New Testament

As Paul moves from the end of chapter 10 to the beginning of chapter 11, we see how the theme of freedom continues with regard to how men and women relate within the church of Jesus Christ and also in marriage. Although Paul is certainly responding to concerns that had been brought to him by the Christians in Corinth, he is linking his answer with what he said in chapter 10 about freedom. There are restrictions that apply in how each other uses this freedom.

Jesus spoke of Himself as the one who gives freedom, and it is the freedom that comes in the Gospel, of which we read in the written Word of God. As Jesus said in John 8, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (v. 32). The truth of God is what we find in passages like these, where we see that we will not be free when we say to ourselves, “I must be able to do what I want to do, and whenever I want to do it.” Rather, true freedom is found when we can say, “I want above all things to have God glorified in my life.”