God's Design for Singleness

Paul Allen

Godly Living in the World Today: A Study in 1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

1 Corinthians 7:25–40

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God’s Design

1 Corinthians 7:25–31 (NIV)

Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

Through this whole chapter, Paul has been showing us God’s design for our circumstances, whether married, single or any other position, God has a specific design for our circumstances, to be glorified through them. Everything that is in front of us is designed to be an opportunity to glorify the Lord and pronounce to a world caught up in selfish ambition and personal gain that the only thing that satisfies and brings true worth, meaning and value to this life is our relationship withe the Lord. So Paul intentionally targets three social pursuits that traditionally have been the means to happiness in our culture and he shows that these pursuits are in vain apart from the Lord.

Everything in this life is passing away, here today and gone tomorrow. Our relationship with God has opened our hearts and our eyes to the reality of the eternal.

Christ is Sufficient

1 Corinthians 7:32–40 (NIV)

I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife—and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if his passions are too strong and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married. But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing. So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does better.

A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

Our testimony to the world should be that I am complete and whole in Christ no matter what my circumstances are. When we proclaim to the world that we are lacking because we have not attained status or a specific pursuit, we are saying that Christ is insufficient. We proclaim that we need Jesus and the world.

When Christ is our pursuit and we find what He has promised, His sufficiency, then we find more than just contentment with our circumstances, we find complete fulfillment in our circumstances.

Singleness, Marriage, and Position/Circumstances are all opportunities to bring God His glory and extend the testimony of the gospel.