What does 1 Corinthians 7:33 Mean?

Study Notes

world
kosmos = world-system. 2 Corinthians 7:10 ; John 7:7 .

Kosmos, Summary: In the sense of the present world-system, the ethically bad sense of the word, refers to the "order," "arrangement," under which Satan has organized the world of unbelieving mankind upon his cosmic principle of force, greed, selfishness, ambition, and pleasure. Matthew 4:8 ; Matthew 4:9 ; John 12:31 ; John 14:30 ; John 18:36 ; Ephesians 2:2 ; Ephesians 6:12 ; 1 John 2:15-17 . This world- system is imposing and powerful with armies and fleets; is often outwardly religious, scientific, cultured, and elegant; but, seething with national and commercial rivalries and ambitions, is upheld in any real crisis only by armed force, and is dominated by Satanic principles.

Context Summary

The virgin here referred to is probably the young woman who was engaged to be married, and the counsel is expressly defined to be advice, and given only under the pressure of the times, when the dissolution of all things seemed at hand. It seemed wiser not to enter upon matrimony because everything was in flux, but no sin was contracted if marriage took place, so long as it was only in the Lord, 1 Corinthians 7:39. As pilgrims we should hold all earthly things but lightly, 1 Corinthians 7:30.

The allusion of 1 Corinthians 7:31 is to the shifting scenery of a theater. The fashion of the age is like the ever-changing moving-picture films that flash before the audience and cannot be arrested or recalled. Surely the unmarried among us should ponder carefully the recommendations of 1 Corinthians 7:32-34, the first of which refers to the man and the second to the wife. Where both are Christians, however, surely there may be union in caring for the things of the Lord, that the great cause of His Kingdom may be expedited rather than hindered. But everything in this chapter, as well as the general New Testament teaching, emphasizes the absolute importance of marriage being only in the Lord, 1 Corinthians 7:39. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Corinthians 7

¹  He discusses marriage;
⁴  showing it to be a remedy against sinful desires,
¹⁰  and that the bond thereof ought not lightly to be dissolved
²⁰  Every man must be content with his vocation
²⁵  Virginity wherefore to be embraced;
³⁵  and for what respects we may either marry, or abstain from marrying