Single and celibate or married?
1 Corinthians 7:1-9 (NLT)
Instruction on Marriage
7 Now regarding the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations. 2 But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.
3 The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. 4 The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.
5 Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another.
8 So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am. 9 But if they can’t control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with lust.
Examine the scriptures:
Single and celibate or married?
Context – Paul is addressing sexual immorality.
- Sexual immorality has no place in the life of a Christian.
- No other sin so clearly affects the body as sexual immorality does.
- Sex in marriage was designed by God to create a very special and unique relationship between a man and a woman. (Genesis and Ephesians )
1 Corinthians 7:1-9 (NLT)
Instruction on Marriage
1 Now regarding the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations.
This may not saying what it appears to be saying.
Look at the same verse in the AMP version. (The Amplified Bible is an English translation of the Bible produced jointly by Zondervan (subsidiary of News Corp) and The Lockman Foundation.)
1 Now as to the matters of which you wrote: It is good (beneficial, advantageous) for a man not to touch a woman [outside marriage].
- It is helpful to look at several different translations (or commentaries) when studying a passage of scripture.
- Sometimes we really do not know exactly what scripture is saying.
Paul may have been saying that it is good to be single and celibate.
Single and celibate may be good,
but we can also say marriage is good.
- Scripture clearly endorses marriage.
Sex in marriage was designed by God to create a very special and unique relationship between a man and a woman. (Genesis and Ephesians)
Psalm 127:3-5 (NLT)
3 Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him.
4 Children born to a young man
are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
5 How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!
He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.
The Song of Solomon describes numerous romantic settings.
In the scripture, Christ and the Church is a model for marriage.
Matthew 19:12 (NLT) (more later)
12 …. some choose not to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”
- It’s also o.k. not to be married.
BUT
2 But because there is so much sexual immorality,
each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.
2 But because of [the temptation to participate in] sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. (AMP)
Here Paul is endorsing marriage.
- Marriage is God’s only provision for sexual fulfillment.
3 The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. 4 The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.
5 Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
6 I say this as a concession, not as a command.
Single and celibate worked for Paul. Marriage works for others.
7 But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another.
God makes some able to live one way, others to live a different way.
Matthew 19:8-12 (NLT)
8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. 9 And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful.”
10 Jesus’ disciples then said to him, “If this is the case, it is better not to marry!”
11 “Not everyone can accept this statement,” Jesus said. “Only those whom God helps. 12 Some are born as eunuchs, some have been made eunuchs by others, and some choose not to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”
Jesus does not advocate celibacy for everyone and Jesus does not suggest that celibacy is superior to marriage.
1 Corinthians 7:17 (NLT)
Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you. This is my rule for all the churches.
- Singleness or marriage can be God’s plan for individuals.
8 So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am.
1 Corinthians 7:32-35 (NLT)
32 I want you to be free from the concerns of this life. An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and thinking how to please him. 33 But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife. 34 His interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.
- A married man has divided interests (I Corinthians 7:33-34).
9 But if they can’t control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with lust.
- It’s o.k. for a single person to stay single or it’s o.k. for a single person to marry.
