“Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.

What, no touching?! On first reading, many single people recoil. Or is the rationale for marriage to avoid immorality? Surely there are higher reasons for marriage than that, aren’t there? The apostle Paul is highly criticized by modern-day critics who relegate him to rigid male-centric chauvinism. So what do we make of this, and how can we see God’s grace and wisdom through Christ and Him crucified?

So far, Paul has dealt with division in the Corinthian church (chapters 1–4) and disorders of various sorts (chapters 5–6). Now he turns for the remainder of his letter to difficult issues the Corinthians had actually written to him about, things they themselves were troubled by. After divisions, lawsuits, and incest, one can hardly understand why “touching” a woman would be troubling them. But when we consider how Paul fleshes this out in chapter 7, we see there is more than just physical contact.

The word “touch” translates a Greek word that has a broader connotation than a simple tactical experience. Mark records that “[the people] were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them” (Mark 10:13). Clearly a blessing was invoked in such an action. Jesus used that same Greek word when, after His resurrection, He told Mary Magdalene, “Stop clinging to me” (John 20:17). Interestingly, the word can be used for lighting a fire: “Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand…” (Luke 8:16). So one can easily see the broader meaning of the word, particularly as used in a sexual context, as chapter 7 makes clear.

Remember, Paul is answering their questions about real sexual problems, not laying down a full-bodied thesis on the glories of sexuality. The principle in dealing with their problems, then, is to avoid sexual intimacy with a member of the opposite sex, outside of marriage. When does “touching” cross the line into sexuality? Paul answers that in another letter when he says a man should treat “older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity” (1 Tim. 5:2). While all cultures struggle with sexuality, today’s Western society rivals the Corinthian culture in its moral depravity and breakdown of relationships. Today more than ever we need to hear this message.

Lord, in this modern-day quest to rid the world of sexual repression and sexual abuse, may I never forget the warnings You give about sexual immorality.