Are People Called to Be Single?

A lot of people ask this question because of their desire to get married and they don’t want to be single all of their life. So, I’m going to answer this question from the perspective of what God taught me when I was single.

The first thing you must know and understand is the purpose for being single, which is what this ministry is all about. Now, I’m not going to do an in-depth teaching on the purpose for being single in this article, I’ll do that through a series of articles and bible studies because there’s a lot cover on this subject. But what I will do is give you a good overview.

Understanding God and Christ as “husband” to Israel, the Church and the new covenant community of believers as the “bride” of Christ is fundamental to a right understanding of the nature of our relationship with God. Singles are a representation of the Bride of Christ; the Church. Therefore, singleness is to be a reflection of this relationship.

The Church, composed of those who have been saved by grace through faith, forms the Bride of Christ. Those already with the Lord, together with those still alive at the rapture, will at that event receive resurrected bodies (I Thessalonians 4:14-17; I Corinthians 15:5). As members of the Church, they will celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb with Christ (Revelation 19:7-9) close to the time of His return to put down His enemies (Revelation 19:11-21).

Our Lord Himself foretold the occurrence of this marriage in the parable of the ten virgins in which He stressed the fact that the day and the hour of His coming for His own is unknown (Matthew 24:36; 25:1-13), and the consequent need to be ready at all times with oil in our lamps—perhaps a figure of salvation in the sense that the Christian is the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19). As a single person, your life; the way you think and what you do, is to set the example of how Singles are to wait on God for their spouse.

At present, the marriage of the Church to Christ has not been consummated. She is to be living as a virgin betrothed to her future husband (II Corinthians 11:2), belonging to Christ under the marriage contract (i.e., the covenant of redemption). Christ has sought His bride (the Church) in love and is now sanctifying her that she might be without spot or blemish when He presents her to Himself in splendor (Ephesians 5:23-27; RSV). This present time of purification of the Church is reminiscent of the twelve months of beautifying that Esther and the other maidens went through, before being brought to the king (Esther 2:12).

The state of singleness is a time of purification. This is the time when you allow the Holy Spirit to make you clean inwardly, before being brought to your spouse. While in the state of singleness, you are to withdraw from fellowship with the world’s system of thinking and selfish desires by gaining fellowship with God and His character. The purpose for being Single is to reflect how Holy Spirit prepares the Bride (the Church) for Christ.

The customs of the world tell you that the only way for you to happy is to have a significant other in your life. That significant other is supposed to fill the void of feeling lonely and make you complete. That’s one reason why a lot of people don’t want to be single all of their life.

When I was single, I realized the fact that, there is not a man or woman on this planet that is to be my source of happiness: God alone is my source. Therefore, it didn’t make a difference to me if I get married or not. I was happy and content where God had me at that state in my life. If I rely on a person to make me happy, I’ll be disappointed every time. However, God will never disappoint me! My intimate relationship with God fills every possible void. I am complete in Him! That mindset transfers over into marriage also.

Accepting this fact will free you to advance forward to be who God is shaping and molding you to be and do what He has planned and preordained for you to do. When you know and fully understand the purpose for being single, and live in the reality of that revelation, it won’t make a difference if you’re called to be single or not. You’ll be like I was, along with so many others who are single; saved and satisfied with the Savior Jesus Christ.

We’ll dive deeper into this subject in other Bible studies.