by John Lowe
(Woodruff, S.C.)
And not of commandment.
The meaning of this verse is that Paul is giving the Corinthian believers good, sound, spiritual counsel and advice. It was not a commandment of God that a man touch not a woman and that the single person marry not; but since Paul was the spiritual father of those who made up the church in Corinth, he felt toward them as a father would feel toward his children and had a deep desire to see them live victoriously and enjoy their spiritual birthright. (That does not mean that these verses are not inspired; the apostle gave a commandment only when it was received from God as a command; otherwise by the divine help of the Lord he councils as a spiritual guide.)
It is not a command of God that a husband and wife NOT defraud each other (deprive each other) unless it is by mutual consent for a short time—but very few husbands and wives can afford to ignore Paul’s advice in the matter, because we are human and the devil is no respecter of persons. It doesn’t matter who we are, we are not immune from temptation. It would be good for us to heed these words of warning from the apostle.
7 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.
For I would that all men were even as I myself.
The question of whether or not Paul was ever married has surfaced frequently, since there are many dogmatic opinions supporting the pro and con. One thing is certain; Paul was NOT married at this time. Halley gave his opinion that "This chapter seems to have been written by one who knew something of the intimacies of the married life," and combined with this is the fact of Paul's voting in the Sanhedrin (An unmarried man could not be a member of the Sanhedrin.)—“Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice (vote) against them (early Christians)” (Acts 26:10; KJV)—which he could not do unless he was a member of the Sanhedrin; about which, it was said, marriage was a prerequisite, making these two of the reasons for supposing that Paul had been married. That is supported by the next verse: “I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. (1 Cor 7:8; KJV). Paul, at the time of this writing, was unmarried, since he included himself among the unmarried and the widows. Added to that is the opinion that Paul was an extremely observant Jew and an example among his people: “Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more…Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee…Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” (Phil 3:4-6; KJV). In Paul's day, Jews considered that marriage was a duty, to the extent that a man reaching 20 years of age without having been married was considered to have sinned. Unmarried men were often considered excluded from heaven and not real men at all.
Standing on the other side of the question is Shore, however, who declared that "The almost universal tradition of
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