Eschatological Urgency for Ordinary Time Text: 1 Corinthians 7:25-31
Introduction: Reading the Times
The Corinthian church was a mess of sanctified trouble. They were gifted, zealous, and chaotically confused about a great number of things. And like many Christians today, they had a tendency to swing wildly between extremes. In this chapter, Paul is addressing their questions about marriage, and it appears some of them had adopted a kind of super-spiritual asceticism, a view that marriage was somehow less holy than singleness. Paul has to correct this, but he does so with a massive dose of eschatological realism. He is not giving them abstract principles for all people in all times without reference to the clock. He is giving them pastoral counsel for their specific moment in redemptive history.
We must understand what time it was on God's clock when Paul wrote these words. The old covenant world, centered on Jerusalem and its Temple, was in its death throes. The new covenant had been inaugurated in the blood of Christ, and the final, definitive sign of this transition was just over the horizon: the catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. This is what Paul means by the "present distress" and "the time has been shortened." He is not talking about the end of the space-time universe, but the end of the Judaic age. He is telling the Corinthians that a freight train is coming down the tracks, and it is therefore wise to travel light.
This is not, however, a call to abandon ordinary life. It is not a call to Gnosticism, to pretend that the material world is bad and that we should all retreat into monastic cells. The world is God's good creation. Marriage is God's good institution. Business, emotion, and culture are all part of the created order. Rather, Paul is teaching a kind of radical, God-centered detachment. He is teaching the Corinthians, and us, how to live in the world without being owned by the world. He is teaching us to hold all of God's gifts with an open hand, recognizing that the ultimate gift is the Giver Himself, and that the shape of this world is temporary. The set is being struck, and a new one is being built. This requires a radical reordering of our priorities.
The Text
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. I think then that this is good because of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 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. 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; 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; 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.
(1 Corinthians 7:25-31 LSB)
Trustworthy Opinion in a Time of Distress (vv. 25-28)
Paul begins by distinguishing between a direct command from the Lord and his own apostolic judgment, which is nevertheless inspired and authoritative.
"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. I think then that this is good because of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is." (1 Corinthians 7:25-26)
Paul is addressing the unmarried. When he says he has "no command of the Lord," he means that Jesus did not speak directly to this issue during His earthly ministry, as He did with divorce. But Paul is not just offering his two cents. He is an apostle, giving Spirit-inspired wisdom. His opinion is that of one made trustworthy by God's mercy, which means we are to take it with the utmost seriousness.
His counsel is shaped by a specific reality: "the present distress." This is the key that unlocks the passage. A time of intense persecution and societal upheaval was coming upon the Roman world, culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem. It is one thing to be thrown to the lions yourself. It is another thing entirely to watch your wife and small children be thrown to the lions. Paul is being intensely practical. In times of crisis, entanglements can become immense burdens.
Therefore, his general advice is to "remain as he is." This is a principle of contentment in our circumstances, but here it is applied with eschatological urgency.
"Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 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." (1 Corinthians 7:27-28)
Notice the balance. He is not anti-marriage. If you are married, stay married. Marriage is a covenant, and a time of distress is no excuse to break covenant. But if you are not married, he advises them to think twice before seeking marriage. Why? Not because marriage is sinful, but because it is difficult. "Such will have trouble in this life." The word for trouble here is thlipsis, the same root as distress. Marriage brings with it a host of responsibilities, cares, and attachments. In a stable, peaceful society, these are glorious blessings and responsibilities that build civilization. In a society that is coming apart at the seams, these same blessings can become sources of acute pain and anxiety. Paul's motive is pastoral: "I am trying to spare you." He knows that a married man has to worry about his wife and children, and in a time of persecution, that is a heavy, heavy load.
But he immediately guards against the over-scrupulous Corinthian error. "If you marry, you have not sinned." Marriage is not second-class. It is not a concession to the weak. It is a good, creational ordinance. But in certain seasons, it may not be prudent. This is wisdom, not moral law. It is better to marry than to burn with lust, even in a time of persecution. But if you have the gift of celibacy, a time of distress is a good time to exercise it for the sake of the kingdom.
The Shortened Time and the Great Reversal (vv. 29-31)
Now Paul broadens the principle. The impending historical crisis should reshape the Christian's relationship to everything in this world, not just marriage.
"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;" (1 Corinthians 7:29)
"The time has been shortened." The end of the old covenant age was imminent. This reality should press in on the believer and reorder his priorities. So what does it mean for a married man to live "as though he had none?" This is not a command to neglect his wife, to cease loving her, or to stop fulfilling his marital duties. Paul has already spent the beginning of this chapter commanding husbands and wives to give one another their conjugal rights. This is not a call to asceticism. Rather, it means that even the most central and important earthly relationship must not be your ultimate reality. Your marriage is not your functional savior. Your wife is not your ultimate hope. Your identity as a husband is subordinate to your identity as a servant of the most high God. In a time of crisis, you must be ready to put the kingdom of God first, even before the legitimate and good demands of your marriage. Your ultimate allegiance is to Christ, not your spouse.
"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;" (1 Corinthians 7:30)
Paul applies this principle of sanctified detachment to the whole range of human experience. Those who weep should weep as though not weeping. This does not mean Christians should be stoics, suppressing all emotion. It means that our sorrow must not be the sorrow of those who have no hope. We grieve, but we do not grieve as the world grieves, because we know that the present distress is temporary and that our ultimate joy is secure in Christ. Our grief is real, but it is relativized by a greater, unshakable reality.
Likewise, those who rejoice should rejoice as though not rejoicing. Our earthly joys, a good harvest, a successful business venture, the birth of a child, are real blessings from God. We should receive them with thanksgiving. But they are not ultimate. We must not cling to them as though they were the source of our life. Our joy must not be dependent on our circumstances, because the form of this world is passing away. If your ultimate joy is in your circumstances, you will be undone when your circumstances change. Our ultimate joy is in God, who never changes.
Those who buy should be as though they did not possess. This is a direct assault on materialism. We are to be stewards, not owners. Everything we have is a gift from God, entrusted to us for a short time. We are to use it, invest it, and manage it for His glory, but we must hold it with a loose grip. We are pilgrims, and we are not to load ourselves down with excess baggage. When the time comes, we must be ready to leave it all behind for the sake of the gospel. Our possessions must not possess us.
The Passing Form of the World (v. 31)
Paul concludes this section with the foundational reason for this radical perspective.
"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." (1 Corinthians 7:31)
We are to use the world, but not make "full use" of it. The image here is of someone who exhausts the world, who squeezes every last drop of pleasure and significance out of it. This is the pagan mindset. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. But the Christian knows that this world is not the whole story. We are to engage with culture, business, and society, but not as if these things were ends in themselves. We are to be in the world, but not of it. Our engagement is for a higher purpose: the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom.
And the reason is this: "For the form of this world is passing away." The word for form here is schema. It means the outward fashion, the way things are currently arranged. For the Corinthians, this referred to the entire socio-religious structure of the pre-A.D. 70 world, both Jewish and pagan. That whole system was being shaken to its foundations and was about to be swept away in judgment. The old heavens and earth of the Mosaic covenant were dissolving to make way for the new heavens and earth of the new covenant, which is the age of the Church.
This principle still applies to us. While the specific "distress" of A.D. 70 is past, we live in the age where the kingdom of God is advancing like leaven through the loaf. The kingdoms of this world are temporary arrangements. They rise and they fall. Their forms, their political structures, their cultural fashions, are all passing away. We are not to put our ultimate hope in any earthly system. Our citizenship is in heaven, and we are to live as ambassadors of that kingdom, using the things of this world without being captured by them. Our hearts must be set on the permanent city, the kingdom that cannot be shaken.
Conclusion: A Loosely-Held World
The Christian life is a life of radical engagement and radical detachment, held in beautiful tension. We are not Gnostics who despise the material world. God made it, Christ redeemed it, and we are called to take dominion over it. We marry, we weep, we rejoice, we buy, we build, we work. We are to be fully present in the lives God has given us.
But we do all these things with an eschatological asterisk. We do them with a keen awareness that this is not all there is. Our marriages point to a greater marriage, between Christ and His Church. Our sorrows will one day be wiped away. Our joys are but a foretaste of the eternal joy of being in God's presence. Our possessions are temporary tools for building a permanent kingdom. The form of this world is passing away, but the kingdom of our God is an everlasting kingdom.
Therefore, hold this world loosely. Love your wife, but worship Christ. Grieve your losses, but hope in the resurrection. Enjoy your blessings, but find your ultimate joy in God. Use your possessions, but do not be possessed by them. Live fully in this life, with your eyes fixed firmly on the life to come. For the time is short, and the King is coming.