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Ambrosiaster

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 1,043 passages across 16 books

Commentary

101–120 of 1,043
1 Corinthians 7:17

But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.

God has assigned to each person the time of his salvation, that is, the time when he might believe, and he will keep that person until then. Paul tells the Corinthians that this is his general rule, so that when they hear that others are expected to follow it, they will be more willing to do so themselves. It is always easier to do something when you see others doing the same.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:21

Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.

Paul encourages slaves to serve their earthy masters well, so that they may appear to them to deserve their freedom. A slave who did not do his work properly would blaspheme the name of Christ and do nothing to further God’s cause.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:22

For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.

Whoever has been delivered from sin is truly free. The ancients used to say that anyone who acts unwisely is a slave. They called all wise men free, and all the unwise were slaves as far as they were concerned. In any case, even a free believer is a slave of Christ, for to be free from God is the greatest sin of all.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:23

Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

We have been bought at so high a price that only Christ, who owns everything, is able to pay it. Therefore whoever is bought with a price ought to serve all the more, in an effort to pay back the buyer. Having been bought by God, we must not once again become slaves of men. Slaves of men are those who accept human superstitions.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:24

Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.

Paul repeats what he said above in order to underline its importance.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:26

I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.

Here Paul teaches that virginity is better, not just because it is more pleasing to God but also because it is the more sensible course to follow in the present [end-time] circumstances.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:27

Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.

Paul says that no one should be divorced from his wife except in a case of fornication. As for the unmarried, what advantage is there in giving in to the lusts of the flesh?

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

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.

The man who marries does not sin because he is doing something which is permitted. But if he refuses to do it, he earns merit and a crown in heaven, for it takes great self-control to avoid doing something which is not expressly forbidden.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:29

But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;

Paul means by this that the end of the world is coming soon. Given this fact, believers should not worry about having children and instead should dedicate themselves to the service of God. For there will be many unprecedented pressures on them, and many will fall into the devil’s trap. No one among us who has a proper fear of the pressures which the Savior predicted will want to be caught like that.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:30

And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;

Those who know that the end of the world is near realize that they will soon be consoled, and they comfort each other with this hope.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:31

And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.

Note that Paul says that the form of this world is passing away, not the substance of it. Therefore if the form of the world is going to perish, there is no doubt that everything in the world will vanish. It will all pass away. Every day the world gets older.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:33

But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.

Looking after a wife and family is a worldly thing. Sometimes, just to keep them happy, it even leads to doing things which ought to be punished.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:34

There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

It is the human spirit which either sanctifies or corrupts the body. If anyone tries to have a pure body but a corrupt soul, he will soon have to choose between them. Either the soul must be honored, or the body will be drawn toward corruption.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:35

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 ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.

What Paul has just said may seem harsh to some people, which is why he adds this here.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:36

But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: let them marry.

Paul always wants the best out of Christians. If someone really wants to get married, then it is better to marry publicly according to the permission given than to behave badly and be ashamed in private.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:38

So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better.

The one who refrains from marriage does better because he earns merit for her with God and delivers her from the cares of this world.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:39

The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.

Paul writes this in order to make it clear that a woman who has been rejected by her husband is not free to marry again. If he should die, then she may remarry, but only in the Lord, which means without any suspicion of wrongdoing and within the bounds of the church.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 7:40

But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.

Paul adds that he has the Spirit of God in order to show that his advice is reliable.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 8:1

Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.

Paul means that knowledge is a great thing and very useful to the person who has it, as long as it is tempered by love.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 8:2

And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

Only when a person has love can he be said to know as he ought to know.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

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