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Relationship Status: Fully Devoted to Jesus - 1 Corinthians 7:25-40

Sermon Series: Confused?

It’s funny how different things can shape our present perspective on life. For example, think about your normal nightly routine and the things that you do just before going to bed. You probably go around turning lights off, brush your teeth, and check to see if your cell phone needs re-charging. But think about how that nightly routine might change if you watch a scary movie or television show just before going to bed. Does that change your nightly routine? Probably! At least for a couple of nights, right? After you watch something scary you typically add a few more things into your nightly routine. You probably check all the locks on your doors and windows multiple times to make sure no strange person or thing gets in. Instead of turning all of the lights off you probably leave one or two on. You take a few minutes to peek into closets and under beds; and instead of just checking to see if your phone is charged you probably make sure that there are emergency personnel on speed dial.

It’s not just scary things that change our present perspective though. Think about how our perspective and routines change before a big test, exam, or job review. Think about how our perspective and routines change before we go off to college or before we graduate. Think about how our perspective and routines change before we get married. When those defining days and events are coming they can alter the way we think about things and the way we live our lives. When a big exam or job review is coming you spend a little less time watching television at night and spend a little more time preparing for the test or review. When a graduation is coming you spend less time goofing off and more time sending out resumes and apartment shopping. When you are getting ready to get married you spend less time going to the movies and more time going to Target and Bed, Bath, & Beyond in order to register for gifts and secure items that you will need when married.

It seems that we all have present perspectives that are shaped by different things. In fact it seems that for most of us our present perspective is always fluctuating and changing because the situations and the things around us are always fluctuating and changing. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes different days, different situations, and different events make it necessary to prioritize things differently or to slightly alter our perspective. But at the same time we can’t be people who are constantly being blown about in different directions by the changing winds of life – there have to be some foundational anchors that always shape our perspective and which keep us on a given course. In this week’s text Paul is going to address that life principle while demonstrating how it applies specifically in the lives of those who are engaged to be married.

The Gospel’s implications in regards to marriage seemed to be confusing the believers at Corinth in many ways. As chapter 7 began Paul noted that the church had written him with questions concerning sexual intercourse within marriage and was seeking clarity on what believers in Christ were to practice. Then moving on from that issue Paul spent a majority of his time in verses 8-24 addressing marriage and divorce in order to clarify what God’s desire was for those who were believers in Christ and who were currently married. For the reader who is carefully reading and paying attention to the first part of chapter 7, he or she is able to discern that there were some within the church at Corinth who were instructing the women that they should not engage in sexual intercourse with their husbands, and that some within the church at Corinth were teaching that divorce was an acceptable practice among believers in Christ (if not actually encouraging some to pursue divorce).  Now put yourself in the shoes of an impressionable young person who is growing up in the church at Corinth. If you’re paying careful attention to what is being taught you’re hearing the message that sexual intercourse (even with your spouse) is a sin and that marriage isn’t something that ought to be maintained and fought for, but rather something that can be (and maybe even should be) dissolved. If you are a young unmarried individual, and perhaps even an engaged individual your mind is probably swirling with questions: “Is it okay for me to be engaged to my fiancé?” “If I follow through with marriage am I going to be committing a sin?” “What do I need to guard against once I am married?” And maybe even the question, “Does God want me to break this engagement off?” These were questions that the young people who were a part of the church at Corinth were wrestling with, and it appears something that they even wrote to Paul about seeking clarification on. So Paul turns his attention to these individuals and their questions/concerns in verse 25.

Verse 25 begins with the words, “Now concerning the betrothed . . .” (As a word of clarification here – Paul isn’t writing just to those who have never engaged in sexual intercourse, he is writing more specifically to those who have never engaged in sexual intercourse AND who are engaged to be married to another individual.) Next Paul continued verse 25 in great honesty and transparency. He said, “I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.” Paul stated clearly that the word of instruction he was going to give them was not a command of Jesus – Jesus had not actually given specific instructions to those who were engaged that they could go back to for assurance or certainty. But the word of instruction he was going to give them was nonetheless a trustworthy word of instruction because God, in His great mercy, had given Paul the ability to think through questions such as these through the lense of the Gospel. He then provided them with some words of instruction to help them learn to apply the Gospel to this topic of current confusion and concern. “I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife (this is a very generic term, which can also be translated as simply ‘woman’ and also as ‘betrothed woman’)? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that” (verses 26-28). As Paul looked through the lense of the Gospel at the situation these believers in Corinth were facing he said that he would encourage them by instructing them to remain in the state that they were currently in. The first thing that they had to realize was that repenting of sin and surrendering their lives to Christ meant that they were marked for persecution and spiritual warfare. Paul would write in another letter to his friend Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). The world had treated Jesus with hate and disdain, so followers of Christ could expect the same kind of treatment. Paul had experienced the truth of this reality as a believer in Christ and would continue to experience the truth of this reality in the months ahead. For Paul, in light of the present difficulties that came with being a believer in and follower of Christ, it didn’t seem prudent to weigh oneself down with other things that might distract from or hinder one in his or her pursuit of fulfilling the Great Commission that Jesus had given to all who would follow after Him. He spoke first to the men who were either already married or engaged and said to them, “If you are already united with a woman either through marriage or engagement, don’t look to dissolve that relationship. As a husband and wife you all can serve the purpose of the Gospel together and can put the picture of the relationship between Jesus and the church on display for others to see. By initiating a divorce you destroy the Gospel proclamation that your marriage can be and you have to take yourself off of God’s mission in order to initiate it and carry it out.” But then he spoke secondly to the men who were not united to a woman through either marriage or engagement and said to them, “If you are able, don’t look to get married or engaged. As a single individual you can devote more energy, effort, and time to the mission of the Gospel, so don’t commit to a relationship that will take time, energy, and effort away from the Gospel.” As Paul looked through the lense of the Gospel this is what he believed to be the most preferable solution for those seeking clarification. However, he is also quick to point out that his preference isn’t a command and that those who were single or engaged could indeed get married. In other words, pursuing and getting married was not a sin. When one sinner marries another sinner there is no way that they can have a perfect marriage without some conflict, strife, or hardships though. Worldly troubles are simply a reality for all marriages after the fall. So Paul says he just wanted to guard some, whom God had given the gift of celibacy, from the troubles that would come with a marriage by encouraging them to remain single.

In verses 29-35 Paul is going to give further explanation for why he would encourage singleness to those unmarried at the church at Corinth. The first reason dealt with focusing on an eternal perspective, rather than a present perspective. “This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives lives as though they had none, and those who mourn as through they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away” (verses 29-31). Paul reminded these believers in Christ that Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and ascension had marked the end of an important season of history. God had come through Jesus to save the world. The next time God would come through Jesus to judge the world. At that time the present world as we know it will be done away with and we will be ushered into our eternal destination – either an eternity separated from God in a literal place of torment called hell, or an eternity in the presence of God where sin’s effects can no longer be seen because everything will be made new. Paul encouraged these believers in Christ to let eternity be a foundational anchor which shaped the way they presently lived their lives. Jesus’ return could be any time and so they had to live with a sense of urgency. The Great Commission could not wait and shouldn’t be placed on the back burner - it had to be given priority so that when Jesus returned they would be found faithfully carrying out the mission and so that as many as possible could be won to saving faith in Jesus by the good news of the Gospel. Paul emphasizes this with a form of rhetoric intended to challenge the believers to let their lives be conditioned by eternity rather than the things of this world. Listen carefully to what he is not doing! He is not encouraging the believers in Christ to neglect their wives and to act as if they don’t have one. He is not encouraging the believers in Christ to stop mourning and rejoicing. Neither is he encouraging the believers in Christ to stop buying and selling goods. But rather than allowing these things alone to drive and shape their daily lives, Paul was encouraging them to let the good news of the Gospel serve as a foundational anchor and to drive and shape their lives. Paul said “the present form of this world is passing away.” The present form of this world is broken and marred because of sin. And because it is broken and marred by sin it is presently passing away. So there isn’t any reason to live life conditioned solely by the concerns of this present world. The truth is that a new, eternal form is coming. By His death, burial, and resurrection Jesus conquered sin and all of its effects. So not only has He redeemed us and in the process of making us new, He has redeemed all of creation and is in the process of making all of creation new and restoring it to the way God created it prior to the fall. The lives of the believers in Corinth (as well as the lives of believers today) needed to be lived in light of this eternal reality. We cannot and should not attempt to remove ourselves from the things of this present world. Marriage, buying, and selling, etc. are all things that can be a part of lives as believers in Christ. But we have to strive to maintain an eternal perspective shaped by the good news of Jesus and what He has accomplished so that it is the Gospel and eternity that conditions and shapes our present lives, rather than the concerns of this world.

Paul clearly understood that many who were a part of the church at Corinth were experiencing a great deal of anxiety over the direction they should go as engaged couples or single adults. Paul goes on in verse 32 to say, “I want you to be free from anxieties.” He then continues by giving another reason for his preference for celibacy. “The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please [or ‘care for’] the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband.” Paul saw that those who were unmarried (both men and women) could be more fully dedicated to pleasing Jesus in all that they do, and being fully set apart for Him in both their body and spirit. Paul saw those who were unmarried as having the opportunity to live all of their life for the glory of God. On the other hand, Paul saw those who were married as having their interests divided. Paul believed that a married man or woman would have greater difficulty giving all of themselves to the service of Christ and the proclamation of His glories. But again we have to be careful to see this for what it is – Paul’s preference. Notice what He goes on to say in verse 35, “I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.” Paul was aware that by sharing his personal preference some who had their hearts set on marriage would be discouraged or saddened – perhaps they would mistake his words of preference as a God-given rule that they were to be obedient to. So Paul is careful to encourage them by re-enforcing the fact that he wasn’t trying to lay additional restraints on them. He was only sharing what he thought was best so that they might have a look at what a life fully devoted to the Gospel might look like. But more than anything else, whether single or married, Paul wanted to encourage them to be fully devoted to Jesus! Yes, even those who were married Paul encouraged to be fully devoted to Jesus. Your first reaction to that might be to question if that is possible for a marriage. “Can two individuals who have made a commitment to one another through marriage be fully devoted to Jesus?” Perhaps your first though is, “No, because then they might be guilty of neglecting their spouse. A spouse who is fully devoted to Jesus might be seen by the other spouse as not being fully committed to the marriage relationship.” But think through that idea carefully from the perspective of another believer fully devoted to Jesus. A believer in Christ who is fully devoted to Jesus wants to encourage others and to help others become fully devoted followers of Jesus too. That means that a husband or wife who is fully devoted to Jesus is going to strive hard to help his or her spouse become a fully devoted follower of Jesus. It means that we take greater delight in knowing that our spouse’s greatest devotion lies with Jesus and not with ourselves. Our spouses are given to us as helpers and partners for life and ministry, but our spouses are not given to us for our own purposes or to glorify us – they exist for God and to put His glory and mission on display. So one's relationship status with others becomes a lot less significant than one’s relationship status with Jesus. Paul said that he was writing to help them secure their “undivided devotion to the Lord.”

Paul concludes his thoughts and clarifications on marriage with verses 36-40, “If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry – it is no sin. But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better. A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.” Based on the context and what some of these betrothed couples have been taught, it is easy to understand how some who were betrothed might think they were behaving inappropriately towards his or her fiancé. If some in the church were teaching that marriage was a sin and that intercourse within marriage was a sin, then those who were betrothed might start thinking that their engagement to another might be treating him or her in the wrong way. They might have thought that their desire to marry them or to even have intercourse with them was not proper and to follow through with both the marriage and intercourse would be to lead their spouse into sin. But Paul reassures those who were struggling with these feelings that they could go ahead and be married and that they would not be committing a sin against their future spouse or against Christ.

More than anything Paul wanted believers in Christ to be fully devoted to God and always having their lives shaped by the unchanging truth of the Gospel and eternity.  Lives lived in this manner would glorify God and be used by God to accomplish great things for His Kingdom.  Paul felt that being single was preferable for living out a life like this and encouraged those who were able to pursue life by these standards.  But at the same time, Paul fully realized that getting married was not a sin and that one could still be married and live a life fully devoted to God.  So Paul encourages believers, regarless of relationship status, to be fully devoted to Jesus!

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