1 Corinthians 7:40

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Summary

1 Corinthians 7:40

But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.

She

1 Corinthians 7:1

I think

2 Peter 3:15

General references

Matthew 19:10

Bible References

She

I now want to reply to the matters you people wrote me about. It is [a] good [idea] for a man not to get married. [Note: The words "to get married" here are "to touch" in the Greek and probably refer to sexual relations within marriage. This advice, not a prohibition, is further explained in verses 26-35].

I think

Now I have no command from the Lord concerning [what you wrote about] unmarried women. [Note: The word here is "virgins" but some think it includes both males and females]. But I give my advice as someone who has received the Lord's mercy to be counted trustworthy.

Am I not a free man? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? [See Acts 9:17; I Cor. 15:8]. Are you people not [the result of] my work in [the service of] the Lord?

Did the message of God originate from you [i.e., the church in Corinth]? Or, were you people the only ones who received it?

For even if I should boast too much about the authority the Lord gave us for building you people up [spiritually], and not tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it.

I have become foolish [i.e., by my boasting], but you made me do it [i.e., in order to vindicate myself]. For I should have been commended by you [i.e., for my effective ministry there in Corinth], because I was not inferior in any way to those "super apostles" [See 11:5], even though I am nothing.

So, the person who rejects [this exhortation] is not [merely] rejecting what man says but God [Himself], who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

And consider [that] the patience of the Lord means [further opportunities for] salvation, [just] as our dearly loved brother Paul also wrote to you, using the wisdom given to him by God.

General references

His disciples [then] said to Jesus, "If this is the way it has to be between a man and his wife, it is not worth getting married."