But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none, (30) those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, (31) and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away.
The first letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. Our verses today are the beginning of a solemn and affectionate warning for all the faithful should live as ever expecting the return of the Lord – not to live carelessly and to ever be on the watch, as our time on earth is short. The outward form of this world is passing away. The occasion of Paul’s advice were the peculiar circumstances of trials and difficulties in which Christians of that day (and in that city of cultural sensuality) were placed – Paul wanted his readers to be free from concerns of this present life and is advocating the single life. It was the single life he chose in which to serve the Lord, without any temporal relationships or any human occupation to hinder his fellowship with God.
When people are converted all their past sin is wiped out by the blood of Christ. They have been called by God and are saved in the condition He found them – married or single. In Christ the faithful are raised to a level where all earthly distinctions are insignificant. It’s a matter of being guided by the Lord under existing conditions. The basic principal of our verses is if one avoids marriage it allows one opportunities that married people do not have. In Paul’s mind this is the finest kind of life. Notice this is not a command nor a legal restriction – the central thought is celibacy is desirable. Marriage is a temporary covenant but relation to the Lord is permanent. Paul wants men to be without care – unmarried cares for things of the Lord and married cares about things of the world. He draws his argument from the shortness of human life. We should live as if every moment we are about to depart from this life.
In my research for todays blog I read a stunning analogy: it is as if this world has NOT an existence but is only a show and mere appearance similar to a theatrical representation in which the curtain goes up and a new experience is presented and the things which should hold the interest of spectators are withdrawn from view. The theatrical experience is presented as temporary and short lived – the world is not our home.