave in the two preceding concerns that the apostle handled.
The two previous concerns the apostle addressed could be easily misunderstood as applying only to male believers because of the word “circumcision” and the word “slave” is translated from a Greek word that refers to a male slave. But that would be a wrong way of understanding and applying the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, and so to the church of Christ at large. Subsequently, when the apostle begins with the third concern, he did so to remove any doubt that what he was about to deal with concerns male and female believers. Thus, the apostle used the word brothers that begin verses 24 in the NIV.
The word “brothers” is translated from a Greek word (adelphos) that has several meanings in the Greek. It could mean brother in the sense of a male person from the same mother as the referenced person. It is in this sense that the word is used by Apostle Paul to reference James as from the same mother as Jesus in His humanity in Galatians 1:19:
I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.
The word may mean “a believer” as that is the sense of the word “brother” in 1 Corinthians 5:11:
But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
The clause anyone who calls himself a brother should be understood as one who claims to be a believer. Hence the word “brother” is the same as believer. Thus, it is not surprising that the translators of the NIV translated the Greek word as “believers” in 1 Corinthians 6:5:
I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?
The phrase between believers is literally between his brothers. In keeping with this understanding, the word may mean “brother” in the sense of one who has the same beliefs with the one that uses the word, irrespective of gender, that is, the word refers to “a fellow believer.” It is in this sense of one who shares the same faith and so belongs to a specific Christian community, that is, a “fellow believer” that Apostle Paul used the word to describe Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25:
But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.
It is in this sense of fellow believers, regardless of gender, that Apostle Paul used it in his final greetings to the Ephesian church in Ephesians 6:23:
Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The peace the apostle wished on “the brothers” could not possibly apply to only male members of the church in Ephesus. Therefore, the word “brothers” has the sense of “brothers and sisters in Christ” here in Ephesians 6:23. It is in this sense that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 7:24.
It is interesting to note that the apostle did not use the word “brothers” before stating the two previous concerns but in this third one he used it. We say it is interesting because so far when the apostle addressed the Corinthians with the word “brothers,” he was either emphasizing something or he was moving to some new topic. For example, when he appealed to the Corinthians regarding division among them, he used the word “brothers” in 1 Corinthians 1:10:
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
To convey to the Corinthians that his appeal was not baseless, he used the word “brothers” to disclose his source of information in 1 Corinthians 1:11:
My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
When the apostle wanted to convey his inability to teach or address the Corinthians as spiritual, he again used the word “brothers” in 1 Corinthians 3:1:
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ.
Thus, when the apostle introduced an appeal or a new topic, he used the word “brothers” to address the Corinthians but in 1 Corinthians 7:24, he used the word “brothers” in stating the last concern he was dealing with in verses 17-28. Why, we may ask? There is no doubt that the apostle uses the word not only to indicate fellow believers but also as a term of endearment. This we can see in his use of it in describing Timothy in 1 Thessalonians 3:2:
We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,
That the apostle uses the word “brother” as a term of endearment is also reflected in his address to Philemon in Philemon 7:
Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
Likewise, as a word the apostle uses to describe endearment, he used it to describe Onesimus as he commends him to his master Philemon in Philemon 16:
no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.
By the way, Apostle Paul is not alone in the use of the word “brother” to express endearment so did James as we may gather from James 1:19:
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
This notwithstanding, the question we are concerned with is the reason the apostle in the third concern he addressed in the passage of 1 Corinthians 7:24-28, began by addressing those he was instructing using the word “brothers.” The answer is that the apostle demonstrated that he believed what he taught. He was the kind of teacher who lived by example, so it is to demonstrate that he was not merely spitting out doctrines but that what he taught he believed and lived by them. The apostle had taught so far that there is no ethnicity in Christ in that he indicated that circumcision or lack of it did not matter in Christ. He had also taught that in Christ there is no difference between a slave and a free man. These two doctrines are brought into application by the apostle in using the word “brothers.” He was circumcised, implying he was a Jew by ethnicity. He was a free man. Therefore, when he called those who were Gentiles and those who were slaves and free men his brothers, he has demonstrated that he has applied the truth of what he has taught. This reason we supplied is similar to the apostle’s use of the word “brothers” when he spoke of his application to himself and Apollos what he taught them of the necessity of focusing on the Scripture or using it as the basis of what we do, as we read in 1 Corinthians 4:6:
Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.
Thus, we are correct to interpret the apostle’s use of the word “brothers” in 1 Corinthians 7:24 to be concerned with his application of the two concerns he already addressed. His application should remind all of us that we should think of our fellow believers as brothers in Christ or those of the same family in Christ regardless of their ethnicity or their social standing in our society.
Be that as it may, the apostle was concerned that a believer should not be troubled by whatever status quo the person occupied prior to salvation and even after it. It is this instruction that is conveyed in the expression of the NIV in verse 24 should remain in the situation God called him to. The translators of the NIV indicated that it is God that called a person or that brought about a person’s salvation because they introduced the word “God” in this expression in the situation God called him to that does not appear in the Greek text. The Greek of this sentence literally reads in which he was called. The literal phrase in which implies that the apostle was referring to the state a person was when he became saved. Of course, as we have indicated previously, the instruction to remain or continue in a state one was before salvation should not be understood to imply that Holy Spirit is advocating for a believer not to seek to improve his/her state at the time of salvation. In other words, the instruction given here is not intended to say that believers should never seek to improve whatever their situation was at the time of salvation. For after all, the Holy Spirit through the apostle had already indicated that if a person was a slave at the point of salvation but gets the opportunity to gain his freedom that the person should take it. This being the case, the instruction should remain in the situation God called him to is simply a way to convey that a believer should never allow his/her state or condition in life affect the individual’s spiritual life. Regardless of what situation one finds self, based on human standards, the believer should not allow that state to become a handicap in growing spiritually. Again, a believer may be enslaved or oppressed, that should not affect the individual’s devotion to the Lord. On the other hand, a person may be well placed in society, that also should not affect the person’s devotion to the Lord. Those who are well positioned in life run even a greater risk of not being devoted to the Lord because they have the tendency to rely on their status for advancement in life. But such advantage means nothing in the spiritual life. The point is that believers should endeavor to be devoted to the Lord regardless of their standing in the society.
The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul wants believers to continue to live their lives before the Lord regardless of what their state or condition is at the point of salvation. They should be mindful of their relationship with God so that they do not feel inferior to anyone spiritually. It is this point that the apostle intended to convey in the phrase of the NIV of 1 Corinthians 7:24 as responsible to God. Literally, the Greek reads before God. This literal phrase before God could be understood to mean that believers are in such unique relationship with God that they should not feel inferior to any one or that believers should remain focused on God regardless of their situation in life. Either of this meaning applies in our passage. Nonetheless, it is probably that the Holy Spirit is concerned that we believers should not allow our status quo to affect our devotion to the Lord. We are to be so devoted to the Lord that we ignore or disregard whatever social standing or situation we face. I am saying to you the believer, that the Holy Spirit tells you to be so devoted to the Lord that nothing should affect your devotion. Remember that the Lord cares greatly for those who are devoted to Him as we are reminded in 2 Chronicles 16:9:
For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”
The clause those whose hearts are fully committed to him is translated in the NET as those who are devoted to him. If you want the Lord to continue to strengthen you or to bring His comfort and support to you then you should continue to be devoted to Him regardless of what your state in this life happens to be. Devotion to the Lord, of course, requires firm commitment to the study and application of His word. With this encouragement we turn our attention to the preface to the situational advice and command of the section we are studying.
It seems that the subject the apostle writes about in verse 25 is either due to a concern of the Corinthians communicated to him in their letter or the Holy Spirit directed the apostle to relate what he wrote in the verse to the general problem of marriage that he has been dealing with in this seventh chapter. We say this because of the phrase Now about that begins the verse. The apostle used the Greek phrase five other times, excluding our present verse, which is his second usage of it, to begin a verse in his epistle to the Corinthians. The first usage of it is in 1 Corinthians 7:1:
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.
In this verse (7:1), the apostle used it to relate to what is immediately discussed to what preceded it. The sixth chapter ended with teaching regarding sexual immorality in that it was forbidden, and the reasons for such prohibition. But the seventh chapter is concerned with marriage, so it is fitting to consider what the apostle instructs in the beginning of chapter 7 to be related to the preceding chapter since marriage is certainly one way to safeguard against sexual immorality. However, because of the sentence you wrote, the apostle must also have been responding to a concern of the Corinthians that they communicated to him in their letter. The third usage of the Greek phrase indicates that the apostle addressed a concern about food sacrificed to idols that was troubling to some in Corinth that they would have mentioned in their letter, as we read in 1 Corinthians 8:1:
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
The fourth usage of the Greek phrase involves the apostle’s teaching regarding spiritual gifts that apparently were causing some problem in the church that they might have also communicated to him either through their letter or someone informed him about it, as we read in 1 Corinthians 12:1:
Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
The fifth usage of the Greek phrase translated now about in the NIV concerns the matter of the contributions the Gentile churches were collecting for the church in Jerusalem. It seems the Corinthians might have asked a question about it, so the apostle responded in 1 Corinthians 16:1:
Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.
The sixth usage of the Greek phrase to begin a sentence regards Apollos. Again, it is probably the case that the Corinthians either asked the apostle about him in their letter to him or that someone communicated that concern to him, as we read in 1 Corinthians 16:12:
Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity.
The apostle used the Greek phrase translated in the NIV now about two other times to begin a Greek verse in his epistle to the Thessalonians. It seemed that the Holy Spirit brought to his mind the subject of love that may have been of concern to the Thessalonians so that the apostle addressed it in 1 Thessalonians 4:9:
Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.
His other usage of the phrase in his epistle to the Thessalonians concerns matter of the second coming of the Lord as the apostle stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:1:
Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you,
It seems that the apostle would have also heard from the Thessalonians or that somehow, he received information about their concern since he referenced this matter of the second coming of the Lord Jesus in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–2:
1Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.
Anyway, the various passages that the apostle used the Greek phrase translated now about in the NIV reveal that the apostle used it either to relate to what preceded or to a communication to him from those he addressed in his epistle or simply that the Holy Spirit brought the matter he addressed in his mind. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 7:25, the apostle either used it to relate to the general teaching on marriage that he presented in chapter seven or he responded to a specific concern. Either way, the apostle was dealing with a subject that troubled some in Corinth.
The concern of some in Corinth was about the status of virgins as in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 7:25 Now about virgins. The word “virgin” is translated from a Greek word (parthenos) that means a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse hence means “a virgin, a chaste person.” It is used for a female virgin in the Lord’s Parable of Ten Virgins, as we read in Matthew 25:1:
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
The word is used for a chaste man or a male virgin in Revelation 14:4:
These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.
The question is how to understand the word “virgins” as used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 7:25. Scholars have given two general interpretations of how to understand it in our passage. A first interpretation is that virgins refer to betrothed young women. It is assumed that the women and those they were engaged to might have been wondering if they should proceed with their marriage because some who were ascetic or that considered themselves “spiritual” in the local church might have been pressuring them that it is not good to have sexual relationship. Thus, the apostle would have been asked if they should proceed with their marriage. A problem with this interpretation is that the Greek word used is not normally the way to describe those who were betrothed since there were other ways betrothed virgins or betrothed young women were described and not merely by the Greek word translated virgin in our passage. A second interpretation is that the word translated “virgins” refers to both men and women. It is true that the word may refer to men as we noted in Revelations 14:4 but the Greek form used does not permit a definite interpretation of the gender of those involved. Furthermore, since most male members of Corinthian church were Romans, it is difficult to conceive that they would have been described as virgins. This is because Roman men started in their youth experimenting with sex with prostitutes so that by the time, they reached the age of marriage it would be difficult to consider them virgins in the sense of men who are chaste as used in Revelation. In any event, the difficulties with each interpretation notwithstanding, it is most likely that the Greek word is used by the apostle to refer to a woman who has not had sexual intercourse and so is not married. This understanding is supported by the fact that in the other five usages of the word in 1 Corinthians 7 although not in the plural, the Greek word refers to a woman that has had no sexual intercourse with a man.
In any case, the apostle prefaced the advice he gave concerning how virgins should relate to the subject of marriage he has been teaching regarding believers maintaining their status quo at the time of salvation with a statement that could cause problem for some. The statement of the apostle that could cause problem for some is given in 1 Corinthian 7:25 I have no command from the Lord. This sentence is similar to the phrase I, not the Lord the apostle used in instructing about divorce in 1 Corinthians 7:12:
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
The apostle states in 1 Corinthians 7:25 I have no command from the Lord. Literally, the Greek reads I have no command of the Lord. The issue, of course, is how to interpret the literal Greek translation. This requires we understand the relationship between the word “command” and the word “Lord” since we have the phrase of the Lord.
The word “command” is translated from a Greek noun (epitagē) that means “command, order, injunction” as an authoritative directive, as Apostle Paul used it to convey that he became an apostle of Jesus Christ by authoritative directive of God, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, as he wrote in Titus 1:3:
and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
The word may mean “authority” in the sense of the right to command as it is used by Apostle Paul in encouraging Titus to communicate God’s word forcefully in Titus 2:15:
These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
The Greek noun is related to a Greek verb (epitassō) that means “to command, order” that is mostly used in the gospel records for the Lord Jesus either commanding evil spirits or commanding the wind as in Luke 8:25:
“Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
Of course, the word is used once in the NT Greek by Apostle Paul in his communication to Philemon regarding what he should do as we read in Philemon 8:
Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do,
The verb form of our Greek word enables us to be certain that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 7:25 in the sense of an order or authoritative injunction to do something.
The fact that the Greek word that means “command” is related to a Greek verb that means “to command, order” implies that the relationship of the word “command” to the word “Lord” in the literal sentence I have no command of the Lord could be understood in two possible ways that are related. It could be understood to mean what the Lord commands. In other words, the literal sentence I have no command of the Lord may be translated I do not have what the Lord commands. Or the literal sentence I have no command of the Lord may be understood as a command which its origin is the Lord, leading to the translation of the NIV I have no command from the Lord. The interpretation that indicates the apostle does not have a command that the Lord is the source is probably what the apostle meant since the interpretation of not having what the Lord commands may imply that there is something the Lord commands only that the apostle absolutely does not have it. It is, therefore, better to accept that the apostle meant to convey there is no command that the Lord left regarding the advice he was about to offer. By the way, the Lord here is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. The implication is that the apostle meant that the Lord did not issue any command regarding what he was about to state. He did not teach anything from which the apostle could have drawn the advice he offered. It is important to understand this implication since the Lord being God would through the Holy Spirit also be behind what the apostle stated in the passage we are considering.
Anyway, firstly, the apostle wanted the Corinthians to know that in contrast to the teaching of the Lord He gave during His earthly ministry regarding the matter of marriage, he was about to state something the Lord did not address. It is for this reason that the next clause of 1 Corinthians 7:25 begins with the word but. The apostle in the use of the word but was probably being emphatic in what he stated although he wanted to convey that what he stated was not given by the Lord while on this planet.
Secondly, the apostle wanted the Corinthians to know that the decision or advice he gives is not from him but from God who has qualified him to render the advice he gives as we read in the next clause of 1 Corinthians 7:25 but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
The word “give” is translated from a Greek word (didōmi) that may mean “to give” as an expression of generosity as the word is used in Paul’s quotation of a sayings of the Lord that was not recorded in any of the gospels but probably in other sources, as we read in Acts 20:35:
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
The word may mean “to offer” as in bribing someone as it is used in Acts 24:26:
At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.
The word may mean “to command” as it is used in 1 John 3:23:
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
The sentence he commanded us is literally he gave us commandment. The word may mean “to give” in the sense of instructing someone as it is used in 1 Thessalonians 4:2:
For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
The word may mean “to give” in the sense of offering counsel or advice as it is used in Mark 3:6:
Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
The verbal phrase began to plot is literally began to give counsel. It is in the sense of to give an advice or counsel that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 7:25.
The thing the apostle states that he gave is described with the word “judgment” that is translated from a Greek word (gnōmē) that may mean “decision, resolution” as it is used to describe the decision of the Apostle Paul regarding his travel plan, as recorded in Acts 20:3:
where he stayed three months. Because the Jews made a plot against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.
The sentence he decided to go back through Macedonia is literally he came to a decision to return through Macedonia. The word may mean a viewpoint or way of thinking about a matter, that is, “opinion, judgment, way of thinking,” as Apostle Paul used it with the meaning “opinion” although the NIV used the word “advice” for our word in 2 Corinthians 8:10:
And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.
The sentence here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter is literally I am giving an opinion in this matter. The Greek word may refer to the action of expressing agreement based on knowledge of set of facts and so means “approval, consent, agreement” as Apostle Paul used it in Philemon 14:
But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced.
The Greek word may also mean “purpose, intention, mind, mind-set” as it is used for the ten kings that will be unified in their support of the beast and their opposition to Christ in Revelation 17:13:
They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 7:25, it is with the meaning “judgment, opinion” that the apostle used it.
The judgment that apostle gave is not to be taken as a mere opinion of the apostle but a situational advice that is from the Holy Spirit although not a command. This statement contains several elements that we need to substantiate. The first element is the use of the term “situational advice.” Our use of this term is due to the fact that in the context, the apostle indicated that what he gives in the section we are studying is based on the situation of events in the world at the time of the writing of the epistle as in the clause of verse 26 Because of the present crisis that we will get to at the appropriate time. Of course, our use of the word “advice” is because the judgment of the apostle is given in our passage.
The second element in our primary statement is the claim that the apostle’s judgment expressed in our passage is from the Holy Spirit. This is important because everything the apostle wrote in his epistles is from the Holy Spirit. We can demonstrate this from the Scripture. The Holy Spirit through Apostle Peter communicated to us that the OT written by the prophets was product of the Holy Spirit acting on men as he states in 2 Peter 1:20–21:
20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
The description of the Holy Spirit’s action through the apostle in these two verses indicates that the Holy Spirit directed the OT prophets to record what we have in the OT Scripture. By implication, the NT writers must have also been carried along by the Holy Spirit to write what they did. It is not only that the Holy Spirit directed Peter to tell us how the OT Scripture was produced and so by implication the NT, but he called the writings of Apostle Paul “scripture” as recorded in 2 Peter 3:15–16:
15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
The fact Apostle Paul’s writings were grouped by the Holy Spirit through Apostle Peter among the Scripture indicates that everything in the passage of 1 Corinthians 7 that we are considering is from the Holy Spirit. This would be in keeping with the assertion of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul as recorded in 2 Timothy 3:16:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
The sentence All Scripture is God-breathed indicates that everything in the Scripture is from the Holy Spirit. This being the case, what the apostle wrote as his judgment is exactly from the Holy Spirit. Thus, there is no part of God’s word that should be considered a human opinion but what God the Holy Spirit has given. It is because the very words of the Scripture are from God that the Lord Jesus stated that every word in the Scripture is important and so should not be neglected, as we may infer from what is recorded in Matthew 5:18:
I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
If the smallest letter would not disappear from the law, it implies that the words used by the writers of the Scripture are from the Holy Spirit. Thus, we contend that everything Apostle Paul wrote in the passage of 1 Corinthians 7 that we are considering should be recognized as coming from the Holy Spirit regardless of whether we translated the Greek word used in 1 Corinthians 7:25 with the word “judgment” or “opinion.” Of course, it is important to emphasize that the word “opinion” used in some English versions should be properly understood. It should neither be understood in the regular sense of a view that is subjective in that it is not necessarily based on fact or knowledge nor should it be understood in the sense of a conclusion or thought that one gives that is open to dispute. No! Opinion here should be understood in the sense of an expression of judgment or advice that comes from an expert. Apostle Paul is to be regarded here as an expert because the Holy Spirit qualified him as an expert to give to us the thought the Holy Spirit brought in his mind. My point is simply that we should not think of the word “opinion” in subjective way where what is given is subject to dispute.
The third element of the statement that the judgment that apostle gave is not to be taken as a mere opinion of the apostle but a situational advice that is from the Holy Spirit although not a command is the expression “not a command.” It is important to recognize that what the Holy Spirit provided through the apostle to the Corinthians is not a command because of the implication of thinking that because we have stated that what the apostle wrote in the passage we are considering is from the Holy Spirit that it means he issued a command. No! The Holy Spirit through the apostle conveyed to us that the advice is temporary that is designed to deal with a specific time in Corinth. The apostle’s advice is to be taken simply as that, for to consider it a command would result in the Holy Spirit conflicting Himself, which cannot happen. The Holy Spirit has indicated it is God’s plan for people to marry because of the original command to populate the earth in Genesis 1:28:
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
This command assumes that marriage would take place as implied also in Genesis 2:24:
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Based on these two passages, we can be certain that the information the Holy Spirit provided through Apostle Paul to pass to the Corinthians is not a command that all believers should obey but a situational advice that is applicable to believers of all times as the principle involved applies to crisis situations believers would find themselves while on this planet. Anyway, I want to emphasize to you that you should never take any part of the Scripture as the human author’s view or opinion. There is more to this but we are out of time so we will continue with 1 Corinthians 7:25 in our next study.
05/22/20