1 Corinthians 7:17 - Meaning and Application

Here the apostle uses the occasion to tell believers to stay in the condition they were in when Christianity found them and they first became converts. His main point is this: each person’s life situation is part of God’s ordering. God assigns each person his place in life, and he also directs his steps.

So Paul says, “As the Lord has called each one, let him walk.” In other words, if you were in one condition when you came to Christ, remain in that condition and live as a Christian within it. Christianity gives guidance for every kind of life, and in every setting a person can live in a way that honors that setting. It is the duty of every Christian to shape his conduct to both his life situation and God’s commands, to be content with his lot, and to act in his rank and place as a Christian should. Paul says this was not just advice for one church, but a rule for all churches.

Paul then gives specific examples. First, there is circumcision. Was a man called while circumcised? Let him not try to become uncircumcised. Was a man called while uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. It does not matter whether a man is a Jew or a Gentile, whether he belonged to Abraham’s special covenant or not. A Jew who comes to Christ does not need to worry about wishing himself uncircumcised. A Gentile who comes to Christ does not need to feel pressure to be circumcised, as if he were missing some mark of God’s people.

Paul explains why: “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping God’s commandments” (1 Corinthians 7:19). What matters for acceptance with God is not outward marks, but practical religion, that is, sincere obedience to God’s commands. External rituals without inward godliness amount to nothing. So each person should remain in the calling, meaning the state of life, in which he was called (1 Corinthians 7:20).

Second, Paul speaks about slavery and freedom. In that age, slavery was common, and many people were bought and sold as property. If you were called as a slave, do not be overly troubled by it. It does not conflict with your duty, your Christian confession, or your hope in Christ. Yet if you can gain your freedom, take that opportunity.

Freedom has many outward advantages over slavery. A free person has more control over himself, more control over his time, and is not under another man’s authority. So freedom is the better outward state. Even so, outward status does not decide a person’s standing with God. The one called while a slave is the Lord’s freedman, and the one called while free is Christ’s servant. A slave in the world may be free from sin’s rule. A free man in the world is still bound to give himself fully to Christ’s will and service, and that service is true freedom.

Our comfort and happiness depend on what we are to Christ, not on what we are in the world. A good outward condition does not excuse us from Christian duties, and a bad outward condition does not keep us from Christian privileges. A slave may be Christ’s free man, and a free man may still be Christ’s servant. Paul adds that believers were bought with a price, so they must not become the servants of men in the deepest sense. He does not mean a slave must leave his master, or that a servant may ignore all efforts to please his master. That would go against Paul’s whole argument. He means that no human master may claim the kind of obedience that belongs to Christ alone. Christ paid a far greater price and has a far stronger claim. He is to be served without limits or reserve. The servants of Christ should not be under the absolute command of any other master. They should serve no one beyond what is consistent with obedience to him. No man can serve two masters.

Some understand this passage differently. They take it to mean people who have been bought out of slavery by the generosity of fellow Christians, and then read it as, “Have you been redeemed from slavery at a price? Do not become enslaved again.” That view fits with Paul’s earlier advice that, if a slave can become free, he should choose freedom. The words can bear that sense, but the other meaning seems more natural. See (1 Corinthians 6:20).

Paul closes by gathering up the whole matter: “Let every man, in the condition in which he was called, remain with God” (1 Corinthians 7:24). He is speaking about the state a person was in when he came to Christ. No one should use faith or religion as a reason to break ordinary family, social, or civil duties. A believer should stay calmly and contentedly in the condition he is in, and he can do that because he may remain there with God.

The special presence and favor of God are not tied to any outward condition or duty. A circumcised person may enjoy God’s favor, and so may an uncircumcised person. A bound man may have it as well as a free man. In this way there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian and Scythian, slave and free (Colossians 3:11). God’s favor is not limited.