Jensens survey of the old testament adam 465
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chapter 7 if the local Corinthian situation
and the larger context of Paul’s epistles are
not recognized. Let us look at these briefly.
1 . Local Corinthian situation. We do not
know exactly how the Corinthians’ questions
were worded. If we did, some of the di cult
aspects of chapter 7 might disappear. For
example, the Corinthians’ former heathen
exaltation of celibacy could have prompted
them to ask Paul if celibacy for Christians
was not the state that all Christians should
cherish. To which Paul’s reply was, “[True,]
… it is good for a man not to touch a
woman, [nevertheless,] … let each man have
his own wife, and let each woman have her
own husband. [Because if this normal
pattern for the human race is broken,
fornication is inevitable]” (7:1).
Another local situation about which we
can only speculate is the kind and extent of
“distress” (7:26) that was threatening the
Corinthian Christians at that time. It could
very well have been severe persecution, in
which case Paul’s counsel to the Corinthians
was to postpone marriage for the time being
(e.g., 7:26-27).
In studying chapter 7 it must also be
remembered
that
sexual
immorality
(“fornication”) was an evil threatening the
very survival of the Corinthian church. That
problem must have had much to do with
how Paul answered the questions about
marriage.
2 . Paul’s full teaching on marriage. A
reading of all Paul’s letters reveals that the
apostle commended marriage as a high and
holy estate. Read, for example, Ephesians
5:22-23. In 1 Timothy 4:3 Paul speaks of
“forbidding to marry” as a doctrine of
demons (4:1). In 1 Corinthians 7:12-16 Paul
discusses the problems of mixed marriages
with unbelievers. In 2 Corinthians 6:14 his
advice is that the unmarried Christian can
avoid such problems by not marrying an
unbeliever. Many other references outside 1
Corinthians could be cited here.
C. CHRISTIAN LIBERTY (8.1—11:1)
This long section of the letter concerns a
delicate situation the material object of
which is neutral or non-moral. The
Corinthians’ question was, May we as
believers eat meat that has been o ered in
sacri ce unto idols (see 8:4)? Meat of itself
is amoral, that is, neither right nor wrong.
But could a Corinthian Christian go to a
meat market sponsored by a heathen temple
and buy meat that had been left over from a
heathen sacri ce? Was this associating
himself anew with the former life of
heathenism? Did the Corinthian believer
have
to
consider
what other people
(especially immature believers) would think
if he did that, even though both he and God
knew that he had no intention of fellowship
in the heathen circle? Those were some of
the things that were on Paul’s mind as he
formulated this lengthy discourse on what
must have been a stormy issue in the
Corinthian congregation. Its application to
similar problems of Christian living today is
both clear and vital.
The outline of Chart 71 shows how Paul
teaches and exhorts concerning the problem.
Read the chapters and observe the specific
things Paul wrote, within each group of
principles.
D. SPIRITUAL GIFTS (11:2—14:40)
