Catholic Commentary on 1 Corinthians 7

"Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them." (1 Corinthians 7:20)

Marriage and Celibacy

Chapter 7 is Paul's most extended treatment of marriage and celibacy, responding to questions the Corinthians have written to him about. It is important to note the context: Paul writes with an expectation that the end is near (verse 29: the time is short), which shapes some of his practical preferences. He opens by affirming that marriage is good and necessary and that within marriage husband and wife owe each other the conjugal debt: they do not have authority over their own bodies but yield it to each other. He commends celibacy as his own preference, not as a command but as a gift that not everyone has. Both states of life are gifts from God, different charisms for different people.

The Catechism draws its foundational teaching on the complementarity of marriage and celibacy from this chapter: both are genuine vocations, both express different dimensions of God's love, and neither is superior in an absolute sense (CCC 1620). The celibate person gives an eschatological sign, pointing to the Kingdom where there is no marriage. The married person gives a sacramental sign, embodying the covenant love of Christ for the Church. Both are necessary in the community of the Church.

Bloom Where You Are Planted

The pastoral principle that runs through the whole chapter is the call to contentment in one's current state: Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. Were you a slave when called? Do not be troubled, though if you can gain freedom, do so. Were you married? Do not seek divorce. Were you unmarried? Do not seek a spouse, though if you marry you have not sinned. The urgency of the Kingdom means that neither marriage nor its absence is the ultimate concern. What matters is being in the right relationship with God in whatever state of life you occupy.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the grass of a different vocation is always temptingly green. The married person romanticises the freedom of the single life; the single person romanticises the stability of marriage. Paul's counsel is to bloom where you were planted. God called you in a specific situation. That situation, offered back to him, becomes the material of your sanctification. Is the situation you are in now being offered to God, or are you waiting for a better situation to begin your real Christian life?

Prayer

Lord God, you call us in specific situations and you sanctify us through them. Teach us contentment in the state of life you have given us. Whether married or single, slave or free, give us the grace to honour you fully in the situation we are in, and to trust that it is enough. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

7
Principles of Marriage
1 Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good to abstain from sexual relations.* 7:1 Literally It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
 
3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.
 
5 Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
 
8 Now to the unmarried and widows I say this: It is good for them to remain unmarried, as I am. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
 
10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
 
12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
 
15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him go. The believing brother or sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you † 7:15 SBL, BYZ, and TR us to live in peace. 16 How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
Live Your Calling
 
17 Regardless, each one should lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is what I prescribe in all the churches. 18 Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commandments is what counts.
 
20 Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called. 21 Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it concern you—but if you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity. 22 For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman. Conversely, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.
 
23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 Brothers, each one should remain in the situation he was in when God called him.
The Unmarried and Widowed
 
25 Now about virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26 Because of the present ‡ 7:26 Or impending crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is. 27 Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you free of commitment? Do not look for a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
 
29 What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; 30 those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing; 31 and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
 
32 I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord. 33 But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the work of the Lord, how she can be holy in both body and spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, how she can please her husband.
 
35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but in order to promote proper decorum and undivided devotion to the Lord.
 
36 However, if someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his betrothed, and if she is beyond her youth and they ought to marry,§ 7:36 Literally and it ought to be so let him do as he wishes; he is not sinning; they should get married. 37 But the man who is firmly established in his heart and under no constraint, with control over his will and resolve in his heart not to marry the virgin,* 7:37 Literally in his heart to keep the virgin or in his heart to keep the betrothed he will do well.
 
38 So then, he who marries the virgin does well, but he who does not marry her does even better.
 
39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.† 7:39 Literally she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord 40 In my judgment, however, she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

*7:1 7:1 Literally It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

†7:15 7:15 SBL, BYZ, and TR us

‡7:26 7:26 Or impending

§7:36 7:36 Literally and it ought to be so

*7:37 7:37 Literally in his heart to keep the virgin or in his heart to keep the betrothed

†7:39 7:39 Literally she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord

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