The title of the message is Answers to Questions Regarding Marriage and Divorce. Answers to Questions Regarding marriage and Divorce Part 2. Keep in mind what I have told you over the last couple of weeks, and that is that everything that Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, he is saying in response to Questions that the Corinthians were asking him regarding various issues with regard to marriage and divorce, and Paul is responding to their questions and their opinions and their practices as they express them in their letter to him. And I began to lay out for you this morning just to maybe help you break down verses 1 through 16, just to break down those verses in a way that clearly identifies which questions Paul is answering.
And the various verses that we find there and just a very quick review, the first question that he touches on in this chapter is the question Is singleness God's will or is marriage God's will? This is a question that single people no doubt were asking, and Paul gives an answer to that question in verse 1 combined with verse 7. He provides even more of a reply later in chapter 7, and we'll get to that in coming weeks. And then, a second question, and this question was coming from married individuals, is, is physical intimacy and marriage OK?
And in verses 2 through 6, Paul gives a resounding yes to that, and he says, not only is it OK, but it is commanded by the Lord. And then there's a third question that Paul addresses, and my personal interpretation would be to word this question in this way, and that is, Is singleness God's will for widowers and widows, or is marriage God's will for them? And Paul provides an answer to this question in verses 8 and 9. In fact, let's just now look at 8 and 9 very quickly.
and review his answer is in verse 8. He says, But this I say to the unmarried and to the widows, that it is good for them if they remain even as I, verse 9, but if they do not have self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. In other words, with physical or sexual passion. So he says it's great if you want to remain single and you have the gift from the Lord that would enable you to do so without any problems....
