Living as One

 DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

LIVING AS ONE

1 Cor 7:1-7

7:1 Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.   2 But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

NIV

Is Paul saying that his gift is that of not having a wife, while others have the gift of having a wife, although he wished that all men would be gifted to live alone, with no wife by their side? If that is the case then God would not have given Adam a helpmate. If God intended for man to be alone then man would have been the only person on the earth for all eternity and it would have been impossible for him to multiply and fill the earth. It is difficult to understand why Paul would say it is good for a man not to marry since he is the product of a married man and woman unless he was conceived through adultery. Yet, he is giving them instructions about how a marriage should look. One man and one woman, just as God created them and for the purpose of being there for each other. Marriage is good in the eyes of God, not singleness so we think that Paul has added some of his own thoughts that are not so much inspired by God. Although in one sense it is good for all men to be as devoted to God as Paul was.  Perhaps that is what he is referring to when he said that he wished that all men were as he was. However, we still come to the conclusion that marriage is the way God intended man and woman to fill the earth. He gave us that desire within to have this mutual need for each other in the sensual sense. He made men to be attractive to women and women to be attractive to men. This is His plan and Paul is simply giving some rules to how that relationship should work. There should be no denial between husband and wife, except by mutual agreement, and then only for an agreed amount of time, so that temptation does not enter either heart. Although it appears that Paul is single and chaste, he is also making sure those in that church forfeit their sinful nature of unnaturally sexual behaviors and take on the way God designed for one man and one woman to be united as one flesh. We recall those instructions given for men who have been called to be leaders in the church, that they are to be husbands of but one wife, or this could be translated as a husband of a certain wife. Nevertheless, the point is that men who are called to be leaders of the church must be married. Single men cannot remain as chaste as God did not design men to be chaste, and thus sin will enter their hearts in order to fulfill their God-designed humanity. Let us remember to always be ready and willing to fulfill our role in marriage, being one flesh.