1 Corinthians 2 - does Paul advocate marriage for all? [W.C. Ch.24:2]

Status
Not open for further replies.

Eoghan

Puritan Board Senior
[BIBLE]1 Corinthians 7:1-3[/BIBLE]

The asceticism of this group leads them to raise the question of abstinence within marriage,hence: "It is good for a man not to touch his wife."

By looking ahead we see that Paul does not advocate marriage for all (v26) yet here he does seem to do so, on the face of it. The fact of the matter is that he is advocating sexual relations, not for those who are unmarried (he deals with them separately) but for husband and wife, i.e. those who are already married.

Touch is a euphemism for sexual relations in verse 1 as is "have" in verse 2. Within marriage the due benevolence (euphemism) one to the other is a guard against immorality. I think it is in this sense that the Westminster Confession refers to the due exercise of marital obligations (euphemism) as a hedge against immorality.

In this regard I think the second proof text is stronger in advocating the unmarried enter into marriage (1 Cor 7:9) to avoid immorality. Having thus discovered that their calling is not celibacy.


If you are going to tell me I am wrong, which I welcome, then please explain why.
 
In verses 7-8 I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am. (1 Corinthians 7:7, 8 ESV)
And in verse 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. (1 Corinthians 7:27 ESV)
And 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. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please 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. 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. 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. (1 Corinthians 7:28, 29, 32-40 ESV)

So as Paul says if you cannot control yourself get married but if you cannot stay single so you can focus on the Lord
 
As a member of the Sanhedrin Paul would have been married - the question is did his wife divorce him when he became a Christian or did she die?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top