E. Sex, Marriage, and Celibacy (7:1-40)
Paul’s total rejection of sexual immorality is the necessary preparation for his treatment of the appropriate place of sex within marriage. It is unnecessary to assume that either sexual indulgence or asceticism was widely practiced within the Corinthian community. Paul’s customary approach to ethical instruction is moderation, the middle course between legalism and license. The crucial issue here is not marriage per se but the place of sex within marriage. Some Corinthians concluded that sex itself, even within the bond of marriage, was sinful. Paul’s goal is to exclude this misunderstanding without opening the door to another. His pastoral counsel on the subject of sexuality is both grounded on clearly articulated principles and realistically adapted to various groups within the church.
Paul’s own singleness and his rigorous rejection of sexual immorality perhaps led some Corinthians to assume that he was sympathetic with the slogan, It is good for a man not to marry (v.1). But his mention of their letter at this point makes it likely that they, not he, were responsible for the slogan.
It is striking that nowhere in Paul’s discussion does he mention a major consideration in modern discussions of marriage and sex—mutual love. Equally striking, however, is the prominence he assigns the mutuality of marriage, balancing his advice to men with similar advice to women. This egalitarian stance resists both conventional firstcentury practice and contemporary ultraconservative Christian assumptions.
Paul opens ch. 7 with a discussion of the power and propriety of sex (vv.1-7). Throughout the chapter he applies the principle of the status quo (vv.17-24) to each of the groups within the church. By this principle Paul urges his hearers not to seek to change their marital status. Because believers belong to God regardless of their social status, they must not allow dissatisfaction with their lot in life to become an enslaving preoccupation (vv.23-24). His advice is also predicated upon the assumption that the time is short (vv.25-31). In light of the hastening end of history, all worldly relationships are relativized. Paul recommends not ascetic retreat from earthly life, but paradoxical detachment from even legitimate earthly preoccupations.
Paul addresses his advice to the single (vv.8-9), to the married (vv.10-11), to those married to non-Christians (vv.12-16), and to the virgins (vv.25-35). Paul’s lengthy counsel to this last group suggests that their situation was in need of particular attention. If these virgins are engaged people (v.36), the status quo principle would seem to trap them in a kind of limbo between single and married life. Paul summarizes his concerns in the conclusion of the chapter (vv.36-40), explaining the circumstances under which men and women should or should not marry.
The status quo principle arises from early Christian apocalyptic convictions, not from any fundamental commitment to social conservatism. Paul believed that by the intervention of God the world was about to end (see 7:26, 29a, 31b; 10:11). The continuation of the world for nearly two millennia may explain why few Christians today feel bound by Paul’s preference for celibacy. But even if we admit that he was short-sighted in his imminent eschatology, his more basic conviction that life is too short for trivial pursuits stands. We can agree that many troubles in this life are avoidable, without concluding that marriage is the occasion of such troubles (7:28b). Those who lack the gift of celibacy can still appreciate Paul’s pastoral concern to spare his converts needless grief (vv.32-35). The “as if not” existence Paul recommends in 7:29-31, not the single state, is his prescription for freedom from concerns (v.32). Engaged people need not be anxious about whether to marry or remain single. Both states are equally good.