John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 7:32

"But I would have you to be free from cares. He that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord:" — 1 Corinthians 7:32 (ASV)

But I would wish you. He returns to the advice which he had spoken of (1 Corinthians 7:25), but had not yet fully explained. In the outset, he pronounces, as he usually does, a commendation upon celibacy, and then afterwards allows everyone the liberty of choosing what he may consider to suit him best.

It is not, however, without good reason that he returns so frequently to proclaim the advantages of celibacy, for he saw that the burdens of matrimony were far from light. The man who can exempt himself from them should not refuse such a benefit. It is also advantageous for those who resolve to marry to be forewarned of these inconveniences, so that they may not afterwards, on meeting with them unexpectedly, give way to despondency. This we see happens to many, for having promised themselves unmixed honey, on being disappointed in that expectation, they are very readily cast down by the slightest mishap.

Let them know, therefore, in good time, what they have to expect, so that they may be prepared to endure everything patiently. The meaning is this: “Marriage brings along with it hindrances, from which I should wish you to be free and exempt.”

As, however, he has previously made use of the term trouble (1 Corinthians 7:28), and now makes mention of cares or anxieties, it may be doubted whether they have a different meaning or not. In my opinion, the trouble referred to is what arises from things of a distressing nature, such as loss of children, widowhood, quarrels, and little differences (as lawyers speak), many occasions of dislike, faults of children, difficulty in bringing up a family, and the like. The anxieties, on the other hand, are, in my opinion, connected with things that are joyful, for example, marriage fooleries, jests, and other things with which married persons are taken up.

He that is unmarried careth for the things of the Lord. Mark the kind of exemption from anxieties that he desires on behalf of Christians — that they may devote to the Lord all their thoughts and aims. This, he says, belongs to celibacy; and therefore he desires all to enjoy this liberty.

He does not mean, however, that this is always so in unmarried life, as experience shows it to be quite otherwise in the case of priests, monks, and nuns, than whose celibacy nothing can be conceived to be further from God. Add to this the many base fornicators who abstain from marriage for the very purpose of having greater liberty for the indulgence of lust, and so that their vice may not appear.

Where there is burning (1 Corinthians 7:9), no love of God can exist. But Paul’s meaning is this — that an unmarried person is free, and is not hindered from thinking of the things of God. The pious make use of this liberty. Others turn everything to their own destruction.