1Cor 7:29-35 - The Eternal View - Reflections

29 This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. 32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.


A lot of this was covered in comments on the last section. But worth noting is Paul’s point may have been that the end of the age was imminent - that Christ was returning at any moment, but certainly within the foreseeable future. But the fact that he looks at each person’s time as precious, along with his use of the Greek word "kairos" rather than "kronos" for "time" makes his drift akin to the saying, "Now is the hour of your salvation." He believes that Christians ought to be unencumbered with worldly concerns. They must be in the world (and therefore must work and eat and sleep and dress and so on) but these things were to be regarded only as necessary means, and they were not to be regarded as ends in themselves. They are seen as mere secondary concerns, paling into insignificance next to service to the Lord in the work of the gospel.

He doesn’t actually say, for example, "Don’t have a wife," or, "Don’t mourn," or, "Don’t rejoice," - or even, "Don’t have goods." To understand it that way would be to fall into the error of certain of the Gnostics or the ascetics. Jesus wept. Jesus mourned. Jesus rejoiced. Jesus owned stuff - albeit only the clothes on His back. Notice Paul says that these things are to be experienced under the umbrella of eternity - an eternity made sure in the love of God by the gift of His grace in Jesus Christ. An eternity starting in this life, in the body, in which there is peace with God, freedom from judgement and condemnation and the certain prospect of eventual freedom from even the presence of sin.

He’s saying that we ought to set our minds on things above, for where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also. {Mt 6:21} It is the sojourner theme again. And it is repeated because we have so little faith and the world so much attraction to our flesh that it is easy to be side tracked. Everything in the world can be an enemy of the Christian life - a spouse, a feeling (even a legitimate feeling), material goods such as houses, cars, tech stuff, food, sex and even religion. Whatever does not come from faith cannot be from and to the Lord in our own hearts, and is of no avail. Whatever does not come from faith is sin. {Ro 14:23}

Since all things are a potential trap for the believer then the less encumbrance a person engages in the more he is able to devote his life solely to Christ. We will all fail daily, no matter what - but those who are able to eschew things without turning that self denial into sin ought to consider the advantages of increased devotion to God.

Gnostic denial, through belief that material things are inherently evil - and ascetic denial, through the belief that the punishment of the body makes us closer to God are both heresies that contradict the Bible and run contrary to the true faith. Yet people in every age are led astray by them in one form or another. Paul is not preaching, nor is he encouraging such error here; neither ought we to impose such things on the text. Paul is constantly pointing his audience to the freedom they have in Christ to seek God in the midst of their circumstances.

For the Christian it is never about what we do. It is all about what God has done, is doing and will do in and through and for us. Christ is the One who has worked the work that justified us, and that will bring us to completion. We are to believe in these facts. Consequently, calling material things which God made and declared good to be evil is a distortion of the truth, and a distraction from the power of God in Christ. And doing severe things to the body as a means of gaining or keeping God’s favour is a blind alley, a lie and the express roadway to hell.

On the other hand, the thrust of Paul’s argument cannot be ignored, however much we might disdain the idea of nunneries and monasteries. Undoubtedly such institutions have been the nests for all kinds of error about Christian living, but some of the best Christian minds and the most godly and faithful people have also lived in such places. Anselm and Luther were both monks, for example. What matters is not only the situation, but the heart that leads one into it, or that keeps a person there. It is equally as possible for a monk to be a legalistic self-justifier as it is for him to be a godly man of faith.

We shall all give account one day for the deeds done in the body. But only those who trust in the finished work of Christ for their justification and life with God will be saved. And God knows those who are His.

If a person can be dedicated to God and married, dedicated to God and a slave owner, dedicated to God and have great possessions then more grace to them, for they have been given great grace. All things work together for our good when we love God and are (truly) the called according to His purposes. Even our bad decisions become opportunities to learn from God without bringing us condemnation. And God will guide, uphold, keep and fellowship with us in all circumstances so long as we are looking to Him in Christ.