1 Corinthians 7:40 Cross References - AUV

⁴⁰ But she will be happier if she remains as she is [i.e., single]. This is my advice and I think that I, too, have God’s Holy Spirit.

¹ I now want to reply to the matters you people wrote me about. It is [a] good [idea] for a man not to get married. [Note: The words “to get married” here are “to touch” in the Greek and probably refer to sexual relations within marriage. This advice, not a prohibition, is further explained in verses 26-35].

⁶ But I am telling you this by way of [granting you] permission and not as a command.

⁸ Now to those people who are not married [Note: This probably refers to all unmarried people, and not just to widowers, as some think], or who are widows, I say it is [a] good [idea] for them to remain like me [i.e., single. See verse 7 and 9:5].

²⁵ Now I have no command from the Lord concerning [what you wrote about] unmarried women. [Note: The word here is “virgins” but some think it includes both males and females]. But I give my advice as someone who has received the Lord’s mercy to be counted trustworthy. ²⁶ So, because of the impending crisis, I think it is a good thing for a man to remain as he is.

³⁵ Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not in order to put [unreasonable] restrictions on you, but that you may do whatever is proper and devote yourselves to the Lord’s service without distraction.

¹ Am I not a free man? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? [See Acts 9:17; I Cor. 15:8]. Are you people not [the result of] my work in [the service of] the Lord? ² [Even] if I am not [accepted as] an apostle with other people, at least I am with you. For you people are my seal [i.e., proof] of my apostleship in [the service of] the Lord. ³ My defense to those people who [want to] examine my credentials is this:

³⁶ Did the message of God originate from you [i.e., the church in Corinth]? Or, were you people the only ones who received it? ³⁷ If any man thinks he is a prophet or has a spiritual gift, he should realize that the things I am writing to you are the Lord’s commandment.

⁸ For even if I should boast too much about the authority the Lord gave us for building you people up [spiritually], and not tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. ⁹ [Now] I do not want to appear to be trying to scare you by my letters. ¹⁰ For some people are saying, “Paul’s letters are heavy and severe, but in person he is [physically?] weak and his speaking ability is unimpressive.”

¹¹ I have become foolish [i.e., by my boasting], but you made me do it [i.e., in order to vindicate myself]. For I should have been commended by you [i.e., for my effective ministry there in Corinth], because I was not inferior in any way to those “super apostles” [See 11:5], even though I am nothing.

⁸ So, the person who rejects [this exhortation] is not [merely] rejecting what man says but God [Himself], who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

¹⁵ And consider [that] the patience of the Lord means [further opportunities for] salvation, [just] as our dearly loved brother Paul also wrote to you, using the wisdom given to him by God. ¹⁶ He spoke about these things in all of his letters, which contain some parts that are difficult to understand. [Because of this], ignorant and unstable people twist [his writings], just as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.