holy both in body and spirit
1 Corinthians 7.34-35 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that you may attend upon the Lord without distraction.
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These verses (along with verse 14) give a very clear picture of sanctification, of holiness. We see there is no long drawn out step-by-step process; instead there is a simple consecration, a distinctive setting apart. In this passage, “holy” is clearly used in reference to attending on the Lord; in the same sense that we’d see “holy” used in Moses’ writings.
It is obvious Paul is not saying a virgin is somehow more righteous than a married woman. “Holy” is all about a specific function. A married woman is dedicated to serving her husband, so she is not totally available to waiting hand and foot on the Lord (in comparison to Paul, who was). This passage is a perfect example of the functionality of holiness, especially in view of “the present distress” Paul refers to: the incredible persecution that was about to overtake the entire church, and the pressing need for believers to take drastic measures in focusing their lifestyles.
The church was to be on absolute survival rations, so believers were to stay exactly where they were in life: being faithful to the responsibilities they already had, but not taking on new ones. Paul’s call for holy living in this context was for as much individual dedication as possible to the service and advancement of the kingdom of God. This was the specific function called for in the situation Paul was directly speaking to.
God’s consistent call across all time periods is for us to be holy as he is holy. God has dedicated himself to never function outside of love. Jesus came to walk exclusively in Father’s everlasting love, to take Father’s love to the ultimate place of proof; and to rise from the dead, triumphant over all that opposed Father’s love. He now baptizes all flesh in the the Holy Spirit so that man can walk in love just as God is love. This is the specific function that is to absolutely govern all we do and speak as saints in the earth today.
The church was to be on absolute survival rations, so believers were to stay exactly where they were in life: being faithful to the responsibilities they already had, but not taking on new ones.
That’s interesting…. is there more on that thread?
That’s cuing directly off 1 Corinthians 7.26-30: I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—that it is good for a man to remain as he is: Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you. But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none, those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess.
We can see throughout the book of Acts how God used prophecy to direct strategic actions in the church. There are several excellent examples. One is at the end of Acts 4, where members of the church were liquidating their properties (which would very soon be worth nothing since the Romans were about to sack Jerusalem). Another is at the end of Acts 11, where Agabus prophesies a great famine; and the church gathered up in advance to help the believers in Judea.
There are elements of 1 Corinthians 7.26-30 that speak to all believers for all time. We should always buy things knowing they’re not ours to keep. Yet there was an incredibly strategic urgency that Paul spoke to the Corinthian church with, and it superseded other biblical commands (like “be fruitful and multiply,” like “occupy til I come,” like “he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord,” etc.). It’s very close to the situation in Jeremiah 45 in which Jeremiah told his protege Baruch “Do you seek great things for yourself? Don’t seek them.” None of us is to live seeking great things for himself; but to Baruch this meant far more than not being self-seeking. It meant that he probably should not even so much as buy property or get married. God had revealed to Jeremiah that the land would absolutely be devastated.
So today, should believers own property? Yes. There is a standing order given by Jesus himself to gain by trading, to occupy til he comes - and all that we put our hands to is blessed so that we can be a blessing. Should believers get married and have children? Yes! God desires godly offspring today more than ever. Could God reveal something strategic to the church by prophecy that would specifically effect how we plan our families or do business or direct our investments or giving? Definitely. Just like the men of Issachar in 1 Chronicles 12.32, we are to have an understanding of the times we live in, a divine discernment of exactly where the kingdom of God is to be focused this hour.
This discernment, this spirit of prophecy, these words of knowledge - they always speak according to the Word, or they have no light in them. Notice that even though Paul told people it was not a good idea to get married during “this present distress,” he specifically adds that those who do chose to marry (as God has commanded and blessed all throughout Scripture) are not sinning. Simple obedience to God’s Word will absolutely work every time >>
That’s pretty awesome… you know I never knew the reason for all of the believer’s liquidating their properties because the Romans were going to take everything anyway. So was there “giving” really from the heart? Or just better to the church than to the Romans attitude? Was that going on back then? Maybe?
The believers were selling their properties and giving the proceeds to the church purely by the prompting of the Holy Ghost. Their motivation was from the heart - it was out of overwhelming gratitude to God that they were led to pour everything they had into the kingdom of God.
If anything they were expecting the kingdom to be restored to Israel (Acts 1.6). We have no indication whatsoever that they were looking for or expecting the destruction of Jerusalem. After all, Jerusalem was the early church’s home base. The church was almost exclusively Jewish, and very wary of including Gentiles at all until the end of Acts 15.
Yet we now see that the Holy Ghost led them to liquidate everything they had just in time to seed the rapid growth of the gospel all over the earth before what Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24 was fulfilled!
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Oh yeah, I should mention that the sacking of Jerusalem was still a good 35 years off from Acts 4. Even more pressing was the intense persecution that was about to come on the brand new church in Jerusalem at the hands of people like Saul of Tarsus (Acts 7-9). The church then enjoyed a bit of a break from persecution (Acts 9.31), but Hebrews 10.32-34 characterizes the entirety of the Jerusalem church’s “former days” (probably all of 35-50 AD) as days of intense persecution, including “the plundering of your possessions.”
Again, how awesome that believers who had wealth were led of the Lord to liquidate and give it right before the plundering really began.
right-on !