Instructions to the Married

Verse 1 probably quotes or echoes a Corinthian proposition: "It is good for a man not to touch a woman." The idiom "touch" can function euphemistically for sexual relations. Paul does not simply endorse abstinence; he immediately insists that husbands and wives render the conjugal obligation to one another. His formulation is strikingly reciprocal: husband and wife each possess authority over the other's body. Temporary abstinence is permissible only by mutual agreement for prayer, followed by reunion so that lack of self-control does not become an occasion for temptation.

Verses 6-9 distinguish concession from command. Paul regards his own unmarried state as desirable but recognizes different charismata, "gifts," from God. The statement "it is better to marry than to burn" is usually taken to refer to burning with sexual desire, though some have proposed eschatological judgment. Verses 10-11 invoke a command "not I, but the Lord" against marital separation, probably recalling Jesus' prohibition of divorce. If separation nevertheless occurs, Paul gives the alternatives of remaining unmarried or being reconciled.

Verses 12-16 address marriages in which only one spouse is a believer, a situation not directly covered by Jesus' recorded teaching. Paul instructs believers not to initiate divorce if the unbelieving spouse consents to remain. The statement that the unbelieving spouse is "sanctified" through the believer does not necessarily imply personal salvation; it describes the marriage and children as set within a sphere of covenantal holiness. If the unbeliever departs, however, the believer is "not enslaved." Scholars debate whether this permits remarriage or only releases the believer from the obligation to preserve the marriage.

1 Corinthians 7 begins Paul's responses to matters raised in a Corinthian letter, signaled by the phrase "concerning the things about which you wrote." The chapter addresses marriage, sexual relations, divorce, mixed marriages, circumcision, slavery, virginity, and widowhood. Paul repeatedly distinguishes between commands grounded in Jesus' teaching, his own apostolic judgment, and concessions shaped by circumstances. His argument reflects both concern for sexual holiness and a strong eschatological sense that "the appointed time has grown short."

The chapter is organized around a recurring principle of remaining in the situation in which one was called, while recognizing legitimate exceptions. Paul affirms marriage and mutual conjugal obligations, permits separation under limited conditions, and treats singleness as a valuable gift rather than a universal ideal. His counsel concerning the unmarried is shaped by an unspecified "present distress" and by the desire for undivided devotion to the Lord. The result is not a systematic theology of marriage but pastoral reasoning adapted to distinct social and eschatological circumstances.