Bible Study 1 Corinthians 7
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1 Corinthians 7 · WEB

Marriage, Singleness, and Calling

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Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman.
2But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
3Let the husband render to his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.
4The wife doesn't have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise also the husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but the wife.
5Don't deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that Satan doesn't tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
6But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment.
7Yet I wish that all men were like me. However each man has his own gift from God, one of this kind, and another of that kind.
8But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am.
9But if they don't have self-control, let them marry. For it's better to marry than to burn with passion.
10But to the married I command—not I, but the Lord—that the wife not leave her husband
11(but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband not leave his wife.
12But to the rest I—not the Lord—say, if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is content to live with him, let him not leave her.
13The woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is content to live with her, let her not leave her husband.
14For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
15Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace.
16For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
17Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies.
18Was anyone called having been circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised.
19Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.
20Let each man stay in that calling in which he was called.
21Were you called being a bondservant? Don't let that bother you, but if you get an opportunity to become free, use it.
22For he who was called in the Lord being a bondservant is the Lord's free man. Likewise he who was called being free is Christ's bondservant.
23You were bought with a price. Don't become bondservants of men.
24Brothers, let each man, in whatever condition he was called, stay in that condition with God.
25Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be trustworthy.
26Therefore I think that because of the distress that is on us, it's good for a man to remain as he is.
27Are you bound to a wife? Don't seek to be freed. Are you free from a wife? Don't seek a wife.
28But if you marry, you have not sinned. If a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have oppression in the flesh, and I want to spare you.
29But I say this, brothers: the time is short, that from now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none;
30and those who weep, as though they didn't weep; and those who rejoice, as though they didn't rejoice; and those who buy, as though they didn't possess;
31and those who use the world, as not using it to the fullest. For the mode of this world passes away.
32But I desire to have you to be free from cares. He who is unmarried is concerned for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
33but he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife.
34There is also a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband.
35This I say for your own profit; not that I may ensnare you, but for that which is appropriate, and that you may attend to the Lord without distraction.
36But if any man thinks that he is behaving inappropriately toward his virgin, if she is past the flower of her age, and if need so requires, let him do what he desires. He doesn't sin. Let them marry.
37But he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but has power over his own will, and has determined in his own heart to keep his own virgin, does well.
38So then both he who gives his own virgin in marriage does well, and he who doesn't give her in marriage does better.
39A wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives; but if the husband is dead, she is free to be married to whoever she desires, only in the Lord.
40But she is happier if she stays as she is, in my judgment, and I think that I also have God's Spirit.
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Summary

Answering specific Corinthian questions, Paul commends both marriage and singleness as gifts from God. Within marriage, spouses owe each other physical affection — neither has authority over their own body alone. The single and widowed may remain so if they have self-control, or marry rather than burn with passion. Married believers should not divorce; if a believer's unbelieving spouse is content to stay, the believer should stay too, since the unbelieving spouse and children are set apart by the believing one. Stay in the situation you were in when God called you — circumcised or not, slave or free — and let your standing with God reshape what those mean. Because of the present distress and the shortness of the time, those who can remain single will be freer to attend to the Lord without distraction; but those who marry have not sinned. The chapter closes by reaffirming that a widow is free to remarry, but only "in the Lord" — and Paul thinks she will be happier as she is.

Themes

  • Marriage and singleness as parallel callings
  • Mutual authority in marriage
  • Believers and unbelievers in mixed marriages
  • Contentment in one's calling
  • The shortness of time reframing daily life

Key verses

  • 1 Corinthians 7:17 — “Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk.”
  • 1 Corinthians 7:23 — “You were bought with a price. Don't become bondservants of men.”
  • 1 Corinthians 7:35 — “That you may attend to the Lord without distraction.”
  • 1 Corinthians 7:7 — “Each man has his own gift from God, one of this kind, and another of that kind.”

Context & background

Written c. AD 54-55 from Ephesus. The repeated phrase "now concerning" (7:1, 7:25, 8:1, 12:1, 16:1) signals that Paul is responding to specific questions the Corinthians had written him. Verse 1's "it is good for a man not to touch a woman" is most likely a Corinthian slogan Paul is quoting — possibly from a strain of ascetic believers who thought sex was now spiritually beneath them — which he then corrects. Verse 4 — each spouse having authority over the other's body — was a striking equality in a society where wives' bodies belonged to husbands in a way husbands' bodies did not. "I, not the Lord" / "not I, but the Lord" (vv. 10, 12) distinguishes between Jesus' direct teaching (e.g., on divorce, Mark 10) and Paul's apostolic judgment — both authoritative, but he is careful to label them. "The present distress" (v. 26) is ambiguous — perhaps an ongoing famine, persecution, or simply the eschatological tension of the last days. "The form of this world passes away" (v. 31) is the theological key: marriage, mourning, joy, possessions are all real but not ultimate.

Cross-references

  • Ephesians 5:22-33 — Paul's fuller teaching on Christian marriage.
  • Galatians 3:28 — "Neither slave nor free... you are all one in Christ" — the theology behind vv. 17-24.
  • Genesis 2:24 — Marriage's foundational oneness.
  • Mark 10:2-12 — Jesus' direct teaching on divorce, which Paul refers to in v. 10.
  • Matthew 19:10-12 — Jesus on celibacy "for the sake of the kingdom."

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    According to 1 Corinthians 7:3-5, what does Paul teach about sexual relations within marriage?

  2. Observe

    What is Paul's repeated counsel in verses 17-24 about one's calling, and what three examples does he give?

  3. Interpret

    Paul states a preference for singleness in verses 32-35, citing undistracted devotion to the Lord. What is the theological reason he gives, and does he condemn marriage?

  4. Interpret

    Paul says "the form of this world is passing away" (v. 31). How does that eschatological perspective shape his practical advice about marriage, mourning, rejoicing, and buying throughout verses 29-31?

  5. Apply

    Paul tells the believer married to an unbeliever not to leave the marriage if the unbeliever is content to stay (vv. 12-13), saying the unbeliever is "sanctified" through the believer. How might this shape how a Christian in a spiritually mixed marriage thinks about their daily life at home?

  6. Apply

    Paul writes, "You were bought with a price. Don't become bondservants of men" (v. 23). How does this call apply to a believer who is anxiously trying to please a boss, parent, or social group in ways that compromise their conscience?

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