ON the first reading of this chapter we may well feel that it has very little relevance for us today. We may also feel critical and irritated with Paul over what he says about marriage. We may feel that Paul has a very low view of marriage. This is why we need to read this chapter through several times, and do it slowly and thoughtfully, and with a pen and paper to write down thoughts that come to us in our reading. We also need to recognise and hold fast to the fact that this is God's inspired word, and should so be treated with reverence and faith.

From the opening sentence we can see Paul is addressing issues that the Christians in Corinth had written to him about. Corinth was a city with very loose morals. The believers had been brought out of this darkness into the light of Christ, and the distinction between the believer and non-believer was much more distinct. The church today has lost this to its detriment. They also lived with a sense of the imminent return of Christ (v 29). Many of the believers had been married before they believed and so there was the problem of unbelieving partners. Then conflict of allegiance and devotion also was being experienced. How can responsibility to a husband and wife be reconciled with the believers prime devotion to Christ.

All these issues are dealt with by Paul, and are just as relevant today as they were then. Just because the church today has absorbed the world so much and these are not issues we find particularly important, does not mean they are not important. It simply shows how worldly the church has become.

I have felt this introduction is necessary even though it limits the space for explanation of the chapter.

In verses 1-7 Paul speaks of marriage. He sees the problems of allegiance which marriage presents to believers, and even though having lived as a Pharisee before his conversion, he would have been married then, he now sees, because he is now single probably by the death of his wife, how marriage would have restricted his ability to do the work of the Lord as an apostle. In the light of Christ's return, which was felt to be imminent, preaching the Gospel was such an urgent matter. However he plainly teaches that husband and wife should give themselves to each other, and not deprive each other, except when mutually they abstain from sexual relations for a period to give themselves more to the Lord. Paul is realistic. He knows the power of our fallen nature, and the powerfulness of sexual desire. Many people are unfaithful in marriage because they do not find their sexual needs met in their marriage. Paul reminds us that Satan is always ready to exploit sex for his advantage.

In verse 8 & 9 he presses the advantage of a single life for single-minded devotion to Jesus, but says marriage is better than being overcome by our passions.

In verses 10-11 Paul presses home the teaching of Jesus on divorce. (Not I, but the Lord) is simply saying that this is the teaching of Jesus. (see Matthew 5:32; Matthew 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12; Luke 16:18).

In verses 12-16 Paul deals with the problem of believers having unbelieving partners. Here (I, not the Lord) simply means that Jesus did not address this problem. Paul is still inspired by the Holy Spirit in what he teaches. This is plain to understand. The interesting thing is that verses 15-16 seem to suggest that if an unbelieving partner wants to leave after the believer has put their faith in Christ, this annuls the marriage.

Verses 17-24 addresses the wider problem of the believers situation in the world, with special reference to the situations believers found themselves in. Here are principles which are just as relevant for today.

In verses 25-35 Paul sees single life as better in the light of the difficulties of being a Christian in the world of his time, and in the anticipation of Christ's return, but he does not say that marriage is wrong or unspiritual or necessarily being less devoted to Christ. These verses would have resonated with the reformers who were burnt in Queen Mary's reign, and the Puritans who were persecuted at the return of the Monarchy after Cromwell. They had to think of their wives and families, and this would make the choice of putting Christ first so much more difficult.