1Cor. 7:29(ESV) This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

What is Paul saying here? That married people should live as if they were not married? Our English Bible makes it sound like a riddle at best, at worst, a recipe for marriage breakdown if applied seriously. 

This should not be a paradoxical riddle

I argue against the interpretation of v29-31 as exhorting people who have wives to live like they don’t, to exhort people who are mourning to live like they are not, etc; rather Paul is saying:

1Cor.7:29(my translation) This is what I mean, brothers: time is wrapping up from now on, let  in order that those who are having wives should live may be like those who are not having, 30 and those who are mourning like those who are not mourning, and those who are rejoicing like those who are not rejoicing, and those who are buying like they had no goods those who are not seizing/holding fast, 31 and those who deal with are using the world like they had no dealings with it those who are not exploiting it. For the scheme of this world is passing away.

I am going to demonstrate the mistakes in our English translation of 1Corinthian 7:29-31 according to the context, and then according to grammar. I will put forward biblical evidence to what Paul actually is saying. I will show that it is not a paradoxical riddle as made out by the ESV translation, which is sending a wrong message to married people, and is distorting the teaching of Paul.

A. Overlooking the context

1. Neglecting that marital obligation is a way of using the body to glorify God 

Paul is not telling a married person to live like a single person, because it is incongruent with the context. In 6:18-20, Paul is teaching the Corinthians to ‘glorify God by the body’ (v20) because ‘your body is not your own’(v19). Paul immediately spells out ‘how?’ By a married person fulfilling ‘obligation’ for the spouse with the body (7:3), because one ‘does not have authority over’ one’s own body, the spouse does (7:4):

1Cor. 7:3 The husband should pay duty/obligation to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

Paul emphasises that this obligation should not be neglected, because it is how one glorifies God- would Paul later tell married people to live like single people, hence neglecting their marital obligations?

In the next verse, 7:5, Paul gave the exemption to this obligation saying that the couple can ‘have a holiday’σχολαζω from it for the purpose of praying.¹ The ESV’s translation of σχολαζω as ‘devote’ in ‘devote for prayer’– by detaching from the former idea (obligation) and jumping to the latter (prayer)- nullifies the meaning of the word σχολαζω in the sentence. But more importantly, by paraphrasing what Paul literally is saying- ‘have a holiday/break [from the marital obligation] for prayer’, the ESV obscures Paul’s emphasis on such marital obligation, obscuring that such obligation is like job or school, that to have a break from it is like taking a holiday from work or from school. Overlooking the obligation of married people in using their body to glorify God (6:19-20) impacts how v29-31 is interpreted, that we interpret ‘having wives’ as something wishy-washy, that those who have can live like they don’t.

2. Depart from the context regarding the audience, and jump the gun from Paul’s concern about the distraction by marital obligation

It is argued that since the concern for a spouse distracts the concern for God, so Paul urges married people to live as if they were single; but this logic is faulty. No doubt Paul sees being single more blessed than being married;² but this does not necessarily lead to the exhortation for people who are already married to live like they are single. Instead, this is how Paul’s logic should go: People who are unmarried and virgins παρθενος should be cautious in their decision of going into marriage. Firstly, the immediate context is Paul speaking to virgins παρθενος (v25) and those who have already been freed from their current marriage (v27b, v15)) and- related to this- those who are contemplating of freeing from their current wives (v27a, v12-14). In other words, from v25 to v38 Paul’s immediate audience are actual unmarried people and potential unmarried people. Paul’s point of contention is at the decision to go into a married relationship (v28) before the marriage happened, the contention is not during marriage to act like you have not been married. 

No doubt, the concern for spouses distracts the concern for the Lord, that a married person is divided in his/her service to God, but this is an ordained division/distraction, because Paul’s earlier principle stands: marital obligation is a way of using the body to glorify God. God’s intention for marriage and the sanctity of this institution- despite its distraction and divisiveness, and hence, less ideal compared to singleness- is the basis of Paul’s conclusion:

1Cor. 7:38 as a result, he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

Here, on one hand, we see a married person does well because he/she is keeping himself/herself from sexual immorality through marital obligation (7:2-5,9), and is doing God’s will in keeping the holiness/morality of- not just oneself, but- one’s family, spouse and kids (7:14). On the other hand, we see how the refraining from marriage is ‘even better’, as one can avoid ‘worry of the flesh’ and distraction from service to the Lord. But the most relevant to our discussion, we should see the consistency of Paul’s point of contention, which is the decision of getting into marriage- that at least one has appreciated and considered the option of singleness before marriage, or that one has made some initial effort trying to refrain from marriage. The point of contention has never been the conduct during marriage- i.e., to act like you were single after becoming married.

3. Blatant contradiction

To stay in one’s current marital status is Paul’s key to- what he considers- the good tactic to the impending pressure/distress:

1Cor. 7:26 therefore I suppose this is good way to live considering the pressure at hand: that it is good for a person to remain in his/her way: 27 are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

Paul’s tactic in view of the impending pressure(v26a)- from the shortage of time (v29b)- is to stay put in one’s marital status: if you’re married, stay married; if you’re single, stay single. This ‘stay-put’ principle directly contradicts our English translation of what immediate follows: 

1Cor. 7:29(ESV) This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none…

The tactic in v26-27 is ‘don’t change’. If you married, stay married, don’t seek to be single; but in v29 our translators made Paul into advocating ‘change!’ urging married people to live as if they were single. Is Paul telling married people not to seek to be single, but to live like they were single? Is Paul telling married people: ‘don’t think about being single, just do it!’ This is a contradiction, and nullifies the principles and logic Paul has laid down earlier.

What about Jesus’ teaching about sacrificing family relationships?

There are three sayings of Jesus that people relate with 1Cor:29-31 thinking Paul is only making the same point as Jesus did- namely, to sit light on personal possession and relationships for the sake of the so-called ‘gospel’.³ I am providing a brief refute.⁴

i. Matt. 19:29 ‘And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.’

My refute is firstly, wife, or husband, is not on the list of what Jesus asked to leave for his sake.⁵ Secondly, the context of Matthew 19 is Jesus stating the limitation of the Mosaic Law. The list conveys what is the most essential blessings in the Mosaic jurisdiction, namely the familial inheritance of the Promised Land and the offspring to pass it down. Jesus’ emphasis about the Mosaic jurisdiction explains why marriage is not in the list, as marriage is of universal importance and not unique to the Mosaic emphasis on the Promised Land and posterity. Matt. 19:29 and 1Cor. 7:29-31 have different contexts and are not on the same thing- the former is a challenge against the Mosaic jurisdiction and- under it- the Jewish traditional mindset, the latter is not.

ii. Matt. 10:37 ‘Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me…’’

Apart from that wife is not mentioned here, the difference is that the context of Matt. 10:37 is persecution (Matt. 10:24-26, 34-37, explicitly 36.). Here, Jesus is teaching his disciples to expect persecution from the outside- just as the Pharisees calling him ‘Beelzebul’ (Mt. 12:24)- as well as from the inside- persecuted by even parents. Persecution by family members such as spouse is a silent implication in 1Cor. 7, as Paul does talk about unbelieving spouses. Rejection by unbelieving spouses can be expected, but such form of persecution is not the matter Paul wanted to discuss; instead, Paul is urging the Corinthians to stick with the marriage as long as ‘the unbelieving spouse consented to live with him/her’ (1Cor. 7:12,13). The context of 1Corinthian 7 is very different to Matthew 10, the latter is about persecution and the former is not. The latter Jesus is warning of persecution that puts family relationship at stake, the former is Paul urging the Corinthians NOT to give up marriage even with unbelieving spouses- a completely different perspective and application.

iii. Luke 14:26 ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.’

Albeit the similarity with the other sayings of Jesus, the uniqueness here is the usage of the word ‘hate’, which Jesus also used two chapters later in Luke where Jesus set up the dichotomy between the worship of God and that of money. In Luke ‘hate’ is a word that conveys anti-worship or idolatry. In this logic, Lk. 14:26 is Jesus’ expression of his deity, that he is above all earthly relationships; in other words, Jesus’ disciples are those who recognise his deity. Without contradicting that, Paul in 1Cor. 7 is teaching how marriage is actually a way to obey Jesus, to use one’s body for God, through fulfilling one’s marital duty. Again, two passages have different contexts and applications. In the Gospel, Lk. 14:26 is a radical declaration of Jesus’ deity, making Jesus exclusive from other humans. In Paul’s letter, 1Cor. 7, Christ’s deity is no longer radical, rather it is a given among its readers, and Paul is applying the worship of the Lord Jesus through both marriage or singleness.

None of Jesus’ sayings share the same context with 1Cor. 7:29-31, and they all have different meanings within their corresponding contexts. It is a mistake to read the former into the latter. 

Having pointed out the problems in the logic of our translation, now we move on to the issues in grammar.

B. Grammatical oversights

Problem #1: neglecting the purpose clause

This passage is not Paul’s EXHORTATION for how people should live differently, Paul is not actually saying ‘let those … live as though they…’; instead, Paul is STATING what different groups of people will look alike at God’s Final Judgment that is impartial, when all humanity will be judged according to their works and morality, regardless of their marital and financial status. 

What our English translation has ignored is the conjunction of purpose, ἱνα, ‘in order that’. Instead of exhorting people ‘let those… live…’, Paul actually is saying ‘in order that ἱνα those… may be ὠσιν …‘. Paul is actually saying:

1Cor.7:29 This is what I mean, brothers: time is wrapping up from now on, let   in order that those who are having wives should live may be like those who are not having, 30 and those who are mourning [may be] like those who are not mourning, and those who are rejoicing [may be] like those who are not rejoicing…

Moreover, what we read in the Bible ‘let…’ are normally imperative verbs, but here in v29 ὠσιν is not imperative, so Paul is not urging people how they should now live- i.e., ‘let the married people live like they are not married’- rather, Paul is stating that the purpose of time running out is in order that God’s Final Judgment may come, ‘in order that’ ἱνα, at that event, those who are married ‘may be’ ὠσιν (a subjunctive verb, not imperative verb) like those who are unmarried. Our translators neglected that ἱνα + subjunctive verb is a purpose clause in Greek grammar.⁶ Paul is stating that the current age is finishing in order to give way to God’s judgment, THEN God will make ‘those who are having wives… like those who are not having’. Paul is not urging married people to live as if they are single NOW, translation along that line is not normal according to Greek grammar.⁷

This change in seasons- from the season for work to the season for judgment according to works done- Paul already mentioned at least twice in close vicinity:

1Cor. 3:13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire [i.e., without any belonging, without any reward].

1Cor. 4:1 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I have not been justified by this. The Lord is the one who judges me. 5 Therefore do not make any judgment/verdict before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the intents of the heart. Then each one will receive his praise from God.

Some relate with Jesus’s saying which seems to be teaching the obsolete of the institution of marriage at the time after the resurrection. Would that be what ‘the present form is passing away’ (v31) Paul is referring to?  

Mark 12:24   Jesus said to them…25… when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

This leads to the second problem.

Problem #2: substantive participles to represent two distinct groups of people 

Both our English translation and those who relate the passage with Mark 12:24 overlook this one thing: in each of the five comparisons from v29-31, Paul uses a pair of present participles:

οἱ ἐχοντες γυναικας ὡς μη ἐχοντες

οἱ κλαιοντες ὡς μη κλαιοντες

οἱ χαιροντες ὡς μη χαιροντες

οἱ ἀγοραζοντες ὡς μη κατεχοντες

οἱ χρωμενοι τον κοσμον ὡς μη καταχρωμενοι

And I argue that they are all meant to be substantive participles, i.e., the type of participles that denote distinct groups of people. Hence Paul is putting forward five sets of two distinctive groups of people, to describe how the two will appear at the Final Judgment. For instance, married people and a single people, they ‘will be like’the other at God’s judgment in the sense that the married person will not face favouritism from God, while the single person will not be disadvantaged either, and vice versa.

There can be two possible challenges against my interpretating the second participles as substantive participles.

Challenge#1: the second group does not have a definite article οἱ, ‘the’. 

My defence is there are examples of substantive participles without their definite articles:

Rom. 7:1   ἠ ἀγνοειτε, ἀδελφοι, γινωσκουσιν γαρ νομον λαλω…

Rom. 7:1   Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law…

Secondly, even more relevant is 1Peter 2:7 where there are two substantive participles to denote two opposite groups of people, just like 1Cor 7:29-31; and the first participle has its definite article while the following one does not, just like 1Cor 7:29-31:

1Pet. 2:7 ὑμιν οὐν ἡ τιμη τοις πιστευουσιν, ἀπιστουσιν δε…

1Pet. 2:7   So the honour is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe…

Here, the ESV recognise the second participle as substantive participle even when it does not have its own definite article.

Challenge#2: the negative particle is μη not ὀυκ; and μη is for exhortation, used by Paul to tell people not to live the way they are living.

I defend by pointing out an example where μη is used for exhortation, but for stating a principle:

John 20:29 λεγει αυτω ὁ Ιησούς, Ὁτι ἐωρακας με πεπιστευκας; μακαριοι οἱ μη ἰδοντες και πιστευσαντες.

John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Here,  Jesus is not using μν to exhort people not to see; rather, he is stating just that ‘those who have not seen yet believed’ are those who are blessed. Likewise using μη does not necessarily mean Paul is exhorting people not to marry, not to mourn, not to rejoice, etc; rather μη is used in stating that the group of people are not characterised by certain features, namely, those not having wives, those not mourning, those not rejoicing, etc.

Thirdly, If Paul were to exhort people to live certain ways, he could have used other word forms such as indicative verbs, subjunctive verbs or even infinitives instead of a second participles. One thing we must consider is why participles are used, and the high possibility is the usage of substantive participle to denote a distinctive group of people; and other factors I put forward indicate that such possibility is more than high. And if indeed Paul is describing two distinctive groups at the Final Judgment, then it will be a mistake to interpret as urging everyone of certain characteristic to live in a way contradictory to that characteristic now- i.e. urging married people to live as though they were single from now on.

This understanding also precludes Paul applying Jesus teaching in Mk 12:24, where Jesus is speaking about the universal obsolete of the institution of marriage after the resurrection of eternal life, then all will live like angels without marriage. And this is irrelevant to 1Cor 7:29-31 because, firstly, the timing is at the Final Judgment, not after God’s judgment and were granted eternal lives. And more importantly, because Paul speaks about two distinctive groups- married and unmarried- while Jesus is speaking universally, all people after the resurrection of life.

C. Biblical evidence and reasoning for my interpretation

Then what does Paul mean?

1Cor. 7:25   Now concerning the virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who has been granted mercy by the Lord to be trustworthy. 26 Therefore I consider this to be the good way to live because of the pressure at hand: that it is good for a person to be/remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that.

1Cor.7:29 This is what I mean, brothers: time is wrapping up from now on, in order that those who are having wives may be like those who are not having, 30 and those who are mourning like those who are not mourning, and those who are rejoicing like those who are not rejoicing, and those who are buying like those who are not seizing/holding fast, 31 and those who are using the world like those who are not exploiting it. For the scheme of this world is passing away. 

1Cor.7:32  I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and he is divided. And the unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to throw a snoose upon you, but for good form/scheme and undivided service to the Lord.

1. the context is the Final Judgment

the pressure at hand (v26), time is wrapping up from now on (v29), the scheme of this world is passing away(v31) all refer to the end of this age at the second coming of Christ as God’s appointed Judge to judge the world in righteousness:

Acts 17:30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” 

And how will Christ judge in righteousness as God’s appointed on that day ? According to their works of morality:

John 5:19   So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son… 25   “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here [at Jesus’ miracle], when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. 30   “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

On that coming day, Christ will raise all the dead back to life, so all humanity- even those who have died- may face God’s judgment and his justice, when Christ will judge each person according to the morality of his/her works. God’s justice and his righteous judgment according to works is the gospel according to Paul, just as what he preached at Athens in Acts 17:30-31, and elsewhere:

Rom. 2:6   He [God] will repay each one according to his works: 7 to those who, according to the endurance of good works, seek for glory and honour and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who, out of strife, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honour and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

Or 

2Cor. 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed through the body [the resurrected body] what is due for what he has done, whether good or evil.

1Cor 7:29 “those who are having wives may be like those who are not having”

‘time is wrapping up from now on’ (v29) creates ‘the pressure at hand’ (v26), the pressure comes from the pressing of time before God’s righteous judgment comes, when humanity will be judged by works of morality. Neither getting married per se, nor being single per se, is the type of works that shows your morality; neither is God’s commandment. Paul has explained that celibacy is his personal preference because of his gift. Celibacy is not the Lord’s command, which is consistent with the non-compulsory way Jesus taught:

Matt. 19:10   The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven [i.e., for sake of the righteous sovereignty of God]. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

Paul was one of those ‘eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven’in Jesus’ mouth (Matt. 19:12). Paul wishes that there are more people with this kind of gift (1Cor. 7:6-7). However, what requires discernment is that being single- or being eunuch- per se is not better; what makes it a better lifestyle is ‘service for God without distraction’ (1Cor. 7:35), or ‘for the sake of the kingdom of heaven’(Matt. 19:12), or for the sake of God’s righteousness. 

In 1Timothy, on one hand, Paul’s description of a ‘true widow’ explains what sort of devotion is celibacy meant to enable, namely, the practice of God’s righteousness- such as caring for the poor (1Tim. 5:5, 10). This is the same intention behind Paul’s and Jesus’ encouragement for celibacy:

1Tim. 5:5 She who is truly a widow, has been left all alone, has set her hope on God and is devoted to supplications and prayers night and day… 9   Let a widow be enrolled who is not less than sixty years of age, who was the wife of one husband, 10 who is bearing witness by good works: [i.e. the following are how her good works should testify that she is truly a widow (v5)], whether she has brought up children? whether she has shown hospitality? whether she has washed the feet of the saints? whether she has cared for the afflicted? whether she has a track record of every good work?

On the other hand, Paul’s reason for not enrolling certain women as ‘widows in church’ is their distraction from good works, because that violates their former vow/faith for devotion to God as ‘widows’. In that case Paul suggests due to their younger age and health, it will be better for them to re-marry, as this will give them more opportunities to do works for God and keep them from temptations.

1Tim 5:11 But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry 12 and so incur condemnation because they nullify their former faith/conviction [i.e. the specific conviction to be widows using their celibacy for the devotion in God’s service and good works]. 13 Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and,⁸ saying what they should not. 14 So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. 

Therefore, without service to God, celibacy means nothing. Ultimately, it is the practice of righteousness that makes the difference at the Final Judgment, not celibacy per se. This is the principle Paul is trying to explain in 1Cor. 7: celibacy is better only because it avoids distraction from service to God, if a celibate struggles to practice righteousness, he/she would better off get married, because the Final judgment is according to works of righteousness, not according to martial status. This is the principle behind Paul likening people who have wives and people who don’t, the context is God’s imminent Final Judgment according to works of morality:

1Cor.7:29 This is what I mean, brothers: time is wrapping up from now on, in order that those who are having wives may be like those who are not having…

1Cor. 7:30a  “those who are mourning like those who are not mourning”

And the Final judgment according to works of morality continues to be the theme. Relating to marriage and celibacy is joy and mourning correspondingly. And this is a bit complicated in terms of the context. In the context of the Greek, especially in their Platonist mindset, celibacy per se is a good thing, which is expressed by the Corinthians’ (mis-)construal from Paul’s teaching:

1Cor. 7:1   Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with [literally, ‘touch’ ] a woman.”

Platonists- those who subscribe to Plato’s philosophy- have a ‘body vs spirit’ mindset, seeing the spiritual worthy of pursuing, while the bodily something to escape from. Corinthians interpreted Paul’s teaching with that Platonist mindset, construing Paul to advocate the denial of what is bodily and sexual for the pursuit of the spiritual high. The Corinthians assumed celibacy itself is a form of righteousness; and we have demonstrated how Paul busted this idea already.

The complication is that the Western Platonism is not the only context; the deeper context, especially in the mind of both Paul and Jesus (considering that 1Cor. 7 is Paul expounding Jesus’ teaching on marriage, divorce and celibacy) is the traditional Jewish mindset. (Don’t forget that Jesus and Paul were both Jews.) 

In the Old Testament, in the mindset of the biblical Jews, one essential blessing was offspring/children/posterity, which presupposes marriage. We can see how marriage is tightly tied with children in Paul’s Jewish mind when he urges Christians to remain in their marriage with unbelieving spouses: for the sake of their children (1Cor. 7:14). Conversely, one of the most serious curses was bareness. Marriage and offspring were two essential blessings in a biblical Jew’s mind, they were the Jewish society’s expectation, expecting that the righteous would enjoy them as God’s reward for their righteousness. This societal standard is even codified in the Deuteronomic worship:

Deut. 23:1  “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD. 2  “No one born of a forbidden union may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD.

According to the Deuteronomic written code, both a male who cannot reproduce- i.e., a eunuch- and a person born outside marriage are excluded from ‘the assembly of the Lord’.⁹ It demonstrates the biblical Jews’ aspiration for marriage, hence offspring, that gave them joy and assurance. It also sheds light on the shame of those who were eunuchs or celibates, and that is the context of ‘those who mourn’ referred by Paul:

1Cor 7:30a and those who are mourning (may be) like those who are not mourning…

Here Paul is claiming that God’s righteous judgment will overturn this shame, so the righteous will no longer mourn for what they don’t have, such as marriage and offspring, which is prophesied in the OT:
Is. 56:1   Thus says the LORD: “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my righteousness be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man who does this… 3…  let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” 4 For thus says the LORD: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5 I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. 

Many hundred years later, Jesus confirmed this promise for the righteous who mourn:

Matt. 5:3   “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4   “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted…

6   “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied…

10   “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Paul teaches in consistency saying:
Gal 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap destruction, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good [i.e., ‘sowing to the Spirit’ (Gal. 6:8), i.e., doing God’s will to ‘keep justice and do righteousness’ (Is. 56:1)], for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

The basis for ‘not growing weary of doing good’ and ‘not giving up’ is God’s recompense- ‘in due season we will reap’. And that ‘due season’ is God’s Final Judgment according to works, according to righteousness. In this way, sadness and disappointment (such as not being married, not having children (Is. 56:3)) of the just (i.e., those who ‘keep justice, do righteousness’) will not last. Their vindication and recompense in the end will make them like (but better than) someone who has not suffered, who is not mourning. On the other side of the same coin is the joy of the unjust ,which also will not last.

1Cor. 7:30b “those who are rejoicing like those who are not rejoicing”

In this fallen world, on one hand the righteous are mourning, on the other hand the unrighteous are rejoicing on their ‘blessedness’, their prosperity- including marriage and posterity- especially that comes from unjust gain. This is the same in the OT (Job 21:7-26), hence the warning:

Prov. 1:10       My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent…

19        Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;

                        it [i.e., the unjust gain] takes away the life of its possessors. 

God’s justice means that no joy from the gain is comparable to justice. It is the faith in God’s righteous judgment that leads Biblical writer to say:

Psa. 37:16       Better is the little that the righteous has

                        than the abundance of many wicked.

Prov. 16:8       Better is a little with righteousness

                        than great gain with injustice.

The joy from unjust gain, or the joy of the unjust, will not last. At the Final Judgment, the unjust’s ‘reward’- i.e. punishment from God- will make them wish that they did not have that joy before; then they will be like the just currently are. The just currently have no gain to rejoice in life because they refuse unjust gain and instead choose to have little. The Final Judgment will make those who are rejoicing like those who are not rejoicing. Such OT faith in God’s righteous judgment and moral logic is found in Paul’s teaching, where he urges the pursuit of righteousness instead of riches:

1Tim 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain… 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 11   But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.¹⁰

At this stage let’s sum up our exegesis so far:

1Cor. 7:29 time is wrapping up from now on, in order that

those who are having wives may be like those who are not having,

30 and those who are mourning like those who are not mourning, 

and those who are rejoicing like those who are not rejoicing…

What Paul meant is this:

“There is not much time before the arrival of God’s Final judgment, which will make those who have wives like those who don’t, as marital status is not God’s judging criteria, rather the morality/righteousness of the person’s works is. So don’t be stressed by whether you are married or not, rather strive for righteousness, even when you have to endure disappointment and suffering. But God’s ultimate justice means that your current mourning will not last, as God’s recompense for your righteous deeds will make you like you have not been mourning, like those who currently have nothing to mourn about. On the other hand, the unjust who are currently rejoicing will have nothing to rejoice about, and they will be like what the just are currently doing- not rejoicing– as the just would rather live with little than to compromise their integrity with unjust gain. At that time of Judgment, the unjust will wish they were not rejoicing with all the gain, they will wish they had been like the just with little.”

the just vs the unjust

Note that v29 ‘those who are having wives’ and ‘those who are not having (wives)’ do not correspond with the just and the unjust, because marital status is not God’s judging criteria (that’s Paul’s big point in 1Cor. 7)… but what is? Answer to that question is the key to the understand remaining pairs of substantive participles, the pairs of people groups. God’s judging criteria is morality – i.e., whether one is just or unjust- which is substantiated by the person’s works. The next series of participle pairs- unlike the first set- are the comparisons between the just (‘those who are mourning’, ‘those who are not rejoicing’) and the unjust (‘those who are not mourning’, ‘ those who are rejoicing’) . 

1Cor. 7:29 those who are having wives may be like those who are not having, 

30 and those who are mourning like those who are not mourning, 

and those who are rejoicing like those who are not rejoicing…

It can be challenged that Paul did not specified ‘those who are mourning’ and ‘those who are rejoicing’, we should not specify those groups according to just and unjust. My defence is this: immediate afterward, Paul clarifies the intention in his advice: to spare the Corinthians of anxieties. Note that Paul did not specify what sort of anxieties:

1Cor. 7:32a   I want you to be free from anxieties. 

But the context informs Paul’s specificity in ‘anxiety’:

1Cor. 7:32b   The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about things of the world, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, in order to be holy in body and spirit.

Just because Paul did not literally specify, does not mean Paul had no specificity in his mind; and what immediately follows is a good example. The ‘anxieties’ Paul did not specify is a specific sort- being ‘anxious about things of the world’. Not only is ‘the anxieties about the things of the Lord’ excluded from ‘the anxieties’Paul wants to spare the Corinthians of, he actually wants them to be devoted in such kind of anxieties. When we read Paul’s ‘rejoice’ and ‘mourn’ we must have the same discernment as we read his ‘anxiety’, we must ask ourselves ‘what sort?’

1Cor. 7:30c-31 “those who are buying those who are not seizing/holding fast, those are using the world like those who are not exploiting it.”

It is crucial at this stage to get our exegesis right, to comprehend the imminence of God’s righteous judgment behind v29-30, so that we may get the next verse. As explained, the first pair of participles is different to the second and third pairs in that the former does not correspond with the just and the unjust, while the latter do. And the variation ‘evolves’ as we move on. We notice the fourth and the fifth pairs vary from the previous in a different way. The first three pairs have the word of the participles exactly the same, but in each of the last two pairs, the participles are different words.

οἱ ἐχοντες γυναικας ὡς μη ἐχοντες

οἱ κλαιοντες ὡς μη κλαιοντες

οἱ χαιροντες ὡς μη χαιροντες

οἱ ἀγοραζοντες ὡς μη κατεχοντες

οἱ χρωμενοι τον κοσμον ὡς μη καταχρωμενοι

This variation seems to signal that the series of participle pairs are not meant by Paul to be understood in exactly the same way, thus confirming our exegesis that the first pair varies with the second and third pairs in meaning. They vary in that the first pair does not correspond with the just and the unjust, while the second and the third pairs do, and I argue that the fourth and the fifth pairs also do but in slightly different way: the first participle of the pairs refers to everyone, and the second participle specifically refers to the just, how the just conduct differently compared with rest.

The ESV’s rigid pattern

While the NIV seems to be more aware of the variations spoken, the ESV is oblivious to the changes, as they forced the pattern in the first three pairs onto the rest. In the fifth pair the ESV translates χρωμενοι and καταχρωμενοι into the same word ‘dealing’; in the fourth pair, to match αγοραζοντες ‘buying’, the ESV renders κατεχοντες as the consequence of ‘buying (goods)’, hence ‘having goods’:

1Cor. 7:30(ESV) … and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it.

Problem#1. meaning incongruent with the Bible

The first problem of the ESV is: what exactly does it mean for ‘those who buy’ to live ‘as though they had no goods’? Is Paul saying: you who possess something should live as if you don’t really possess it. We run into a similar problem with their interpretation of the first pair of participles: you who have wives should live like you don’t have wives. We have earlier worked out its incongruity with Paul’s teaching. And here, if you possess something, the Bible teaches you firstly to be thankful to God for it, next you should use it for God (C.f. Matt. 25:14-30 ‘the parable of the talents’), use it for good, share it with those in need; the Bible does not tell you to pretend you have not possessed it- again this is a problematic interpretation. 

Problem#2. meaning of the words distorted 

κατεχοντες

The second problem of the ESV is that to translate κατεχοντες as ‘having goods’ is an exception which you don’t find elsewhere in the Bible. The verb of this participle is κατεχω.

κατεχω = κατά  (down) + ἐχω (have). 

Hence ‘to hold something down’. The idea is to ‘hold on to something and not letting go’. Therefore, in the Bible the most common translation is ‘hold fast’, also ‘withhold’, or ‘hold captive’, or ‘to seize’.¹¹ Κατεχω is a forceful dynamic word, not a bland static word of ‘having good’.

καταχρωμενοι

Likewise, the ESV tries to match the next pair of participles, it translated καταχρωμενοι as ‘dealing with’, the same as χρωμενοι. But the two are different words. The verb of the first participle is χραομαι meaning ‘to make use of…’ or ‘use’:

1Cor. 7:21 Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you are able to become free, you better use it χραομαι.)

The second participle is κατακραομαι.

κατακραομαι  = κατα (down) + κραομαι (use)

Hence ‘to use something down’. The idea is to ‘use it all the way down’, ‘use it thoroughly’, ‘use it to the max’. When someone is using someone to the max, or milking something out completely, we call this ‘exploiting a person’, or ‘abusing something’. Therefore the meaning can be extended into ‘exploiting’, or ‘abusing’,¹² as a person takes what he/she wants out of something/someone to the extreme while neglecting any moral obligation in such consumption. Paul uses the same word regarding his Apostolic authority:

1Cor. 9:18 (ESV)  What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of κατακραομαι my right in the gospel.

I think by κατακραομαι Paul means ‘exploit’ or ‘abuse’:

1Cor. 9:18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to exploit/abuse my authority in the gospel.¹³

Nonetheless, in 1Cor. 9:18 at least the ESV recognises κατακραομαι is more than ‘use’, but ‘make full use’. How come the ESV cannot do that in 7:31?

Having established the real meaning of κατεχοντες and καταχρωμενοι, we see 1Cor 7:29-31 should be:

1Cor.7:29 This is what I mean, brothers: time is wrapping up from now on, in order that those who are having wives may be like those who are not having, 30 and those who are mourning like those who are not mourning, and those who are rejoicing like those who are not rejoicing, and those who are buying like they had no goodsthose who are not seizing/holding fast, 31 and those who deal with are using the world like they had no dealings with it those who are not exploiting it. For the scheme of this world is passing away.

Those participles highlighted blue refer to the just. The first participle-pair has no specificity, but from then on, ‘those who are mourning’ and ‘those who are not rejoicing’ correspond with the just. And this correspondence continues in ‘those who are not seizing/holding fast’ and ‘those who are not exploiting it [the world]’, they also refer to the just.

While the other participles in the second and third pairs correspond with the unjust, the first participles in the fourth and fifth pairs are unspecific, just like the first pair. This ‘unspecific vs the just’ of the fourth and fifth participle pairs foreshadows the theme of the next chapters regarding eating food sold in the market. 

1Cor. 8-10

Shopping for food in the market was part of a daily life for the Corinthians. The problem for Paul’s Corinthian readers is that most of the meat in the market has been offered to idols. The first principle Paul laid down in the beginning of chapter 8 is that idols are not real since there is only one sovereign God in the world. We can see this first principle is being followed through to Paul’s conclusion in chapter 10, and it gives God’s people an inclusive attitude toward the world and freedom to engage in activities- such as buying- that were at the time dominated by pagan worship. 

1Cor. 8:4   Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”

1Cor 10:25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”

The knowledge- about God’s sovereignty over all nations and cultures- in this first principle not only is the centre of Paul’s gospel, it also makes life convenient, providing the freedom to fit in with the Corinthian society. However, Paul spent much ink to explain that there are times when the righteous thing would be to forego this freedom. Paul raised three:

1. Conscience and sin- don’t sin against Christ (8:12)

Paul describes someone with a ‘weak conscience’ as one who does not have the knowledge of the first principle, and ‘through former association with idols’ (8:7), has firmly tied food offered to idol with idol worship. As a result of this memory or connection, eating food offered to idols is a sin against God in their conscience. So if this brother of ‘weak conscience’ sees you eating meat offered to idols, he would take that as your approval to do the same, that it’s OK to sin. In this way, your exercising freedom has tempted this brother to act against his conscience, hence encourages him to sin, causing him to stumble:

1Cor 8:9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak…  . 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

2. Advancing the gospel- be a partner of the gospel (9:23)

The deeper purpose behind this first principle is to advance the gospel- that YHWH is not only the God of Israel, but the God of all nations- to everyone in the world. This deeper purpose supersedes any freedom or right or authority. The freedom from that first principle is not primarily for your sake, but for the sake of the advancement of the gospel. You are to use that freedom to ‘please’- to fit in with various types of people (10:32)- in order to make known to them the gospel. It is those who are willing to make sacrifice for the gospel (such as to sacrifice their freedom to eat meat sacrificed to idols) and not κατακραομαι abuse their authority/right who will be ‘partaker of the gospel’:

1Cor. 9:21 To those outside the law I [through the freedom of the first principle] became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, in order to become its partner.

3. Flee from idolatry- don’t be disqualified from the gospel (9:27; 10:5,12)

Idols are not real in the sense that they are not the real God who is all powerful and righteous. Idols are but objects on which pagans project what they perceive as God. However, idolatry is real, because behind these objects of idols are the demons who are leading people away from the real God, they are leading people into sinning against God (10:8), tempting people by indulging them in comfort, pleasure and easy lives (10:7 C.f. 9:24-7). Such compromise with demons provokes God into jealousy. There are instances when it is righteous to choose the hard way to take a stance against the idolatrous mainstream of the society.¹⁴

1Cor. 10:7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did… 14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry…21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy?

Back to 1Cor. 7:31.

It is not God’s plan to take his people out of the world (5:10), quite the opposite, God wants his people to be in the world; but God’s purpose is for them to be his ambassador to proclaim his righteousness to the world (Acts 17:30-31; Rom. 3:21-26; 8:1-4; Phil. 2:15; Titus 2;11-14; 1Pet. 2:9). So the prerequisite for them being in the world is that they must be righteous. 

The freedom from the first principle creates the phenomenon in the world that the just and the unjust are mixed together, engaging in pretty much the same activities (such as ‘buying’, ‘using the world’). However, the just are distinctive in that they do not abuse their freedom that lets them live like the rest of the world. They make use of this freedom for the purpose God intended, but in certain instances they will do the right thing to forego this freedom. While the just engage in the business of buying and selling, they are not obsessed with their own gain; rather they are willing to share, willing to give away. They don’t follow the frenzy of grabbing what the world has to offer; rather they are more eager to help the needy, to practise righteousness, to love their neighbours, they are even willing to suffer loss for righteousness sake. The just are content, they sit light on their possession and are unperturbed by things of the world because they know those things are transient, all the frenzy grabbing will one day become meaningless. They know that all those who hoard riches, exploiting all they can in the end will be like them who don’t, as everyone will be laid bare before God for judgment (Heb 4:13):¹⁵

1Cor.7:29 This is what I mean, brothers: time is wrapping up from now on, in order that … those who are buying (may be) those who are not seizing/holding fast, 31 and those who are using the world like those who are not exploiting it. For the scheme of this world is passing away.

The context is God’s Final Judgment in righteousness

The just are distinct because they are more concerned about what would last- righteousness- about the things of the Lord (1Cor. 7:34), about doing the will of the Father (Mt. 7:21), fulfilling the righteous requirements of the Law (Rom. 8:4). And they yearn for God’s righteousness/justice to finally be revealed (Rom. 3:27b; Acts 17:31;2Th. 2:8-12), which Paul put in the format of inclusio to provide the context for those series of participle pairs:

1Cor.7:29 brothers: time is wrapping up from now on in order that those who are having wives may be like those who are not having, 30 and those who are mourning like those who are not mourning, and those who are rejoicing like those who are not rejoicing, and those who are buying those who are not seizing/holding fast, 31 and those are using the world like those who are not exploiting it. For the scheme of this world is passing away.

As mentioned at the start, time is running out in order for God’s judgment to come, when all humanity will be judged in righteousness, with fairness and impartiality (Psa. 67:4; 96:10; 98:9; Rom. 2:11), – i.e., ‘those … will be like those …’-¹⁶ not according to their earthly power and wealth, or marital status, but according to their works of morality.

What is God’s Final Judgment in righteousness? God distinguishes the just from the unjust

God’s judgment is itself the means to God’s righteousness to arrive. At the judgment, God will divide humanity into the just and the unjust, he will save the just from the wrath against the wicked, this is the traditional Abrahamic faith:

Gen 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

This very same faith is the Apostolic faith:

2Pet. 2:9 the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.

How does God distinguish the just from the unjust? By works

And how does God decide whether a person is just or unjust? God looks at the person’s works, even things done secretly, as written in the OT:

Eccl. 12:13   The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.3 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Such judgment by works is confirmed by Jesus’ teaching, the only thing new to the OT is that Christ will judge on behalf of God:

John 5:27 And he [God] has given him [the Son of Man] authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.

Works of the Law is not the sort of works God uses to distinguishes the just from the unjust because of God’s ethnic impartiality 

The NT is no difference, it only clarifies that in the new era inaugurated by Christ, being just/righteous is no longer to do with the works of observing of the Mosaic Law, so that Gentiles who don’t have the Mosaic written code, who are not observing it, who are not circumcised, can also be just, can also practise righteousness and be accepted by God. As Peter exclaims with some surprise:

Acts 10:34   So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and practise righteousness is acceptable to him.

The NT and the OT both uphold that God’s judgment is according to works, it’s just that the works of the Law (the Jews’ observation of the Mosaic written code such as circumcision) are not the works God would look for to differentiate if one is just or unjust:

1Cor. 7:19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.

This way, that Jews are Gentiles are on level field in their judgment by God, as God is racially impartial:

Rom. 2:6   He will repay each one according to his works: 7 to those who, according to the endurance of good works, seek for glory and honour and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who, out of strife/contention, do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honour and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

Here the refrain ‘the Jew first and also the Greek (i.e., Gentiles)’ is Paul emphasising that both Jews and Gentiles will be treated in the same way- i.e., being judged and recompensed by God according to each one’s works- the only difference between them is the chronological order. What is emphasised by the Apostles as the gospel of Christ really is the fulfilment of the Prophets, that God will set aside the Mosaic written code (such as whether one is circumcised, whether one is eunuch, whether one in born outside wedlock, etc), and look at the morality of a person’s works and recompense accordingly, so that a foreigner (not God’s chosen race according to the Mosaic Law) and a eunuch (an unholy person according to the Mosaic Law) will ultimately be blessed because of the person’s righteousness, as prophesied by Isaiah:

Is. 56:1             Thus says the LORD:  “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my righteousness be revealed.

2          Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

3          Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely separate me from his people”;

 and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”

4          For thus says the LORD,  “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5 I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

6          “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant— 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar;  for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

Isaiah’s prophesy is the hope for those who are righteous, those who are practicing righteousness, even the Gentiles, even those who are mourning. Early in his ministry Jesus already confirmed this hope that it will be fulfilled in the heavenly kingdom:

Matt. 5:3   “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4   “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted…

6   “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied…

10   “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Jesus Christ inaugurated God’s impartial righteousness by making the jurisdiction and written code of the Mosaic Law obsolete 

And the early history of the Church testified that Jesus Christ is the way God fulfils his promised in Isaiah for those who practise righteousness. This piece of history recorded in Acts 8 is the first baptism of a non-Jew who happened to be a eunuch. God’s one-stone-two-birds witness testifies that ‘the revelation of his righteousness’ (Isaiah 56:1) is through Jesus Christ, who made the Mosaic written code and jurisdiction obsolete (Gal 3:10-13; Rom. 7:1-7), in order to enable non-Jews to participate in God’s righteousness (Gal 3:8,9,14, Gen 18:18-19), through granting the Holy Spirit to both the Jews and the Gentiles by faith (Acts 11:17-18)- faith in God’s righteousness that is ethnically impartial through Christ- instead of by becoming Jews, by observing the Mosaic written code, hence ‘apart from the works of the Law’ (Rom. 3:29).¹⁷ And the Spirit is God’s empowerment for repentance and righteousness. 

Jesus Christ accomplishes God’s impartial righteousness/justice by pouring the Holy Spirit on both Jews and Gentiles

The reason the Holy Spirit is ‘the gift’ (Lk 11:13; Acts 2:38; 10:45; ); , ‘the guarantee’ for salvation (1Cor. 1:22; 2Cor. 5;5; Eph. 1:14), is because righteousness is what leads to salvation (Rom. 8:10), and because God’s ultimate justice on earth is accomplished through his Final Judgment according to works, by which God will recompense reward to the just and the unjust. God’s recompense will ratify the injustice on earth, which the writer of Ecclesiastes describes:

Eccl. 8:10   Then I saw the wicked buried.¹⁸  They were used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity… 14   There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

In the midst of this injustice,  the writer holds on to his faith in God’s justice:

Eccl. 8:12  Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

Unchangeable faith: God’s Judgment and recompense according to works of morality

The writer believes that the proper recompense will eventually come on the wicked and the just (God fearers), it’s just a matter of time (Eccl. 3). Submitting to God’s timing, the writer waits for God’s justice to arrive through his righteous judgment, which is declared in the early part of the book as well as the end:

Eccl. 3:16   Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. 17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.¹⁹

Eccl. 12:13   The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

The gospel of Christ does not deviate from this traditional Jewish faith in God’s ultimate justice through the Final judgment and recompense:

2Cor. 5:9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed through the body what is due for what he has done, whether good or evil. 11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.

1Cor 7:29-31 and this unchangeable faith

The Final Judgment is still the hope of the just, of those who fear God and practise righteousness, of those who are mourning, because God will recompense according to the morality of the person, God will repay each person according to works, God will ratify the injustice on earth. ‘time is wrapping up from now on’ (1Cor. 7:29) refers to that time is nearly up to put down your hand from working and to face God’s Judgment according to the works you have done. In ‘the scheme of this world is passing away’ (1Cor. 7:31), ‘the scheme’, or the form ‘of this world’ refers to the unjust social phenomenon, where righteous people receive shameful treatment as if they have practised wickedness, where wicked people receive honourable treatment as if they have practised righteousness (Eccl. 8:14). ‘the scheme of this world is passing away’ means the unjust social phenomenon will disappear, when humanity will be judged, when the world is purged and consummated by the righteousness of God, for which the term commonly used by Jesus and Paul is ‘the kingdom of God/heaven’:

Matt. 5:3   “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven… 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matt. 25:34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

1Cor. 6:9   Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

1Cor. 15:50   I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Gal. 5:21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

That new eternal scheme is called ‘the kingdom of God’ or ‘the kingdom of Heaven’ because that is the new order under which God’s will ultimately will be done on earth just as it is in heaven, and that will happen when not only humans, but the hosts and angelic beings in heavens will be judged. When the heavens are purged, the earth will have a new order. Peter calls this place of the new righteous scheme ‘a new earth’ when the heavens are renewed:

2Pet. 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly principles will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Then all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you be? 12 as those in the conducts of holiness and godliness waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly principles will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 

God’s judgment and recompense is the key for the exegesis of 1Cor. 7:29-31

As the result of our neglect of God’s Final judgment and recompense, we ignore the significance of this context and we turned 1Cor 7:29-31 into a paradoxical riddle:

1Cor. 7:29(ESV) This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

Paul is not telling people to act in a Platonic airy fairy way- for married people to somehow act like they are not, for happy people to somehow act like they are not happy, for sad people to somehow act like they are not sad, for people buying to act like they have not bought, for people who has dealing with the world to act like they don’t… for people who are to act like they aren’t- and we call this out-of-character-type of living ‘spiritual’.²⁰ No, Paul is not saying that, rather the passage should be:

1Cor.7:29 This is what I mean, brothers: time is wrapping up from now on in order that those who are having wives may be like those who are not having, 30 and those who are mourning like those who are not mourning, and those who are rejoicing like those who are not rejoicing, and those who are buying like those who are not seizing/holding fast, 31 and those who are using the world like those who are not exploiting it. For the scheme of this world is passing away.

Far from being a ‘spiritual’ paradox- that is open to interpretation and application however the Spirit moves you (or you feel like it) to switch between married and single, between rejoicing and mourning, between dealing with the world and not- 1Cor. 7:29-31 is Paul’s concrete exhortation that stems from concrete description of what is going to happen to distinctive people groups at the Final Day of Judgment. This is what Paul is exhorting the Corinthians:

“Marriage per se and celibacy per se are not God’s commandments, but the practise of righteousness is. The married and the unmarried will be like each other, standing on level field at God’s judgment.

“Righteousness, obeying God, doing his will is what matters to God. And God is just and will judge and recompense according to the morality of your works. Devote in righteous works, even when it means sadness or disappointment (such as not having marriage companion, such as not having children, such as staying in a marriage with a spouse who is not worshipping God). Because the mourning of the just will not last, as their vindication and recompense in the end will make them like someone who has not suffered; in this sense they will be like the unjust as they currently are- not mourning- except that the unjust are not mourning now because they are not willing to suffer for God, to suffer for righteousness sake. 

“Likewise, the joy from unjust gain, or the joy of the unjust also will not last. Because their ‘reward’- i.e. punishment- will make them wish they had no joy before; in that sense they will be like the just as they currently are-not rejoicing- except that the just are not rejoicing because they would rather have little than to have much gain through sinning.

“Everyone is buying, and God has not said ‘no’ to making purchases per se, God’s people have the freedom to do so; but they will not exploit this freedom, the just will not abuse their power. So don’t hold fast to what you have or what you can, but be willing to let go, be willing to make sacrifice for righteousness sake. 

“Likewise, everyone is using the world, and God has not forbidden it, God has not commanded his people to become hermits; but God’s people will not exploit the world, the just will not join in with the rest of the world in their frenzy of grabbing what this world has to offer. 

“Remember that at the end of the day, all the stuff we have acquired will not last, the things in the world that are up for grab will be meaningless, because all of us, the just (who don’t hold fast to stuff and don’t exploit their rights and resources in the world) and the unjust alike will be stripped of those things, we all will be laid bare before God’s judgement throne, having to give an account to God of the stuff we acquired, to give an account of how we have used the resources in the world that were at our disposal. So don’t join in with the rest of the world in their unjust exploiting, don’t be afraid to let go of your transient possession for righteousness; but strive to conduct your daily life (such as shopping) ethically and business justly, and don’t let these activities distract us from our goal in using the resources/talents God has granted us in this world for righteousness, for loving our neighbours, doing good to the world, caring for the poor, looking after victims of injustice.

“Don’t be calculating in working out how much we win or lose in this world, but devote in practising righteousness, because God is not unjust. God is the God of justice and he will make recompense according to our morality that is substantiated by our works. Devote in serving God, by the endurance of good works exercise justice, even when it means sadness and anxiety (for yourselves, for victims of injustice, for the world), even when it means suffering, disappointment, loneliness, misunderstanding or persecution; the current scheme when the just suffer while the wicked prosper will soon be over, God’s justice will come and it will be worth it.”

Immediate application for modern Christians

Marriage issues, Gender issues, seem to be the specific things close to modern Christians’ heart, at least from a political view point. Those are the specific matters which tend to drive Christians to public demonstration, those are the specific matters which tend to decide whether a political leader wins their support.²¹ Without a doubt, marriage- heterosexual marriage, and hence gender- is a very important matter taught by the Bible that Christians should rightly care about and take action, but so is social justice, so is not abusing power, so is not enslaving people, so is not exploiting the world. Sexual immorality is a great sin, but so is greed, so is injustice or the indifference to it; yet none are as frown upon by Christians as sexual sins. No less important in biblical ethics are matters such as social inequality, indigenous justice, refugees justice, climate change, democracy and human rights, why to these matter are Christians not showing as much political zeal? 1Corinthian 7:29-31 teaches that, in the scheme of things- contradicting to our ‘Christian’ conservative mindset- marriage is a relatively side issue, what really matters is righteousness/justice. Paul informs that a person’s identity as the just is indicated by whether one is using one’s resources in a just way and for justice, instead of exploiting it or for unjust gain. Whether one is just is indicated by whether one is willing to suffer and mourn for righteousness sake instead of joining with the majority in the frenzy of the market trying to seize what the world has to offer for their own happiness and gain. 1Cor.7:29-31 should give some challenge, but there is something even more fundamental.

Why all these efforts for three verses? The gospel of Christ and the righteousness of God

We want to know what Paul actually is teaching in 1Cor. 7:29-31, which has timeless relevance; we also should want to know how we have mis-understood Paul in the first place. Through the effort in this writing, from exposing our translation problems in logic, problems in grammar, and we traced the problem to our neglect on God’s judgement and recompense. Our mis-translation and mis-exegesis of 1Cor. 7:29-31 is only the tip of the iceberg; the deeper and greater problem from such neglect is our misconception of the righteousness of God and the gospel of Christ.²² The Bible teaches that Judgment and recompense are not for his people’s sake, but for God’s own sake, for God to manifest his righteousness, to prove himself to be ‘the God of justice’.

Four hundred years before Jesus’ birth, the Prophet Malachi spoke about how the injustice around the Jews made them doubt the justice of God:

Mal. 2:17   You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

Mal. 3:13   “Your words have been hard against me, says the LORD. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? 15 And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’”16  Those who feared the LORD spoke ill of these,²³ each to his neighbours, and the LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name. 17 “They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. 18 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

Four hundred years later, the gospel of Christ reveals the righteousness of God, not just to the Jews, but also the Gentiles, in order that God may prove to the world that he is just:

Rom. 3:21   But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction [between Jews and Gentiles (10:12; Acts 15:9)  i.e., between races]: 23 for all [races/ethnic groups] have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified without cause by his grace (Hosea 2:23; Rom. 9:24-26), through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as Mercy Seat by his blood, to be received by faith, for the purpose of showing God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins, 26 for the purpose of showing his righteousness at the present time, in order that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.      

And God will ultimately accomplish his justice and justification at his Final Judgment, when he will judge not just those alive, but also the dead, as both will be resurrected to be judged by Christ. Christ’s resurrection is meant by God to prove that ‘this Day’ is coming, that not even death can stop his justice:

Acts 17:30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”²⁴

Note the chronological parallels between Paul’s gospel presentation in Acts 17:30-31 and Romans 3:25-26, as highlighted in colours corresponds with past, present and future.²⁵ Paul is presenting the very same gospel message in which the righteousness of God- and his justification of his people- has past, present future aspects, instead of punctiliar. God’s righteousness did not only happen at the cross, and his people’s justification is not a punctiliar moment when a person has ‘faith’.²⁶

Moreover, the gospel Paul presents here- to the Athenians in Acts 17 – in terms of the Final Judgment- i.e., ‘God’s judgment is the gospel’- which is very different to the gospel we Protestants are used- i.e. ‘the gospel is the escape from God’s judgment’. We Protestants formulate the gospel as ‘salvation and justification by faith alone apart from our own works apart from our own morality’. According to this ‘faith-alone’ theology, firstly, works do not lead to righteousness, faith alone does; secondly, the Final Judgment according to works is something Jesus has saved Christians from. Recognition of our mis-translation and mis-interpretation of 1Cor 7:29-31 demands us to re-examine our understanding of the gospel of Christ, and to re-examine our concept of the righteousness of God.

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1. Some manuscripts include fasting. I suppose that the two were part and parcel to the biblical people. ↩︎
2. not ‘more happy’ , should be ‘more blesses‘. 1Cor 7:40 is the only place μακαριος is translated not as ‘blessed’ but ‘happy’. ↩︎
3. The big question is: what is the Christian gospel? This question will be discussed at the end of this essay. ↩︎
4. For detail treatment on those sayings of Jesus, please refer to ‘A Fresh Perspective on Matthew 8:22’ on Academia. ↩︎
5. However, there are a few textual variants. Apart from ‘father or mother’, there are manuscripts with ‘father or mother or wife’, ‘mother or wife’, ‘mother’, and ‘family’ that are found. UBS4 committee had difficulty deciding and rated ‘C ‘ for their confidence. Interestingly, there is no textual variant to the parallel passage in Mk 10:29 ‘Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel’. Personally I take ‘father or mother’ as authentic for Matt. 19:29 because of the Mark parallel and because of the context, as explained in the discussion. ↩︎
6. This is the same mistake our English translators have made in Eph. 2:10 with tragic consequences in how we understand Paul’s ‘salvation by grace’. ↩︎
7. This is abnormal unless Paul had said ‘I command/charge you’+ ἱνα + subjunctive, then it would be more likely to be Paul’s command or exhortation (1Tim 5:21), and not just a statement. However, if that’s the case, those verbs following ‘I command/charge you’ would more commonly be either imperative (2Tim 4:1-2), or infinitive(1Tim 6:13-14). ↩︎
8. Busybodies, περιεργος, lit. ‘around-work’, i.e., not actually working, only appeared to be working. ↩︎
9. interesting to note in Deut. 23:2, God’s disqualifies for generations. This makes sense when we comprehend the Promised-Land-centricity in the biblical Jew’s mind: to participate in God’s blessing is to enjoy the Promised Land, and immortality is achieved by endless genealogy so that the Jew can eternally participate in God’s blessing when he always has an offspring owning the piece of land in the Promised Land. The written code of Deut. 23:2 is to counter the zeal for posterity when it compromises marriage, demonstrating that marriage comes first, offspring second.)   ↩︎
10. James 5 is speaking the same thing, but in an accusing way: 
    James 5:1   Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. ↩︎
11. 2Sam. 1:9και εἰπεν προς με Στηθι δη ἐπανω μου και Θανατωσον με, ὁτι κατεσχεν με σκοτος δεινον, ὁτι πασα ἡ ψυχη μου ἐν εμοι.
    2Sam. 1:9 And he said to me, ‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’
    Psa. 118:53 ἀθυμια κατεσχεν με ἀπο ἁμαρτωλων των ἐγκαταλιμπανοντων τον νομον σου.
    Psa. 119:53 Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, who forsake your law. ↩︎
12. LetterJ 27τας δε θυσιας αὐτων ἀποδομενοι οἱ ἱερεις αὐτων καταχρωνται, ὡσαυτως δε και αἱ γυναικες αὐτων ἀπ᾽αὐτων ταριχευουσαι οὐτε πτωχῳ οὐτε ἁδυνατῳ μεταδιδοασιν των θυσιων αὐτων ἀποκαθημενη και λεχω ἀπτονται.
    LetterJ 27 [Barach 6:28] As for the things that are sacrificed unto them, their priests sell and abuse; in like manner their wives lay up part thereof in salt; but unto the poor and impotent they give nothing of it. ↩︎
13. by ἐξουσια, Paul more likely refers to authority than to right, considering 2Cor 10:8; 13:10. ↩︎
14. especially many professional guilds at the time are incorporated with idol worships, such as the profession of silversmith in Ephesus is tied with pagan goddess Artemis. ↩︎
15. Heb. 4:11   Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. ↩︎
16. This universal judgment according to morality is what Psa. 62:9 is trying to convey. While the ESV is right in discerning the psalmist, David, is speaking of distinctive groups of people, ‘low estate’ and ‘high estate’ are not in the original Hebrew. Moreover, the ESV starts on the right track with ‘in the balances they go up’, it misses the point next rendering ‘they are together lighter than a breath’. Because firstly, ‘lighter’ is not in the Hebrew. Secondly, it is illogical. I think Psalm 62:9 should be: 
    Psa. 62:9 (lit)  Even when the sons of Adam(man) are transient, and the sons of man are deceptive כזב.(v4)  Together they [will all be] on the balances to go up from transience הבל. 
    This makes sense of the next verse:
    Psa. 62:10 Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them.
    If both poor and rich will have the same fate in the end, the conclusion should be enjoy rich now, otherwise you want enjoy it in the end, and you got nothing to lose. But the Ps. Is not saying that, rather, by the balance/moral judgment (v12) they both will reach a permanent eternal state that is no longer transient, so rather be poor than have unjust deceitful gain. Lk 16:19-31. The truths expressed by Psalm 62:9 are: eternity through judgment; and deceit stems from transience. Elsewhere in the Bible where ‘balance’ is used to symbolise God’s judgment is Job 31:6. The logic smoothly flow from ‘the balances to go up from transience’ (v9) to God’s righteous judgment and his lasting recompense:
    Psa. 62:11   Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, 12 and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render (shalom/repay) to a man according to his work.
    God’s grace is God’s power within his people [i.e. the Holy Spirit] within his justice (judgment according to- and consequences of- works) ↩︎
17. ‘justification is by faith apart from works of the Law’ (Rom. 3:28), which is not ‘by faith by the mind ALONE apart from works and keeping laws by the body’, this interpretation that works and law are apart from justification is a mis-construal that stemmed from Platonist spirit vs body dichotomy. (works of the Law does not mean all works and all laws in general, rather it is specifically about the observation of the Mosaic written code, in another words, about becoming Jew.) ↩︎
18. A good burial is consider God’s ultimate blessing to the righteous (Eccl. 6:3)
    ↩︎
19. By ‘in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness’ (3:16), the writer, likely to be Solomon with his international outlook, likely speaks terms of ethnicity. That is typically the mindset of a Jew that ties the people with the place. What he is saying is likely to be: ‘ in Israel that is supposed to be the ethnic of justice there is wickedness, while the Gentile nations are supposed to be unholy and unjust, yet there are people who are righteous.’  ↩︎
20. Ironically we misunderstand what is ‘spiritual’ as badly as the Corinthians, and for that thanks to Platonism, which still permeates in our Western mindset, just as in the Corinthians. Gender fluidity in our Western world is a modern application of this Platonist concept of ‘for those who are to act like those who aren’t’.  ↩︎
21. Hitler in the past, Putin at the present, and perhaps Trump soon. It seems that Christians are very predictable and easily manipulated by dictators. ↩︎
22. For more in-depth discussion, please refer to The biblical challenge against Protestant righteousness exchange model for the soteriology of the Cross. Part 1 and Part 2 in Academia. ↩︎
23. ‘speak ill’ is according to the interpretation of the LXX. ↩︎
24. Bodily resurrection is the means for God’s Final Judgment. In Paul’s mind bodily resurrection from the dead presupposes judgment and recompense:
    1Cor. 15:29   Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? 30 Why are we tin danger every hour? 31 I protest by my boasting in you, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”4 34 Sober up righteously, and stop sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
    Also in Eccl., the basis for the writer’s faith in God’ future judgment- apart from that there is time for everything, which includes God’s judgment- is that not one created can escape God. Within the context of judgment is that no one human created by God can escape his/her judgment by God:
    Eccl. 3:14   I perceived that whatever God does (made) endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away. 16  Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. 17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.
    And that is also the meaning of Christ’s resurrection as explained by Paul in Acts 17:31. ↩︎
25. For in-depth discussion please refer to Romans 4. ‘Justified apart from works’? in Academia. ↩︎
26. Even the concept of faith is a big issue. The biblical faith is ‘faith in God’s justice and sovereignty’, which is a theocentric faith. Our Protestant faith, since Luther, is basically assurance of one’s own salvation- ‘faith in that I will surely go to heaven because I am sure that Jesus has died for me’, which is an anthropocentric faith. ↩︎