Good to Not Touch a Woman 1 Corinthians 7:1

Paul the apostle asked the church members in Corinth whether they knew their “body is the temple of the Holy Ghost” which he said “is in you”, and he emphasized they were “not” their “own”. They were “bought with a price”, Jesus' blood sacrifice on the cross, and they were to “glorify God in” their “body, and in” their “spirit, which are God's”. In chapter seven and verse one of First Corinthians, Paul began to share concerning marriage where he wrote, “it is good for a man not to touch a woman” where we read:

Now concerning the things whereof you wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

The verse begins, “Now concerning the things whereof you wrote unto me:” Paul began with the word, “Now” or “moreover and” “concerning the things whereof” which means “about, on account of, because of, around and near that which” “you wrote” which means “the church members expressed in written characters” “unto me” or “to Paul”. Paul began to address an issue to which the church members in Corinth were concerned.

The verse goes on to say, “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” Paul continued with the words, “It is good” which means “it is beautiful to look at, shapely, genuine, approved, precious and magnificent” “for a man” or “for a male human being”“not to touch” or “not to fasten himself to, adhere to, cling to, cohabit with or have carnal intercourse with” “a woman” which refers to “a female human being”. Paul declared it was “good” for men not to have “intimate sexual relationships” with women.

When we think through these words from Paul, we may at first be alarmed at this statement. We must keep in mind the normal life of the Corinthian church members before becoming Christians. Their worship of “Aphrodite”, the goddess of love, included “sexual relationships” with “temple prostitutes” who “worshiped” “Aphrodite” by their behavior. Christians are “purchased” and “redeemed” by Jesus Christ and are to live “holy” and “pure” lives, so when the church members in Corinth desired to know how to behave in their relationships with “women”, Paul began to share how to live as representatives of Jesus Christ in the world.

Next time Paul tells the church members, “to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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