What does it mean that the form of this world is passing away?

Explanation:

When Paul says that the present form of the world is passing away, he means that we have entered the final phase of human history, that is, the time between Christ’s resurrection and second coming. We can deduce this by looking at 1 Corinthians 7:29. There Paul says that the appointed time has grown very short. The verb he uses to denote the shortening of time is συστέλλω, which carries the notion of compressing.⁶ One way to translate the verb is to say that time is at a premium. In other words, the time for engaging with the world through business and putting one’s hopes in marriage is over. Since Christ’s resurrection, we have entered a new era in history.⁷ The time is now compressed, the present form of the world is passing away, so believers should live in the world but not hold on to it as though it were permanent.

Counterargument:

While it might be that when Paul says the time has grown short, he means that time is compressed. Still, he says nothing about Christ’s death on the cross and his resurrection. How do we know that when Paul says the time is short, he means that we have entered the final phase of history between Jesus’ ministry and his final return? Maybe he means that the tribulation that is supposed to precede Christ’s imminent return has been initiated.⁸ If this is the case, then the notion that the world is passing away might have to do with the fact that the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall out of the sky (Matthew 24:29). Thus, Paul has in mind not the time between Christ’s death and resurrection and second coming, but the tribulation that immediately precedes Christ’s second coming.

Response to counterargument:

It is unlikely that Paul has a time of tribulation in mind. First, Jesus taught that there would be wars and rumours of war, and that these are only the birth pains before his final return (Matthew 24:7–8). In other words, although there will be much calamity in the world, Jesus’ second coming may yet be far into the future. It’s safe to assume that Paul was familiar with this teaching. Second, the tribulation is depicted as a time of extreme turmoil (Matthew 24:19), but Paul’s advice does not align with such catastrophe. It is true that Paul thinks it is well for a person to remain single (1 Corinthians 7:27), and that people should live in the world without holding on to it (1 Corinthians 7:29–31). At the same time, he explains that marriage is no sin (1 Corinthians 7:28), and that his real concern is that the Corinthians be free from the anxieties of the world (1 Corinthians 7:32). If Paul had in mind a tribulation that immediately precedes Christ’s second coming, he would likely advise the Corinthians to forget about marriage, and to repent and prepare for Christ’s imminent return. Instead, his advice is urgent, yet measured, reflecting the fact that God’s work in history is complete, so one should set one’s mind on things to come.

Explanation:

We can understand what Paul means when he says that the world in its present form is passing away by considering his remarks from 1 Corinthians 7:29–31. There, Paul repeats the phrase ὡς μη (as though not) five times to suggest that in light of Christ’s death and resurrection, the Christian's attitude toward the world ought to be completely transformed. Paul says those who have wives should live ὡς μὴ (as though not). Likewise, those who mourn as though not, those who rejoice as though not, those who buy as though not, and those who deal with the world as though not. Here Paul uses rhetoric to show that the Christians ought to adopt a wholly new attitude toward this life.⁹ That is, Christians should live in the world, but not hold on to it. Notice, Paul does not say Christians should not marry, or not buy, or not rejoice, but that Christians who are married, or buying, or rejoicing should not consider these things permanent. And why should Christians live in the world without holding on to it? Because the present form of the world is passing away. In other words, since Christ’s death and resurrection, the human institutions and structures of this world will soon come to nothing.¹⁰ Therefore, Christians ought to live in the world, but set their minds on the eternal world to come.

Counterargument:

When Paul says that married people, and those who weep, rejoice, or buy should live as though not, he does not have in mind the time between Christ’s resurrection and second coming. Rather, he seems to offer the typical advice of the Stoic philosopher who advises people not to get mixed up in the affairs of the world.^11,12 The stoic philosophers urged people to distance themselves from the world, so they could be sovereign over their lives and align with the eternal Logos.¹³ While Paul does not go so far, his advice to refrain from worldly activities aligns with the general teachings of the Stoics. Thus, as to what Paul means that the world in its present form is passing away, one can only guess.

Response to counterargument:

The problem with this view is that Paul’s advice is not the same as the Stoics’. For one, Paul does not exhort the Corinthians to refrain from participation in the world. Rather, Paul is calling for a radical new perspective on how to go about one’s affairs in the world.¹⁴ Given the fact that Christ has reconciled us with God, and that his second coming is imminent, Christians should not live as though this world were all that mattered. Rather, as they conduct their affairs by marrying, weeping, rejoicing, and buying, they should do so without allowing these things to determine the value of one’s existence. Rather, the value of one’s existence should be on what’s to come, that is, Christ’s return.

Second, even if Paul’s advice is similar to the Stoics’ in the sense that both call for a healthy detachment from the world, his motivation is entirely different. He is not motivated by the notion of personal sovereignty over one’s choices, but by the fact that the present form of this world is passing away (1 Corinthians 7:31).¹⁵ In other words, Paul does not argue for a healthy detachment from the world for its own sake, as the Stoics did. Rather, he argues that because the present form of the world is passing away, one ought to live as such. And what reason does Paul have to think that the present form of this world is passing away? It could only be that Christ has died on the cross and risen from the dead, so that his second coming is imminent.

Explanation:

Paul explains that τὸ σχῆμα (the outward appearance) of this world is passing away. The term has to do with not only the outward form or appearance of a thing but also its function.¹⁶ Thus, when Paul says that τὸ σχῆμα of this world passes away, he likely has in mind the structures and institutions of this world.¹⁷ And why are the structures and institutions of this world passing away? Because we are in the time between Christ’s work on the cross and his second coming. Thus, when the total number of God’s elect reaches completion, Christ will return to establish the new heavens and earth.

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that τὸ σχῆμα can also mean outward appearance, and such a meaning makes good sense of the context. Paul says that this world is what passes away. We know that this world has an outward form consisting of its shape and size. We also know from other places in Scripture that the world is being stored up for fire, which implies that the outward appearance of the world will be destroyed (2 Peter 3:7). Thus, Paul does not have the structures and institutions of this world in mind, but its outward appearance.

Response to counterargument:

Whether Paul has in mind the outward appearance or the structures and institutions of this world is not to the point. In either case, Paul’s point is that the Corinthians dwell during the final period of history between Christ’s first and second coming. Still, although we agree that Paul has the time between Christ’s first and second coming in mind, we can also deduce that when Paul says that τὸ σχῆμα of this world is passing away, he likely has structures and instructions in mind. Paul’s own examples infer this point when he says that one who is married should live as though not (1 Corinthians 7:29), and those who buy or do business as though not (1 Corinthians 7:30). Marriage, the market, and business are the structures and institutions of this world, and not the world to come, and it’s these institutions that are already passing away.

Possible weaknesses:

The weakness of this view is that Paul never mentions anything about Christ or his second coming in the immediate context. Thus, we have to infer from Paul’s broader theology that when he says the time is short, or the world is passing away, he has in mind the time between Christ’s first and second coming. Of course, unless a more fitting explanation is offered, the notion that Paul says the world is passing away because the Corinthians are situated between Christ’s first and second coming is a perfectly acceptable explanation.