“I think also that I have the Spirit of God.”
1 Corinthians 7:40b
When it came to marriage, divorce, and remarriage, Paul lacked experience. He had no wife, no family, and never intended to, according to this chapter in 1 Corinthians. Yet he is compelled by his calling to write to the church.
The people lacked instruction. The fornication fiasco that Paul addressed made it glaringly obvious that without instruction, a Christian can be more wicked than a worldling. Where could they turn for help with so little of the New Testament Scripture available?
What Paul discovered as Tertius transcribed the words of God onto parchment to deliver to Corinth was that God’s words were enough to suffice for authority, no matter the subject. God’s words were enough to satisfy the experiment. God’s words were enough to settle the argument.
Yet Paul declared his own hesitation even as he spoke. “I think,” is uncharacteristic of the man who boldy proclaimed: “I know whom I have believed.” (2 Tim. 1:12) and who encouraged the Romans’ faith with “we know that all things work together for good.” (Rom. 8:28) Why, even from a prison cell, Paul’s most oft-quoted motivational, “I can do all things through Christ which strentheneth me.” came from this confidence: “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound.” (Phil. 4:13, 12) Yet in the area of marital relations, Paul has to admit… “I think.”
Think So?
Why? Reason One: so Paul would think. Let us not forget that although faith is a matter of the heart, the greatest command given is to, “Love the Lord thy God with all thy… mind.” (Luke 10:27) The Bible further instructs believers to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” (1 Thess. 5:21) God never intended to sever the head from the heart- His will is to save them both, for man largely becomes what he thinks: “…as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Prov. 23:7)
A pastor once said that it is cruel to others to engage the mind without the heart. And it is dangerous to others to engage heart without mind. It is dangerous to be ignorant. “For I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,” writes Paul. Unsound doctrine, false science, and a shallow walk with God are some dangers of ignorance. God has used Paul’s writings to make all believers think and learn and try and prove. In 1 Corinthians 7, we see Paul learn the lesson he will be teaching us. God led him into deep problems in Corinth so he would think.
Know So?
Reason Two: so Paul would tell what he learned, or hadn’t learned. Dr. Ruckman had no problem expounding the Bible. He could take questions from a live audience and give them a Scripture reference for an answer within seconds. But it never swelled him up. I heard him admit many times on Sundays and in Bible school when he would show us a hard passage, “Ich weiss nicht; I don’t know.”
Only as I’ve become an assistant pastor and teacher myself have I realized the value of someone telling me when they don’t know. Most pastors feel they are professionals in their field, and so they will either a.) stay away from topics they don’t know, or b.) fake it like they do know what they’re talking about. Pastors are just men who must be submitted to the Bible’s authority just as any other man. And we must be content and humble to accept when God says something we can’t understand yet.
Say So.
Which connects together with Reason Three: so God could teach truth. Paul, on a scale as a man, would be entrusted with more doctrinal truth for the Church than anyone else. He had a huge platform, and his audience stretched into eternity. Since He would reveal so much to him, the Lord must have trusted Paul alot.
Paul wrote many letters and preached many sermons. Only a select few made it into the Scriptures. Yet I have books on my shelf full of discussion of ‘extra’ writings of Paul. (A non-soulwinning Bible critic has nothing better to do.) What’s the issue? The Holy Spirit chose only a few letters of Paul to preserve as Scripture. The rest, though mostly good, is not of God. The authority and power to inspire Scripture came from God, not Paul. God reminded Paul of his place in 1 Corinthians 7.
God had to teach Paul to trust His words for truth. God taught Paul by stretching him into areas outside of his comfort zone. The Lord Jesus Christ commands full faith in Himself for salvation. That command can only be fulfilled by listening to the Bible. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) Paul had to trust in the Holy Spirit’s leading for the words he wrote in 1 Corinthians 7, as he admitted in another epistle, “For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” (Galatians 5:5)
God has used Paul as the human instrument to bring us the meat of the New Testament. God used him to bring definition to all the prophecies that had gone before. As God worked on Paul even through his doubt, may we be confident in the Book when we too find ourselves seeking truth in troublous times.
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