Thriving In New Corinth Companion Guide:
Download this companion guide for use Sept 1-Nov 16, 2025. This guide is designed to supplement and deepen our Sunday sermon series entitled Thriving in New Corinth. Each week, you will study one of the big topics found within the book of 1 Corinthians in preparation for the upcoming sermon on that topic.
Understanding Singleness, Marriage, and Faithfulness in 1 Corinthians 7
We live in a culture obsessed with advancement. Like the board game "Life" that simply gamified what already happens in American society, we're constantly being pushed to the next station: When will you find someone? When are you getting married? When are you having kids? When's the next one coming?
This relentless pressure to move forward can make us miss something crucial: God often wants us to remain where we are for a season because He's doing something deep within us that we'll miss if we rush to the next thing.
The Apostle Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 7 provides a radically counter-cultural perspective on singleness, marriage, and contentment that challenges both ancient Corinth and modern America.
Key Truth: Some people are called to singleness
In a culture where 69% of Americans experience marriage at least once (down from 87% in 1955), single people often feel like the exception rather than the rule. This can create a painful internal narrative: What's wrong with me? Why am I different? Why am I not as loved? Do I not matter as much?
These questions can lead to desperation—rushing into relationships with anyone willing to go on a second date, settling for partnerships that aren't healthy, just to avoid being "the only one not married."
But Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 7:8 are shocking: "To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am."
If being single meant you were incomplete, a "less than," Paul would never have said this. Instead, he would have quoted Genesis 2:18 where God says "it is not good for man to be alone" and urged everyone toward marriage. But he doesn't.
Paul explains in verse 28: "Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that."
When you're single, you can devote all your heart, time, attention, and affection to God. Marriage requires—not suggests, but requires—giving significant portions of your time, attention, and affection to your partner. This isn't bad; it can be beautiful. But it also creates complexity and difficulty that singleness avoids.
Paul essentially argues there's a spiritual advantage to singlehood: freedom to give your life fully to the Lord and be a blessing to others without the divided loyalties marriage necessitates.
If you're single, you need to know:
Paul acknowledges natural longings for companionship and intimacy (verse 9: "But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion"). Marriage is good and can be glorious. But it's better to remain single than to marry out of desperation or cultural pressure.
There are genuine advantages to singleness that our marriage-obsessed culture refuses to acknowledge.
Key Truth: Some people are called to marriage
For married people, Paul's affirmation of singleness might be surprising—or if you've experienced difficult seasons in marriage, you might immediately see the "advantage" he mentions. Social media is filled with stories of people who divorced "great" partners because they believed the cultural lie that singleness would bring ultimate freedom and happiness, only to discover the grass wasn't greener on the other side.
Paul addresses this directly in verses 10-11: "To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband... and the husband should not divorce his wife."
If you stood before God and witnesses and committed yourself to another person, you need to see that marriage through as much as it depends on you. God created marriage, and the way to honor Him is to remain married.
Paul provides specific guidance for believers married to non-believers (verses 12-16). Some Corinthians had married before encountering Christ. After conversion, they wondered: Should I divorce my unbelieving spouse to devote myself fully to God?
Paul's answer: No. You entered the God-created institution of marriage. Honor God by remaining in it as much as possible. But he adds a caveat: "But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved" (verse 15).
It will be painful and heartbreaking, but if your unbelieving spouse chooses to leave, let them go. They don't value marriage like a Jesus follower does. As much as possible, if they're willing to stay, love them, serve them, be kind and faithful, because "how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?" (verse 16).
Lee Strobel's story illustrates this perfectly. When his wife Leslie became a Christian, he thought his life was ruined—assuming she'd become legalistic, prudish, and arrogant like other Christians he knew. Instead, she became extraordinarily kind and an even better wife. Her changed life led him to investigate Christianity with his skills as an investigative crime reporter for the Chicago Tribune, eventually resulting in his own conversion and his book "The Case for Christ."
Some singles, hearing Paul's words about remaining with unbelieving spouses, might think: "So I could marry a non-believer and as long as they consent to live with me, this could work out beautifully."
Not exactly. Paul was writing to people already married when they found Jesus. For those who know Christ before marriage, the guidance differs.
In 2 Corinthians 6:14, Paul tells believers not to be "unequally yoked"—don't tether yourself to someone who doesn't share your deepest values and treasure Jesus like you do.
Yes, they might be extremely moral, incredibly kind, and a hard worker. But from experience, while outliers exist who make it work, far more stories exist of people who thought they'd be the exception, only to experience increasing pain that often leads to divorce.
If you're a follower of Jesus, God has something better for you. It's better to remain unmarried and live fully for Him than to yoke yourself to someone who doesn't treasure Jesus. Yes, pray for them—we long for them to know God's love—but don't enter marriage with them, even though you desperately desire that kind of relationship.
Last week's sermon discussed how God owns our bodies and gives ownership to our spouses in marriage. This raises an important question: Does this mean marital rape doesn't exist? Can a husband simply use his wife's body as he sees fit since he "owns" it?
Absolutely not. Much of rape is about power, and for a husband to exert force, power, and manipulation upon his wife doesn't mean he's treasuring her as a gift from God.
First Peter 3:7 instructs: "Husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel."
"Weaker vessel" doesn't mean weak—it means fine china. Husbands, your wife is precious, beautiful, a work of art. You don't throw fine china in the dishwasher; you carefully wash it by hand. You don't store it with paper plates; you display it in a lighted cabinet because it's a work of art.
Your wife was created by God. Jesus died for her. Are you treating her like everyday dishes or like fine china? When you live with her in an understanding manner, showing kindness, love, service, and putting her first, she'll have no problem giving this body God has gifted to you. It's not something to be taken—it's something to be treasured.
Key Truth: All people are called to faithfulness
Verse 17 provides the foundation for everything: "Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches."
To illustrate this principle, Paul uses two examples:
Circumcision (verses 18-19): In Paul's day, circumcision was a huge issue. Jewish males were circumcised on the eighth day of life. Greeks and Romans who exercised nude for athletic competitions viewed circumcision as disgusting mutilation. Some Jewish men sought surgery to hide their circumcision; some non-Jewish believers thought they had to be circumcised to be saved.
Paul's response: "For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God" (verse 19). Wherever you were when you were called to follow Jesus—circumcised or not—remain. God's view of you is all that matters.
Slavery (verses 21-24): Paul addresses both willing servitude (bonding yourself to a master through contract) and involuntary slavery. His message: "Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity)" (verse 21).
He opposed slavery—image-bearers shouldn't be owned by other image-bearers; we're to be owned by God. But if you were a slave when you became a follower of Jesus, don't worry—you're not less loved. However, if you can gain freedom, take it.
His point applies across the board: "So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God" (verse 24).
Whether slave or free, circumcised or uncircumcised, Jew or Greek, married or single—wherever you were when you chose to follow Jesus, remain and seek to honor the Lord there.
Rather than playing the cultural game of constant advancement to the next station, let the Lord work right here, right now. If God chooses to move you to the next station, go willingly and joyfully.
If you're single and God brings someone who treasures Jesus as much as you, and you see how you can glorify God together—get married and celebrate.
If you're married and suddenly find yourself single again because your unbelieving spouse left, you were betrayed, or your spouse passed away—simply seek to remain rather than rushing into the next marriage.
Whatever you find yourself assigned to, wherever you're currently called, just be faithful. It's often right there that God does His greatest work in you.
This principle extends far beyond marriage and singleness:
That job you're struggling in where everything in you screams to move on—maybe God is saying remain because the change He wants is in you, not in your employment situation. If He wants you in another job, He'll make it abundantly clear. But too often we run from difficulty, robbing ourselves of growth that comes through struggle.
That difficult season where you're uncomfortable—sometimes it's better to remain right where you're at and simply seek faithfulness rather than chasing comfort.
That winter of your soul where things feel hard—this might be exactly where God wants to meet you and do His work because He sees something far greater ahead and doesn't want you to miss it.
As you remain, as you're faithful, as you honor the Lord here and now—that's where God does His greatest work and is glorified. As you come through it, you'll find a new level of joy you would have missed by abandoning what He was doing earlier.
Jesus modeled this perfectly. In the Garden of Gethsemane, realizing His body would be ripped to shreds, nails driven through His wrists and feet, a crown of thorns jabbed upon His brow, hanging naked before the world—He remained.
The Son of God had the power and authority to do whatever He wanted. Yet He didn't, because He loved you. Just as He persevered through the cross so you might find freedom and forgiveness, He now asks you to remain as hard as it might be.
Sometimes His greatest work is done in your perseverance rather than your pursuit of comfort.
Whether you're married, single, employed, unemployed, or a student—whatever station you find yourself in right now—seek faithfulness and honor Him. God's greatest transformations often happen not when we're advancing to the next level, but when we're faithfully remaining where He's placed us.
