What is Paul dealing with in this part of 1 Corinthians?
Paul is dealing with the nitty-gritty of the marriage relationship. He answers questions the Corinthian believers wrote to him, including whether it is right for men and women to marry. This part of 1 Corinthians addresses practical marital questions from a small church recently out of paganism, who lacked formal Bible instruction.
Les explains that Paul is dealing with the nitty-gritty of the marriage relationship. The earlier chapters of Corinthians were prompted by a letter of questions from these Corinthian believers, who were recently out of paganism. They had no Sunday school or catechism, were ignorant, and were congregating in a small church. They lacked the Bible, having some Old Testament but nothing of the New Testament, so they wrote a whole batch of questions to the apostle Paul. Now in chapter 7, verse 1, Paul says, “Now concerning the things that you wrote unto me,” and he answers them one by one. One question was whether it is right for men and women to marry. Les also reminds us to determine who wrote a Scripture, to whom it was written, and what the circumstances were.