(I, not the Lord)

Concerns about the apostle Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 7 on marriage are sadly ignored by many Christians. Much of this is because of our desire for things outside of what is good and right. What is more, is that I am greatly disturbed by some do not believe Paul is writing scripture in parts of this chapter because of his expression in verse 12 "(I, not the Lord)" and in verse 25, "I have no command from the Lord, but give my judgement." The troubling belief is that Paul is offering his own advice about marriage, but since he was single we should just ignore him. My concern for this position is great for it requires Paul in all his letters to clarify to us whether he is writing God's words (as in 7:10) or his own words (as in 7:12 & 25). Scripture is fully human and fully divine, fully inspired in all verses.

Why does Paul use these expressions then? Instead of an indication that Paul is moving from divine to human authorship he is likely making reference in 7:10-11 to a known saying from the historical Jesus. While Jesus lived he said many things, not all of them are recorded in the gospels (as John makes clear in John 21:25). Luke makes reference to the saying "it is more blessed to give than to receive" in Acts 20:35. It is likely that a document containing such expressions existed and was drawn upon by Matthew, Mark and Luke in the writing of their gospels as many of their stories are duplicates. So Paul is giving married couples the very words of Jesus to guide their decision. He could be drawing on Matthew 5:31-32, or another record or Jesus' teaching on divorce.

When he comes to verse 12 then, Paul is answering a specific question of a believer married to an unbeliever. This question was not asked of Jesus as the church was yet to be founded. So Paul cannot provide another quote, but gives his own council, which is on par with every other word Paul has recorded in scripture. As Peter assures us, in all of Paul's letters he speaks scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16). In 1 Corinthians 7:25, Paul makes the case for his words by being trustworthy by the Lord's mercy. Paul's words in this chapter are God's words to us. Will we listen?