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1 Corinthians 7 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:001st Corinthians chapter [music] 7 verse
0:021.
0:03Now concerning the things about which
0:05you wrote,
0:07it is good for a man not to touch a
0:09woman, but because of immoralities, each
0:12man [music] is to have his own wife, and
0:14each woman is to have her own husband.
0:17The husband must fulfill his duty to his
0:20wife, and likewise also the wife to her
0:22husband.
0:24The wife does not have authority over
0:26her own body, but the husband does, and
0:29likewise also the husband does not have
0:31authority over his own body, but the
0:33wife does.
0:35So, he's saying that you belong to
0:38Christ in the previous [music] chapter,
0:40and you don't have authority to take
0:42your sanctity away from Jesus. He's got
0:44authority over you.
0:46But then he's talking about the physical
0:48relationship of a man
0:49>> [music]
0:49>> and a woman,
0:51and he's saying that when you are
0:53married, your wife
0:56has a claim on your body, and you have a
1:00claim on hers. That's what you give each
1:02other in marriage.
1:04You give each other that claim.
1:07Stop depriving one another except for
1:09agreement for a time, so that you may
1:12devote yourself to prayer, and come
1:14together again, so that Satan will not
1:17tempt you because of your lack of
1:18self-control.
1:21But this I say by way of concession, not
1:24of command.
1:25So, Paul is saying that
1:28even in the physical sexual and physical
1:31relationship between a man and a woman,
1:34>> [music]
1:34>> that when you are married, you should
1:36not withhold
1:38that relationship from each other,
1:41or else you're going to be tempted by
1:42the devil,
1:43and you should let the wife have a claim
1:45on the husband, and the husband have a
1:47claim on the wife.
1:49But this I say by way of concession, not
1:52of command.
1:53Yet I wish that all men were even as I
1:55myself am. However, each man has his own
1:58gift from God, one in this manner and
2:01another in that.
2:03So, it seems like he's saying here,
2:05I wish everybody was single.
2:07But, each has his own gift from God.
2:10Tis a gift to be single. Tis a gift to
2:12be married.
2:13>> [music]
2:13>> Each has his own gift from God.
2:16But, I say to the unmarried and to
2:18widows that it is good for them [music]
2:20if they remain even as I am.
2:23So, he says,
2:24God has a purpose in being unmarried.
2:27He has a purpose in marriage, too, but
2:29he has a purpose in being unmarried.
2:31Don't act like it's bad and being
2:33married is good. Don't miss the purpose
2:36behind being unmarried. Paul was
2:38unmarried.
2:40But, if they do not have self-control,
2:42let them marry, for it is better to
2:43marry than to burn with passion.
2:47Well, he's called it a gift from God,
2:49but he's also said you should marry if
2:51you don't have self-control.
2:53That you don't want to live your whole
2:55life obsessing over something.
2:57You need to You need to accept that
2:59that's not your gift if your mind is
3:02consumed with it. But, to the married I
3:04give instructions, not I, but the Lord,
3:07that the wife should not leave her
3:09husband.
3:10So, when he says, "To the married I give
3:12instructions, not I, but the Lord," what
3:14he's saying is that Jesus, while on the
3:17earth, actually said this.
3:19Everything that Paul is instructing is
3:21coming from the Lord in the sense of
3:23through the Spirit. He's going to point
3:24that out in the end.
3:26But, he's distinguishing between what
3:27he's saying by the Spirit now
3:30and he's and what Jesus said in the
3:32flesh while on the earth.
3:34So, he's saying that Jesus, Paul heard
3:36Jesus say,
3:38"Teach on this.
3:40I give instruction that she should that
3:42the wife should not leave her husband.
3:45But, if she does leave, she must remain
3:47unmarried or else be reconciled to her
3:50husband.
3:51And that the husband should not divorce
3:54his wife.
3:55But to the rest I say, not the Lord,
3:58that if any brother has a wife who is an
4:01unbeliever, and she consents to live
4:03with him, he must not divorce her. So,
4:06when he says, "I'm going to say this,
4:08not the Lord." He's not saying that the
4:10Lord isn't convicting us of this as Holy
4:12Scripture, he's saying I'm not quoting
4:15Jesus
4:17in the flesh. I'm saying it, but he's
4:19going to finish everything he says by
4:20saying, "I have the Holy Spirit." So, he
4:23is making
4:24a command that we must all obey. He's
4:27just acknowledging that God is speaking
4:30it through him. It didn't come while
4:31listening to Jesus' preaching.
4:35But if she does leave, she must remain
4:37unmarried or else be reconciled to her
4:39husband, and the husband should not
4:41divorce his wife. But to the rest I say,
4:44not the Lord, that if any brother has a
4:46wife who is an unbeliever, and she
4:49consents to live with him, he must not
4:52divorce her.
4:54So, if you have come to the Christian
4:56faith, you have become a Christian, and
4:58you have a spouse
5:00who consents,
5:02who agrees to live with you
5:05with your Christian convictions,
5:08then don't divorce.
5:10He doesn't want to break apart
5:11marriages, even if you're married to an
5:13unbeliever.
5:14But the key word is consent.
5:17Does she consent to live with you as a
5:20Christian? If she says, "I'll live with
5:22you, but you can't pray.
5:24I'll live with you, but you can't guide
5:26the children. I'll live with you, but
5:27you can't be a Christian." That's not
5:29really consent, now is it?
5:32But it needs to be consent. She has to
5:35tolerate his convictions, but Paul does
5:37not want divorce to occur.
5:40And a woman who has an unbelieving
5:42husband, and he consents to live with
5:43her, she must not send her husband away.
5:46For the unbelieving husband
5:48is sanctified through his wife, and the
5:50unbelieving wife is sanctified through
5:53her believing husband. For otherwise,
5:55your children are unclean, but now they
5:57are holy. Now, what does this mean?
6:00Who ends up being holy? The children.
6:03So, Paul is not saying that the
6:05unbelieving wife is going to go to
6:07heaven because
6:08she wasn't born again, but her her
6:11husband was.
6:13What he's saying is that the consent
6:16means that she is sanctified, meaning
6:19that she cleans her house, that she
6:21separates from the world, that she
6:23tolerates him as a believer.
6:27Sanctified means set apart.
6:30Okay? So, if you have a house where one
6:33spouse is a Christian and the other
6:35spouse is not,
6:37the consent needs to allow the Christian
6:41faith to set the household apart, to set
6:44the household in holiness, so that the
6:47children are holy.
6:50And the spouse may not be a believer,
6:52but their consent to a Christian home
6:57makes them sanctified, not in a salvific
7:00sense, but in a cleaned-up lifestyle
7:03sense.
7:05And in that way, the children are holy.
7:08And we can reverse engineer this
7:10statement. We can say, "Whatever does
7:13not make the children holy is not really
7:16consent to a Christian faith."
7:19Whatever allows the children to be
7:21raised godly, that would equal consent.
7:27Yet, if the unbelieving one leaves, let
7:29him leave.
7:30The brother or sister is not under
7:33bondage in such cases,
7:35but God has called us to peace.
7:39So, he's saying,
7:40"If your unbelieving spouse will let you
7:43sanctify your home and make your
7:45children godly, stay in the marriage.
7:49But if they want to go, let them go. In
7:51that case, you're not bound. You can
7:54marry somebody else.
7:56Because God has called us to peace.
7:58Because this is this is something where
8:00you are making a radical change in your
8:02life. They are making
8:05They're not making the same decision and
8:07they're free to do what they want.
8:09For how do you know, oh wife, whether
8:12you will save your husband? Or how do
8:14you know, oh husband,
8:16whether you will save your wife?
8:18Only as the Lord has assigned to each
8:21one, as God has called each. In this
8:24manner, let him walk. And so I direct in
8:28all the churches.
8:31This is not
8:32a special issue in Corinth. This is what
8:35Paul is directing in all the churches.
8:39So if somebody
8:41comes to Jesus and sanctifies their
8:44life, they should stay in a marriage
8:46even if the spouse doesn't believe in
8:47the Lord. They may be saved yet and
8:50we've all seen that.
8:52But if they don't let them sanctify the
8:54house,
8:55then it's a harder question because if
8:57the children can't be holy, we've got an
8:59issue.
9:00The children are who Paul is worried
9:02about.
9:04And the other point is
9:06when someone walks away from this new
9:09found faith that their spouse has found
9:11in God, they walk away into the world,
9:15the person who stays is free. They are
9:18not bound
9:20by that rejection of God.
9:24Was any man called when he was already
9:26circumcised? He is not to become
9:28uncircumcised, which indeed would be
9:30difficult.
9:32Has anyone been called in
9:33uncircumcision?
9:35He is not to become circumcised.
9:38Circumcision is nothing and
9:40uncircumcision is nothing
9:42but what matters is the keeping of the
9:45commandments of God.
9:49So he's saying you need to accept
9:52whatever station God brings you in.
9:56If you came and you weren't circumcised,
9:58don't go get circumcised.
10:00If you came and you were circumcised,
10:01don't worry about that. It's no problem.
10:04But just accept that. And he he makes
10:07this statement, "Circumcision is
10:09nothing."
10:10God doesn't give a hoot about it.
10:13But what he does care about is that you
10:15keep the commandments of God.
10:18So here's Paul. Here's the grace apostle
10:20telling us God wants you to keep his
10:23commandments.
10:24And the context is pretty clear.
10:27Each man must remain in that condition
10:30in which he was called.
10:33Were you called while a slave? Do not
10:35worry about it.
10:37But if you are able to become free,
10:40rather do that.
10:42Here's this is powerful.
10:45He's saying
10:46if you're in a situation you can't get
10:48free, don't fret about that. Your
10:50fretting, your worries not going to help
10:52you. But if you can get free, well by
10:54all means, Paul wants slaves to be free.
10:57But that you don't have to be free in
10:58order to be a Christian.
11:00People are in prison and they're
11:01Christians. People were in the gulag and
11:04they're Christians.
11:05Your faith is not based on your
11:07circumstance.
11:10For he who was called in the Lord while
11:12a slave is the Lord's freedman.
11:16Likewise, he who is called while free is
11:19Christ's slave.
11:21So he says, "We're supposed to give
11:23ourselves completely."
11:25And if you're in prison,
11:27Jesus looks at you as his freedman.
11:30He's set you free. He's set you free
11:32from your envy, your sin, your life of
11:35debauchery. You can be free.
11:38And he says,
11:39"And if you're
11:41if you're not a slave,
11:42we said, well, then you're called to be
11:44a slave of Christ anyway, so we're all
11:45going to be serving."
11:49"You were bought with a price. Do not
11:51become slaves of men.
11:54Brethren, each one is to remain with God
11:56in that condition in which he was
11:58called.
12:00Now, concerning virgins,
12:02I have no command of the Lord,
12:04but I gave an opinion as one who by the
12:07mercy of the Lord is trustworthy.
12:10Now, he says, concerning unmarried
12:12women,
12:13he says, I
12:15I have no command straight from Jesus,
12:17but he what he's going to call here is
12:19not a command. He's going to call it
12:21opinion.
12:22Okay, so Paul's saying, this isn't
12:24absolute, but this is a good opinion.
12:28Maybe this feels a little less absolute.
12:30Maybe this points more toward the the
12:32time in which he's living. Isn't it
12:33helpful that Paul tells us when he's
12:36speaking by the Lord, when he's speaking
12:38by the Holy Spirit, when he's given an
12:39opinion?
12:41So, this is an opinion from the Apostle
12:43Paul.
12:44"I think then that this is good in view
12:47of the present distress,
12:51that it is good for a man to remain as
12:54he is."
12:55Because of the present distress,
12:58because the church was going through
13:00terrible persecution, and guys were
13:02getting killed.
13:04He's saying, you're just making widows.
13:07Why don't we just not try to bring
13:09together too many marriages
13:11right this minute.
13:14But he says, I think, and it's an
13:15opinion. It's not a rule.
13:18"Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to
13:21be released. Are you released from a
13:23wife? Do not seek a wife.
13:27But if you marry, you have not sinned.
13:31And if a virgin marries, she has not
13:33sinned.
13:34Yet such will have trouble in this life,
13:36and I am trying to spare you.
13:40Those who marry will have trouble.
13:42You want to see your life smooth out,
13:45get easier? Don't marry.
13:48Cuz if you marry, you're going to have
13:49trouble.
13:50And I would spare you.
13:52But this I say, brethren, the time has
13:55been shortened, so that from now on
13:57those who have wives should be as though
14:00they had none.
14:03And those who weep as those who did not
14:05weep.
14:06And those who rejoice as those who did
14:08not rejoice.
14:10And those who buy as those who did not
14:12possess.
14:13And those who use the world as though
14:15they did not make full use of it.
14:17For the form of this world is passing
14:19away.
14:20So he's talking about a very specific
14:23tribulation that the church is in right
14:25now.
14:26And he's saying
14:28that those who
14:30have wives are going to be as if they
14:32didn't.
14:34That either because they're separated
14:36because of travel or distress or
14:38hardship or because they're separated by
14:42death.
14:43And they those who rejoice in marriage
14:45are going to be like those who mourn.
14:46And it's not going to be what you're
14:49looking for. It's basically what he's
14:51saying. Don't have a fantasy cuz it's
14:53not going to be like that.
14:57But I want you to be free from concern.
15:01One who is unmarried is concerned about
15:04the things of the Lord. How he may
15:06please the Lord. But one who is married
15:09is concerned about the things of the
15:10world. How he may please his wife.
15:14And his interests are divided.
15:18So he's saying
15:20in this present crisis they're in.
15:24Maybe he's married to a wife who is not
15:26a believer
15:28and he's trying to to live as a
15:30Christian, but he's worried about his
15:31wife and his concerns are divided.
15:35But if you're not married, you're able
15:37to just focus on Jesus.
15:40The woman who is unmarried and the
15:41virgin is concerned about the things of
15:43the Lord that she may be holy both in
15:46body and spirit, but one who is married
15:48is concerned about the things of the
15:50world, how she may please her husband.
15:54This I say, things of the world doesn't
15:56mean sinful things, it just means
15:57earthly things, natural things, physical
16:00things.
16:01This I say for your own benefit, not to
16:04put a restraint upon you,
16:07but to promote what is appropriate and
16:09to secure undistracted devotion to the
16:13Lord.
16:15But if a man thinks he is acting
16:17unbecomingly toward his virgin daughter,
16:19>> [snorts]
16:20>> if she is past her youth
16:22and if it must be so, let him do
16:25what he wishes. He does not sin. Let her
16:28marry.
16:30So, in this he shows that the father has
16:32responsibility for the decision. If a
16:35man thinks he's acting unbecomingly
16:37toward his daughter if she's past youth,
16:40then he can let her marry. It's not a
16:43horrible thing.
16:44But he's saying, we're in a time here
16:48where we need to be careful about these
16:49decisions.
16:51But he who stands firm in his heart,
16:54being under no constraint, but has
16:56authority over his own will and has
16:59decided this in his heart to keep his
17:01own virgin daughter,
17:03he will do well.
17:06So then, both he who gives his own
17:08virgin daughter in marriage does well
17:10and he who does not give her in marriage
17:12will do better.
17:14A wife [music] is bound as long as her
17:16husband lives.
17:18But if her husband is dead, she is free
17:21to be married to whom she wishes, only
17:24in the Lord.
17:26But in my opinion, she is happier if she
17:29remains as she is.
17:32And I think
17:33that I also have the spirit [music] of
17:35God.
17:37These are insightful instructions about
17:39marriage, and we needed to ponder them
17:42for the day in which we live. But Paul
17:44does give the caveat. He says, because
17:47of the current distress.
17:50So he's not really saying what the
17:52normal pattern for marriage formation
17:56is, it's all because of the current
17:58distress. And if you take that out, the
18:00whole thing becomes confusing.
18:03What is normative is the
18:06is some of the things that don't attach
18:08to the current distress.
18:10That fathers are making the decision
18:12with daughters.
18:14That
18:15you can't marry without changing the
18:18amount of devotion you're able to give
18:20[music] just to the ministry in the
18:21Lord.
18:22That it's a gift to be married, and it's
18:25a gift to be unmarried. These are the
18:28kind of the bigger picture themes that
18:30we want to retain. That if a wife's
18:34husband dies, she is free to marry. Or
18:37if
18:38the unbeliever is unwilling to stay,
18:40she's not bound. These are the normative
18:43themes that emerge from this chapter
18:46that really does seem to be dialed in on
18:47a time of
18:49particular anguish and [music]
18:50persecution
18:52uh in the church's history.

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