Living in Calling (I Corinthians 7:17-24)

We will be in 1 Corinthians chapter 7.

1 Corinthians 7 · chapter mention

We're going to be starting in verse 17.

If you are able, please stand for the reading of God's Word.

Let each one live his life in the situation of the lotus sign when God called him.

This is what I command in all the churches.

Has anyone on so we're continuing on in 1 Corinthians, and we've been in 1 Corinthians for quite a few weeks, right?

One of the things that we have seen as a major theme, and not only as a major theme, but also one that has taken up like roughly one-third of the passages we've gone over so far, is the idea of divisions based on status, on differences, on tribe, and such.

We saw that all the way at the very, very beginning when we saw that the Church of Corinth was having preference for Paul or Apollos or Cephas, who's Peter, or Jesus.

And they were being having this, well, I'm of this person, and I'm of that, and I'm of that.

And Paul is in paraphrase saying, What are you doing?

You're in Jesus, and that's it.

That's what matters.

You are enough in him.

We see that continuing on throughout this whole uh passage thus far.

And then what we went over yesterday, yesterweek in uh the first chunk of chapter seven, this idea of what does it look like for marriage if you've gotten saved and your spouse is unsaved?

What should I do?

Should I get out of that marriage?

Should I not?

And he's saying, look, just relax.

Just stay in the state that you've stayed in, be content.

You're good in Christ, remain in him, and then follow wisdom in that.

And so we're going to continue on that pattern to where he's telling them what to do with their calling.

How do I live in calling?

And a lot of this can be kind of summarized as just chill, just calm down.

Because it seems like, especially with this church here in Corinth, it's what do I do?

How do I how do I get to the next step?

How do I be how do I do this right?

How do I get in good standing with this?

How do I be this?

How do I do that?

And so we have a very small chunk here comparatively, verses 17 through 24.

And three times he is going to say the exact same thing, which is live in the situation the Lord assigned when called.

Just stay that.

And I'm going to spoil my conclusion at the very beginning so that you know where we're going with this.

Prior to Jesus, we had nothing comparatively.

With Jesus, we have everything.

So all of the things that we have, all of the status we have, all of the ingroup we have, all of the holiness we have, all of the freedoms we have, all of the everything we have prior to Christ, pile all of that together on a scale and put Jesus on the other side, there's no balancing.

Prior to Jesus, we had nothing, comparatively.

What we did have, which could be good things, compared to the salvation offered to us through the Son, is nothing.

Once we have salvation through faith in Jesus, in his sacrifice for our sins, we have everything we need.

And that's what he keeps hammering home over and over and over to the Church of Corinth.

So that's why he's continuing here in verse 17.

Let each one live in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him.

So just hold the line here.

It's okay.

There's no stages here.

You don't get the gospel and be like, okay, but how do I get to gospel 2.0?

How do I get to the next thing?

How do I get, what's what's the inside track to the better Jesus?

It's Jesus.

So as they're asking basically, so what's the fine print?

He's saying, stay in Jesus.

And the first topic he brings up, of course, is circumcision, which was on the forefront of everyone's minds today.

Was anyone already circumcised when he was called in verse 18?

He should not undo his circumcision.

Was anyone called while uncircumcised?

He should not get circumcised.

Circumcision does not matter, and uncircumcision does not matter.

Keeping God's commands is what matters.

So, right off the bat, what is he talking about?

Why is this coming up?

So, circumcision is a very big part of the Jewish faith.

Commanded by God to Abraham as a sign of the set apartness of his family in Jesus.

Well in God, as his chosen people in that sense, part of the promises of that, that culminates in faith.

And so the Jewish crowd here, circumcision is a big deal.

And here's how this looks, because what before Jesus, it was all that matters is if you're Jewish, and that was a part of the package, that was a part of the deal.

If you were not a part of God, if you were not uh Jewish, then you had no hope.

And so it was basically an understood thing.

And then we see in the book of Acts, in chapter throughout Acts, but then we see this culminating in chapter 15, this weird thing where the gospel is going out just as Jesus commanded.

And at first it goes out in Jerusalem at Pentecost, and then it goes out to Samaria, and then it goes to the Gentiles, and they get saved, and they're filled with the Holy Spirit, which weirds everybody out, including Peter, who was the one who preached.

And then they have to go, what does this mean?

Prior to that moment, they didn't have to even think about this, because it was you needed to be converted to Judaism in order to be right with God, is their understanding.

And this understanding of, like, no, the Gentiles can be saved as well.

And so they get back to Jerusalem, and some individuals in Acts 15 are telling them, look, all these people have to get circumcised.

Now, maintaining decorum, but imagine when you're told, repent and believe in Jesus, and you will be saved.

And it's like, yes.

And then someone comes along and goes, be circumcised.

A little bit of a baiting switch there.

So, with that in mind, there is a big discussion, and Peter comes up and says, Look, I didn't expect this either.

I wasn't aiming for this.

God showed me what he's called clean, we should not call unclean.

They received the Holy Spirit.

This is clearly bigger than all of us.

And so the elders in the Church of Jerusalem, they gather, they convene, they work through it, and they go, okay, clearly the Gentiles at this point in time have received salvation, and they don't need to be circumcised in order to make that official.

So here we are in Corinth, and this is coming up again.

This idea of wait, do I need to be circumcised in order to truly be saved?

Because at that point in time, then you would be like, I'm not just a follower of Jesus, then I'm a Jewish follower of Jesus.

That's better, that's bigger, that's more.

So Paul is saying, look, you don't need to get circumcised.

But also at the same time, it's not a problem that you were.

It's not like you were circumcised and they're like, ha, you fell for it.

That's not how that works either.

Ultimately, it is not the heart of the issue.

Just like we see the Jewish believers observing feasts throughout Acts, they continue to do so.

And they they weren't telling them, you need to stop doing that.

Stop observing Passover right now.

That's not happening anymore.

He's like, okay, that's fine.

It's just not the main thing.

And so he's saying, look, if you are circumcised when called, you shouldn't undo your circumcision.

You don't need circumcision.

You don't need to act like you're not.

You don't need to be ashamed of that.

You don't need to throw away your uh biblical orthodoxy in that sense.

It's just not what gets you close to Jesus.

And also, if it was if someone was called while uncircumcised, he should not get circumcised.

Couple spots with that.

Number one, one of Paul's traveling companions, Titus, we see in Galatians 2.3, Paul has a lot of uh friction with the church in Galatia because that's a big issue where they're returning to the law and they're telling the people in Galatia, look, you have to be saved, you have to be circumcised, you have to follow the law in order to truly be saved.

And so Paul points out in Galatians 2.3, look, Titus wasn't even compelled to be circumcised.

Conversely, when he found Timothy, and Timothy joined some on his things, he actually had him circumcised in order to be above reproach in these Jewish areas, as it was very clear and evident that his family had Gentile roots.

So there's a very situational thing, but this was not a mandated aspect of that.

He even goes as far in Galatians 5, 2 through 3 to tell them look, if you are going to go ahead and say, I must be circumcised to be saved, then Christ avails you nothing.

You're not getting it.

You're not understanding that.

Not as a condemnation, but as a you're clearly not understanding what matters here.

And so in saying Galatians chapter 5, verse 6, he says, For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything.

Galatians 5:6

What matters is faith working through love.

So that's the heart of the matter here.

While here in Corinth as well, they're saying, now that I'm saved, these people look pretty holy because they've been circumcised.

I really don't want to get on board with that.

Am I supposed to?

Am I not?

And he's like, it's not the point of it.

Just as he told the churches in Galatia, it's faith working through love.

And he says something very uh spicy in verse 19.

Circumcision doesn't matter, and uncircumcision doesn't matter.

Keeping God's commands is what matters.

Can you imagine the Jewish believers hearing that and being like, wait, wait, wait, hold on a minute.

That's a little intense to say that it's like this does circumcision doesn't matter, and uncircumcision doesn't matter.

Keeping God's commands is what matters, and he's like, I thought that was what God commanded.

So here's the heart of it.

What is it?

What does God command?

How is that for a very big topic?

What are God's commandments?

Well, let's trace a little line here.

In Mark 12, 28 through 31, a scribe approaches Jesus and says, when he hears them debating with him, he saw Jesus' answers and he says, Well, which commandment is the most important of all?

And he's basically, what's the greatest commandment?

Is another way to say that in Matthew.

And Jesus answers, the most important is, listen, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength.

And the second is, love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no greater command than these.

So Jesus is telling the scribe here, the greatest commandments, embodying all of them.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

When Jesus is speaking to his disciples at the Passover, he just washes his disciples' feet at Passover prior to his betrayal and crucifixion and resurrection.

In John 13, 34 through 35, he says, I give you a new command, love one another.

Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

That next command, continuing forward, hey, love one another.

And then he says, In this same spot, John 14, 25, or 15 and 23, he says, If you love me, you'll keep my commands, and if anyone loves me, he will keep my word.

My father will love him, and he will come and make our home with them.

Keeping the commandments.

If you love him, you obey him.

How do we obey him?

By loving him and obeying him and loving one another.

John 15, 12 through 13, this is my command: love one another as I love you.

I have loved you.

No one has greater love than this than to lay down his life for his friends.

Preference, loving one another, sacrificing for one another in that sense.

And then pretty much all of 1 John.

Like you're going through it, I'm like, I could read like a million verses on love one another, but they would be reading the entire stinking book with that.

And then throwing in 2 John for good measure.

And so, pretty much that whole thing.

This is all boiling down into this.

What are God's commands?

What are the greatest commands?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, obey him, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Does it sound like these are things that the Church of Corinth needs to hear over and over and over again?

In a very fractious way, where they're saying, hey, I'm of this camp and I am the true believer, I'm of this camp, I'm the true believer, I am over here and I'm smarter than you, I'm over here, all these different things, and then I can, I'm actually more holy because I'm patently unholy in chapter 5.

I'm just gonna sin and everyone's gonna be okay with it.

Or in chapter 6, when they're saying, uh, I have a problem with you, and I'm gonna take you to court rather than working it out as a body.

So when having that question, should we get circumcised?

Should we not get circumcised?

And Paul's like, the most important thing obeying God's commands.

What do we know what God's commands are?

To love and obey Jesus and to love one another.

So, he hates again in verse 20.

Let each of you remain in the situation in which he was called.

I said this before, but this is going to be repeated three times in this passage, in 17, in 20, and in 24.

How many of you have kids?

Have you ever repeated something before?

Ever?

At any given point?

Yes.

We repeat things, number one, because they're important.

We repeat things because we know the person is not really listening.

And so, with that in mind, he's saying again, hey, circumcision isn't what's important, uncircumcision isn't what's important, keeping God's command is what is important, so remain in the situation in which you were called.

Again, chill.

And then our next passage in verse 21, the second topic.

Were you called well a slave?

Don't let it concern you.

But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.

For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord's freeman.

Likewise, he who is called as a free man is Christ's slave.

If you are bought at a price, don't become slaves of people.

So we have this passage here.

Statement two, topic two, slavery here.

And when we hear that passage, with that word, we think of it through our context typically.

Slavery has been a little bit of a different topic in the Western world in the last 250 years, right?

It is easy to have this mindset of chattel slavery where individuals are kidnapped from their homes and forced into labor with no rights or freedoms in any way, shape, or form.

That is not what we're talking about here.

Was that a part of the Roman Empire?

Oh yeah, absolutely.

Slave markets all over the place.

Was that a part of the world that they understood?

Yes, definitely.

But is that a part of what he's talking about here?

No.

So I don't tend to like to dive into the Greek of things just because how are you guys gonna check up on me on that?

It's it's you know, it's one of those, you kind of just have to take my word for that.

But just to know, you've probably heard this word before.

I think we talked about it when we were in the book of Romans.

The word doolos, the sometimes interpreted as bond servant, servant, and slave with that.

You know how many times that word is used in the New Testament?

It's more than one.

Depending on your translation, it's 126 or 127.

So, this is something that Jesus uses when speaking of his disciples.

This is something that Paul calls himself.

This is something that Peter calls himself.

This is something that I believe James and Jude call themselves.

A bondservant is here, a slave is not a trafficked individual with no rights or freedoms whatsoever.

So let's let's put our culture hats on for a moment.

Let's say that you do not have a way to pay your bills.

Whether you are an uh agricultural worker and it's a famine, whether you are a craftsman and business is dried up or bad, or Rome is taking their cut and you can't afford to feed your family.

In this point in time, it is culturally acceptable to go to somebody of greater means and say, I will be your servant under contract.

I will be your household servant, doing basically putting myself completely under your authority as I am paying this off for this amount, for this period of time.

We see back in the Old Testament, they even have limits on that for how long you could actually stay in that state.

So, with that in mind here, when he's telling them, Well, you call well a slave, don't let it concern you, he's saying, look, if you have entered into that contract with your fellow Corinthian, that's okay.

That doesn't nullify your salvation.

That doesn't mean that you're now you are somebody else's master and you cannot, and Jesus can't be your master.

That's not what he's telling them.

And he says, but if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.

It's like, look, if you can get out of that, please do so.

That's not what you don't need to be in that state.

And we see, it's interesting to see how this topic comes up, because even uh we see the book of Philemon, that he is a runaway slave who has uh basically uh broken his contract with his master.

And Paul is asking uh Menesimus, that's force, please just take take him back, but actually not only take him back, not only forgive him, but receive him as a brother, not as a not as a bonser.

Somebody who has wronged you in this way, he's saying, hey, how about you just let him out of his contract?

That's the extent of the love for one another that we see there.

So why am I telling this?

Because historically some of these passages have been used very poorly by the evangelical church.

And here he's telling them, look, if you can be freed from this, be freed from this, get out of your contract.

Because he was called by the Lord as a slave, is the Lord's freeman.

Look, if you if Jesus is your master, that's it.

You have an inheritance, as we see in 1 Peter, reserved, undefiled, untouchable, waiting in heaven for you.

And nobody can do anything about that.

What happens on this earth is a blink of an eye compared to eternity, and when you have Jesus, you have an inheritance as his child.

And if you, let's say that you're doing fine and you're not under that contract, you have placed yourself under that contract with Jesus, and you are called to follow him and obey him and to keep his commands.

So what are his commands?

Exactly.

To love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and obey him, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Here's the thing when he's saying in verse 23, look, you are bought at a price, don't become slaves of people, he's saying, hey, but now don't willingly go into this.

And it's easy, it's easy to say, right?

Look, if you're desperate, if you have no means to take care of your family, uh how it's like, well, that's great that you're saying don't follow this avenue.

What am I supposed to do?

We see in the beginning of Acts how the church functioned, how they were like willingly selling their things and their Property to take care of one another.

They had all things in common.

They were supporting one another.

We see that continue onward with the care of widows later in Acts and then also in 1 Timothy.

And so the underlying assumption here is look, if you're a part of the body of Christ, we take care of each other as best as we can.

Not under compulsion, but willingly, because we love one another.

And so with that in mind, there should be a better way.

Just like in chapter 6, when you're in a bad situation with a fellow believer, and he's like, there's a better way than taking them to court.

Here he's just exhorting them, there's a better way than entering into a bond servant contract with somebody else.

Let the body of Christ function as the body in that sense.

So you were bought at a price.

What was that price?

The blood of Jesus.

That is amazing.

That is more valuable than anything else that we can gather or fathom or do with that.

And then finally, again, verse 24, brothers and sisters, each person is to remain with God in the situation in which he was called.

This is, these are traditionally letters that are written to churches, that they take the letter and they read it to the church.

So imagine this all being one long letter, and when they get to that point, he's like, hey, live the situation the Lord assigned when calling you.

Remain in the situation in which you were called.

Also, remain with God in the situation in which you were called.

So this is not going to be mind-blowing.

What's our conclusion here?

Live in the situation in which you were called in this sense.

Now, that doesn't imply laziness.

In fact, when he talks to the church in Thessalonia, Thessalonica, they're just waiting for Jesus to return, some of them, and just not working.

And just sitting there.

And he goes, Hey, how about you get a job?

Also, while you're at it, how about you mind your own business?

Those are basically two big things that we see happen in that church.

Is like, you know what?

We still need to function in society.

We are not going to be like, hey, we're now followers of Jesus.

We have no responsibilities whatsoever, no civil responsibility, no responsibility to one another.

We still function in that way.

We also do have a job.

And what is that job?

To glorify God, to proclaim Him, not only in our words, but also in our actions, our demeanors, how we interact with one another, how we work, how we function, how we love one another.

And so when he is saying, remain in the situation in which you were called, he's not saying just hang out.

It's all good.

Because we are bondservants, slaves of Jesus.

We have been adopted into the family business.

And we follow him as he leads us in taking care of one another, in proclaiming his goodness, and proclaiming his gospel.

We get to participate in his work.

So what we are being freed up to do while we remain in his work is not to bicker about circumcision or uncircumcision, which to all of our credit, I have never once heard any of you bicker about that.

So good job.

Or whether I should be let out of my contract or not as a bondservant.

It's how do we function by keeping God's commands is what matters.

By worshiping Him, loving Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, obeying Him, and loving one another and taking care of one another as a body.

As a reminder, before Christ, everything we had piled together, collectively even, piled together, is nothing compared to what we have in Jesus.

Are those good things?

Potentially.

They could be, but just as Paul says in Philippians, whatever I have considered gain, I now consider loss, that I may look ahead and race ahead for the upward call in the prize.

Forgetting what's behind, looking ahead to what we have.

With Jesus, we have everything.

We see in Galatians, because this is again a whole lot of tie in Galatians 3, 27 through 28, those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ.

Put on Jesus.

There's no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female.

You are all one in Christ Jesus.

So he's saying there that the Jewishness there, including the circumcision, is not what's important.

Slave or free is not what's important.

Male or female is not what's important here.

You are a follower of Jesus and you have everything.

And the subtext here in the context of the whole book, there are more important things than this.

So he continues on.

How many of you have spent much time with like a chatty four-year-old?

Yeah.

They ask a lot of questions.

Not only do they ask a lot of questions, but they tell you things that they are confident that they know so very well.

It is amazing how the uh, like, oh hey, well, the world works this way, and this functions this way, and different things like that.

I saw a random thing where it's like a child telling their parent, like, the moon is just the sun with the lights off.

Like you do go to school, right?

But with that in mind, the this is the church of Corinth in a nutshell.

Imagine a four-year-old who, number one, is telling you, I know this, and this is true, and I know this, and this is true, and this is the most important thing, and look how awesome I am, and look what I can do, and all these different things.

And at the other side is going, why?

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why?

And you guys are already starting to twitch a little bit with that.

Yeah.

And Paul is very patient here through the work of the Holy Spirit to answer all of these questions and to deal with all of these things.

But ultimately, hammering home this point, before Christ, collectively, every good thing even we had, every accolade we have, is nothing.

With Christ we have everything.

So, two encouragements in that.

Number one, if you are a follower of Jesus, rejoice.

You have all that you need.

Isn't that amazing?

You are free to follow Him, to obey Him, to worship Him, to glorify Him, and to walk in His love for one another.

Isn't that wonderful?

For anybody who hears this, who has not confessed Christ, there is so much more.

There is so much greater.

There is so much better.

And I pray that the Lord would work on your heart with this, that the Holy Spirit would be prodding you to go, I want that.

I want more.

I need more.

I need what you're saying.

I want that everything that I've been missing.

And if that's you, please talk to one of us elders afterwards.

And we can talk more about that.

But with that, church, be encouraged that we have a God who is seated on his throne.

I don't sit down if I'm anxious.

I tend to just like I'm basically like a German shepherd in a small apartment, basically, if I am stressed or anxious and things like that.

If I am seated down, I'm usually in a pretty good state with that.

And our God is seated on his throne.

The work is finished, the world spins by the power of his word.

And that is a beautiful thing to remember.

So we can walk in that.

And how do we walk in that?

By loving him, obeying him, and loving one another.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, you are good.

I thank you, Father, that you have offered us salvation through the blood of your son.

That when we were your enemies, actively resisting you, you offered your son to pay the price for our sins.

I thank you, Jesus, that your sinless life and your atoning sacrifice, taking our guilt upon you, has imparted to us the status of your innocence.

That although we deserve death, we have life.

Although we deserve punishment, we have adoption.

I thank you that in you we have everything we need.

Help us to walk in that.

Help us to walk in that in joy.

Help us to never be so confident in that that we don't follow you, but rather that we continue to keep our eyes on you.

Help us to love one another truly for the benefit of others.

Holy Spirit, please work on the hearts of unbelievers and those who have not tasted and seen the goodness that is in you and the knownness that is in you and the adoption that we have in you.

Be working on hearts to convict, encourage, and to bring them not to not to us, but to you.

And all these things be glorified.

And I thank you so much that you are in control.

In your name.

Amen.