1 Corinthians 7:1-7 Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
In this focus today we see Paul fighting against the mores of the Greeks and Romans at that time. These Corinthians were in a Greek culture where immorality was considered normal. Men especially had license to do many things that Christians would consider immoral. Once a Greek woman married she was to have fidelity to her children and to her husband. In Romans 1 we see men and women in the Roman Empire chasing after experiences of “shameful lust” activities. Sexual activities of all kinds have been part of the human condition from the beginning and most of it not merely for procreation. Men and women have been blessed by God with a sexual passion for each other, a God-given passion for the purpose to fill the earth with humankind for God’s glory. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:28) Sexual activity is natural, a prominent part of life. We see in Song of Solomon the fantasizing of two young people about the other’s attractiveness: their desire to have physical intimacy wth each other. There I will give you my love. How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights! (Song of Songs 7:12&6) Love is an important part of intimacy: the desire to be bound together physically with your lover, to be one with her or him. Paul warns Timothy as a young man to be focused on oneness with God and not on sexual activity with women. Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. (2 Timothy 2:22) We see in the above focus that Paul has placed himself within this milieu of oneness with God. He is recommending this lifestyle to others so that they might give themselves completely to God. Of course this is a very unnatural lifestyle for a human being who was given by God the passion for sexual activity. In answering a question given to him, Paul answers, It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. He wishes that all men and women could live life as he is living life for God. For him the purpose of his life was to spread the Good News to all, especially to the Gentiles who are caught up with all kinds of illicit sexual activity, none of which God desired for mankind from the beginning. Paul tells these Greeks, I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. But some of you have the ability to not have to be solely focused as I am on God and still carry the Good News effectively to the world, so get married if it is your desire. God can bless your lifestyle, married or not married.
Paul’s dedication to the Lord was intense because he had been given by Jesus a special commission to preach the Good News to the whole world. He had been blinded by Jesus for three days, and in those three days he had to consider seriously what it means to know God through the work of Jesus Christ. Up until the road to Damascus, Paul was a virulent enemy of Jesus. He hated this person Jesus, for Jesus to him was an apostate to the truth of knowing God through the law. Everything Paul was, Jesus was not. Paul was the hypocrite that Jesus spoke against. As a rabbi Paul had deemphasized the grace and mercy of God, the weightier things of the law, and had chosen to emphasize the regulations and strictures of the law, placing the heavy burden of the Law and the rabbi’s demands rigidly on the backs of the people. Paul was a Pharisee, the religious police of that era. He thought true holiness was earned through complete obedience to every regulation and law that the rabbis demanded. Now as a Christian, Paul’s previous life had been turned upside down. The weightier things in serving God became primary in his life. In front of the mob in Jerusalem that wanted to kill him, Paul defends himself before them by recounting his experience with the Lord, and how he became a follower of Jesus and a minister to the Gentiles. “‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” (Acts 22:19-21) When Paul told the Jerusalem Jews that he went to the immoral Greeks to teach about God, the crowd again tried to kill Paul. The Roman garrison saved Paul’s life. But for the Jews to hear that Paul was ministering the Good News to the wicked Gentiles was more than the crowd could accept as being good. The Jews were quite aware of the Gentiles’ lifestyle; they knew of their sexually deviant and immoral behavior. They knew their temples to their goddess were but brothels. For Paul to teach about their God to such people was an anathema that could not be tolerated, so they tried to kill Paul. Of course Paul was in the business of changing the lifestyle of the Greeks to the holiness of God. He taught against the Greeks' sexually immoral behavior. Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:15-17) The Greeks' understanding of sexual behavior was strongly attacked by his presentation of the Good News. He tells them that a Christian should be united in Christ, one with him in holiness. They are to have one mate to unite with in a intimate relationship, no others. Since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. Within the sanctity of marriage, people are to engage in sexual activity. Outside of marriage it is condemned by God and He will not bless such relationships.
Paul’s ministry about sexual relationships is based on his understanding that the Lord will come soon and that each person should dedicate his life completely to God and not be distracted by other concerns in life. Later on in this chapter he tells the once promiscuous Greeks that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. (1Corinthians 7:29-31) Paul’s life was dedicated to the Lord completely because he felt the time was short; the Lord would be coming soon to collect those who are his own. Therefore, Paul traveled thousands of miles in the ancient world to tell them of the Good News, to prepare them for the Lord’s return. He traveled in the lands of very immoral people, instructing them that there is a better life to live, one that is less chaotic and disruptive, a life of fidelity to one’s mate and to God. But Paul also knows that infidelity and miscreant behavior have been part of the Jewish experience too. The prophet Malachi cries out loudly to the Jews to come back to the Lord in fidelity to him and to their partners in marriage. Here is another thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure. You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows. Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. “For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.” (Malachi 2:13-16) We see in this passage what Jesus said about Jewish people not staying married to another because of the coldness of their hearts. Sexual activity is a strong component of the human existence. If not controlled, deviant and extra marital sexual experiences will spread like a virus. Paul had told the Corinthian church to cast out the man who was boldly living in an incestuous relationship with his mother. Why? Because this kind of behavior is like yeast: it will spread just as deviant sexual behavior has become a part of the Greek culture. Paul was fearful that this unnatural behavior would destroy the fidelity of the church to others and to God. When disobeying God and the harmony of life as He constructed it, sin becomes natural, darkness becomes accepted. Sadly and truly, God will judge such behavior as not his will and destruction will follow. So faithful breakfast companions, put Christ first in your life, jettison lascivious, immoral, and adulterous thoughts from your minds. You have been bought by the precious blood of Jesus. You are now to live his life in holiness in thoughts and actions. When you fail, know for sure God forgives a repentant heart. David had a contrite heart, and God counted him as very precious to him, even Jesus came from his lineage. Accept your place in Christ and rejoice in him.
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