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Today's Pathway: I Corinthians 7:6-11 But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

When Paul writes that what he is about to say in verses 7-9 is by "permission" and not by "commandment", he is not saying that what he is about to write is uninspired. He makes this clear in I Corinthians 14:37 when he states,

"If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord."

"The 'permission' given to Paul was obviously from the Lord, since no one was above Paul in terms of apostolic authority. Thus, he was claiming--not denying--divine inspiration. He did not have an explicit 'commandment' to cite for this teaching, either from the Mosaic law or the teachings of Christ, but rather had direct divine authorization."

In verses 7-8 he says that he thinks it would be good for people to stay single. Paul himself was single. Some think that he may have been a widower, but the Bible does not say that. He will discuss this issue in greater depth later in this chapter, but for now he simply says that it is good to stay single. This is NOT a command of God, for he writes in verse 28 that it is not a sin to get married. However, there are benefits to remaining single which he will address later. Not everyone can or should stay unmarried, for, according to the end of verse 7, God has gifted different people in different ways, which would include whether or not he or she could remain single. God gives grace to some to remain unmarried, whereas He definitely calls others to the married state. It is an individual matter, and it would be wrong to tell any single individual that they "must" or "must not" not be married. Please note that he is specifically talking to those who had never married and those who had been bereaved of their spouse. He will address those who were divorced beginning on verse 11. He finishes this brief section by saying that if someone is going to struggle with sexual self-control, then they need to get married so that they do not commit fornication, as he mentioned back in verse 2. John MacArthur wrote on this subject,

"A person cannot live a happy life, much less serve the Lord, if he is continually burning with sexual desire—even if the desire never results in actual immorality. And in a society such as Corinth’s, or ours, in which immorality is so prevalent and accepted, it is especially difficult not to succumb to temptation."

In verses 10-16 Paul deals with the subject of divorce and remarriage. In verse 10 he commands that a woman should not leave her husband, and in verse 11 he forbids the husband from divorcing his wife. Though these verses specifically mention wives doing the leaving and husbands doing the putting away, the two principles apply equally to both the wife and the husband. He points out that this commandment did not originate with him, but had been stated by God previously (Malachi 2:16; Mark 10:11). So, divorce is forbidden. However, according to verse 11, if a woman does leave her husband, she has only two Biblical options: she is to remain single or she must be reconciled to her husband. Reconciliation is a principle that is taught in the Scriptures. We are to be reconciled to God (Romans 5:10) and to others (Matthew 5:24). In fact, God has given each believer the ministry of reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:18). So, if a divorce or separation occurs, the goal should always be reconciliation. But if one of the spouses remarries, then reconciliation becomes impossible. Thus, marriage to someone else is not an acceptable option for the believer.

We will discuss this issue further tomorrow.