1 Corinthians 7:17-24

2. Basic principles 7:17-24

At this point Paul moved back from specific situations to basic principles his readers needed to keep in mind when thinking about marriage (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:1-7). He drew his illustrations in this section from circumcision and slavery.

"Under the rubric ’It is good not to have relations with a woman,’ they were seeking to change their present status, apparently because as believers they saw this as conforming to the more spiritual existence that they had already attained. Thus they saw one’s status with regard to marriage/celibacy as having religious significance and sought change because of it. Under the theme of ’call’ Paul seeks to put their ’spirituality’ into a radically different perspective. They should remain in whatever social setting they were at the time of their call since God’s call to be in Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:9) transcends such settings so as to make them essentially irrelevant." [Note: Fee, The First . . ., p. 307.]