As Martin Luther looked at the words “the righteousness of God” on the page, he was troubled and confused. He was reading Romans 1:16-17, wherein Paul writes that the “righteousness of God is revealed from heaven.” However, Luther only had one understanding of God’s righteousness. He had been taught only of “the formal or active righteousness . . . by which God is righteous, and punishes unrighteous sinners”1 but never as a gift of righteousness from God. However, a moment of clarity then came to him as he studied the Scripture.
Luther writes, “At last, God being merciful, as I meditated day and night on [t]he connection of the words ‘the righteousness of God is revealed in it, as it is written: the righteous shall live by faith,’ I began to understand that ‘righteousness of God’ as that by which the righteous lives by the gift of God, namely by faith, and this sentence, ‘the righteousness of God is revealed,’ to refer to a passive righteousness in which the merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous lives by faith.’ This immediately made me feel as though I had been born again, and as though I had entered through open gates into paradise itself. From that moment, the whole face of Scripture appeared to me in a different light. . . . And now, where I had once hated the phrase ‘the righteousness of God,’ so much I began to love and extol it as the sweetest of words, so that this passage in Paul became the very gate of paradise for me.”2
Have you ever experienced something like that in your study of the Scripture? Perhaps you always thought of something a certain way, but then, reading the Scripture, your understanding was revolutionized. Maybe it was in thinking of God’s grace, or God’s sovereignty, or God’s jealousy. If you have, those are good moments that remind us that we must always be conforming our minds, hearts, and thoughts to what the Scripture teaches and not just to what we’ve always thought or believed. To have our thinking changed by the Scripture is incredibly healthy and necessary for believers.
Well, this morning, may provide us with an opportunity to do just that. Looking at 1 Corinthians 7:25-40 this week and especially discussing it with the interns led me to think that the way many evangelical believers think and speak about being single or being married is quite different from the way Paul writes about these things. And it led me to wonder if we don’t need to have an overhaul in our thinking on these issues.
In 1 Corinthians 7:25-40, Paul concludes his section in this letter where he has been giving the repeated exhortation to “remain as you are” (a variant of which we see in verse 26 of our text this morning – “remain as he is”). His point has been that there’s nothing that needs to change in your current circumstances—whether single or married, slave or free, circumcised or uncircumcised—in order for your to serve God and walk faithfully before him. In verses 25-40, Paul switches to focus on a specific group of people within the congregation, namely, the betrothed (i.e. those engaged to be married).
In light of what we saw earlier in chapter 7, with some Corinthians believing it might be good to practice celibacy with marriage, it is likely that these engaged couples were getting advice that they better not get married after all, if they wanted to be true and faithful servants of Christ. Perhaps the argument went something like this: “You know that living a life of celibacy is more spiritual. Even husbands and wives should put a stop to their sexual intimacy and practice celibacy if they want to be really spiritual. After all, look at Paul, or better yet, look at Jesus. Both were celibate. So, since you’re engaged and not yet married, go ahead and put a stop to your plans. Don’t marry this woman (or, to women, “don’t marry this man”) and remain celibate.” And the betrothed were no doubt feeling the pressure of this and probably had written Paul to ask about this.
Therefore, having already taken up the idea of celibacy within marriage being more spiritual and shooting down that idea in 7:1-16, he now turns to address the issue of whether or not those who are betrothed should get married. And his short answer is to merely give advice. That is, there’s no Christian command that must be followed in answering this question. It’s not sin for one believer to marry another believer and it’s not sin for a believer to remain single and not marry. The Lord never gave us a command on this issue. We have freedom. However, Paul does want us to hear his advice and understand why he gives it. Therefore, he begins in verse 25, writing, “Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.” And with that, he dives in to sharing his thoughts. And as he shares his thoughts, you’ll see that he references more than simply the idea of being single or being married. Therefore, what I want to do this morning is to highlight some truths of Paul’s teaching in this text, and I want to start speaking broadly and then move to speaking of singleness specifically. So, let me first note a broad truth that Paul shows us in verses 25-31.
Paul’s advice for remaining single if possible is to say, “Yes, that is best” in his opinion. But he’s not saying that because he agrees with the Corinthians’ argument that celibacy makes one more spiritual. It simply doesn’t. You don’t need to be free from a wife to be spiritual. Let’s look specifically at what he says in these opening verses. He writes, in verses 26-27, “I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.”
Now, what does Paul mean by “this present distress”? Some have suggested that there was a specific crisis that had happened in Corinth at that time. Commentators point to records that show a famine in the area. So, perhaps Paul is saying, “Look, if you’re single, I’m remain as you are, especially in light of this famine we’re going through.” After all, who wants to be responsible for feeding a whole family when there’s no food?
But I don’t think Paul means a certain particular crisis like a famine that may have been going on at the time when he writes “the present distress.” Rather, I think he simply means the tribulations and troubles that fill this time between the comings of the Christ. After all, Jesus told us that in this age, we would have troubles, tribulations, and sufferings. And they will not end until his return. Moreover, Paul gives us clues that he’s talking about merely the tribulations that fill this present age known as the “last days” when he says in verse 29, “the appointed time has grown very short” and then notes in verse 31 that “the present form of this world is passing away.”
Therefore, Paul is saying that his advice to the single person is to stay single because this world is filled with tribulations, and it will be until Christ returns. And if you marry, you only add to those worldly troubles. That’s what Paul says at the end of verse 28, “Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that.”
Now, what does Paul mean by that? Well, for one, I have a life insurance policy. Every month I have an amount of money taken out of my checking account to pay for a policy that will come to my wife if I die. And the reason I have that policy is because I’ve made five people dependent on me bringing home money that I would longer be bringing home if I died. I had to sit and think and plan about how Lili, Michael, Marie, Luke, and Nick would be taken care of if I were no longer able to provide for them financially. That’s a worldly trouble I must consider.
But you know when I didn’t consider that? When I was single, had no wife, and had no children, I had no life insurance policy. No one was dependent on me. I never asked or cared if my health insurance covered labor and delivery. Those weren’t issues. I was free of certain worldly troubles that I’ve now taken on in getting married and having a family. Paul in essence is saying, “In light of how troublesome the world and this age already are, I’d advise against getting married and adding to those troubles you already have.”
But again, it’s not a command from Paul. It’s his wise advice. That’s why he can say in verse 28, “But if you do marry, you have no sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned.” This isn’t an issue of sin. You can marry or not marry, and either is okay. Paul is giving wise advise, though, and it is that if you are single and can remain single, there are rich benefits to that.
Yet in the midst of this advice, he lays out something key as he explains what controls his thinking and leads to this advice. He says in verses 29-31, “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, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.”
What in the world does Paul mean by this? I mean, let me first say that he can’t mean what might come to our minds. He doesn’t mean, for example, that a married couple should act like they’re not married in that they practice celibacy, for example, because he’s already forbidden that, commanding the married couple to practice regular sexual intimacy. Nor can he be telling us not to mourn and rejoice because the Scripture tells us to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice. And he can’t mean that we should act like we don’t own anything because the idea of giving, which Paul greatly support, is not possible unless you first own something. And finally, he can’t mean that we shouldn’t deal with the world because Paul has already said that not associating with the immoral people in this world would mean going out of the world altogether, something Paul sees as preposterous. So, he doesn’t mean those things, but what does he then mean?
Well, notice a few things. First, notice what brackets these statements. In verse 29 he notes that the appointed time has grown very short, by which he means that Christ’s return and the passing away of this age and this world is on the horizon. Christ has done what is necessary for his return, and it’s on the horizon. Maybe it will happen soon, maybe not for hundreds of years, but it is set to happen any time. And that’s the same note he ends on, when he ends verse 31, writing, “For the present form of this world is passing away.” So, he’s putting in our minds an understanding that this world is not all there is. Our ultimate hope is an eternal age that will lead to this age and the things that belong to this age passing away.
Also notice that Paul expects us to practice the very things he’s discussing. Here’s what I mean. He expects some of us to have wives. He expects us to mourn. He expects us to rejoice. He expects us to buy. He expects us to deal with the world. Now, yes, he’s going to tell us a certain manner in which he practice being married, mourning, rejoicing, buying, and dealing with the world, but he expects us to be doing these things. So, he’s not telling us not to have wives, not to mourn, not to rejoice, not to buy, and not be deal with the world.
Well, then, what is he saying? Here’s what I think he’s saying. I think he’s telling us to realize that our greatest hope is not found in this world and if Christ is our greatest treasure, and we’ll have him forever, then nothing we have that is temporary can compare with our love for, contentment in, and delight in Christ. So, yes, feel free to get married. But don’t put your wife on the level of Christ. And don’t make your uttermost delight and the highest object of your affection your wife. That belongs to Christ alone. After all, marriage is a temporary reality that will not be present in the age to come. This means that if we’re saying, “I know I’m to love my family and so I want to show them that and create great memories,” and so you spend each weekend going on family trips, having family fun at the house, taking the kids to sporting events, playing board games together as a family, and disobey the Lord’s command to gather together with the body of Christ, you’re sinning. You’re treating your family as if they’re a greater treasure than Christ and obedience to his commands. You’re living married as if having a wife is the greatest reality there is. But it isn’t. Having Christ is.
And if something causes you to mourn or rejoice in this life and you mourn or rejoice as if losing something in this world is the greatest loss one could know or getting something in this world is the greatest joy one could know, then you’re wrong. Christ is your greatest joy, and you’ll never have to lose him. So, you mourn, yes. But you mourn knowing that you have that which can provide eternal joy by having Christ. And you rejoice, but you rejoice knowing that what is causing joy in this world is but a pale shadow of the joy you know in having Christ.
And you buy things and deal with the world in such a way that it’s okay to have possessions. However, those possessions can’t define your life because only Christ does. You hold loosely to all things of this world. Even what Christ tells us to love in this world we never put on the level of Christ as our treasure and Christ as our object of affection.
Now, why in the world does Paul go into that here? Why does he bring this up to support his wise advice that a single person should just remain single if possible? What does this have to do with singleness? Well, here’s what it has to do with singleness. Paul is saying that marriage is not and must never be the end-all, be-all. If you’re thinking, “If I could just have a wife (or, women, a husband), then I would have what I most desire and what would give me my greatest delight,” then you’re sinning with that thought. You’re treating a potential spouse like they can have the role in your life and provide the delight in your life that only Christ can give. Christ if your greatest treasure. Obeying Christ and devoting yourself to Christ is of much greater value. That must be your realization whether you’re single or married.
Now, keep that in mind before you hear this next point because it’ll make more sense if you understand the logical flow here. So, I’ve said to you that we should live with an understanding that Christ is our greatest treasure and that loving and obeying him is our greatest aim. So, if loving and obeying Christ must be our greatest aim and bring us our greatest delight because Christ is our greatest treasure then:
Let me lay out the logic here by way of an illustration. Imagine your greatest joy in life were running and running fast. And imagine that I found that about you, and I said, “I’ve got good news for you. You can keep eating the diet you’ve been eating because it will indeed help you to run and run quickly. However, I’ve got a food here that will help you run more and run even more quickly. Now, there’s nothing wrong with eating the diet you’ve been eating. It’s good. It’s good for you. It will help you. And I gain nothing personally by you eating this food that I’m offering you. I don’t get some commission; it’s free. I won’t even be offended if you don’t eat the food. But if I were you, and if running and running quickly were my greatest delight in life, then I would eat it because it’ll help you run and run more quickly even more than your current diet.”
Do you see the comparison? Paul’s not telling them that in his wisdom, they’d do well staying single because the Lord is going to give him a bonus for the number of single people in the world. He’s not even offended if we get married. He doesn’t even want them to be burdened by what he’s saying. He knows that not everyone has the gifts to be single and is equipped for it. He’s just saying that if Christ is your greatest treasure and getting to obey him and devote yourself to him is the aim of your life, the he wants you to know that singleness affords you an opportunity to devote yourself to that aim more whole-heartedly than getting married will.
That’s what we read in verses 32-35. Paul says, “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.”
Paul’s telling us that we need to realize that certain life choices invite more worldly troubles into our lives and divide our interests. It’s simply the case. This weekend we had an elders’ retreat, and the fact that I had a wife and kids made me eager to check on them, try to get back at a time early enough on Saturday so that I might relieve Lili from caring for the kids by herself and enjoy my wife and kids. I’m anxious about how to please them. That’s what marriage does, and it’s right to seek to care for your wife and kids. That’s what godly husbands do. But godly single men don’t have that extra anxiety about how to please his wife and kids. He simply is anxious about how to please the Lord, Paul says. So, just recognize that the married life invites more worldly things to be anxious about. They’re things it’s right to be anxious about, but more anxieties nonetheless.
And that brings us to our final specific point then:
Paul ends our text by addressing two groups. The single person who is potentially about to get married and the widow. And to both he says, it would be better in his opinion for them to remain single. He writes first of the single person who’s potentially to be married. He says, “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” (vv. 36-38).
Then, to the widow, Paul says, “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” (vv. 39-40).
We see in each case that we have freedom. The single person can marry. The widow can get married again. Now, they have to marry believers. However, Paul knows their heart is to obey the Lord and serve him. He knows their richest joy is found in being able to do that. So, if they can remain single, that’d be better than being married. If they can remain single, they’d be happier than if they were married. And Paul can say that because he trusts their hearts delight in the Lord and find great joy in being able to devote themselves in service to him wholeheartedly.
But he also knows that some struggle with singleness in such a way that they long to and need to get married, and so he says, “If you marry, you do well.” But he who remains single does better. All things being equal, singleness is simply preferential to marriage because it allows us to give ourselves in wholehearted devotion to the Lord.
I think all of that is straightforward enough. But here’s why I think this text might call us to change our paradigm. In our evangelical culture we don’t seem to exalt singleness as much as Paul does. And when we find someone of marriageable age who is single, we don’t thank God and rejoice that they are able to be a bit freer of some worldly anxieties and give themselves more in seeking to please the Lord. Rather, we’ve looked at them and encouraged discontentment. We’ve perhaps even said, “Oh, I’m so sorry.” Paul wouldn’t say that. Paul would rejoice, saying, “If you can stay that way, do. If you can’t, and you need to get married, that’s okay. But if you can stay single, that’ll be better because I know you find your greatest joy in serving the Lord, and singleness will allow you a bit more freedom to do that wholeheartedly.” So, let’s be more like Paul in this.
And for the single person, perhaps this text can be a paradigm changer for you as well. Are you walking around discontent, mourning for what you don’t have? Maybe it’s an opportunity for you to re-evaluate what brings you greatest joy and what is your greatest aim. I say that because if your greatest joy is found in Christ and your greatest aim is to serve him with your everything, then you’re in a great position. It may not be the place or status in life you hope continues forever, but it’s a great position. You can love Christ and devote yourself to him more freely than you’ll be able to should you get married someday. Now, if you don’t treasure Christ as much as you treasure getting a future husband and obeying him is not as much of an aim in your life as getting married, then you’ll find great discouragement in being single. But if Christ is your treasure and joy and obeying him and serving him your greatest aim, then I think you can find a blessing in your place in life perhaps you’ve not known before.
Therefore, let us remember this morning that we are all called to treasure the one who loved us, lived for us, died for us, and was raised for us, and let us pray that the Lord would equip all of us to do that, whether married or single so that we might show the world that our hopes are not found in this life only. Amen.