1 Corinthians 7 Bible study: As God has called each

Here the letter turns: "Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman." (7:1). Favor's introduction to 1 Corinthians notes that "Now concerning" opens six verses of the letter; this is the first of them. Then come 7:2-5, quoted here as the WEB has them: "But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband give his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife her husband. The wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise also the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Don’t deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that Satan doesn’t tempt you because of your lack of self-control." (7:2-5). Then: "But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment." (7:6) (tap concession, commandment). "Yet I wish that all men were like me. However, each man has his own gift from God, one of this kind, and another of that kind." (7:7) (tap gift). "But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am. But if they don’t have self-control, let them marry. For it’s better to marry than to burn with passion." (7:8-9) (tap unmarried, self-control). These notes quote these verses as they stand, explain them only from their own words, and apply none of them to anyone's marriage or singleness today.

καλέωkaleosay kal-EH-o

Strong's gives its sense as call, "properly, aloud, but used in a variety of applications, directly or otherwise". "Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk." (7:17): behind called is this verb. It comes again in "Was anyone called having been circumcised?" (7:18), "Let each man stay in that calling in which he was called." (7:20), and "Brothers, let each man, in whatever condition he was called, stay in that condition with God." (7:24). 1 Corinthians has the verb 12 times, and nine of them are in this chapter (counted in RP2018). Favor's Luke 14 studies it where the WEB has invited.