Opinions

By ED ALLARD, Pastor,
Monticello Church of Christ

I’ll have to agree with John Brown of Monticello First United Methodist Church. We sure do live in an opinionated world and probably always have, even in the Dark Ages, when many things were suppressed.

His self-admitted honesty he said compelled him to admit that he is a “fairly opinionated” person, even on theological matters (the study of religious doctrines, etc.)

He offered us one of those, that the Corinthian Christians had asked the apostle Paul for an opinion on marriage and that he gave them his opinion on the matter. The specific verse referred to is in 1 Corinthians 7:12. This seems to me to be a very low view of the inspiration of the scriptures. Is there not a better explanation?

Paul was an apostle of Christ. Jesus had promised that when the Holy Spirit came, He would guide them into all truth, declaring it to them by the authority of Christ (John 16:13, 14).

The apostles and prophets who wrote the New Testament did so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

That inspiration insured that what they spoke and wrote was without error. As Paul said to the Corinthians, they had received the Spirit who is from God and so spoke and wrote in words of wisdom given by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12, 13).

The apostles spoke and wrote as the ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20) and so Paul said to them, “If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:36).

A higher viewpoint of the inspiration of the scriptures, including Paul’s statement, is afforded by the explanation that Paul was not saying something that the Lord had taught himself while on earth, though he was saying what he said as an inspired apostle and an ambassador, and with the authority of the Lord.

It was not given as an opinion or suggestion but as an inspired judgment of one who had the Holy Spirit, as Paul also said as he concluded his answer on a related question, saying that what he said was “according to my judgment – and I think I also have the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 7:39).

This explanation, which takes into consideration the totality of the context concerning the matter and not just the immediate context in chapter seven, is offered for consideration. Questions and comments are welcomed.