Lesson 466

(Lesson 466)(11-24-12) 1 Corinthians 7:25-40, "Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful. I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be. Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife. But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you. But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away. But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction. But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: let them marry. Nevertheless he that standeth stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power over his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, doeth well. So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better. The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God."

　

In this lesson, Paul declares that he is only giving his opinion of how Christians are to conduct themselves whether they choose to marry, or not. He makes a distinction, in the ability to serve, between married people and those who remain single. Of a necessity, married Christians would spend much more time doing those things necessary to living a family life than would single Christians, therefore, being single would allow more time to serve the Lord. But he further states that it is perfectly ok, for those in the service of the Lord, to marry.
These few verses are also used by Roman Catholicism to bolster their contention that men in the service of the Lord (priests) as well as women who are in the Lord's service (nuns), should remain unmarried and celibate.
If one simply reads carefully what Paul says here, and what is said elsewhere in the New Testament, concerning this issue, one must conclude that the Catholic contention of requisite celibate service has no basis in New Testament fact.
Paul finishes the lesson by saying that if a Christian man or woman be widowed they are free to remarry, but only to another Christian. However if a man, or a woman, be divorced, they are not to remarry.~