1 Corinthians 7 explained: Questions About Marriage and Singleness

Sex within marriage (vv. 1-6)

Translations differ on whether verse 1 quotes a slogan from the Corinthians' own letter (the NIV adds quote marks) or states Paul's own view. Paul answers that husband and wife each have a claim on the other's body, a strikingly mutual idea for its time, so they should stop having sex only briefly, by agreement, to focus on prayer. This is about mutual care and consent, never permission to force or pressure a spouse.

Singleness and divorce (vv. 7-11)

Paul, single himself, wishes others shared his gift for it, but says gifts differ and marrying is better than burning with desire (vv. 7-9). For married believers he passes on a teaching he credits to Jesus himself: do not divorce, and a wife who separates should stay single or make peace with her husband. Paul is not speaking about abuse here, and many churches teach that no one is required to stay where they are unsafe.

Married to a nonbeliever (vv. 12-16)

Speaking on his own authority rather than citing Jesus, Paul says a believer should stay with a willing nonbelieving spouse, who is 'sanctified' (set apart for God) through the marriage, while the children are 'holy' (v. 14). Scholars explain this differently, but most agree it does not mean the spouse is personally saved. If the nonbeliever leaves, the believer is no longer held (v. 15). Catholic teaching, in certain cases, and many Protestants read this as allowing remarriage, while others see only freedom from fighting to keep the marriage.

Stay as you were (vv. 17-24)

Faith does not require changing your outward status: a Jewish man need not undo his circumcision, the physical sign of belonging to Israel, and a non-Jewish man need not take it on, because obeying God is what counts (vv. 17-20). Paul tells slaves not to be troubled and calls them free in the Lord, but the Greek of verse 21 can mean either take freedom if you can (as the NIV renders it) or make the most of your present state, and he does not challenge slavery itself here.

Why stay single now (vv. 25-35)

Giving his own judgment, Paul advises staying as you are because of a hardship he says is pressing on them (v. 26) and because this world is passing away, though marrying is no sin. Scholars are unsure whether he meant persecution, hard times or an end he expected soon, but his stated aim is undivided attention to the Lord, not restriction (v. 35).

Marrying or not, and widows (vv. 36-40)

Translations differ sharply on verses 36-38: the ASV reads them as a father deciding whether to give his virgin daughter in marriage, while the NIV and most modern versions read them as a man deciding whether to marry his fiancée. Either way, marrying is right and not marrying is better in Paul's view, and a widow may remarry a fellow believer, though Paul thinks she will be happier single (vv. 39-40).

Key verse: 1 Corinthians 7:17

Where Christians differ

Christians differ over whether Paul's preference for staying single is a lasting teaching, as Catholic and Orthodox traditions hold in honoring lifelong celibacy vowed to God, or practical advice tied to the pressing hardship of his own time (v. 26), as many Protestants argue.

Something to think about

What do you think a person gains and gives up in time, attention and freedom by being single, or by being in a committed relationship?