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   "But this I say, brethren, the time is short,
so that from now on even those who have wives should be
           as though they had none." (1 Corinthians 7:29)

                                      Abstinence

Well time wasnt quite as short as Paul believed. Sort of contradicts what the Bible teaches about how husbands are to treat wives doesnt it.

Here is 1 Cor 7, clicking is easier than juggling a Bible and a computer...

I always figured Paul was more concerned with these matters "in view of the present distress" (vs 26).  There was all sorts of time that he could be concerned with, the time having "been shortened" (vs 29).  There was the time of the rising of the various waves of persecution of the early church.  There was the time of Paul himself, as he inched inexorably toward his own execution.  There was the time of the fall of Jerusalem, A.D. 70.  That wasn;t long at all after Paul wrote to the Corinthians.

The passage doesn't have to be read as if good ol' Paul, what a klutz, what a dope, thought the world was coming to an end soon.  Heck, wasn't he the one who told people to get up off their pious butts and work as if the end wasn't coming any time soon?

As for the "as though they had none" and related statements in those verses... that always struck me as an encouragement to hold all things of this world in a very loose grasp, including one's spouse.  Love the things and people the Lord has given you but know that the pressures of the times and the pressures of good Christian growth will affect you in ways you'd never have foreseen.  That's what I always saw in that passage, not strictly some sort of step-by-step directions about how to have sex (or not).

For me, this means that my wife is not really mine, but she belongs to the LORD. And so I am always to treat her as one who belongs first to Jesus her Groom, for all that He wants with her. And I am not to be expecting and demanding things of her, that I want to use her for, but be appreciative of whatever Jesus has her doing for me and with me.

"nor as being lords over those entrusted to you,
but being examples to the flock." (1 Peter 5:3)

Nah . . . it's the whole "marry and settle down" thing, I think.

Marriage is "one flesh" and is fleshly. Just like "having things" (as though it were not theirs to keep).

Paul wanted spiritual offspring. I would say, to apply it to "real life," just to keep in mind that our spiritual brotherhood and sisterhood is more important than our spouses.

So live as if we're not married? Basically, it's just a way of pointing that "the time is short" and eternity is right around the corner, and marriage only lasts this life and brings all kinds of burdens that temporary things do, that may compromise spiritual. To avoid that, make sure it's a spiritually clean thing. Paul said "one has this gift, another has that." So a marriage relationship . . .well, the work in the spirit still comes first, is all.

It seemed to be related to the persecuation of the time.  He said marriage was hard...but he would spare the details, and this also was related to the persecution of the day.  The time was short for many in those times, as many would give their lives for Christ.