1 Corinthians 7:28
But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you. But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.
Paul's words belong to direct teaching on home relations given in answer to inquiries that perplexed the Corinthian church and still perplex the church, forming the first phase of his reply on the expediency of marriage in the church. They are learned with understanding of the customs of the time and the peculiar situation of the church amid a heathen and persecuting people, giving a most valuable lesson. They do not tolerate scandalous practices contrary to Paul's uniform teaching and the whole tenor of Scripture. They must be applied individually in light of text and context and kept in proper place alongside the surrounding instruction, for they are not a text for a crusade.
Marrying is not sin, whether a man marries or a virgin marries, for those free to marry. This includes marrying and bringing children into the world under proper conditions for their care, education, and training for immortality, which is not called in question. Nevertheless marriage brings trouble in the flesh in this present life, which Paul wishes to spare believers. That trouble is added anxiety and care in rearing children and a family, worldly cares that can distract from serving God and draw attention away from the Lord's work, sorrow if a family is torn apart in fiery trials, and hardship through poverty, especially pressing in the difficult circumstances then facing the believers.
Remaining single is the better choice for one who freely chooses it in order to attend to the Lord without distraction, but singleness is not required of everyone. The counsel speaks to those who had planned to marry but refrained for the Lord's sake. It carries the thought of consecration before God into married life, which was especially needed then because of the customs of the heathen on every side and is needed now because of the tendency to looseness on all moral questions. The fault addressed lies in selfish yielding to appetite, which has been the curse of the marriage relation ever since sin came into the world and from which those who are candidates for translation must be delivered before the close of probation.
Even a lawful choice can bring burdens when people disregard the counsel of God's servants, since unnecessary worldly cares can draw attention away from the Lord's work. As part of counsel about marriage when spouses differ in religious faith, women should not deliberately marry unbelievers, but those already married to unbelieving husbands should remain with them and seek to win them to the truth through good and consistent living. A spouse's departure does not give the other spouse grounds to remarry, for a spouse who leaves remains married, and remarriage is permitted only after divorce for unfaithfulness to the marriage vow.