Commentary - 1 Corinthians 7:25-31

Bird's-eye view

In this section of his letter, the Apostle Paul turns to address a specific question from the Corinthian church regarding virgins, that is, those who have never been married. He navigates these delicate waters with pastoral wisdom, carefully distinguishing between a direct command from the Lord and his own apostolic, Spirit-guided judgment. The overarching theme is eschatological urgency. Paul's advice is not timeless in the sense of being disconnected from history; rather, it is profoundly timely, shaped by what he calls "the present distress." He argues that because the "time has been shortened" and "the form of this world is passing away," Christians ought to cultivate a kind of radical detachment from all earthly arrangements, whether marriage, sorrow, joy, or commerce. This is not a call to asceticism or a denigration of God's good gifts. It is a call to live in light of eternity, to hold all things loosely, and to prioritize the kingdom of God above all the entanglements of this present, passing age. Marriage is good and not sinful, but in a time of crisis, it brings with it "trouble in this life" that Paul, in his pastoral love, wishes to spare them.

The central thrust is a reordering of priorities. The Christian life is to be lived with a constant awareness that the current world system is temporary. Therefore, the most foundational human institutions and experiences, marriage, weeping, rejoicing, buying, must be relativized. The married should live as though not married, not by neglecting their duties, but by not allowing marriage to become their ultimate reality. The sorrowful should not be consumed by their grief, nor the joyful by their celebration. The world and its goods are to be used, but not clung to. This is a radical call to live as pilgrims and sojourners, whose true citizenship is in heaven and whose ultimate hope is fixed on the age to come, which has already broken into the present.

Outline

Context In 1 Corinthians

This passage sits within a larger section (Chapter 7) where Paul is responding to a series of questions the Corinthians had posed to him, likely in a letter. The chapter deals broadly with marriage, singleness, divorce, and related matters. He has just addressed mixed marriages (a believer married to an unbeliever) and the general principle to remain in the station in which one was called (vv. 17-24). Now, he turns to the specific issue of "virgins," those who are not yet married. This entire discussion is colored by a strong sense of eschatological expectation. Paul's advice is intensely practical, but it is driven by his theological understanding of the times. The "present distress" he mentions is likely the looming persecution and societal upheaval culminating in the judgment on Jerusalem in A.D. 70, which for that generation of believers was an imminent, world-altering event. This context is crucial; without it, Paul's counsel can be misread as a general preference for celibacy over marriage, which would contradict other Scriptures that highly esteem marriage (e.g., Eph 5; Gen 2).

Key Issues

The Present Distress

To understand this passage, we have to get our historical bearings. When Paul speaks of "the present distress" (anagkē), he is not referring to the general, low-grade trouble that all Christians in all ages face. He is referring to a specific, acute crisis that was upon that generation. Jesus had prophesied in the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24) that a time of unparalleled tribulation would come upon that generation, culminating in the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem. This was the final death rattle of the old covenant order. Paul, writing just a decade or two before that cataclysm, is giving practical, wartime advice. It is one thing to face persecution as a single man. It is another thing entirely to watch your wife and children be thrown to the lions. Paul’s counsel to consider remaining single is not a theological statement about the inferiority of marriage, but rather a pragmatic and compassionate piece of advice for believers living on the edge of a historical precipice. He wants to spare them the unique and terrible afflictions that marriage and family would bring in that specific time of distress. We must read this with the smoke of A.D. 70 on the horizon.

Verse by Verse Commentary

25 Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy.

Paul begins this new section by making a careful distinction. On some matters, like the indissolubility of marriage for believers (1 Cor 7:10), he could appeal to a direct command given by Jesus during His earthly ministry. On this question, concerning those who have never married, he has no such specific "word from the Lord." But this does not mean his advice is merely human opinion. He gives his judgment or opinion (gnōmē) as an apostle, one who has received the Lord's mercy and has been made trustworthy. This is authoritative, Spirit-inspired apostolic counsel. He is not just spitballing ideas; he is applying foundational gospel truths to a specific pastoral situation with the authority of his office. He is showing us how a Spirit-filled mind reasons from principle to practice.

26 I think then that this is good because of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is.

Here is the core of his advice and the reason for it. The word "good" here (kalon) does not mean morally superior, but rather advantageous, suitable, or fitting. Given the "present distress," the impending crisis, it is advantageous for a person to remain as he is. If you are single, it is a good time to stay single. This is not a universal command for all time, but a specific application for a specific time. The foundation of the advice is historical and eschatological. The times are dire, and certain life choices are more prudent than others in such a climate.

27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

Paul applies the principle in two directions, reinforcing his earlier point to "remain in the calling in which he was called" (v. 20). If you are already married ("bound to a wife"), the present distress is no excuse to abandon your covenant responsibilities. Do not seek a divorce. Marriage is a binding oath, and you must be faithful to it. But if you are unmarried ("released from a wife," which here simply means not married, whether through widowhood or never having been married), then do not be anxious to change your state. Do not actively seek a wife. The principle is stability in a time of instability. Don't make major, life-altering changes that will add entanglements and anxieties when the storm is about to break.

28 But if you marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.

Paul is extremely careful to guard against misunderstanding. He does not want his prudential advice to be twisted into a new legalism. If you do get married, you have not sinned. If a young woman marries, she has not sinned. Marriage is a good, creational ordinance. It is not wrong. However, Paul adds a pastoral warning. Those who marry in such times "will have trouble in this life" (thlipsin tē sarki), literally "tribulation in the flesh." This refers to the external pressures, persecutions, and sorrows that having a family will inevitably bring in a time of crisis. Paul's motive is pure compassion: "I am trying to spare you." He is like a loving father warning his children not to take on extra burdens right before a long and difficult journey.

29 But this I say, brothers, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none;

Now he moves from the specific situation to the underlying theological reality for all believers. The "time has been shortened." The eschatological clock is ticking. The coming of Christ in judgment upon the old covenant world is near. This reality must radically reorient everything. The first application is to marriage. Those who are married should be "as though they had none." This is not a license for neglect. A Christian husband must love, cherish, and provide for his wife as Christ does the church. Rather, it means that marriage, as central as it is, must not be the ultimate thing. A husband's ultimate loyalty is to Christ, not his wife. The demands of the kingdom must take precedence over the comforts and claims of the home. He must live with a certain detachment, recognizing that the institution of marriage itself belongs to this present age, not the age to come (Matt 22:30).

30 and those who cry, as though they did not cry; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess;

Paul extends this principle of sanctified detachment to other fundamental areas of human experience. Those who weep should not be swallowed by their sorrow, because our ultimate hope transcends earthly tragedy. Those who rejoice should not be carried away by their happiness, because our ultimate joy is not in earthly circumstances. Those who buy should not act like absolute owners, because we are stewards, not possessors. Everything we have is a temporary loan from God. This is a call to hold all earthly things with an open hand. Our emotional lives and our economic lives must be governed by the reality that this world is not our final home.

31 and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it. For the form of this world is passing away.

He summarizes the principle: we are to use the world, but not "use it to the full" or abuse it. The Greek has the sense of not becoming engrossed in it or exploiting it. We are in the world, but not of it. We engage in culture, commerce, and relationships, but we do so as pilgrims passing through. And here is the ultimate reason: "For the form (schema) of this world is passing away." The whole outward arrangement, the structure, the fashion of this present age is temporary. It is like a stage set that is being dismantled. The wise man does not set his heart on the props and scenery. He lives for the reality that will remain when the curtain falls. For Paul's immediate audience, this had a concrete, historical fulfillment in the collapse of the Jewish world in A.D. 70. For us, it applies to the entire inter-advental age. We live in a world that is fading, and we must live in light of the eternal kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Application

While the "present distress" of Paul's day has passed, the principle he establishes is perennial. We too live in an age that is passing away. We may not be facing the imminent collapse of our nation, but we are all living on the brink of eternity. This passage is a potent antidote to the materialism and sentimentalism of our age. It calls us to a radical, Christ-centered detachment.

For the married, it is a call to ensure that our marriages, as good as they are, are not idols. Our spouse is not our savior. Our ultimate identity is not "husband" or "wife," but "in Christ." Our homes should be outposts of the kingdom, not cozy bunkers to hide from it. For the single, it is a call to see their state not as a problem to be solved, but as a strategic opportunity for undivided devotion to the Lord. For all of us, it is a call to examine our relationship with our emotions and our possessions. Are we mastered by our griefs and our joys? Are we living as owners or as stewards? Do we use the good things of this world with gratitude, but without letting them capture our hearts?

The world is constantly trying to press us into its mold, to make us value what it values. But the form of this world is passing away. We must therefore cultivate the mindset of pilgrims. We must learn to weep as those who will one day have every tear wiped away, to rejoice as those whose truest joy is yet to come, and to buy and sell as those who are laying up treasure in heaven. This is not a gloomy asceticism, but a joyful freedom. It is the freedom of knowing that the best is yet to come, and that nothing in this fading world can compare to the weight of glory that awaits us.