1 Corinthians 7

Paul answers questions the Corinthians wrote to him about marriage, singleness, divorce and staying in the condition in which God called them. He honors both marriage and singleness as gifts from God. Throughout, he urges believers to serve the Lord wholeheartedly in whatever situation they are in, since this world is passing away.

1 Corinthians 7:1

Paul begins answering the Corinthians’ letter. Some there apparently thought sexual relations should be avoided altogether. He agrees that remaining single can be good, but he goes on to show that this is not for everyone and that marriage is honorable.

BSA: abstain (“not to touch, have nothing to do with”): The Greek idea is a gentle word for avoiding intimate contact, showing Paul is addressing a real Corinthian view about avoiding sexual relations.

1 Corinthians 7:2

Because sexual immorality was everywhere in Corinth, a busy seaport, Paul says marriage is God’s good and protective provision. Each husband and wife belongs faithfully to one another. Marriage is not a second-rate option but a safeguard and a blessing.

BSA: sexual immorality (“fornication, whoredom”): This covers every sexual sin outside marriage, which marriage guards against.

Greek: πορνείας (porneias, G4202) — “sexual immorality of every kind.” This is the broad word for any sexual sin outside marriage, and the plural form suggests it was widespread and varied in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 7:3

Marriage carries mutual obligations. Husband and wife are each to give the other what is owed, and Paul states it evenly for both. Intimacy in marriage is not selfish taking but loving giving.

BSA: marital duty (“due benevolence, what is owed”): It is a debt of kindness and goodwill, something freely given out of love.

1 Corinthians 7:4

In marriage, each person gives themselves to the other. Neither spouse owns their body as a private possession. Paul stresses equality: what is true of the wife is just as true of the husband. This is a call to love and serve, not to dominate.

BSA: authority (“control, power”): Each spouse yields rightful claim over their own body to the other, in love.

1 Corinthians 7:5

Married couples should not refuse each other, except for a short time by agreement, in order to pray. Then they should come together again. Paul knows that prolonged separation can open the door to temptation, so he asks for mutual consent and a limited time.

BSA: deprive (“defraud, cheat”): Refusing what is owed is treated as a kind of robbery within marriage. lack of self-control (“lack of self-control, incontinence”): Satan exploits weakness, so wisdom plans around it.

See also: Joel 2:16.

1 Corinthians 7:6

Paul clarifies that his words about a temporary break from relations are an allowance, not an order. He is giving guidance and freedom, not laying down a rule that every couple must follow.

BSA: concession (“permission, indulgence”): Paul is granting permission, not imposing a requirement.

1 Corinthians 7:7

Paul wishes everyone had his freedom from the demands of marriage, apparently because singleness lets him serve the Lord with fewer distractions. But he knows that God gives different gifts. Both marriage and singleness are callings of grace.

BSA: gift (“spiritual endowment, divine gratuity”): Singleness and marriage alike are freely given by God, not earned.

Greek: χάρισμα (charisma, G5486) — “a gift of grace.” The word comes from the Greek for grace, showing that a person’s calling, whether single or married, is a free gift from God.

1 Corinthians 7:8

Paul speaks to the single and to widows, advising that staying unmarried can be good, as he himself is. It is advice, not law. He offers his own life as an example of serving the Lord undistracted.

BSA: good (“beneficial, advantageous”): Singleness is useful for undivided service, not morally superior.

1 Corinthians 7:9

If someone cannot control their desires, they should marry. Marriage is the right and honorable place for desire. Paul is practical and kind here. Burning with passion is a struggle, and God has provided marriage for it.

BSA: burn (“be ignited, have burning desire”): It pictures desire as a fire that consumes the person within.

Greek: πυροῦσθαι (pyrousthai, G4448) — “to burn.” The word is related to the Greek word for fire, and here pictures desire that continually inflames and distracts a person.

1 Corinthians 7:10-11

Paul gives a command that goes back to the Lord’s own teaching: married people must not separate. If a separation does happen, the wife is to stay single or be reconciled. The aim is always restoration of the marriage. Husbands are likewise not to divorce.

BSA: reconciled (“restored to a state of friendship, reunited”): The goal is not merely staying legally married but restored friendship.

See also: Mark 10:9; Matthew 19:6.

1 Corinthians 7:12-13

Now Paul addresses a case Jesus did not speak to directly: a believer married to an unbeliever. If the unbelieving spouse is willing to stay, the believer should not initiate divorce. Paul gives his apostolic judgment here, which carries real weight.

BSA: unbelieving (“without faith, untrustful”): The spouse has not yet put trust in Christ, but the believer should not abandon the marriage for that reason.

1 Corinthians 7:14

The believing spouse brings blessing into the home. The unbelieving partner and the children are set within the influence of God’s grace. Paul does not say they are saved automatically, but that they are touched by God’s holiness through the believer.

BSA: sanctified (“made holy, set apart”): The unbeliever is brought into a place of blessing and nearness to God through the believing spouse. holy (“set apart, consecrated, sacred”): The children are not treated as outsiders but belong within the circle of God’s care.

Greek: ἡγίασται (hēgiastai, G37) — “has been made holy, set apart.” This is the word for being set apart for God. Here it describes the influence of a believer’s faith on the household, not the unbeliever’s final salvation.

1 Corinthians 7:15

If the unbelieving spouse insists on leaving, the believer is not enslaved to keep the marriage together. Peace is the aim, not endless conflict. Christians have understood the extent of this freedom in different ways, but the call to peace is clear.

BSA: bound (“enslaved, under bondage”): The believer is not held captive to a marriage the other person has abandoned. peace (“harmony, freedom from strife”): God’s calling leads toward calm rather than constant struggle.

Greek: δεδούλωται (dedoulōtai, G1402) — “has been enslaved.” Paul uses the word for slavery, saying the believer is not held in servitude to a marriage that the other has broken.

1 Corinthians 7:16

This verse can be read as hope or as caution. Either the believer may win the spouse through a faithful life, so should be patient, or the believer cannot be sure of saving them, so should not cling out of pressure. Either way, God alone saves.

BSA: save (“deliver from harm, rescue”): The believer can be an instrument of rescue, though God is the one who actually saves.

See also: 1 Peter 3:1-2.

1 Corinthians 7:17

Paul gives a general principle: live in the situation the Lord has assigned and in which God called you. Conversion does not require changing every circumstance. He says this is his teaching in all the churches, so it is no private opinion.

BSA: assigned (“given, appointed”): Your situation is seen as something the Lord has placed you in, not an accident. called (“invited, summoned”): God’s call is a personal invitation to follow him where you are.

1 Corinthians 7:18-19

Whether someone was Jewish or Gentile at conversion makes no difference to standing before God. What matters is obeying God. Outward marks cannot replace a heart that follows him. This freed Gentiles from pressure to become Jewish, and Jews from shame.

BSA: circumcision (“a Jewish rite of cutting”): The rite was the sign of belonging to Israel, but is not what gives standing with God now.

See also: Galatians 5:6; Galatians 6:15.

1 Corinthians 7:20

Paul repeats the principle: stay in the situation you were in when called. This does not forbid every change, but means faith does not depend on altering your outward position. You can serve God right where you are.

BSA: situation (“calling, position, circumstance”): Your station in life can itself be a place of service to God.

Greek: κλήσει (klēsei, G2821) — “calling.” The same word means both God’s call and the condition in which a person was called, so Paul links one’s daily situation to God’s summons.

1 Corinthians 7:21

Slaves in the church should not be consumed by worry over their status. Their worth before God is secure. Yet if they can lawfully gain freedom, they should take it. Paul is realistic: freedom is good, but not required for a life of faith.

BSA: slave (“a bondservant”): The word refers to someone owned by another, in the harsh reality of the Roman world.

1 Corinthians 7:22

There is a beautiful reversal here. The slave who belongs to Christ is truly free in the Lord, and the free person who follows Christ is his servant. Everyone in the church is both free and bound, in Christ.

BSA: freedman (“liberated one”): The slave is now a person set free by Christ’s own hand. slave (“servant, bondservant, one subject to His will”): The free person is now fully under the Lord’s rule, glad to obey.

Greek: ἀπελεύθερος (apeleutheros, G558) — “a freed person.” This was the term for a former slave whom a master had set free, who still owed honor to his liberator.

1 Corinthians 7:23

Christ paid a great price to redeem us. Because we belong to him, we should not be mastered by human opinion, pressure or any master that competes with him. This is a call to belong to Christ alone.

BSA: bought (“with a price, redeemed”): Believers are purchased out of bondage, as slaves were bought from the market.

See also: 1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18-19.

1 Corinthians 7:24

Paul closes this section by repeating the principle, now stressing that God is with you in your situation. He calls believers brothers, reminding them that they stand together as family, whatever their social or personal circumstance.

BSA: remain (“stay, abide”): It means to stay with God, abiding in his presence, wherever you are.

1 Corinthians 7:25

Now Paul turns to the unmarried. He has no direct word from the Lord, as Jesus did not speak on this, so he gives his considered judgment. He bases his trustworthiness on the Lord’s mercy, not on his own wisdom.

BSA: judgment (“my opinion, a decision”): This is Paul’s careful counsel as an apostle, not a command from Jesus’ earthly teaching. mercy (“kindness, compassion”): Paul’s reliability is a gift of God’s kindness, not his own achievement.

1 Corinthians 7:26

Paul says that because of the present crisis, staying as you are is good. We do not know exactly what this distress was, whether persecution, famine or something else. His counsel is shaped by hard times and not meant as a rule for all situations.

BSA: crisis (“necessity, difficult situation”): A pressing hardship, which Paul says makes simplicity and freedom wise.

Greek: ἀνάγκην (anankēn, G318) — “necessity, distress.” The word means pressure or compulsion, a squeeze of hard circumstances.

1 Corinthians 7:27

Whoever is married should not seek to end it, and whoever is single should not feel driven to find a spouse. Paul warns against restless changes of status and encourages contentment in the Lord.

BSA: committed (“bound, tied”): Marriage is a binding tie that Paul says should be honored.

1 Corinthians 7:28

Marriage is not sin, and Paul says so plainly. But married life brings its own troubles and pressures, and he wishes to spare them. He is not discouraging marriage but being honest about its burdens and cares.

BSA: troubles (“pressure, tribulation”): The same word describes squeezing or pressing, picturing the strains of caring for a family in hard times. spare (“treat leniently, show mercy to”): Paul speaks from a pastor’s tenderness, not harshness.

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Paul says time is short and the world as we know it is passing away. So believers should hold earthly things lightly, whether marriage, sorrow, joy or possessions. They are not to be cold, but not ruled by anything that will fade. Eternity gives life its right weight.

BSA: short (“has been shortened, brief”): The time is like a sail being furled, drawn in and limited. passing away (“going away, coming to an end”): The visible shape of this world is on its way out.

Greek: παράγει (parageī, G3855) — “is passing by.” It pictures a scene sliding past, like a stage set being carried off, so that the present form of the world is not permanent.

1 Corinthians 7:32-34

Paul wants believers free from anxious care. A single person has more freedom to give undivided attention to the Lord’s work. A married person rightly cares for a spouse, so attention is divided. This is a difference in circumstance, not in worth.

BSA: concerned (“anxious, careful”): The word carries the sense of being occupied with care, either for the Lord or for family. divided (“separated, torn between two loyalties”): A married person’s attention is pulled in two good directions.

Greek: μεριμνᾷ (merimna, G3309) — “is anxious, careful about.” The word means to be concerned or to have a mind pulled toward something, whether for good or as worry.

1 Corinthians 7:35

Paul says he is not trying to put a restraint on them. He wants them to live in an orderly, honorable way and to be devoted to the Lord without distraction. His advice is meant to help them, not to burden them.

BSA: restrict (“put a noose on, hold back”): Paul pictures a snare and denies he is trying to trap anyone. undivided (“without distraction, devoted”): The goal is steady, wholehearted attention to the Lord.

Greek: βρόχον (brochon, G1029) — “a noose, a snare.” Paul uses the picture of a rope loop to say plainly that his advice is not a trap but a help.

1 Corinthians 7:36-38

Paul speaks of a man and the young woman he is engaged to, or perhaps of a father and his daughter. If marrying is right, he does not sin. If he has firmly decided not to, he does well. Both are good, though staying single may free him more for the Lord. Scholars differ on who exactly is meant.

BSA: betrothed (“virgin, fiancée, engaged partner”): The word may mean the woman a man is engaged to, or a daughter under his care. firmly established (“stedfast, unwavering”): A choice not to marry should come from settled conviction, not pressure.

Greek: παρθένον (parthenon, G3933) — “a virgin, an unmarried young woman.” The word is used of a young woman not yet married, and Christians have read the passage as about either an engaged couple or a father and daughter.

1 Corinthians 7:39

Marriage binds a wife to her husband as long as he lives. When he dies she is free to remarry, with the condition that the new husband belongs to the Lord. Faith should shape even this choice.

BSA: bound (“bound by law, under obligation”): Marriage is a lasting covenant, in force for the whole of life. dies (“falls asleep”): Death is pictured as sleep, a gentle word for believers.

See also: Romans 7:2.

1 Corinthians 7:40

Paul gives his own view: a widow may be happier staying as she is. He adds that he, too, has the Spirit of God, which means his counsel is given with real care and is worth listening to, though not binding as a command on every case.

BSA: happier (“more blessed”): The word suggests a deeper well-being, not just a passing mood.