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Anyone having difficulties to understand 1Cor 7:29, 30?
Please read 1Cor 7:29, 30 and follow the annotation on the difficult verse 30.
1Cor 7:30. And they that weep, as though they wept not: restraining and moderating their grief by the hope of the life to come. As a matter of fact, it is very difficult for human nature to ignore pain or any adverse circumstance as if nothing happened to him when persecuted, maligned, slandered, when near earthly friends are taken away and etc. Religion will keep us from immoderate grief, and sustain the soul even when in distress nature forces us to shed the tear of mourning.
As though they rejoiced not: Not rejoicing with excessive or immoderate joy; not with riot or unholy mirth; not satisfied with these things, though they may rejoice in them; Not forgetting that they must soon be left; but keeping the mind in a calm, serious, settled, thoughtful state, in view of the fact that all these things must soon come to an end. Oh, how would this thought silence the voice of unseemly mirth!
As though they possessed not: It is right to buy and to obtain property; but it should be held with the conviction that it is by an uncertain tenure, and must soon be left.
The general idea in all these expressions is, that in whatever situation Christians are, they should be dead to the world, and not improperly affected by passing events.
From reading those notes on 1 Corinthians 7:30, I agree that should be the general rule of a Christian's view of himself, his family, possessions & of the world & the evil that abounds in it.
However, I always focus on the context & situation that the writer was in or writing about. It seems clear from verse 26, "I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress...", that Paul knew what was happening around him & what was happening to believers under Roman rule. We're not told specifically what the "present distress" was; it may have been an increasing antagonism against Christians with persecutions (under Nero AD 54-68 persecutions began & 1 Corinthians was believed to be written during this time).
So, it might have been at a time when believers were experiencing the first buds of suffering & hardship, & Paul then gave this word to them concerning marriage at this time & the usual life's situations that came before them (vv 30, 31). All these things were a normal part of life, but when suffering for your faith, the emphasis should rather be on finding strength to withstand any onslaught, by spending much time together in the Word, in prayer, & in encouragement & support of one another. The Church in those days was a much more cohesive body, depending on each other heavily in both practical & spiritual ways, unlike today, when we meet together infrequently & are very much independent & self-sufficient. There may be a time coming for us, when the longing & cleaving to each other as a Church, becomes much more necessary for our spiritual well-being & strength to withstand the ever increasing forces of evil.
Hi brother Chris, This is Ezekiel who wrote annotation on 1Cor 7:30 about 14 hrs ago. Thanks for your comment. I wrote complete annotation (I don't call it commentary no longer) for the entire Bible and came up with some new theologies during my last 11 years of Bible study and plan to start my ministry or church soon 'with GOD'S assistance'.
When I was studying 1Cor ch 7 yesterday, I thought that people would have difficulties to understand verse 30 (and verse 29), somewhat strange expression. I could not see what you're trying to say in your response clearly. Basically we believers just pretend as if either good or bad thing did not happen when it happened really and look forward to the glorious time in heaven since we are just passing by this temporary life on earth. Please read the general idea again in the annotation.
When I clicked 'discussion' button, I saw your name at the top. I red your response to somebody asking about Holy Spirit. I will respond shortly too. Now I'm not sure how it works. If I click 'reply' button under your response, would that person who posted the question see my response?
Yes brother Ezekiel, if you click Reply on the person's comment that you want to respond to, they should get an alert in their email that you responded. But I think that sometimes the alert isn't sent, as I don't always get the alerts. Anyway, I always peruse all the comments for the day, so I will see them anyway & try to respond if I feel led to.
My understanding of 1 Corinthians 7:26-31, is basically Paul telling the Corinthians that, because of their present distress, they should re-focus their lives & their thoughts on things that pertain to dealing with the sufferings & maybe persecutions. That they shouldn't be consumed with the affairs of this life, whether to marry or not, or engaging in other worldly needs or pursuits. Rather they should attend to the things that would help them deal with & go through the sufferings that they face.
My thoughts turned to some of the very poor Christians in Pakistan, where I ministered for a short while. They had very little as many of the others who lived in villages had. But because they were Christians, the govt. denied them electricity, a water supply, & access to any services that would normally be available to Muslims. How did they cope? Their life was more difficult: they had to use lanterns for light or depend on a full moon to show them where to walk; they had to go a long distance to pump up water from the ground or well; & they had to make do with very little. So, they had to accept this & had to live accordingly without complaining. I then see the 1 Corinthians passage as applicable to them: they had to devote their time & energies in just surviving & encouraging each other in the faith, that to be involved in anything else seemed secondary & almost unimportant. So marriages still took place, but they weren't consumed over the matter as others; those that sorrowed or in joy, attended first to what was more important; etc. They had to look past their problems & look to the Lord, to each other & to eternity.
Please read 1Cor 7:29, 30 and follow the annotation on the difficult verse 30.
1Cor 7:30. And they that weep, as though they wept not: restraining and moderating their grief by the hope of the life to come. As a matter of fact, it is very difficult for human nature to ignore pain or any adverse circumstance as if nothing happened to him when persecuted, maligned, slandered, when near earthly friends are taken away and etc. Religion will keep us from immoderate grief, and sustain the soul even when in distress nature forces us to shed the tear of mourning.
As though they rejoiced not: Not rejoicing with excessive or immoderate joy; not with riot or unholy mirth; not satisfied with these things, though they may rejoice in them; Not forgetting that they must soon be left; but keeping the mind in a calm, serious, settled, thoughtful state, in view of the fact that all these things must soon come to an end. Oh, how would this thought silence the voice of unseemly mirth!
As though they possessed not: It is right to buy and to obtain property; but it should be held with the conviction that it is by an uncertain tenure, and must soon be left.
The general idea in all these expressions is, that in whatever situation Christians are, they should be dead to the world, and not improperly affected by passing events.
However, I always focus on the context & situation that the writer was in or writing about. It seems clear from verse 26, "I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress...", that Paul knew what was happening around him & what was happening to believers under Roman rule. We're not told specifically what the "present distress" was; it may have been an increasing antagonism against Christians with persecutions (under Nero AD 54-68 persecutions began & 1 Corinthians was believed to be written during this time).
So, it might have been at a time when believers were experiencing the first buds of suffering & hardship, & Paul then gave this word to them concerning marriage at this time & the usual life's situations that came before them (vv 30, 31). All these things were a normal part of life, but when suffering for your faith, the emphasis should rather be on finding strength to withstand any onslaught, by spending much time together in the Word, in prayer, & in encouragement & support of one another. The Church in those days was a much more cohesive body, depending on each other heavily in both practical & spiritual ways, unlike today, when we meet together infrequently & are very much independent & self-sufficient. There may be a time coming for us, when the longing & cleaving to each other as a Church, becomes much more necessary for our spiritual well-being & strength to withstand the ever increasing forces of evil.
When I was studying 1Cor ch 7 yesterday, I thought that people would have difficulties to understand verse 30 (and verse 29), somewhat strange expression. I could not see what you're trying to say in your response clearly. Basically we believers just pretend as if either good or bad thing did not happen when it happened really and look forward to the glorious time in heaven since we are just passing by this temporary life on earth. Please read the general idea again in the annotation.
When I clicked 'discussion' button, I saw your name at the top. I red your response to somebody asking about Holy Spirit. I will respond shortly too. Now I'm not sure how it works. If I click 'reply' button under your response, would that person who posted the question see my response?
My understanding of 1 Corinthians 7:26-31, is basically Paul telling the Corinthians that, because of their present distress, they should re-focus their lives & their thoughts on things that pertain to dealing with the sufferings & maybe persecutions. That they shouldn't be consumed with the affairs of this life, whether to marry or not, or engaging in other worldly needs or pursuits. Rather they should attend to the things that would help them deal with & go through the sufferings that they face.
My thoughts turned to some of the very poor Christians in Pakistan, where I ministered for a short while. They had very little as many of the others who lived in villages had. But because they were Christians, the govt. denied them electricity, a water supply, & access to any services that would normally be available to Muslims. How did they cope? Their life was more difficult: they had to use lanterns for light or depend on a full moon to show them where to walk; they had to go a long distance to pump up water from the ground or well; & they had to make do with very little. So, they had to accept this & had to live accordingly without complaining. I then see the 1 Corinthians passage as applicable to them: they had to devote their time & energies in just surviving & encouraging each other in the faith, that to be involved in anything else seemed secondary & almost unimportant. So marriages still took place, but they weren't consumed over the matter as others; those that sorrowed or in joy, attended first to what was more important; etc. They had to look past their problems & look to the Lord, to each other & to eternity.
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