"I, not the Lord..."

On Sunday, April 6^th we looked at a passage from 1 Corinthians 7.  In this passage is an interesting phrase. In 1 Corinthians 7:12 Paul states, “I say this (I, not the Lord)” and then precedes to give instructions to believers who are married to unbelieving spouses.  

In using “I, not the Lord”, is Paul alerting us that the following instructions are not inspired? 

The quick answer is “no”.  All of first 1 Corinthians is inspired by God, and like other letters, Paul doesn’t sprinkle in ongoing comments to let us know what portions of his letter is inspired and which portions are not inspired. 

The comments in 1 Corinthians 7 are not to let us know which portions are inspired, but instead, which instructions are based directly on the commands of Jesus “The Lord” given during His earthly ministry.   Paul is letting the readers know at what point He is directly referring to commands given the incarnate Christ.

In verse 10, Paul just got done sharing a direct command regarding marriage, given by Jesus during His earthly ministry.  In doing so, Paul reminds married couples that this command is not from Paul, but given directly by the Lord (Jesus) himself.

In verse 12, Paul is letting us know that the following instruction is not a direct quote from the earthly ministry of Jesus, yet Paul is stilling writing as inspired by the Spirit.  Or as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:40, one who has "the Spirit of God".

Likewise in 1 Corinthians 7:25, Paul says he has “no command from the Lord” meaning, he doesn’t have an earthly command from Christ regarding virgins.  

To learn more, check out - http://www.gotquestions.org/apostle-Paul-writings.html