But I desire to have you to be free from cares. He who is unmarried is concerned for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. There is also a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. This I say for your own profit; not that I may ensnare you, but for that which is appropriate, and that you may attend to the Lord without distraction. But if any man thinks that he is behaving inappropriately toward his virgin, if she is past the flower of her age, and if need so requires, let him do what he desires. He doesn’t sin. Let them marry. But he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no urgency, but has power over his own will, and has determined in his own heart to keep his own virgin, does well. So then both he who gives his own virgin in marriage does well, and he who doesn’t give her in marriage does better.
A wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives; but if the husband is dead, she is free to be married to whomever she desires, only in the Lord. But she is happier if she stays as she is, in my judgment, and I think that I also have God’s Spirit.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv32–40 32. But I would wish you. He returns to…
32. But I would wish you. He returns to the advice which he had spoken of, (1 Corinthians 7:25,) but had not as yet fully explained, and in the outset he pronounces, as he is wont, a commendation upon celibacy, and then afterwards allows every one the liberty of choosing what he may consider to suit him best. It is not, however, without good reason that he returns so frequently to proclaim the advantages of celibacy, for he saw that the burdens of matrimony were far from light. The man who can exempt himself from them, ought not to refuse such a benefit, and it is of advantage for those who resolve to marry, to be forewarned of those inconveniences, that they may not afterwards, on meeting with them unexpectedly, give way to despondency. This we see happens to many, for having promised themselves unmixed honey, on being disappointed in that expectation, they are very readily cast down by the slightest mishap. Let them know, therefore, in good time, what they have to expect, that they may be prepared to endure everything patiently. The meaning is this: “Marriage brings along with it hindrances, from which I should wish you to be free and exempt.”
As, however, he has previously made use of the term trouble, (1 Corinthians 7:28,) and now makes mention of cares or anxieties, it may admit of doubt whether they have a different signification, or not. I am of opinion that the trouble referred to is what arises from things of a distressing nature, such as loss of children, widowhood, quarrels, and little differences, (as lawyers speak,) many occasions of dislike, faults of children, difficulty in bringing up a family, and the like. The anxieties, on the other hand, are, in my opinion, connected with things that are joyful, as for example marriage fooleries, jests, and other things with which married persons are taken up.
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He that is unmarried careth for the things of the Lord. Mark the kind of exemption from anxieties that he desires in behalf of Christians — that they may devote to the Lord all their thoughts and aims. This, he says, belongs to celibacy; and therefore he desires all to enjoy this liberty. He does not mean, however, that it is invariably so in unmarried life, as experience shows it to be quite otherwise in priests, monks, and nuns, than whose celibacy nothing can be conceived to be farther from God. Add to this the many base fornicators who abstain from marriage for the very purpose of having greater liberty for the indulgence of lust, and that their vice may not appear. Where there is burning, (1 Corinthians 7:9,) no love of God can exist. But Paul’s meaning is this — that an unmarried person is free, and is not hindered from thinking of the things of God. The pious make use of this liberty. Others turn everything to their own destruction.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv33–39 They that are married, have their wits drawn hither…
They that are married, have their wits drawn hither and thither, and therefore if any man have the gift of continency, it is more commodious for him to live alone: but they that are married may care for the things of the Lord also, Clement, Strom. 3.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv32–40 32 But I would have you without carefulness. He…
32 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:
Ver. 32. Without carefulness] That unavoidably attendeth the marriage state, Gen 30:30; 1Ti 5:8.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv32–40 But I would have you without carefulness; the reason…
But I would have you without carefulness; the reason why I have advised (during the present distressed estate of the church) a single rather than a married life, for those to whom God hath given the gift of continency, is, that those who are Christians might live as free from such cares as divide and distract men’s and women’s minds, as they possibly can.
He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: the single person that hath a spiritual heart, disposed to pious performances, being free from other distractions and cares, caused by worldly occasions, will spend all his thoughts about his duty toward God, and how to please him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv32, 36, 39 Here our apostle subjoins another reason why a single…
Here our apostle subjoins another reason why a single life is to be preferred before a married life; namely, because single persons are comparatively more free from cares and distractions, and have commonly more time and leisure to attend upon the Lord in religious duties. For the unmarried man has but one care upon him, namely, how he may serve and please God; but the married man has another care upon him, to wit, how he amy oblige and please his wife.
In like manner, a married woman is encumbered with household affairs, disturbed with domestic affairs, and concerned in lawful things to please her husband; and consequently has neither so much time nor freedom for holy exercises. But the virgin that has no family to care for, no husband to seek to please, has more leisure to attend upon God in his holy duties and religious exercises; therefore he advises them to choose that state of life in which they may attend upon the Lord without distraction.
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Learn hence, 1. That a married condition is certainly and necessarily attended with many diversions and distractions, from which a single life is free.
Learn, 2. That persons in a conjugal relation may and ought to seek the obliging and pleasing one another with their utmost endeavours, without violating their duty to Almighty God.
Learn, 3. That persons in a single state have great advantages (may they improve them!) of serving God above others, in regard of their freedom from domestic cares, troubles, and temptations; they have time and leisure for pious performances, if the heart be disposed for them.
Learn, 4. That it is the duty, and ought to be the endeavour, of all persons, both married and unmarried, not only to serve God in religious duties, but to attend upon him in them, as much as may be, without distraction.
Distractions are the wanderings of the heart, mind, and thoughts, from God in religious duties. The nature of God requires, that we watch and strive against them; his majesty and greatness, his purity and holiness, his omniscience and all-seeing eye upon us, and within us, do oblige us to this careful endeavour; and the nature of his worship calls for it, which is a reasonable service, and a spiritual service; and the nature of distractions should make us dread them. They divide the heart, they deaden the duty, contract guilt, and provoke displeasure. Lord, help us, in all the services we perform unto thee, to attend upon them without distraction!
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv36, 39 In this passage the apostle is commonly supposed to…
In this passage the apostle is commonly supposed to give advice about the disposal of children in marriage, upon the principle of his former determination. In this view the general meaning is plain. It was in that age, and those parts of the world, and especially among the Jews, reckoned a disgrace for a woman to remain unmarried past a certain number of years: it gave a suspicion of somewhat that was not for her reputation. "Now," says the apostle, "if any man thinks he behaves unhandsomely towards his daughter, and that it is not for her credit to remain unmarried, when she is of full age, and that upon this principle it is needful to dispose of her in marriage, he may use his pleasure. It is no sin in him to dispose of her to a suitable mate. But if a man has determined in himself to keep her a virgin, and stands to this determination, and is under no necessity to dispose of her in marriage, but is at liberty, with her consent, to pursue his purpose, he does well in keeping her a virgin. In short, he that gives her in marriage does well; but he that keeps her single, if she can be easy and innocent in such a state, does what is better; that is, more convenient for her in the present state of things, if not at all times and seasons." Note, 1. Children should be at the disposal of their parents, and not dispose of themselves in marriage. Yet, 2. Parents should consult their children's inclinations, both to marriage in general and to the person in particular, and not reckon they have uncontrollable power to do with them, and dictate to them, as they please. 3. It is our duty not only to consider what is lawful, but in many cases, at least, what is fit to be done, before we do it.
But I think the apostle is here continuing his former discourse, and advising unmarried persons, who are at their own disposal, what to do, the man's virgin being meant of his virginity. Tērein tēn heautou parthenon seems to be rather meant of preserving his own virginity than keeping his daughter a virgin, though it be altogether uncommon to use the word in this sense. Several other reasons may be seen in Locke and Whitby, by those who will consult them. And it was a common matter of reproach among Jews and civilized heathens, for a man to continue single beyond such a term of years, though all did not agree in limiting the single life to the same term. The general meaning of the apostle is the same, that it was no sin to marry, if a man thought there was a necessity upon, to avoid popular reproach, much less to avoid the hurrying fervours of lust. But he that was in his own power, stood firm in his purpose, and found himself under no necessity to marry, would, at that season, and in the circumstances of Christians at that time, at least, make a choice every way most for his own conveniency, ease, and advantage, as to his spiritual concerns. And it is highly expedient, if not a duty, for Christians to be guided by such a consideration.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv32–40 But I would have you without carefulness,.... This is…
But I would have you without carefulness,.... This is another reason, by which the apostle confirms the advice he gives to virgins to remain such, because the married state is full of cares, whereas the single life is no more free from them; and therefore he wishes them to continue in such a state, that they might be without anxious and distracting cares of temporal things, things relating to the good decorum and sustenance of a family, and so be more free and at leisure for the service of God; which he illustrates, by showing the different cares that married and unmarried persons are involved in:
he that is unmarried, careth for the things that belong to the Lord; such as hearing the word, reading it, meditating upon it, praying to God and attending upon all ordinances, taking every opportunity to glorify God, and do good to others; but this is not to be understood as matter of fact, that unmarried persons are so studiously concerned for these things, or that this is the case of all of them; there are many unmarried persons think nothing about them; and are not at all concerned with them; but the meaning is, that such persons are more at leisure, and can more conveniently attend to these things, and ought so to do; and they that have the grace of God will be more or less solicitous to observe them:
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how he may please the Lord; for when these things are attended to in faith and fear, from a principle of love, and with a view to the glory of God, the good of their own souls and others, they are well pleasing to the Lord; and though they are not meritorious of eternal life, yet they are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, and will be taken notice of with approbation, and followed with a reward of grace another day.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv32–40 Now I would have you - For this flying…
Now I would have you - For this flying moment. Without carefulness - Without any incumbrance of your thoughts. The unmarried man - If he understand and use the advantage he enjoys-Careth only for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 40 Verse 32. Without carefulness.] Though all these things will…
Verse 32. Without carefulness.] Though all these things will shortly come to pass, yet do not be anxious about them. Every occurrence is under the direction and management of God. The wrath of man shall praise him, and the remainder of it he shall restrain, and none can harm you if ye be followers of that which is good. We should all take the advice of the poet:-
"With patient mind thy course of duty run;
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God nothing does, nor suffers to be done,
But thou wouldst do thyself, couldst thou but see
The end of all events as well as He." - BYROM.
He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord] He has nothing to do with a family, and therefore can give his whole time to the service of his Maker, having him alone to please.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv32, 36, 39 1Co 7:32-35. But — Or now; I would have…
1Co 7:32-35. But — Or now; I would have you — During this flying moment; without carefulness — Or anxiety, amidst all these uncertainties: without any encumbrance or distraction of your thoughts, about the affairs of this short uncertain life, in order that you may freely and cheerfully wait on God in a due attendance on all his ordinances, and may serve him according to his will; and therefore, for the present, I advise you to remain single as you are. For he that is unmarried — If he understand and use the advantage he enjoys; careth chiefly for the things that belong to the Lord — Namely, the Lord Christ; how he may please the Lord — And is in a great degree at liberty to employ his thoughts, cares, and labours, for the advancement of the Redeemer’s kingdom among men; and surely there is no other employment so honourable, so delightful, and, when remote consequences are taken into the account, so profitable. But he that is married careth for the things of the world — And it is his duty so to do, so far as becomes a Christian; how he may please his wife — May accommodate himself to her temper in all lawful things, so as to make her easy and happy, and provide all things needful for her and his family. There is a difference also between a wife and a virgin — Whether the church be under persecution or not. The unmarried woman — Not burdened with a family, if she know and use her privilege; careth chiefly for the things of the Lord — All her time, care, and thoughts, centre in this, how she may be holy both in body and spirit. — This is the standing advantage of a single life in all ages and nations, but who makes a suitable use of it? But she that is married, careth how she may please her husband — And the diversity of humours both in men and women, and the imperfection of even the best tempers, make this sometimes, on both sides, a difficult task; on which account single persons have always some considerable advantages, and especially in times of public danger. And this — Concerning the advantages of a single life; I speak for your profit — To show you what is most advantageous for your souls; not that I may cast a snare upon you — Who are not able to receive this saying; but for that which is comely — Προς το ευσχημον, for that which is decent, agreeable to your holy calling and profession: and that you may attend upon the Lord — May resolutely and perseveringly wait upon him in the use of all the means of grace, and in a continual attention to the voice of his providence, word, and Spirit. The word ευπροσεδρον, rendered attend upon, signifies sitting close by a person, in a good posture to hear: so Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, Luk 10:39: without distraction — Without having the mind drawn from its centre, from its close attention to God, by any person or thing, care or encumbrance whatsoever.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv32–40 But I would have you - I would advise…
But I would have you - I would advise you to such a course of life as should leave you without carefulness My advice is regulated by that wish, and that wish guides me in giving it.
Without carefulness - (ἀμερίμνους amerimnous). Without anxiety, solicitude, care; without such a necessary attention to the things of this life as to take off your thoughts and affections from heavenly objects; see the notes on Mat 6:25-31.
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careth for the things that belong to the Lord - Margin, “The things of the Lord;” the things of religion. His attention is not distracted by the cares of this life; his time is not engrossed, and his affections alienated by an attendance on the concerns of a family, and especially by solicitude for them in times of trial and persecution. He can give his main attention to the things of religion. He is at leisure to give his chief thoughts and anxieties to the advancement of the Redeemer’s kingdom. Paul’s own example showed that this was the course which he preferred; and showed also that in some instances it was lawful and proper for a man to remain unmarried, and to give himself entirely to the work of the Lord. But the divine commandment Gen 1:28, and the commendation everywhere bestowed upon marriage in the Scriptures, as well as the nature of the case, show that it was not designed that celibacy should be general.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv33, 36, 38 It is far easier to give our whole heart…
It is far easier to give our whole heart and application without any the least reserve to God, than to divide them without injustice.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 without carefulness--I would have you to be not merely…
without carefulness--I would have you to be not merely "without trouble," but "without distracting cares" (so the Greek).
careth--if he uses aright the advantages of his condition.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv32–40 32. But—Rather, and, as he states a wish in…
32. But—Rather, and, as he states a wish in accordance with the previous context.
You—This pronoun is emphatic. The Thessalonians (2Th_3:6-12) who were neglecting their temporal affairs in false expectation, perhaps, of the approaching advent, he ordered to attend to their own business; but to the overworldly Corinthians he gives directions that they, in view of impending trouble, present distress, should remember the transitoriness of the world, and keep from too deeply involving themselves in its complex cares.
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Without carefulness—With that freedom from care which celibacy affords. Paul does not, by this, favour a mere contemplative, inactive piety, dwelling in the luxury of its own motions. That is the truest inner life which produces the purest, and most energetic outer life. He desired for his Corinthians an exemption from secular cares, that they might consecrate themselves to a life of holy welldoing.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40 32. He that is unmarried careth for the things…
32. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord] One great reason why the Apostle recommends celibacy is the freedom that it gives from anxiety about worldly matters, the opportunity it offers of “attending upon the Lord without distraction.” But the Apostle does not desire his advice to be a snare to entangle those who feel that they can serve God with less distraction in the married state. He leaves it to all to decide for themselves according to their sense of what is most desirable and becoming in their own case. The words translated here ‘care,’ ‘carefulness,’ have the idea, as in St Mat_6:25; Mat_6:27-28; Mat_6:31; Mat_6:34 (where our translation has ‘take thought’), of trouble, anxiety.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv32, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 (32) But I would have you.—These words seem to…
(32) But I would have you.—These words seem to take up again the form of expression in 1Co_7:28. I would spare you trouble; I also wish to have you free from anxious care. That is my reason for so advising you. And here the Apostle returns to the subject immediately under consideration, and shows here what he has been saying bears upon it. This element of anxious care must be borne in mind in considering the desirability or otherwise of marriage.
There are some important variations in the readings of these verses (1Co_7:32-34) in the Greek MSS. The emendations required in the Greek text, from which the Authorised version is translated, are, I think, as follows:—Omit the full-stop after 1Co_7:33, connecting it with 1Co_7:34 by the insertion of the word “and.” Insert “and” in 1Co_7:34 before “a wife,” and the word “unmarried” after a wife.” The whole passage will then stand thus (rendering the Greek verb as it is in 1Co_1:13, “divided,” and, not, as in the English version here, “a difference between”): The unmarried man careth for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But the married man careth for the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and is divided in his interests (i.e., distracted). Also the wife that is unmarried (i.e., a widow, or divorced), and the unmarried virgin (i.e., the maid who is free from any contract of marriage), cares for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit. But she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
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The whole force of the passage is that married persons have, in the fulfilment of their obligations to each other, an additional interest and concern from which the unmarried are free. It must ever be distinctly borne in mind that this advice was given solely under the impression that the end of all earthly things was impending, and that the great trial and desolation was beginning to darken over the world. The Apostle who wrote these words of warning himself expressly condemns those who applied them as involving general moral obligations, and not as suited merely to temporary requirements (1Ti_4:1; 1Ti_4:3). He had himself at this time a strong personal inclination for a celibate life; but still he could enjoy and show a preference for the companionship of those who were evidently otherwise minded—he abode and wrought with Aquila and Priscilla his wife, at Corinth (Act_18:3). We can still imagine circumstances arising in individual cases to which the principle enforced by the Apostle would apply. A man might feel it his duty to devote his life to some missionary enterprise, in which marriage would hamper his movements and impede his usefulness. Such an exceptional case would hence only establish the general rule. “It may not be out of place to recall” (writes Stanley, in his Exposition of St. Paul’s View of Celibacy) “a celebrated instance of a similarly emphatic preference for celibacy on precisely similar grounds—not of abstract right, but of special expediency—in the well-known speech of our great Protestant Queen, when she declared that England was her husband and all Englishmen her children, and that she desired no higher character or fairer remembrance of her to be transmitted to posterity than this inscription engraved upon her tombstone: ‘Here lies Elizabeth, who lived and died a maiden queen.’”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv32–40 But I would have you without carefulness. In these…
But I would have you without carefulness. In these words he reverts to ver. 28, after the digression about the transiency of earthly relations. If they were "overcharged... with cares of this life," the day of the Lord might easily "come upon them unawares". (Luk_21:34)
Free from cares.
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I NOTE THE PRECISE MEANING AND DRIFT OF THIS SHORT SENTENCE. It refers to the anxieties of married life. Neither in Old Testament nor New is any disrespect shown to the state of matrimony. St. Paul himself, when writing of the reciprocal duties of life, gives most sympathetic counsels to husbands and wives; and, far from placing marriage in an unfavourable light as compared with celibacy, describes it as a sign of the sacred union of Christ and the Church, But, in this part of his letter, he is replying to a question put to him from Corinth regarding the course most expedient in the special circumstances of the time, i.e. in view of impending persecution and distress. Should unmarried persons marry at such a time? Should parents give their daughters in marriage? Should married Christians, if joined to heathens, remain in the marriage bond? These questions the apostle deals with, giving his opinion, not for all time, but for a time of trouble. It was no sin, or even fault, in any one to marry; but it would be wise to form no new ties at such a crisis, not to burden one"s self with new anxieties. In this sense the text is not for us, except in special emergencies and exceptional circumstances. It is hardly needful to say that a man who is about to start on a dangerous expedition, or one who is involved in serious pecuniary difficulty, or one who has some arduous task to accomplish by a given date which will require incessant attention, ought not to marry. Men in such conditions ought not to drag another into their difficulties or dangers, nor should they gratuitously add to their own anxieties. Let them keep their minds undistracted, and defer marriage to some easier and more auspicious day.
II DEDUCE A PRINCIPLE WHICH WILL APPLY TO ALL OCCASIONS. It is this: the Christian life ought not to be hampered with cares. Well for it to move on simple lines, as much as possible free from distraction and solicitude. Novelists and poets have said much against over anxiety and the black curse of care. Spenser describes care as forging iron wedges day and night.
Those be unquiet thoughts that careful minds invade.
Shakespeare says
Care is no cure, but rather corrosive, For things that are not to be remedied.
Another writes of "low-thoughted care." And it is easy to show that it clouds the judgment and defeats itself by restlessness and over anxiety which betray men into ruinous mistakes. But after all that has been said against care, it is not shaken off no, not by those moralists and poets themselves. Every man we meet has some vexing care about money, or reputation, or health, about the conduct or misconduct of others. We want some deeper teaching and some stronger help. We have both in and from our Master Jesus Christ the most profound teaching and the most timely and effectual help.
1. The life without care. Our Lord spoke of it in the Sermon on the mount. His disciples should not be anxious about food, or raiment, or the possible mishaps of tomorrow. Such wisdom they might learn from the birds and from the flowers, that are fed and clothed by God. If it be rejoined that the life and wants of birds and flowers are very much more limited than ours, who have to run so many risks and are vulnerable at so many points, the reply is obvious. We ought so to conduct our lives as to keep our grounds of anxiety at the lowest possible limit; in short, to simplify our habits, restrain our self tormenting bustle, and, reducing our external wants, give more voice to those which are inward and spiritual.
1. The modal of that life. It is Christ himself; for the perfect Teacher lived all his doctrines, practised all he preached. The way of human life which the Son of God selected, and to which he adhered, was the best for the purpose of developing a model humanity. We pass over the station in which he was born, because we have no discretionary power over our own
2. birth. But we take note of this, that he grew up in a home of piety, remote from those excitements and temptations that render our modern town bred youth so precocious. He had. a quiet time among the hills and valleys round Nazareth, to let his thoughts grow large and his character acquire deliberate strength. Then, when the time was ripe for opening his prophetic mission, he kept his personal life as simple as possible, and allowed no room for anxieties on his own account. He also surrounded himself with friends who were of simple habits and little worldly ambition. He taught them as they walked from one village to another or rowed their boat upon the lake, and did good everywhere without a particle of ostentation. And so he went on to the end, implicitly trusting and obeying the heavenly Father who had sent him and was always with him. Thus was he always calm and self possessed. No dust of brooding care lay upon his heart. And, indeed, it was because he held himself so free of petty entanglements, that he could be and was so engrossed with the work which the Father gave him to do. Easily satisfied as to food, and raiment, and lodgings, and things that perish, he devoted all the strength of his thought and purpose to the supreme object for which he had come into the world. It may be urged that this, though admirable in hint, is really no model for us. We cannot lead anything like that simple, untrammelled, unconventional life of which we read in the Gospels. Now, no one alleges that in form we can live as our Saviour lived, or his servant Paul. But we do maintain that Christians ought to catch the spirit and principle of the life of Christ, and therefore should not let artificial wants multiply or needless anxieties entangle their hearts. Unless pains be taken to prevent it, life becomes in modern times very much of a grind heart wearing and perplexing. Our hones and brains are weary. Our time slips away from us, and with all our fagging, we find our work drag. We are caught in the tyrannical grasp of the conventional, and go on in a laborious fashion, not happy, certainly not Christ like. They are the wisest and the happiest who lay down simple lines for themselves, reducing the cumbrousness of the outward life in order to cultivate more fully the inward life of faith, hope, and charity.
3. The principle of the care renouncing life. It is faith in God. Lot us cast our care on him, for he cares for us. On this principle the Man Christ Jesus walked, believing that the Father heard him always and compassed his path. On this principle he assured his followers that the very hairs of their heads were numbered. On this principle have all patient and humble Christian lives been sustained. "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want." The thirty-seventh psalm teaches it well. Art thou anxious about temporal wants? "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shall thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed". (Psa_37:3) Art thou keen and eager for a lawful object? "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart". (Psa_37:4) Art thou concerned about the issue of a matter? "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass". (Psa_37:5) Art thou hindered or discouraged by the success of unscrupulous rivals? "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him, fret not thyself" etc.. (Psa_37:7) With these simple directions laid to heart and obeyed, one may go through the greatest vicissitudes and most exhausting toils with a spirit cheerful and serene,
There are, in this loud stunning tide Of human care and crime, With whom the melodies abide Of th" everlasting chime,
Who carry music in their heart Through dusky lane and wrangling mart, Plying their daily task with busier feet, Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv32, 39 But I would have you without carefulness.
1Co_7:32-40
But I would have you without carefulness.
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Without carefulness
I. By avoiding those states which involve carefulness. Take, e.g.
1. The question of marriage. Paul bids Christians, in the first place, not to marry.
(1) But that was a time of persecution. The Christian man who had no family could flee in a moment if it was right to flee, and if caught he had not to think about his wife and fatherless children. Paul wished the Church to be like an army which is not encumbered with baggage; his own consisted of half a dozen needles and a reel of thread. He was thus without carefulness.
(2) But to-day the circumstances are decidedly different, and we are to follow the principle rather than the particular instance. I have known brethren who had a great deal more care before than after marriage, and who served God better in the married estate. That is the rule to judge by. But numbers of you never judge at all in this way. Many men and women rush into marriage when they know that it must involve them in all sorts of care and hinder them in the Masters service.
2. Increased worldly business. Now, if you can serve God better by having a dozen shops, have a dozen; but I have known persons whom God blessed in one shop, and they lost the blessing when they opened two or three. When invited to take their part in the Lords work, they replied--You see, I cannot get out, or I am so tied. But as the disability is entirely of your own creation, how can it excuse you? Do not fill your pocket at the expense of your soul. God can prosper you and make you happy with a more manageable business, and he can make you miserable if you wilfully increase your cares. Remember how Napoleon tried to do too much, and did it, and did for himself.
3. Public engagements. Everything which concerns man concerns a Christian, and God never wished His servants to leave the government of this realm to all the place-hunters who look for a seat in Parliament. To abandon law-making to the worst of men would be infamous. So with everything which concerns the public weal. But let the rule be--first God, and then our fellow-men. Ye are the servants of God; do not make yourselves the Slaves of men.
4. Occupations prevent attendance at the house of God. When a young man with a moderate salary, and the whole Sabbath and some week-evenings to himself, is offered twice as much in a place Where he must be shut out from worship and service, I hope he will look long before he makes the bargain. For Christians, the best place is where they can do most for Jesus.
II. By keeping away from those pursuits which naturally foster it:
1. When a man makes the gaining of riches the first thing in life he cannot be without carefulness. Where his treasure is, there will his heart be also.
2. If you live with the view of gaining honour among men, you will be full of cares. To please everybody is as impossible as to make ice and bake bread at the same moment in one oven.
3. Those who are ambitions to be very respectable will never be without carefulness; they have a pound coming in, but they spend a guinea. Some have a favourite object in life--not God; and these cannot be without carefulness. Dear mother, love your children by all means, but if that little one has become an idol, you cannot be without carefulness. Lots of children have suffered a martyrdom from too much nursing, and excessive carefulness has created cause for care. If anything else becomes the hobby of life, a horse, a dog, a flower, a painting, it will entangle you in nets of care.
III. By exercising a childlike faith in God. He sends you troubles and trials, but be without carefulness--
1. By never trying to anticipate them. Never meet them half-way. Commit your way unto the Lord, and then be without carefulness.
2. By being quite content with the Lords will. Do your best and leave business, health, friends, &c., in the hands of God.
3. By being quite sure about the love of God. He cannot make a mistake, and He cannot fail His people. If the worst thing, as it seems to us, should happen, it must be the right thing, because God has sent it.
4. By believing in the power of prayer, and in the fact that God does actually answer it.
5. By giving all our thought and care to this one object--How can I live as Christ would have lived? You never find Jesus worrying. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Against carefulness
I. The evil and danger of carefulness. Every kind of care is not evil; but only that care which is attended with anxiety. And this is evil--
1. As distracting our mind.
2. As impeding our progress.
3. As tending, to turn us from the path of strict integrity.
II. How we may most effectually divest ourselves of it. We must get--
1. A deep sense of the obligations which God has laid upon us.
2. A lively sense of the obligations which He has laid upon Himself also respecting us. (C. Simeon, M. A.)
Free from cares
I. Why should we be free from cares?--
1. The approach of the end.
(1) The time is shortened, between now and the Lords coming; or--
(2) Between now and our last hour.
2. The transiency of all earthly things. The fashion of this world passeth away. Do not many of the circumstances of past life, that were then subjects of absorbing anxiety, look now like so many shifting scenes of a stage play?
II. How should we be free from cares?
1. By contentment with our present lot. This is the lesson of 1Co_7:10-11; 1Co_7:27; 1Co_7:18; 1Co_7:21, &c. Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called (1Co_7:20).
2. By using all temporal relations without worldly absorption in them.
(1) All relative duties--husband and-wife an example.
(2) All sorrowful and joyous events.
(3) All acquisitions.
3. By using all temporal relations with a view of pleasing God (1Co_7:32; 1Co_7:34-35). (Clerical World.)
Torment of little cares
One of the most cruel torments of the Inquisition was to place a poor victim beneath a tap, and let the cold water fall upon the head drop by drop. This was not felt at first, but at last the monotony of the water dropping always on one spot became almost unendurable; the agony was too great to be expressed. It is just so with little cares. When they keep constantly falling drop by drop upon one individual they tend to produce irritation, calculated to make life well-nigh insupportable. (Clerical Library.)
He that is unmarried … but he that is married.--
The cares of married life
I. Are unavoidable. Marriage involves not merely new anxieties and troubles, but new claims which may interfere with our duty to God.
II. May be moderated.
1. By considering the sinfulness of excessive care.
2. By a supreme aim to please God.
3. By pleasing the partner of our life for good to edification. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
This I speak for your own profit.--
Advice should be given
I. With a pure motive--for anothers profit.
II. In a Christian spirit--So as not to overrule conscience and bring a snare.
III. For a wise end--to secure what is honourable and subservient to piety. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Characteristics of Christianity
The apostle here specifies in dealing with one particular subject some of the grand features which commend the Christian life. The expansion of the text is not unwarrantable, for religion is--
I. True profit. This I speak for your profit might preface nearly every Biblical injunction; for godliness in its widest scope and minutest details is profitable unto all things. This fact appeals to the practical side of our nature, and should have some force in this utilitarian age.
II. Perfect freedom. The last thing Paul had in view was to cast a noose over the Corinthians, or to lay a restraint on them. The very key note of his teaching, as of the whole gospel, is liberty. This appeals to the volitional side of our nature, and should arrest the attention of an age one of whose loudest watchwords is freedom--of thought, trade, &c. Religion fetters us in nothing, but in that which would restrict our true liberty. Hence it is a perfect law of liberty.
III. Real beauty. That which is comely. Much which goes by the name is unreal because unsubstantial and fading. One of the synonyms of Christianity is grace--what is becoming the uncreated beauty of God, and what becomes the creature made in His image. By the common consent of all who are entitled to judge, the most beautiful characters are those who are formed on the model of Him who is the altogether lovely. Religion thus appeals to the aesthetic side of nature, and should gain an hearing in an age which has witnessed a wonderful revival of art.
IV. Happy service. That ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction. To attend upon anything with- out distraction is a desideratum in this busy age. The lowest and simplest services bring their cares, and men and women are overwhelmed with them. Religion sanctifies these and would have us at home, and in the world, without carefulness. But in the highest and most difficult service--work for God, and for the eternal interests of man--here anxiety is often the acutest. Pauls contention is that this should not, must not be. And when we consider the nature of the work, its issues, and its helps, we shall say with our Master I delight to do Thy will, O My God. Conclusion: What more can be added to commend religion? Seemingly two things. The great questions yet remain--Is it reasonable? Is it right? But these are answered already practically. A thing that is profitable, liberating, beautiful, useful and blessed cannot be irrational and wrong. (J. W. Burn.)
Power over his own will--
Will-power
What is your conception of the best manhood? Clearly, there may be various conceptions of it, each with much to say for itself. One may think to discover it in the domain of mind, where the mellow and perfect culture of a vigorous understanding claims and wins homage. Another detects it in physical beauty and vigour, and in that delightful condition of body which makes it the obedient and ready organ of the spirit. Another, again, finds it in the moral nature of man. The best is the manliest. The purest, gentlest, kindest, truest, tenderest; he is the most worthy, and therefore the most admirable. But surely our text has the real key to the question. It is in the quality, and use, and dominance of the will that the test of manhood is to be discovered. It has been well said that every act is made up of a purpose, a method, and a power. But the purpose comes first. Also, what is true of an act is doubly true of a life. If the will is the mechanical force of the soul, before all things let it be strong. Only a strong will can make a strong man. If the will initiates action in purposing it, it must persevere in it for the accomplishing of the purpose; and, perhaps, even more needful than the volition that starts an act is the firmness that stays. What we all want in life is staying power. The beginning of the race is brisk, facile, and pleasant; but it needs more than high spirits and a vivid fancy to go on to the far end. See, oh, clearly see, that it is not from force of will, so much as from weakness of it, that the world breeds its miseries and its failures. Of course a strong will misdirected is bad. The apostle, you observe, is careful to add his own will. Perhaps in nothing is a real mans individuality so marked as in his own will. Each man, as says Shelley, must be himself alone, and he is most specifically himself by his will. If it deserves the name, your will differs from mine, and every other mans, in its surroundings, its flexibility, and original force; and we have to do the best with it that we can. For if you say, as well you may, is not will an inheritance by birth, Gods original gift, as much as brain, or animal strength, or those surroundings which make such a difference in our start--I say, in a degree, yes: but not so as to justify us in a base despair because our pound is but one, when our neighbour has five. Like memory, like reason, like the brain itself, which they say grows all through a mans life with the steady work that does it honour, it is made stronger by regular, definite, and repeated use. Then there is the control of the will, which St. Paul describes as power over it, or as the Revised Version gives it, power touching it. To rule the will, we must first consecrate it, in surrendering it with the entire being which it both commands and energises at the footstool of the most high God. You remember of Him, who lived as no other man lived, and died as no other man died, what He said about His will--His human will--a will like yours and mine, Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God. To give our will back, up to Him who has bestowed it upon us, with its terrible honourable freedom, is at once our dignity and our blessedness. Our dignity, because thereby we recognise the Divine Fatherhood, and plead our own sonship, as the children of God. Our blessedness, for sometimes the noblest use of liberty is to surrender it: and what St. James calls the perfect law of liberty, is only learnt in the school of love. Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price. Wherefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are Gods. To rule it, again, implies that we use it. By using it I mean giving it a first place in the continuous activities of life; not only about plans, but about details; not only for what gets credit, but for what no one sees but God; not only for the problems of the thinker, but for the homely plodding tasks of the honest student, who wanting but his degree, sees Alps that he must climb before he can reach it, yes means to reach it. Not for any one department, or corner, or phase, or period of life, but for the whole. A strong man resolves, sometimes it must be admitted with precipitateness, and an incomplete knowledge of resources. Then he suffers, and perhaps others as well. But is it not far better in the end to suffer for over-much doing--a rare fault, and one which has a knack of taking its own cure with it--than to suffer for too little doing, which usually results, if not in a paralysis of our finer powers, certainly in a deterioration of them? and it is deterioration, so subtle, so easy, so rapid, so hidden, that we all of us, but especially those who are in the autumn of our years, have so much to dread. Power over the will also means the regulating it, in its impulses, prejudices and resolves. By impulse I mean its first ideas and stirrings, which if not watched and restrained will sometimes land us in inextricable disaster. Prejudice it must examine and allow for; neither ignore, nor too much dread. Every intelligent human being is constantly and inevitably storing up in his mind those final and essential and condensed results of his past, which tend, and ought to tend, to bias him in this direction rather than that; and which swaying conduct with an invisible but potent influence, a wise man will recognise and make allowance for, just as the navigator of an iron vessel is careful to have his compasses verified before he goes to sea; then goes, and feels safe. Intention, too, needs regulating, sometimes in the way not only of modifying it, but even of surrendering it, should altered circumstances make it expedient. Self-will has nothing strong about it, though it affects, and even caricatures, firmness. But what is the area of this will over which we are to claim and exercise power? First, it moves about faith; for if St. Paul be correct, both the will in God and the will in man have a concurrent share in what touches our salvation--salvation being a condition of the entire being, and not only one part of it; as much of the intellect which ponders and accepts truth, as of the conscience that feels after righteousness. Let us instantly admit that the will must not be suffered an undue preponderance in the dealings of the mind, with what we call revelation. Our first question is not what do I wish truth to be, but what truth is actually found to be; not what I hope can be proved, but what by the evidence suitable to the question is capable of proof. Keep your will set on truth; still seek it, desire it, wait for it, pray for it, more than for your necessary food. Do not despise it as if it was not worth waiting for; do not despair about it, as if it would never come. Then for culture is not the will required to keep men from dreaming, instead of thinking; to stir this one to study, that one to ambition? Surely will has its place here, with its function of selection, and its duty of application, with its aim in concentration, and with its reward in power. Once more, see what the will has to do with character. An apostle of culture, who describes Salvation as a harmonious perfection only to be won by unreservedly cultivating many sides in us, admits that conduct, not culture, is three parts of human life. If there is one rule more than another that I wish to leave in your minds it is the will for goodness. The one sentence that I impress on you about it is to keep yourselves unspotted from the world. Remember how all grossness and self-indulgence go to weaken the physical powers, and degrade your personal dignity, and wait for their implacable revenge, when the autumn of life arrives, and, almost worst of all, spoil that fine instinctive sense of goodness which is the reward of a soul that has never stained its whiteness, which goes, never quite to come back even after years of devotedness and sanctity: and so with all the power of your will, and with all the passion of your heart, and with all the conviction of your reason, and with all the weight of your conscience, say, when the tempter comes--I may not, I must not, I will not, I cannot, for am not I the child of God, the brother of Jesus Christ? Lastly, the will of the Father, the will of the Son, the will of the Holy Ghost are all for you. The will of the Father about you and your life in front will open out in the way of His providence as the years go on. Trust it. The will of His Son, Jesus Christ; is for you. From His place of glory He looks down and thinks of you all, some with fear, some with delight--all with unspeakable love. His will is to bless you. Is it your will to be blessed? And the will of the Holy Ghost is to give you strength, to sanctify you in body, soul, and spirit, and dignify and irradiate your studies with His divine presence, to stir your thirst for knowledge--all knowledge--but supremely that which manifests the face of God. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. And then this power over your own will shall mean in a perfect and joyous freedom the service of men and the fruition of God. (Bishop Thorold.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40 32. I would have you free from cares. That…
32. I would have you free from cares. That is, I would have you free from the causes which bring cares.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv32–40 32. The question extensively prevailed at that time, should…
VIRGIN CELIBACY
32. The question extensively prevailed at that time, should not a Christian man, instead of giving his virgin daughter in wedlock to her lover, keep her for the Lord, so that unencumbered she might be a more efficient soul- saver, becoming a vestal virgin, as they had known in the heathen religions for ages, and was perpetuated in Christianity in subsequent ages, developing into the Roman Catholic nunship. Paul here meets all of those complicated questions.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv32–40 But I would have you to be free from…
But I would have you to be free from cares. He that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord:
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv33, 34, 36 kosmos = world-system. 2Co 7:10; Joh 7:7. (See Scofield…
world
kosmos = world-system. 2Co 7:10; Joh 7:7. (See Scofield "Rev 13:8").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv32, 36 A comparison of the married and unmarried state:
A comparison of the married and unmarried state:
v. 32. But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
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v. 33. but he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.
v. 34. There is a difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit; but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
v. 35. And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.
The apostle here presents his reasons for advising as he does, his aim being that his readers should be without cares and worries which tended to distract their attention from the one thing needful, worries of all kinds, but especially marriage worries. For the unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. That is the ideal state which Paul would fain see, that the unmarried man devote his abilities and energies to the service of the Lord, with the object of doing that which pleases Him alone. There is an admonition here for the unmarried men of our times, many of whom refrain from marrying because they dread the inconveniences and tribulations of the married state, and yet are also too selfish to devote themselves to the Lord and to the work of the Church. But he that is married, the apostle says, is anxious about the things of this world, how he may please his wife. This is, of course, a danger connected with the matrimonial state, that the husband be so engrossed with his love for his wife and with the care of the household as to forget the duty which he owes to the Lord. Paul sets forth here what is usually found in actual experience, and altogether too often in our days, when the idea of a partnership in the Biblical sense and of a home and family has been abandoned for that of a life of voluptuous ease and of social ambition. In either case the service of the Lord suffers, but that is not a necessary concomitant of marriage.
Paul considers also the side of the woman: And a difference is also between the wife and the virgin; there is a diversity between them with regard to care; they are separated, divided, in their interests. If the unmarried woman realizes and makes use of her opportunities properly, she will be anxious about the things of the Lord. This she does by being holy according to her body as well as according to her spirit, that is, she devotes herself entirely to the Lord, serving Him with her whole person and all her powers. This is an ideal which should be held before the eyes of all Christian young women; for at the present time there is far too much attention paid to pleasure and service of the flesh, as the world is making inroads upon the Church, and far too little to the service of the Lord and His Church, although there are so many ways in which an earnest Christian may help in the spreading of the Kingdom. On the other hand, the married woman is anxious about the things of this world, the care of so many things in the family and household naturally falling upon her; and she is concerned about pleasing her husband. This, again, does not imply that this is the only sphere which the Christian wife will know, and that it is impossible for her not to be active in the work of the Church. On the contrary, many a married woman has put the young women to shame with her zeal for progress in the congregation. But Paul is speaking of the average case, stating the facts as they are usually found.
At the same time the apostle realized fully that his personal recommendation of the unmarried state, even under the conditions then obtaining, was connected with certain perils. He therefore adds: But this I say to your own advantage, not that I throw a snare upon you, put a noose around your neck. He does not want to catch his readers and shut them up in an unwilling unmarried state; nor does he want to rule their consciences and force them to think as he himself does. His argument is only that he speaks for that which is proper, seeming, fitting, that which at the present time is befitting the behavior of Christians, and that which amounts to an assiduous and undisturbed waiting for the Lord and His coming. Paul wanted all distractions and diversions of earthly influences removed, in order to offer to the Lord the most unselfish and unhindered service. If a person can and may remain unmarried, these words of the apostle should always be borne in mind. There would be little or no difficulty about carrying on the external business of the Church if all those that are footloose would devote their free time to the Lord, with an energy corresponding to the importance of the work.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv32, 35, 36, 39 free from worries
free from worries
"Free" here is an idiom which means the ability to live without constantly thinking about." AT: "without needing to worry" (See: Idiom)
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concerned about
"focused on"
he is divided
"he is trying to please God and please his wife at the same time"
translationWords
free
world
virgin
body
spirit
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv36, 39 7:36-38 Paul recommends celibate life in preference to marriage,…
7:36-38 Paul recommends celibate life in preference to marriage, but he allows for marriage if a person’s sexual desires prove too much of a temptation. Those in firm control of their sexual desires are encouraged to choose the celibate life.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.