Thursday: Marriage and Singleness
Daily Lesson for Thursday 23rd of July 2026
Paul’s affirmation that the body “is the temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19, NKJV) occurs in the context of a warning against sexual immorality. Being a temple of the Spirit is the only means to live a holy life. The church is a Christian community that distinguishes itself from the surrounding environment. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes it possible.
Read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Corinthians 7:1-9. How does this passage shed light on how one can put into practice the commandment to “flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18, ESV)?
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There are significant lessons about sexuality in 1 Corinthians 7:1-40. Roughly speaking, this chapter can be divided up into two sections: (1) instructions regarding marriage (1 Corinthians 7:1-24) and (2) instructions regarding singleness (1 Corinthians 7:25-40). 1 Corinthians 7:1-40 helps us understand that speaking about sexuality is important and necessary.
However, when reading 1 Corinthians 7:1-40, we must remember that Paul is responding to specific questions related to issues in the church of Corinth. Otherwise, some statements could lead to the impression that he has a low view of marriage, which is not the case (1 Timothy 4:1-3, 1 Timothy 5:14; also Hebrews 13:4).
Remarkably, the command “flee from sexual immorality” in 1 Corinthians 6:18 (ESV) is bracketed by the idea of joining Christ (1 Corinthians 6:17) and being a temple of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Is there a better way of fleeing from sexual immorality? Of course not.
Also, God created sex, but it is to be enjoyed in marriage alone. Sex is a privilege of those in a male and female marriage, the only kind sanctioned in the Bible.
When saying “flee from sexual immorality,” Paul may have in mind the story of Joseph (Genesis 39:6-18). The Bible says that before the lustful advances of Potiphar’s wife, Joseph “fled out of the house” (Genesis 39:18, ESV). This is mentioned no fewer than four times in Genesis 39:6-18. The Bible doesn’t say it directly, but it is implied that Joseph waited to have sex only in marriage (Genesis 41:45). He was a man filled with the Holy Spirit (Genesis 41:38) and wanted to do what was right before God’s eyes.
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How can we, as a church, protect ourselves from the aberrant views of sexuality that dominate the culture? |
The Bible clearly says, “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18). Under normal circumstances, we are supposed to flee from things that can kill us, for example, active volcanoes, oncoming traffic, and dangerous animals like snakes, but the Bible talks of sexual immorality. For modern Christians, particularly those who live in a sexually confused culture, Paul issued this clear order to help us. There are battles that God calls us to stand and fight, but when it comes to lust, His command is simple: do not entertain it, do not negotiate with it. Flee from it like Joseph did in Egypt (Genesis 39:12).
Mostly, we tend to focus on sins that are easily spotted and categorized, but forget that sexual immorality, which occurs in hidden places and can sometimes be difficult and harder to detect and nail down because it takes so many forms, and because it stands behind so many other sins, often gets a pass. The Christian life calls us to a higher ethos, a higher ethic, and that is not just to think of what is lawful but to think of what is helpful. In other words, Paul is saying, “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial (1 Corinthians 10:23). Christian ethics is not just about what is lawful, but it is also about love for God. Is what you are doing loving? Is the standard of the Christian life just about doing what is right or wrong, or do we also have to consider what is helpful and beneficial to others? Sexual immorality hurts even those not involved; no wonder we must flee.
In the context of today’s lesson, here is something to think about.
In Australia in the period between 1950 and the mid-1970s, it is estimated that between 150,000 and 250,000 unwed mothers were coerced to give up their babies at birth and have them adopted out. In some states, this represented about 50% of children born to unwed mothers. This practice was supported by governments, public and private hospitals, and church institutions.
One of the drivers for this practice was the church’s view that premarital sex was a grave sin and women who became pregnant out of wedlock were not fit to be mothers.
I am using the Australian situation as an example because I am familiar with it, but I am sure that a little research will show that the situation was similar in other countries as well.
We cannot visit the topic of premarital sex without understanding that sin must not suspend compassion.
Sin does not suspend grace. If we want to have a voice on the issue of premarital sex, we need to start with the action of compassion.
I believe we are learning. When I started teaching young people at tertiary level in the mid-1980s, there were young unmarried mothers and expectant mothers in some of my classes. They were treated with respect and provided with the assistance they needed to balance motherhood and study.
There are issues for sure with modern attitudes towards recreational sex, and we need to address those. We need to teach our young people at an early age about the value of relationships in a Christian context. That means we need to set an example.
Thanks for your comment. It’s good to know attitudes have changed in some areas. I have always thought it unfair that unwed mothers were criticized while the unwed fathers (or adulterous fathers) got a free pass.
By staying true to Scriptures
Just a hypothetical question.
At creation, did God intend everyone to marry?
In Genesis 2:18–24, God declared that “it is not good for the man to be alone” and instituted marriage. What happened when sin entered the world? I seem to understand one thing: sin changed the experience of marriage but did not change the goodness of marriage as an ordinance instituted by God. Sin is a spoiler of godly things. Jesus validated the original design of marriage when He quoted Genesis 1 and 2 in Matthew 19. At the same time, Jesus highly recommended singleness in Matthew 19:10–12. In the dispensation of the New Covenant, singleness is not an unfortunate circumstance created by sin but a calling for the sake of God’s kingdom (1 Corinthians 7:7-8, 32–35).
Paul was not trying to amend what God said in Genesis; he is emphasising that everyone should live according to God’s gift and calling. “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.” (1 Corinthians 7:17). Paul is simply saying that marriage is God’s good creation ordinance and singleness is honourable to those whom God has called and equipped. No one should be married and single at the same time.
According to official Seventh-day Adventist church policy it is good for homosexual members to live alone. They don’t need companionship and help through life like heterosexuals. Paul would probably agree that they don’t “burn with passion” so don’t need a suitable sexual partner.
Robert, many heterosexuals in the church live alone too. In fact I believe, 1 out of 4 Adventists are not married. Some of these are young adults who will marry sooner rather than later, but more and more people are staying single well into later life. Some have no desire to be married, but many do. The reality is that there are often a significant number of women in the church compared to men, so if one believes in not marrying someone of another faith, some are bound to “go without”. It’s not easy for many of these people. I am one of them. To some extent, I’ve chosen my path, but various circumstances have also led to me not being married. Thirty years ago, when I was a teen, I thought for sure I would marry one day. Life didn’t quite turn out as I imagined.
The single life is not always easy, but Jesus did it and He knows what it’s like. There were many other single people in the Bible who also lived that life. They are encouragements to us.
We all need companionship and help, but I don’t believe we have to get it from marriage. I have friends who look out for me and are very close. It’s not the same as marriage, but it helps. And God’s grace can carry us through all situations, as Philippians 4:11-13 reminds us.
Robert, the official Adventist policy does not say that “[homosexuals] don’t need companionship and help through life like heterosexuals.” It does, however, not allow for same-sex marriage or any sexual intercourse outside of heterosexual marriage, the latter applying to heterosexuals as well as gay people.
Also, marriage is not necessarily “help through life.” It is, however, a school for character development, and not having that schooling is one drawback of the single life that one-fourth of our membership leads.
But then, single people have a different kind of school in which they can practice living according to the law of self-renouncing love, which is the law of life for earth and heaven. (See Desire of Ages, p. 19)
Singleness also affords many opportunities for self-renunciation, and single people can serve in ways that married people cannot easily serve. That’s why Paul wished that everyone could be single like him, since it would provide more full-time workers, unburdened by families.
It’s not what the SDA church policy says, but instead what the bible clearly says. The bible is clear who will inherit the kingdom of God. We must steer clear of man’s policy versus God’s word. God’s word should be the guidelines for man’s policy. Homosexuals need the same bible guidance as anyone else. We are all on a journey and striving for the narrow gate. We are presently learning in 1Cor. 6:9-11 “and such were some of you” which means we have been exonerated because of our conversion from sin to saved in Christ. When one holds to a sinful title, regardless of the title, the question might be am I converted. And if I am converted, I am no longer an idolater, reviler, effeminate, drunkard, etc.
Thanks Mwambi 🤝🤝
A Question raises, ” How will one know his/her calling of either being single or married??? ”
Be blessed 🙏🤝
Dear Mwesigwa,
Thanks indeed for your important question. A person who is called to lifelong singleness will truly find contentment without needing marriage to feel complete. This will be accompanied by the ability to exercise complete sexual self-control. The desire for singleness brings joy, happiness and a sense of completeness.
On the other hand, a call to marriage is recognised by a genuine desire for it. There is a strong desire for lifelong companionship in a family set-up. A genuine desire to create a family and uphold it,
Once one has selected a particular desire, one has to commit it to God in prayer for affirmation. God will strengthen the desire and make it to pass.
Omwenga, I think some people are probably called by God to lifelong singleness for some purpose. But it’s probably simplistic to say that people will know they are called to singleness because they are content. We can be called to all sorts of situations that we don’t feel content about, though if it is God’s will, hopefully we grow into contentedness. I think of Paul’s thorn in the flesh which he certainly wasn’t content with, though eventually he surrendered this to God.
Also, a desire for marriage does not guarantee marriage. There are all sorts of factors that can make attaining a spouse difficult. People have personal traits and backgrounds that can interfere with finding a spouse. There is also the fact that in most churches women outnumber men. If a woman is committed to marrying a man who shares her faith, she may “go without”.
Honestly, I think it is pointless to try to figure out if you are called to marriage or singleness. Paul makes it clear in I Corinthians 7 that people have a choice in this matter. Whatever your situation, God’s grace is enough to allow you to make the best of that situation. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue marriage if that’s something you want and you feel is best for you, but we need to be prepared that it may not happen.
I have seen peers (all women, mind you as it generally is not too hard for a reasonably well-adjusted man to find a wife in the church) who have wanted marriage so badly that they have made some bad choices when they didn’t get a husband. Some married outside the church leading some to leave and others to never have the quality of a marriage that God intended. Others became bitter when God didn’t “bring” them a husband. I think if they could have accepted that life doesn’t always work out as we think it should, but that God can help us be content, they would be better off.
Sexual immorality is a prevalent temptation leading children of God away from His kingdom. We must specifically pray about it and pray for our youth as well as encourage them to pray for strenght to resist.
it. Let us also hail to them the bold decision of Joseph to flee sexual immorality even in the midst of hardship.
How can we, as a church, protect ourselves from the aberrant views of sexuality that dominate the culture? The best way is to uphold the scriptural standard through preaching and teaching from the Bible on the subject.
Unfortunately, because the church has become dependent upon government money we have to not discriminate against sinful practices, to the point of making special accommodations for those that have “alternative lifestyles.” We need to have compassion but not toxic compassion which really isn’t compassion at all. In 1 Cor. 6:9,10 Paul calls out a long laundry list of behaviors that are exclusionary to the kingdom of God. Was he being bigoted, or “phobic?” No, he was telling the painful truth.
In 1 Cor. 6:11 he reveals that some of the Corinthian believers had practiced these behaviors but were delivered from them by the power of the gospel. Does the gospel still have the same power to deliver today? I believe that it does. The church today needs to have the same boldness and compassion as the apostle Paul did. We need to love the sinner, yet uphold biblical standards if we really love them. The church cannot become a place where anything goes. That’s already happening in the world. Lift high the cross. It still is the wisdom and power of God. “The blood that Jesus shed for me. Way back on Calva- ry, The blood that gives me strength from day to day, It will never lose its pow’r.”
In contemporary culture, sex may serve only as pleasure. But sex is beyond that: sex is self-delivery and acceptance, levelness, and joy; but above all, sex must crown love! And love is the best gift God gives us! Thus, responsible sex takes love as the most important attribute!