1 Corinthians 7:37

37 But if a man has firmly made up his mind, being under no compulsion but having complete control over his will, if he has decided within himself to keep his fiancée a virgin, he will be doing well.

1 Corinthians 7:37 Meaning and Commentary

1 Corinthians 7:37

Nevertheless, he that standeth steadfast in his heart
The apostle returns to confirm his former advice, where it can be attended to with safety; and observes, that notwithstanding what he had allowed might lawfully be done, and was proper to be done; yet a man that had deliberated upon, and had well weighed the matter of virginity, the case of a single life, and was at a point about in, having no hesitation nor fluctuation of mind concerning it: and also "having no necessity"; of acting otherwise, either through the meanness of his circumstances, or rather through the weakness of his virgin, she not having the gift of continency:

but hath power over his own will;
his daughter's will being the same with his, and she entirely consenting to live a single life; otherwise he would have no power of acting as he pleased in such a case:

and hath so decreed in his heart:
it is a fixed point on mature deliberation, in which he himself is hearty and determined, and his child perfectly assents to it, so that on all hands it is an agreed matter:

that he will keep his virgin;
at home with him, unmarried, and not give her to any man in marriage:

doth well:
or that which is for both temporal and spiritual profit and advantage, as before observed. Some understand all this of a man's keeping his own virginity, and determining to continue unmarried.

1 Corinthians 7:37 In-Context

35 I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to put restrictions on you - I am simply concerned that you live in a proper manner and serve the Lord with undivided devotion.

36 Now if a man thinks he is behaving dishonorably by treating his fiancée this way, and if there is strong sexual desire, so that marriage is what ought to happen; then let him do what he wants - he is not sinning: let them get married.

37 But if a man has firmly made up his mind, being under no compulsion but having complete control over his will, if he has decided within himself to keep his fiancée a virgin, he will be doing well.

38 So the man who marries his fiancée will do well, and the man who doesn't marry will do better.

39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives, but if the husband dies she is free to marry anyone she wishes, provided he is a believer in the Lord.