In view of the verses in this section it seems that the question the Corinthians had asked Paul was whether an engaged girl should get married or remain single. One might understand verses 17-24 as saying no unmarried person should change her situation and get married (cf. v. 8), but this was not what Paul advocated necessarily.
7:25 The "virgins"(Gr. parthenoi) were a group within the "unmarried"(agamoi) of verse 8. Paul used the feminine gender in five out of the six uses of this noun in verses 25-38. Consequently it seems clear that he was speaking of female virgins in particular.
There are three major views about the identity of these virgins. One view is that they were the virgin daughters of men in the Corinthian church and that these fathers had questions about giving their daughters in marriage. A second view is that the virgins were both men and women who were living together in a "spiritual marriage"(i.e., without sexual relations). A third view is that the virgins were females who were engaged, or thinking of becoming engaged, but were experiencing pressure from the "spiritual"in the church to forgo marriage. I believe the text supports the third view best.
The Lord Jesus had not addressed this problem during His earthly ministry as far as Paul knew (cf. v. 12). Paul gave his inspired opinion as a trustworthy (wise) steward of the Lord who had received mercy to be such (4:2). Note that Paul appealed to the Lord's mercy, not His command. As in the first part of this chapter, Paul was offering good advice, but he was not commanding that everyone do the same thing. Thus to choose not to follow Paul's advice did not amount to sinning.
7:26 What is the present distress or crisis (Gr. anagke) to which the apostle referred? It may have been a crisis in the Corinthian church or in Corinth about which we have no more specific information. However in view of Paul's description of this distress (vv. 29-31) it seems as though he was speaking of the fact that we live in the last days.188They are last days because the Lord's return for us could end them at any time.
If this is correct, we live in the same present distress as the Corinthian believers did. It is a time of distress because of the hostility of unbelievers and increasing apostasy (cf. 1 Tim. 4; 2 Tim. 3). The Apostle Paul consistently viewed the inter-advent age as a time of crisis and distress.
The last part of the verse restates Paul's basic principle of abiding in one's calling (vv. 17, 20, 24). "Man"(NASB) or "you"(NIV) is anthropos, meaning "person."
7:27 Paul thought it prudent to stay married rather than seeking a life of singleness with a view to serving the Lord more effectively. Obviously it would be wrong to split up a marriage for this purpose. If an unbelieving spouse had abandoned the Christian, or if he or she had lost his or her spouse to death, a single life would provide greater opportunity for Christian ministry.
7:28 Nevertheless marrying in such a case is not sinful. Furthermore if a young woman decides to marry rather than staying single, she has not sinned. However the decision to marry may complicate her service of the Lord.
For example, suppose a single woman gets into a position where an adversary may torture her for her faith. She could face that possibility more easily than a married woman who has children for whom she has responsibility could. It is that kind of "trouble"that Paul evidently had in mind.
"One of the unfortunate things that has happened to this text in the church is that the very pastoral concern of Paul that caused him to express himself in this way has been a source of anxiety rather than comfort. Part of the reason for this is that in Western cultures we do not generally live in a time of present distress.' Thus we fail to sense the kind of care that this text represents. Beyond that, what is often heard is that Paul prefers singleness to marriage, which he does. But quite in contrast to Paul's own position over against the Corinthians, we often read into that preference that singleness is somehow a superior status. That causes some who do not wish to remain single to become anxious about God's will in their lives. Such people need to hear it again: Marriage or singleness per se lies totally outside the category of commandments' to be obeyed or sin' if one indulges; and Paul's preference here is not predicated on spiritual' grounds but on pastoral concern. It is perfectly all right to marry."189
