Lessons #229 and 230
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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)
... 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.
Let me refresh your mind with the problem we were dealing with in our last study before we ran out of time. Verse 27 of the 1984 edition of the NIV reads Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. But the 2011 edition of the NIV reads Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife. In comparing these two editions of the NIV, we recognized that there is a problem because of the one addressed in the two questions. In other words, these two translations reveal that there are two different persons addressed in the questions. The 1984 edition of the NIV implies that in the first question a married person is addressed while the 2011 edition implies that a person who is betrothed to a woman is involved. In effect, the two translations reveal scholars are of divided opinion as to who is addressed, or the subject concerned. Is the apostle concerned with marriage or is he concerned with betrothal? To answer the question, we first provided the literal translation of the Greek of verse 27 that reads Have you been bound to a woman? Do not seek release. Have you been released from a woman? Do not seek a wife. As we indicated in our last study, the literal translation reveals there are three words that are responsible for the interpretation difficulty of the verse which are “bound”, “release” (both as a noun and a verb), and “woman.” We started to examine the Greek words that in the literal translation are translated “bound”, “release”, and “woman.” We noted in our last study that the word “bound” is translated from a Greek word (deō) that in our verse means “to be obligated.” So, we proceed with the second Greek word.
The word “woman” in the literal translation is translated from a Greek word (gynē) that generally means “woman as an adult female person” as it is used in the instruction of how believing women, without any reference to their marital state, should dress themselves in 1 Timothy 2:9:
I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
In some contexts where a man is mentioned, the word means “wife.” Thus, the context makes clear that the apostle used the word in the sense of wife in several passages because either there is a reference to a man or a husband so that it is clear that the woman in view is a wife. Take for example, where a husband is mentioned or implied in 1 Corinthians 7:14:
For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
Take another example of where the context makes clear that the Greek word means wife because a man is commanded to love his woman, meaning his wife, in Ephesians 5:33:
However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
The expression love his wife is literally love his woman. The context indicates that his woman refers to wife of a man. In a handful of passages, the Greek word has the sense of “widow” as it is used by the Sadducees who quoted from the OT concerning levirate marriage to use it to argue against the doctrine of resurrection as we read in Luke 20:28:
“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother.
The expression marry the widow is literally take the woman, that is, wife since the context indicates it is a deceased brother’s wife that was in view. The question, of course, is to determine how the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 7:27. It is with the meaning “woman” without qualification that the apostle used it. We base this on observable pattern of the apostle’s use of the word in his epistles. The apostle used it once in his epistle to Titus where a husband is mentioned so that there is no doubt that our Greek word should mean “wife,” as we read in Titus 1:6:
An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
He used the word twice in his epistle to Timothy in such a way that there is no doubt that he meant a wife as in describing the qualifications of a deacon in 1 Timothy 3:12:
A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well.
The phrase the husband of but one wife is literally one woman man. The word deacon and the phrase his household indicate a husband is in view, hence our Greek word must mean “wife” in the verse we cited. The same usage of meaning is reflected in stating the qualifications of an overseer in 1 Timothy 3:2:
Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
The apostle used our Greek word five times in the singular (four times in the plural) in the fifth chapter of his epistle to the Ephesians in the context of Christian marriage so that in each usage there is a reference to a husband indicating that our Greek word means “wife” as, for example, in Ephesians 5:23:
For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
The phrase the head of the wife is literally head of the woman. The mention of husband or literally “man” implies that our Greek word means “wife” since a man can only be the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. In other words, it is only in marriage relationship that a man has an unqualified authority over his wife. The apostle used the word sixteen times in 1 Corinthians and in fifteen of these occurrences there is no doubt that the word has the meaning “wife” because there is an indicator of a husband involved in these usages. Take for example, there is a reference to a man that makes certain that the word means “wife” in 1 Corinthians 5:1:
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
The phrase his father’s wife is literally his father’s woman. The mention of “father” implies that the woman in view is a wife to the man’s father. In the ninth chapter of 1 Corinthians, the apostle used the Greek word in his defense of his right to be married in such a way that it leaves no doubt that the Greek word has the meaning of “wife” in 1 Corinthians 9:5:
Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?
The phrase a believing wife is literally a sister (as) woman. Clearly, the fact the apostle mentioned himself and described a sister as a woman leaves no doubt, he meant a wife since a sister is a female believer. Therefore, to say that he has the right to take a sister as a woman must mean that our Greek word means “wife” in 1 Corinthians 9:5. Anyway, the apostle used our Greek word fourteen times in this seventh chapter of 1 Corinthians that he is concerned with marriage and in thirteen of these usages, there is no doubt that the word means “wife,” since a word that refers to a male in relationship to a woman is used in these verses, as for example, 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 clause If any brother has a wife is literally if any brother has a woman so it is clear in this verse that the woman in view is a wife. However, the fourteenth usage of the Greek word is in our passage of 1 Corinthians 7:27. Although the word “man” appeared in verse 26, we have previously argued that such usage should be understood to be a general reference to a person implying the situational advice offered in verse 26 applies to both men and women. Therefore, it cannot be used to indicate that the use of the Greek word that means “woman” is to be understood as “a wife” in verse 27; instead, it should be understood as a woman that may be a virgin or a widow who is in an undefined relationship to a man in the context. Of course, the Greek word is used twice in our verse and in each case the meaning should be “woman as an adult female person.” This brings us to the third word “release” that is used both as a noun and a verb in 1 Corinthians 7:27.
The first use of the word “release” in verse 27 is as a noun since the command Do not seek a divorce of the NIV is literally Do not seek release. The word “release” in the literal translation is translated from a Greek word (lysis) that appears only here in the entire NT Greek. Outside the NT, the word means “loosing or delivering” although it is used in different ways. The word was used with meaning of “redemption of mortgage or pledge.” It is used with the meaning “release” or “discharge” from a financial obligation or anything that binds an individual. As a technical term it has the meaning of “solution of a difficulty.” It is therefore not surprising that the word is used in the sense of “interpretation” or “explanation” in the Septuagint of Ecclesiastes 8:1:
Who is like the wise man? Who knows the explanation of things? Wisdom brightens a man’s face
and changes its hard appearance.
The word “release” in the literal translation of 1 Corinthians 7:27 Have you been released from a woman? that is translated in the 1984 edition of the NIV as Are you unmarried? is translated from a Greek verb (luō) that outside the NT was used with the meaning “to break” a legal agreement or an obligation. It was also used with the meaning “to dissolve” in a physical sense. In the NT, the word can mean “to set free, untie, loose,” as in the untying of the colt that was brought to Jesus as He made His entrance into Jerusalem, as recorded in Luke 19:30:
“Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
The word may mean “to dismiss” as it is used in dismissing people who are gathered for worship in Acts 13:43:
When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.
The word means “to destroy” in the sense of reducing something to ruin by tearing down or breaking to pieces as it is used to describe the wrecking of the ship that was transporting Paul to Rome in Acts 27:41:
But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.
The Greek verb can mean to destroy in the sense of doing away with or bringing to an end as the word is used to describe what Jesus Christ did to devil’s work in 1 John 3:8:
He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
Most of our English versions used the meaning “destroy” in this passage but the NJB and the NEB used the meaning “undo” in their translation of this passage. Figuratively, the word may mean “to set free, to release” as it is used in Revelation 1:5:
and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 7:27, it has the sense of “to be free.” Since the word is associated with the Greek word that means “woman” it means to be free from a woman without an indication of previous marital bond. In effect, the word indicates that a person is free from being in marital state without telling us how that state was arrived, that is, whether a person has never been married or was married but divorced or in what sense that person is free from the woman. We will deal with what it means to be free in relation to the woman in our passage later.
We have finished our consideration of the three words that will enable us to answer the question of 1 Corinthians 7:27 which is: Is the apostle concerned with marriage or is he concerned with betrothal? We begin with the first question of the NIV Are you married? or literal Have you been bound to a woman? As we have noted, the Greek word translated “bound” means “to be obligated,” the question becomes in what sense is the believer addressed obligated to the woman in view? There are two possibilities. A first possibility is that the believing man may be married to a woman and so is obligated to the woman since we know that a woman who is married is described as obligated to a husband as we noted previously in Romans 7:2:
For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.
A second possibility is that the believing man is betrothed to a woman. Even in this situation, there are two situations. There is the possibility that a believing man might before being saved had betrothed an unbelieving woman but now he is saved he might have a second thought about it because of the difference in their spiritual status. The other situation is he is betrothed to a fellow believer but because of those who advocate celibacy was wondering what to do. Anyway, it is probably that the Holy Spirit directed the apostle to write in such a way that he meant both a man who is married and the one who is betrothed to a woman. Thus, our answer is that the apostle addressed a man who is either married or betrothed because what he instructs next applies to either situation. This brings us to the first command of 1 Corinthians 7:27.
The rhetorical question of 1 Corinthians 7:27 Are you married? or literally Have you been bound to a woman? expects the answer “yes.” Therefore, based on it, the apostle issued the first command Do not seek a divorce. Literally, the Greek reads Do not seek release. This is because the word “divorce” is translated from a Greek word (lysis) that appears only here in the entire NT Greek that we have previously indicated that although many suggest that the word should be translated “divorce” it is better to use a general meaning of “release.” This meaning is reflected in the 2011 edition of the NIV that translated the Greek command as Do not seek to be released because the translators understood the obligation of the man to the woman in the first question to be that of being betrothed. Other English versions such as the NJB used the word “release” but this is based on the interpretation that the first question is addressed to a man who is married since they translated the command as do not seek to be released. We also indicated that the meaning “divorce” may be used but not necessarily to imply that the man is married to a woman. This statement requires further explanation.
The word “divorce” if that is what the apostle had in mind can be applied either to a man who is married or a man who is betrothed or pledged to be married. Such meaning would be understood by a Hebrew person in the time of apostle’s ministry to be applicable to a man who is either married or betrothed to a woman. We should understand that being betrothed or being pledged to marry a woman at Bible times is not the same as our modern day “engagement” in several respects. At that time, when a man betroths a woman, from that time onwards the two were regarded as husband and wife although their marriage has not been consummated. It is for this reason that Jacob referred to Rachel as his wife in his request to Laban, as recorded in Genesis 29:21:
Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to lie with her.”
The request of Jacob conveys that betrothal does not give the right to sexual intercourse, contrary to what many do today in that once they are engaged to each other they have sexual intercourse. Although those betrothed to each other in Bible times were regarded as husbands and wives but there was no sexual intercourse between them until the formal ceremony of marriage is conducted. That those betrothed to each other at that time were considered husbands and wives is conveyed in the fact that if a lady who is betrothed is involved in sexual intercourse with another man, she was considered guilty of adultery and so the death penalty is to be applied to her unless, it can be shown that she was raped in such a situation that she could not call for help as we may gather from the instruction concerning raping a virgin, as we read in Deuteronomy 22:23–29:
23 If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, 24 you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the girl because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you. 25 But if out in the country a man happens to meet a girl pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. 26 Do nothing to the girl; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders his neighbor, 27 for the man found the girl out in the country, and though the betrothed girl screamed, there was no one to rescue her. 28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.
Betrothal in Bible times is different from modern day engagement in that in the NT times such event involved oral declaration of commitment to the one betrothed in the presence of witnesses that was binding as marriage itself. This is followed by either a pledge of a piece of money or a written pledge and the entire process is concluded with a benediction. Another difference between modern engagement and betrothal is that unlike the modern engagement that may be easily broken off by one of the parties notifying the other, the breaking of a betrothal involved a formal divorce so that to break such betrothal is viewed as divorcing a woman as we may learn from what Joseph contemplated doing when he realized Mary was pregnant but not by him, as we read in Matthew 1:19:
Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
Because of the background information we have given, it is possible that the apostle had in mind the “divorce” as understood in the NT times among the Israelites. This being the case, the apostle’s command not to seek release from one’s obligation to a woman may be understood to mean that a man who is married should not seek divorce from the wife or that a man who is pledged to be married to a woman should not break off his commitment to marrying the woman involved as that would also be considered divorce.
Our interpretation that the apostle meant that a man should not break his commitment to marrying a woman he is betrothed raises a question of what such a man should do in the case of the situation we stated previously. This is a situation where both the man and the woman were unbelievers before the betrothal takes place, but the man becomes saved before the actual marriage ceremony. What should a believer under such a situation do? There is no direct instruction in the passage for that situation but there are two facts we should consider in reaching a practical solution that is biblical to such a situation. A first fact is that believers should not break their word or commitment as that was a characteristic of a true worshipper of God, as stated in Psalm 15:4:
who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts,
Betrothal in a sense is tantamount to an oath to marry a woman. Thus, to be spiritual, a believer should not break his or her word given to anyone regardless of the situation unless, of course, it involves sinful action. A second fact is that the Holy Spirit through the apostle had indicated that a believing spouse who has an unbelieving spouse should not divorce if the other is willing to continue in marriage relationship as we have already studied in 1 Corinthians 7:12–13:
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. 13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.
Taking these two facts together enables us to provide a biblical approach to such a situation. A believer who as an unbeliever is engaged to another unbeliever but gets saved before the actual marriage, should sit down, and give his/her testimony to the unbeliever. This is to be followed by an explanation of the difficulty the unbeliever may face because the believer wants to live out his/her faith. If after such an explanation that unbeliever still insists of going through with the marriage, then the believer is obligated to do so. However, if the unbeliever decides that that is not for him or her then if he or she breaks off the engagement the believer is free from his/her initial obligation to the other party.
Be that as it may, the first command of 1 Corinthians 7:27 we are considering is Do not seek a divorce or literally Do not seek release. Apparently, some Corinthians have started an annulment procedure so that the apostle issued the command Do not seek a divorce or literally Do not seek release. The English does not convey what I said but the apostle used a Greek negative particle (mē) that when used with a present tense in the Greek to issue a command has the sense of stopping an action in progress. Thus, to capture the Greek meaning, we may translate the command as Stop seeking a divorce/release. This enables us to recognize that some believers in Corinth had already started an annulment process either of marriage or of betrothal and so the apostle commands them to stop it. This brings us to the second command of 1 Corinthians 7:27 that we are considering.
A second command in 1 Corinthians 7:27 is also preceded by a rhetorical question and so let us consider it first. The rhetorical question reads Are you unmarried? Literally, the Greek reads Have you been released from a woman? This is because we have a Greek word (luō) that we have considered previously. We stated that in our passage of study, that is, 1 Corinthians 7:27, the Greek word has the sense of “to be free.” Since the word is associated with the Greek word that means “woman,” it means to be free from a woman without an indication of previous marital bond. In effect, the word indicates that a person is free from being in marital state without telling us how that state was arrived, that is, whether a person has never been married or was married but divorced or in what sense that person is free from the woman. Our consideration of the first question of our verse indicates that in this second question a person addressed could have been freed from marriage in the sense of going through divorce or have been divorced in the sense of breaking off a betrothal. Each of these meanings is possible. This notwithstanding, it seems the apostle was not so much concerned with how a person is free from the obligation of marriage but that the person addressed is unmarried at the time of the apostle’s question. Hence, his second command assumes a person is unmarried.
Again, the rhetorical question of 1 Corinthians 7:27 Are you unmarried? or literally Have you been released from a woman? requires the answer “yes” so that we have the command Do not look for a wife. The Greek indicates that there were those in process of finding a wife because, as in the first command, we have a Greek negative particle (mē) that when used with a present tense in the Greek to issue a command, as in our verse, has the sense of stopping an action in progress. Consequently, the command is for such individuals to stop it. In effect, the instruction is that those who are already negotiating marriage process should halt it until a future time when things become better for them in Corinth. It is important we emphasize that the apostle’s second command is based on the troubling situation in Corinth otherwise, the apostle’s command would conflict God’s command for people to marry. We will say more about this later.
The command to stop any marriage process taking place would certainly cause problem for those who hear it. For one thing, they would be confused because the Scripture is clear that marriage is God’s will for humanity and the apostle himself had instructed those who are single to marry to avoid sexual immorality. Furthermore, they would wonder if because they are believers that it would be sinful to marry especially as there were those who were advocating celibacy in Corinth. To quell such concern and probably to give assurance to those who might say that they do not care what the apostle said, they would want to marry because it is biblical to do so, the apostle indicated that it is not a sin to marry. It is this fact he conveyed emphatically in several ways in 1 Corinthians 7:28. He first addressed a man who was contemplating marriage or is already betrothed to a woman in the first clause of 1 Corinthians 7:28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned. The Greek indicates that the apostle was emphatic when he wrote this conditional clause because the phrase but if of the NIV is more literally but even if since the apostle used two Greek particles (de and kai) that if used together serve as marker of heightened emphasis. This being the case, the apostle was being emphatic in what he stated when he wrote But if you do marry, you have not sinned. The clause contained another Greek particle that indicates the apostle was being emphatic in what he stated. It is a Greek particle (ouk) translated “not” in the NIV that may be used in an emphatic negation of a statement. It conveys that something is absolutely not the case depending on what is being denied. In the sentence you have not sinned the apostle denied in an emphatic manner that anyone that marries has sinned. You see, the word “sinned” is translated from a Greek word (hamartanō) that means “to do wrong” or “to sin” in the sense of violating divine law as also confirmed by the Holy Spirit through Apostle John in 1 John 3:4:
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
Apostle Paul has conveyed to the Corinthians that what he writes is from the Holy Spirit. So, if he commands anyone not to marry or not to seek to marry then anyone who disobeys would be sinning against God. However, as we have already stated, the Scripture is clear that God wants humans to marry and procreate and also the apostle had encouraged marriage to avoid sexual immorality. Hence, the apostle carried the burden of making clear that what he wrote although through the Holy Spirit is as situational advice that if violated does not arise to the level of sin in the sense of violation of God’s word. It is for this reason that he conveyed that a believing man who marries despite the command to stop marrying based on the distressing situation in Corinth has not sinned.
So far, we have indicated two ways the apostle showed that he was emphatic in what he conveyed in verse 28 – the use of two Greek particles together and another particle that is used in the sense of “absolutely not” but there is another indicator of his being emphatic. It is his repetition of what he stated previously that was addressed to a believing man now addressed to a believing woman that might be contemplating marriage. A believing man would be marrying a believing woman so to emphasize this the apostle repeats the same declaration addressed to the man to the woman in the second clause of 1 Corinthians 7:28 and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. He repeated the fact that if a virgin woman decides to marry that that would not be a sin despite the fact, he issued a command to stop getting married.
It was not sufficient for the apostle to explain that it is not a sin to marry since the readers would then wonder the reason the apostle issued the command in the first place. Hence, the apostle explained that the command he issued should be understood in the context of the situational advice he offered. The reason for the instruction is that marriage in and of itself because of sin is difficult but its difficulty is exasperated by distressing condition of the type that existed in Corinth that the apostle had in mind when he wrote the passage we are considering. It is this explanation that the apostle gave in the clause of 1 Corinthians 7:28 But those who marry will face many troubles in this life. Literally, the Greek reads but such ones will have trouble in the flesh. This is because of the Greek words used in describing the key words of the clause in the NIV.
The first key word “troubles” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (thlipsis) that no doubt means “trouble,” but it has other nuances. The word may mean “hardship” as Apostle Paul used it to reference his and his team’s experience in Asia as we read in 2 Corinthians 1:8:
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.
The word may mean “distress” as in 2 Corinthians 2:4:
For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 7:28, the word is used in the sense of “distress” to refer to an oppressive state one experiences due to physical, mental, social, and economic adversity. Marriage, as we have said, because of sin, is difficult and so it can bring on a person an oppressive state that is due to economic adversity or mental anguish of dealing with being married.
The second key word of the clause But those who marry will face many troubles in this life in the NIV is “life” that is translated from a Greek word (sarx) that literally means “flesh.” The Greek word can mean the soft material that covers the bones of a human or animal body and so means “flesh” as in 1 Corinthians 15:39:
All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another.
The word can refer to the human nature or physical body. It is in the sense of human nature that the word is used in elaborating the spiritual law of sowing and reaping in Galatians 6:8:
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
It is in the sense of physical body that the word is used about a husband’s care of his wife in Ephesians 5:29:
After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—
The word can refer to people with the same ancestral connection or earthly descent as this is the sense that the apostle used it to refer to fellow Israelites in Romans 11:14:
in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.
The phrase my own people is more literally my own flesh. Clearly, the apostle did not mean his own body as what needs to be saved but his fellow Jews or people with the same ancestral connection with him so that the meaning of “flesh” is people of the same earthly descent or compatriot. Another meaning of the Greek word refers to the outward side of life as determined by normal perspectives or standards. It is this meaning that is reflected in 1 Corinthians 1:26:
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
The phrase by human standards is literally according to flesh. It is in this sense of the word that the apostle used it to indicate that from the time of his conversion that he longer evaluated people according to the standards of this world by which people evaluate others in terms of outward appearance, social status, ethnicity, or wealth in 2 Corinthians 5:16:
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
The phrase from a worldly point of view is more literally according to the flesh. I hope that you can say the same thing the apostle stated here. Anyway, in our passage of 1 Corinthians 7:28, the word has the sense of “life here on earth” as that with physical limitations. Hence, the apostle’s point is that marriage on this planet is plagued with many distressful situations due to life’s activities. People who are married, as we have stated, may face hardship because of their finances or relationship of interacting with each other. But these are made more difficult if the couples are under external distress of the type that they could do nothing about. In referencing troubles or distress of this life, he did not mean that that is a reason not to marry but a reason not to marry when it is evident that believers are under external pressure brought about on them by factors, they have no control. He did not stop with that statement, so he went on to add further explanation or reason for what he wrote.
The apostle’s further explanation or reason for the instruction not to marry under certain conditions of life is given in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 7:28 and I want to spare you this. This clause although may be regarded as connecting the previous clause of the verse in a way that indicates continuity and so the Greek particle (de) used may be translated “and” but it is probably that the apostle intended for the Greek particle to be understood in the sense of “and for this reason” so that it should be translated “so” leading to the translation so I want to spare you this. The clause we are considering is a demonstration of the apostle’s pastoral care for those in Corinth. He is concerned that they do not complicate their lives during a crisis. A good pastor should always be concerned with the flock that he shepherds that he should offer advice to them when he sees that they are about to do something although not sinful but may cause difficulties due to the presence of sin in people. Thus, the apostle states that his reason for the situational advice from the Holy Spirit is as we read, I want to spare you this. The word “spare” is translated from a Greek word (pheidomai) that may mean “to refrain” as it is used by Apostle Paul to indicate he abstained from boasting, as stated in 2 Corinthians 12:6:
Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.
The word may mean “to spare” in the sense of to save from loss or discomfort as it is used to describe what God did for us in Christ in Romans 8:32:
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
It is the meaning “to spare” in the sense of saving or relieving from an experience that it is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 7:28. The point is that the apostle’s love is manifested in the command not to marry during a crisis situation. Love demands doing something to ward off any future problem for the object of one’s love. It is for this reason that parents discipline their children when raising them as implied in Proverbs 23:13–14:
13Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. 14Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.
Love, as we indicated, for a child requires disciplining the child but when discipline is not applied that is a sign of lack of love as that is what is conveyed in Proverbs 13:24:
He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.
Because love may involve actions that may be unpleasant, the one who loves another should be concerned with doing something that will spare the object of love from hurt. Hence, a pastor who cares for his congregation should teach and warn of those things that would cause problem in the future for believers the Lord had made him an overseer. His love for the congregation must expressed through the teaching of God’s word that will ensure believers in his congregation and not harmed by foolish decisions that come because of ignorance of truth. As we end this study, let me remind you of the message of 1 Corinthians 7:17-28 which is there are appropriate and inappropriate concerns of one’s status quo after salvation. The appropriate concern you are to have is to ensure that following your salvation that you please the Lord, that is, to live in such a way to reflect the Lord Jesus Christ regardless of your status quo as defined by the world.
06/12/20