1 Corinthians 7:25-40

Now connecting the last section about remaining in your current state, Paul urges those at the Corinthian church to remain in their current marital state. The married should remain married and the unmarried should remain unmarried (v27). Though, he quickly adds that it's not a sin if you go from unmarried to being married (v28). One warning he adds though is this: "Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that." (v28, ESV).

This next section is a bit weird. Paul repeats phrases that are formed "those who x should live as if they had (pronoun|adverb|other)(!x)." where x is have wives, mourn, are happy, buy something, or use the things of the world. I think the ending of this section helps to explain it, "For the present form of this world is passing away." (v31, ESV). We should live knowing that the things of this world are passing away. We should also know that there are things that do not pass away that we should value.

Paul's bias is towards being unmarried as we already know. He points out that the unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord (v32). However, the married man is anxious about how to please his wife (v33). So, one reason to remain unmarried as Paul points out is to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord (v35).

The next section is regarding a man's actions towards his betrothed or virgin. There are several interpretations of this passage and I'll name the top two. The first is that it is a father acting towards his unmarried daughter. The second is a man acting towards his fiancée. Regardless, this section again promotes Paul's urging people not to get married, but reminding them that it's okay if they get married.

I remember in the 722 Love and Marriage series, a point is made about verse 39 that it's assumed that a woman is to remarry "in the Lord". This means that if they remarry, they'll marry a believer.

All in all, Paul desires everyone to be unmarried like he is. However, it is okay and not a sin if people do get married. In fact, there are some circumstances where Paul would rather that they get married instead of staying unmarried.