This chapter is in response to matters raised in Verse 1, by the Corinthian church concerning marriage, in a letter or letters to Paul. Without this context, some of his responses can sound strange to us. We must try here to separate Corinthian cultural concerns from the deeper truths of God:
“Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: ‘It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman’” (1 Cor 7:1).
This statement by the Corinthians is the basis for the belief in celibacy of the Roman Catholic priesthood. But today we can see how misguided this has been in modern times of abuse:
“But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but his wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (1 Cor 7:2-5).
It is temptation that first split the tongue of the snake and the road to perfect unity into a bad fork and a good fork. It started with Adam and Eve and continues today in the abuse of innocent children by some priests. And temptation continues to capture us as if in a trance of modern permissiveness.
There is a decision to be made when faced with temptation of any kind, but Paul’s context here beautifully illustrates the good fork in the road to perfect unity – through marriage. Satan cannot defeat self-control through temptation.
The key to avoiding major disobedience, and the dead end of the bad fork in the road, is to recognize temptation in its most sinister form – oh, just a peek down the bad fork won’t hurt…everyone does it.
No, everyone does not.
As Chapter 7 plays out over the next few blogs, remember that there is a decision point at the fork in the road to perfect unity. Recognizing this point and pausing to pray intensely reveals guidance from the Word of God for whatever life situation you are in. Paul makes this clear in Chapter 7 by addressing all these situations going forward, one of which applies to you.
The option to choosing disobedience at the decision point is to turn back to the commands of Jesus while deep in prayer. That is why this is called the “Cycle” and not the “Straight Line.” Jesus has taught us, and now Paul and the other epistle writers continue to teach, to recognize the decision point at the fork in the road as a flashing, clanging railroad warning signal.
Stop. Look. Listen.
And if the trains stops in your path, recognize God’s grace and circle back to a better route.
Don’t ignore the warnings and get crushed at the intersection!
Hurry back for Part 2!