Preserving Purity by Preserving Contentment (Part 1 of 2)

Preserving Purity: The Main Emphasis

The purpose of what the Apostle Paul is teaching us in these verses is to preserve purity. That's been the main emphasis since the close of chapter 6. Last time it was preserving purity through preserving marriage. This evening it's preserving purity through preserving contentment.

The Apostle Paul is very concerned with preserving purity. As he continues his discussion, he's going to set up an argument that instills within us a heart and attitude for recognizing contentment in all circumstances. He's going to give us a few examples—not an exhaustive list—about being content in any circumstance you're in.

There's a specific key, a specific focus on how that contentment is ultimately achieved, and therefore how purity is preserved in your life. As we preserve purity, we preserve the glory of God with our bodies, which is the ultimate goal: to glorify God, bring glory and honor and recognition and praise to God with thanksgiving in the manner in which we use our bodies. It's for the glory of God.

We want to preserve God's glory being reflected, displayed, and demonstrated in our lives by how we use our bodies. There's a purpose for our bodies, an intention for our bodies, and they are meant to glorify God. To preserve that glory of God in our lives, we need to preserve purity, because purity is using our bodies the way God has intended—exactly how God has instructed and purposed our bodies to be used.

With respect to romantic relationships, we should always be pure.

Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there remain with God.

1 Corinthians 7:17-24 (contextual summary)

Review: Preserving Purity Through Marriage

The Apostle Paul looked at preserving marriage last week. To preserve purity is to preserve marriage, because the two principles related to fornication—sexual sin—involve marrying sin with a biological process.

Over here is your sexuality: you've been created as sexual beings with the purpose and intention to experience physical intimacy inside the bounds of marriage. That's a natural process you cannot change. You can marry sin to it, twisting it into something it's not intended to be—like same-sex relations—but the biological process itself remains. You were created sexual for your spouse of the opposite sex: if you're a woman, for your husband; if you're a man, for your wife.

That's the natural process you cannot repent of or ultimately change. You can twist it with sin, which is what fornication is: marrying sexual sin with a biological process. Repentance deals with the sin, but marriage deals with the natural process once it's awakened. Paul said it's better to marry than to burn with passion—something you cannot change or repent of. Marriage is the means to deal with that awakened intimacy.

Preserving the ideal of marriage preserves purity, because marriage is the only means of dealing with the natural process. If unmarried, celibacy and abstinence are your way of life—purity entirely. Your spouse is the only one who can give you rights to physical intimacy.

If marriage breaks down, purity breaks down, because the only means of dealing with passions is discarded, leaving fornication—sin—as the fallback.

Paul taught that two believers in marital union should not divorce. If they do, they must remain single or be reconciled, because (as in Matthew 5 and 19) they still have a covenant commitment. Marrying someone else is adultery—unfaithfulness to the first marriage.

Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

Luke 16:18 (referenced context)

If divorced on grounds of fornication (per Jesus in Matthew 19), remarriage is permitted without it being adultery itself, though the act involves adultery. For those in unbiblical divorce and remarriage: identify the sins (unbiblical divorce and adulterous remarriage), repent by not divorcing again or committing adultery further. The current marriage is valid (Christ calls it marriage), so stay faithful.

This shows divorce should not be considered—especially in remarriage—unless on biblical grounds of fornication (porneia: physical sexual sin with another). Not pornography, abuse, or trivial issues like not taking out the trash. If your spouse dies, you're free to remarry (Romans 7).

For marriage to an unbeliever: if they consent to stay, remain married. This isn't permission to marry unbelievers (cf. marrying "in the Lord," 2 Corinthians 6:14). It's for cases where one spouse becomes a believer post-marriage. The believing spouse sanctifies the unbelieving one and children (v. 14), calling you to peace. You may win them without a word by chaste, godly living (1 Peter 3).

Preserving Purity Through Contentment

Now Paul shifts to preserving purity through preserving contentment in any circumstance. This means accepting the rules laid down for your life—specific obligations and expectations God has for you as a Christian. God has sovereignly assigned your life.

God assigned a life to you, gave you specifics of what you should be doing. He saved you to bring you into this life He's decreed. This is the rule in every church: each person should lead the life God has called them to—synonymous with being called to peace.

Biblical peace here is contentment: satisfaction regardless of circumstance. If circumstances determine your peace, identity, or satisfaction, you'll never be content. Your existence can't hinge on highs and lows—if low, you feel low; if high, you feel high.

This is key today: romantic relationships are often defined by derived happiness. When happiness fades, the relationship is deemed invalid. People seek someone who "makes them happy," basing contentment on circumstances rather than unshakable reality.

Enter marriage with a Christian serious about God and the gospel. You'll both commit to absolute truth more than to each other. People are wretched—you are too. Marriage exposes flaws, awkwardness. Focus on external reality, not circumstances or weaknesses.

This provides safety: your spouse won't break your heart, shatter your life, tear away family dynamics essential for upstanding citizens, or abandon you post-accident. Contentment comes from external absolute reality, not circumstances.

Paul gives examples: the condition in which you've been called—don't change non-sinful circumstances. Not your ethnicity (circumcised Jew or uncircumcised Gentile)—it doesn't count. What matters is obedience to God's commandments. (Though circumcision was a law, the point stands: obey God in your assigned state.)

Understanding the Law Through Love

The Apostle Paul understands the law beyond mere legalism—it's not about earning God's favor. Consider Jesus' authoritative interpretation in Matthew 22:35–40:

And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

A circumcision law from the Old Testament instructs us in obedience and love for God, as John Piper notes. Paul says circumcision doesn't count for salvation because Christ fulfills the law. Our duty is to love God with our entire existence, letting that love overflow to others. Focus on God, not changing circumstances. Pursue holiness, righteousness, and the person of God.

Contentment in Every Condition

Paul tells slaves not to be concerned about their status. If freedom comes, take it; if not, remain content. This teaches absolute contentment independent of circumstances, spouse, friends, or church—things that can fail us. True satisfaction rests in an unshakable reality: you've been saved, freed from sin. Circumstances matter less in this light.

Youth under parental authority? Remain obedient (except in sin). Single when called? Remain single for now—don't seek marriage hastily. The emphasis is learning contentment and self-control. In 1 Corinthians 7:26, Paul says:

I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is.

Present distress includes rampant fornication among believers. Learn contentment and self-control. If passions overwhelm, marry—it's not sin. But Paul desires freedom from anxieties, the great enemy of contentment. Anxiety means discontent with what you have.

In premarital romance, if you lack biblical guidance, back off. Worldly romance breeds anxiety over pleasing a spouse with worldly concerns. Instead, be anxious for the Lord. Marry with mutual godliness for deeper experience.

Bought with a Price: The Foundation of Contentment

You've been bought with a price—Jesus' blood on the cross, saving you from wrath, granting righteousness and fellowship with the Father. Christ decrees unshakable contentment regardless of circumstances. Paul isn't a killjoy; he's saying aim higher than worldly views of romance.

Low views of the gospel yield minimal contentment. A high view—seeing Christ as infinitely beautiful, your life and hope—distracts from horrible circumstances. This transitions Paul to 2 Corinthians, praising God amid trials because he knows nothing but Christ crucified.

The key to preserving contentment and purity is 1 Corinthians 7:24:

So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

Bought from slavery to sin into slavery to righteousness and satisfaction with God. Single? Not alone—with God. Married? Remain with God. No disappointment, for God's immutability ensures his plan doesn't change with circumstances. He disciplines lovingly, but his purpose endures.

Like Job, amid gaping wounds, dead children, unsupportive wife—remain with God. Anxieties stem from uncertainty and lack of hope. Enter marriage content in God, knowing he forgives sin, grants repentance, changes lives. Failures won't deter such a union. Light afflictions pale compared to eternity with God, whom we have now.

Focus on being bought with a price. Even if circumstances never change, you have the greatest gift: the gospel, salvation, God himself. Discontent leads to divorce from hardness of heart, as in Matthew 19. Don't rest faith in a person's performance or your abilities—rest in God. Be content with him.