Corinth is sex-fuelled, as we’ve seen – in the temples, on the streets, anything goes. But some have reacted in extreme ways against this culture. They claim that ‘nothing goes’ (v 1). Paul thinks that’s throwing the baby out with the bath water – sex is a good gift from God, to be enjoyed properly. That means keeping sex and marriage together, between just one man and one woman (not lots, v 2).

Sex is equally for the pleasure of both husband and wife, and sensitivity to the wishes of the other person is vital (vs 3,4). If they wish to, both can agree to stop for a short while, but only for a really good reason (v 5).

Then Paul speaks personally: ‘For me, being single is my gift from God – I think that’s the best thing! For others, it’s being married – for them, nothing could be better’ (vs 6–9). But then there’s the issue of single people who desperately want to be married, and the married who desperately want to be single. More on the latter tomorrow.

‘… to have and to hold … for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part’.¹

It is frustrating not to have Paul’s earlier letter to the Corinthians. As we have seen, some believers in Corinth had ignored Paul’s original letter, using the pretext that, as they followed Peter or Apollos, Paul had no authority to tell them how to behave and to turn from the uncontrolled sexual behaviours of their past lives. On the other hand, some believers, respecting Paul’s apostleship, had taken his advice so seriously that they had written to Paul, asking whether living holy lives meant that they should give up sexual activities altogether, even as married couples (v 1).

Paul taught that the only proper place for sex was in a committed marriage where, as prefigured in the creation story, the two ‘become one flesh’.² Paul, however, clearly prefers his celibate life, free to devote himself to prayer and preaching the gospel. He sees celibacy as a spiritual gift and wishes others could be like him. He goes so far as to say that marriage is a last resort for those who lack self-control: ‘it is better to marry than to burn with passion’ (v 9). Those who are married should stay together but those who are not should seriously consider whether they should marry at all. 

This advice seems strange to us. These were Paul’s personal opinions, but what was he thinking? Shouldn’t Christians raise Christian families? Did Paul envisage a childless Christian community which would eventually age and die out? This makes no sense unless we realise that Paul and the early believers expected Jesus to return in their lifetime (eg v 31). Making decisions and arrangements to guarantee their earthly future was pointless if Jesus was expected to return soon to inaugurate God’s new order. We will treat this matter more fully later, but it is crucial to understanding Paul’s advice. 

‘… let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us’.³

¹ Marriage vow, Solemnisation of Matrimony, Book of Common Prayer  ² Gen 2:24  ³ Heb 12:1