Called by God
1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.
Welcome - continuing in 1 Corinthians
I ended last week:
You are unique in that God has you, and you alone, in your exact situation. He has used your past to get you here, and He has had a purpose in everything that has happened. And He still does have a purpose for you.
God has gifted and called you to use your gifts for Christ - not using them is not an option.
Here, Paul expands on that and says you are to use your gifts - and your uniqueness - to live out your calling, right where you are in your life. And that is why God has you where you are.
Last week, we saw Paul talk about this in the context of marriage. He said that if you are unmarried, you can use that to glorify God and spread the Gospel. He also said that if you are married, you can use that to glorify God and spread the Gospel.
And even though everyone falls into one of those two categories - because you can’t be kinda married - the principle expands way beyond just your marital status.
Because no matter your station in life - the situation you are in, where you are in your walk with Christ, how long you have been a believer, where you live, what you do for a living, where you come from - no matter what, you are where you are because God wants to use that for His glory and for the spread of the Gospel.
He wants to use you, right where you.
And this is something we may hear about from the pulpit a few times a year, or read about in Christian living books, but I want us to really take a hold of this truth this morning. Because what I said last week is absolutely true: no matter where God has you right now, you have a unique opportunity to shine His light from right there.
And while our tendency is to see our situation first from a worldly standpoint, we need to see first with eternal eyes to understand that our situation is part of God’s long history of redemption. It is part of how He is building His church. It is part of how He is bringing all things to completion.
So while in our humanity our tendency is to compare - that’s what we do has humans: we compare - you know, to look at our situation or one aspect of it that is relevant to us at any given moment and think about how it could be worse, but usually, how it could be better.
Or we lament how it used to be better or how this other guy’s situation is better - we need to learn to look at our situation, whatever it is, and realize that it is exactly right for the moment, because God wants to use it for His glory.
In fact, it’s why He called you. Note the emphasis - it isn’t why He called you. It’s why He called you.
That’s what Paul talks about in our passage today.
He pauses his talk about marriage and singleness for a moment, and he says:
Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.
Again, because we smooth out translations into English to make them sound, well, English - we sometimes miss the emphasis the Biblical writer is making.
Here, if I were to give a very wooden translation, it literally says:
“Nevertheless, each as the Lord assigned, each as God has called, this way each walk”
Paul is focusing on the fact that this is for each and every individual in the church. This applies to me and to you. There are no exceptions.
The "nevertheless” or the “only” refers back to the previous verse. Paul said Christians should stay married to their unbelieving spouse because God may use you to save them.
Nevertheless, whether your manner of life results in conversions or not, your manner of life is still to be the same.
Remember, saving souls is God’s job. Not ours. It’s our job to live in obedience to Him. To live, as Paul says here, as we are called to by God.
In other words, we don’t obey God and seek His glory in order to save people - we obey God and seek His glory because that is what He has called us to and what Christ has given to us - and through that He will call others to Himself who are to do the same exact thing.
And Paul says that we obey God by leading the life that God has called us to, and to which the Lord has assigned us. Do you see how Paul views your station in life? Wherever you are, that is where the Lord Christ has assigned you. He has literally given or apportioned to you your station in life. Wherever you are in life right now.
This can even be translated “dealt” to you - have you ever heard someone talking about playing the hand they’re dealt in life? - that’s exactly what Paul is telling us to do! Play the hand you have been dealt for God’s glory and the sake the of the Gospel.
And this is a command. It is an imperative. And each is commanded to obey. Again, Paul is allowing for no exceptions here! We must carry out our walk according to the situation God has put us in - according to our calling.
"lead the life” is literally “walk” - Paul says to “walk” as the Lord has assigned us and as God has called us to
This is a word that was not used that way very long by the time Paul wrote this. It is really a Hebrew idiom that carried over into the Greek Old Testament and into the New Testament. And what the Bible means - and what we mean when we talk about our “walk” with Christ - is how we are living.
Our Christian walk is our whole life as one called by God.
And Paul is making clear that wherever we are when called by God, right there in that situation, we are to walk with Christ. We are to live obediently to Him.
That is our calling.
And this is written by Paul so that the emphasis is on the call of God. That is Paul’s focus.
He is pointing to the call of God as of supreme importance. And he is talking about what is known as the effectual call of God. It is the inward call to someone who has been regenerated by the Spirit. It is the call that effects our salvation.
We stand, right now, in that salvation. Regardless of when God called or where we were in life when He called us.
And Paul says: if you have been saved by God - the focus is on God’s role in this - then you are to walk with Christ - live for Him - right where you were called. Right there, in that situation.
And don’t get this backwards: You don’t walk with Christ in order to be saved. Paul is saying that you are saved in order to walk with Christ.
You know, the Protestant Reformation is often misunderstood. In much of modern evangelicalism, we focus on the sola gratia and the sola fide - grace alone and faith alone. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone.
And because of that focus, so many of us have been taught that works have no place in our salvation. But we forget that the Reformation was also about sola scriptura and soli Deo gloria. That our salvation is according to Scripture alone and that it is for God’s glory alone.
We have been taught to focus on the grace, and to minimize the manner of life that our salvation calls us to - a life that lives in obedience to the revealed Word of God. A life that is to be lived for God’s glory, and that alone.
This is what Paul is talking about. No matter who you are, no matter where you are, if you have been called by God - if you have been saved by grace through faith - then you are now to live in obedience, all for His glory. And God wants you to do that right where you are.
Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.
Paul stresses that this is a universal command.
Paul says this is his rule - these are his orders - in all the churches. It is for each Christian, and it is for each Christian in each church. It is his command to every Christian in every church. To everyone who has been called, no matter where they are in life when that call comes.
And that call that Paul focuses on - he focuses on it because it changes us. It changes us from what we were to what we now are in Christ. Whatever we were before, now we are called of God.
And Paul expands on that next. He says:
Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision.
Paul in plenty of his letters - and even as recorded in the book of Acts - did not believe that a Gentile first had to subscribe to Judaism - as in, be circumcised and follow the Mosaic Law - in order to become a Christian.
And this was the teaching of the early church - you didn’t have to become a Jew first if you wanted to follow Christ.
We preached through Galatians a few years back and we saw that the entire letter was devoted to explaining to the Christians there, why they did not need to do these things.
Here, Paul says that works both ways. Nothing Paul says about against the Judaizers is about denigrating Jews in any way - Paul was Jew, remember - it is about the fact that with the coming of Christ and the fulfillment of the Law, when you are called by God, it doesn’t matter whether you’re an ethnic Jew, a religious Jew, a Gentile, a pagan, or whatever. None of that matters.
So not only does a non-Jew not have to become a Jew, he says it wouldn’t be right for a Jew to seek to become “unJewish” either. What does he mean by that?
It was not uncommon during the reign of Rome for Jewish men living throughout the empire to get surgery to remove the physical mark of circumcision so as to fit in with the Gentile world.
Yes, plastic surgery has been around much longer than we think!
Paul says none of that matters. Where you a Jew when God called you? Then stay circumcised. Were you a Gentile when God called you? Then stay uncircumcised. That’s what you were.
That’s where you were when God called you, and He wants to use you in whatever situation you are in at the time of your call.
You see, the Jew/Gentile distinction is utterly destroyed in Christ. It is no longer based on your station in life or on your past or your country of origin - it is based on the call of God! That is Paul’s point.
8 times in 8 verses here, Paul talks about the call of God on the believer. In fact, God’s calling is a major theme of the whole letter.
Remember how Paul begins the letter?
Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus
And as we saw last week, Paul was uniquely gifted to be this. His unique path to Jesus made him very qualified to do this.
And Jesus called him, and used who he was.
And we then saw Paul’s controlling theme of the letter. The Lordship of Christ. We have looked at this a bunch of times, and we even ended with this passage last week. And how does Paul end his thematic statement for the letter?
God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul lays great importance on the call of God on the believer. It trumps everything else in our lives. Everything else that we are.
I am not Lee Grzywinski, middle-aged American Polish-Spanish white married with children former-Roman-Catholic-turned-fundamentalist incredibly good looking and multi-talented man from New Jersey.
I am Lee Grzywinski, called of God. Now, I am most of those other things, but none of those define me. None of those are me.
I am defined by my call. I am first and foremost, and most importantly, called by God.
This is Paul’s point. Who you are - how you used to define yourself - that ain’t you. When God called you, you literally became something new.
And that’s why it doesn’t matter where you were, what you were, or who you were - God has now called you and He wants to use you right where you are, using what you are and who you are for His glory.
Which is why Paul says here:
Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision.
Your Gospel call in Christ is greater than anything.
Like… your Gospel calling is greater than ethnic distinctions. In fact, the Gospel rightly lived out destroys ethnic distinctions. This means that in order to live out the Gospel and seek what truly matters, your worldly situation does not have to change.
Again, no matter where you are, you are called by God and assigned by Christ to be there for a reason.
Because none of that matters once you are called by God.
That’s what Paul says next:
For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.
Again, a wooden translation is:
“Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is.”
You see, it isn’t just that being a Jew or a Gentile doesn’t matter - it is as if the distinction is so unimportant that they are both nothing. They are less than irrelevant in Christ - they cease to be anything that matters at all.
And the amazing thing is that this is not something new the Apostle Paul brings to the table in his letters. This wasn’t groundbreaking teaching. He was not the first to draw this conclusion - not when he wrote to the Galatians, or here when he wrote to the Corinthians, or later to the Romans or the Ephesians.
This is what God taught in the Old Testament to Israel. He said they needed to obey Him to be His people, and He told them what that required:
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.
He wanted their hearts to be for Him - to be marked as His by what proceeded from it.
And when they spent about 700 years not doing this for the most part, God threatened to send them away from His presence, but He graciously reminded them what they needed to do to be restored:
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.
God didn’t want the physical circumcision, ultimately. These men of Judah: they were all physically circumcised. And yet they were rejected. Because God wanted the inward circumcision.
He wanted their hearts.
And that’s what He wants from us.
When He calls us, our devotion is to be to Him first. We are to define ourselves by that call, and live for Him.
No matter where we are when He calls us. And what was - whether circumcision or uncircumcision - it’s utterly irrelevant. Now you’re His. Be His, right where you are. Walk with Him, right where you are. Live for Him, right where you are.
Because you are now in Christ. And Paul said to the Galatians:
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
And we can live out that faith, because He called us, and made us new.
Because as Paul says a little later:
For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
So whether we talk about background, ethnicity, former religious life, or anything - it becomes irrelevant when you are made new by God.
And as a new creation, obeying God is how we are to live out our calling. That’s all God ever wanted from His people, obedience. It is how we are to walk in whatever situation we are in.
This really puts some meat on the bones of evangelical platitudes. We talk a lot about “our Christian walk.” What do we mean when we say that? Because according to the Bible - like Paul speaking to the Galatians or here the Corinthians - my walk with Christ is about my obedience.
My seeking God is about my obedience.
So if you want to seek God - obey right where you are. If you want to deepen your walk with Christ - obey, right where you are.
For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.
And since that is the case, it makes no difference where we are in our lives when God calls us. Our lives are now about Him.
That’s why Paul can say:
Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.
In the condition one was called, each one remain. Paul returns to this idea - in fact parallels the thought - in verse 24 where he clarifies what part of where you now are matters - and that is that - wherever you are in life - you were there when called, but now you are there with God.
And what Paul says here has been looked at two ways. Some believe Paul means one thing, and others believe he means another. But since we are still avoiding extremes, I will say that I think Paul is looking at this both of those ways. I don’t think he is restricting his meaning here.
So this means both:
Remain in your calling - simply: act like a Christian right where you are, no matter where that is - no matter your situation - because once you are called and made new, who you are then is never going to change. You are called. And we know that because the God Who called us certainly doesn’t change - so how you walk or live, should not change. We are all to obey Him as called no matter where we are.
Remain where you are - he means to be satisfied with where you are and what you have - understand that you are right where God wants you when He calls you.
Because you may be there, but you are really in Christ. He has appointed you not only to eternal life, but to the life you are living out right now. With our eyes on Him and our hearts for God and His kingdom.
No matter where we are, we are right where we need to be.
This is why there is no need to compare ourselves with others or what we used to have or where we might someday be. This is why there is no need to lament our situation to the point that we wait to obey God “until" something else happens or we are any different.
We don’t wait to use our gifts to serve Him “until” we feel called to do it - we have been called to do it.
We don’t wait until we are more mature in our faith to do any of this, because this is how we mature in our faith.
Right where you are - right where God has you right now - use what He has given you. Serve Him with what you have. Seek Him with all you’ve got.
You have been called by God.
So we have now seen that whether you are married or not, or whether a Jew or not - either religiously or ethnically - you can and should serve God right where you are.
Marital status, previous religion, ethnicity - none of these matter when it comes to how we obey Christ. These distinctions disappear in Christ. When it comes to how we serve our Lord, they are all nothing to one made a new creation and called by God.
But it doesn’t stop there. Paul goes further. Social standing is also nothing.
Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.)
Now, the word here translated “bondservant” can mean a number of things. It can refer to those born into slavery, those forced into slavery, or those who sell themselves into slavery.
In the first century people still sold themselves into slavery. When they were bankrupt or had no way to take care of themselves or their families, they would agree to become a bondservant so they would have a place to live and food to eat. It was actually a good option for many.
Paul may have all of these ideas in mind, but based on verse 23 where Paul says not to become a bondservant of men, it would appear that he has in mind mostly the latter kind of bondservant.
But it really applies not just to all bondservants, but to all people. Paul is using a specific example, to further his universal point that no matter where you are, God has a reason for it, and God wants to use you right there, in your situation.
But let’s avoid the extreme. It doesn’t mean that if you affect a change in your situation for the better, you are somehow sinning. Not at all.
Note what Paul says here. He doesn’t say “were you a bondservant when called? Stay a bondservant!”
When it comes to circumcision, that talks about your religious and your ethnic background, Paul says you are who you are, you’ve been where you've been, nothing needs to change regarding any of that because you now belong to God Who called you.
But Paul here is talking about social standing. If you are a slave, he doesn’t say stay a slave. He says don’t be concerned about it. That isn’t what’s important once you’re called. Because God called you in that situation, and you are right where you need to be to live as called and glorify Him.
But he adds in what the ESV has as a parenthetical - “but if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.”
In other words, there is nothing wrong with taking the opportunity to improve your situation by worldly standards. Because remember, your worldly situation does not matter when it comes to obeying God, and when it comes to living for Him, and when it comes to walking with Christ.
So don’t go to the extreme. Paul isn’t saying improving your worldly situation is sinful. He is saying to keep that where it belongs. Have the right priorities. This life is not the priority for those called by God.
It did not matter where we were in this life or what we were in this life when God called us, so it continues to be unimportant to our call. If you can improve your situation in this life - while being obedient to God and seeking His glory - then by all means, use that opportunity.
And then if your situation changes, you know what? God still has you right where you need to be to live for Him and glorify Him.
Just be careful to keep the right priorities. God. Obedience. The Gospel.
So that means, improving our situation unethically is excluded.
Doing things that are not glorifying to God to improve our situation in the world - excluded.
Doing anything inherently sinful - excluded.
Because His glory and our obedience are what matter no matter how our situation might change.
But outside of these things, if you can improve your worldly situation, Paul says go for it. Just remember what you were called to.
We spoke a few weeks ago about Christian liberty. We have the liberty to do whatever we desire, as long as we remain obedient to God’s Word, seek to honor Him, and our consciences are being formed by the Holy spirit.
But remember what we saw - true Christian liberty is being able to do what we were once unable to do. Like obey Christ. Like seek to glorify Him.
What Paul says here is akin to what he said about the incorrect assumption that celibacy is more holy than marriage. I made the joke about joining a monastery like in the middle ages if you believe that.
Do you know what else monks did in the middle ages? They took a vow of poverty. They believed it was more holy to be poor and to suffer in this world. But suffering at your own hand, by your own decision, is not the kind of suffering we’re called to.
So if you can improve your situation in the world - do it. Just do it to God’s glory.
Because Paul’s point is not that God has you where you are, so stay there at all costs. No. Avoid the extreme. His point is that while you’re there - wherever “there” it - you should first be seeking for God to use you there, before you seek to improve your worldly situation.
We should seek to improve the spiritual situation of the world more than improving the worldly situation of the spiritual.
This is about priorities. That’s why I want us to realize that right where we are, our priority is God’s glory, God’s kingdom, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ! No matter where we are.
So practically, that means that if we spend more time and energy trying to be better by worldly standards than trying to be faithful to our calling, then we are not living the life the Lord has assigned us.
If we are more concerned with working enough hours to have a better car or house than we are concerned with serving God in the local church, then we are not living the life the Lord has assigned us.
If we are more concerned with how men regard us than we are how they regard God, then we are not living the life the Lord has assigned us.
Lead the life that the Lord has assigned to you and to which God has called you. Don’t worry about changing your situation once you’re called.
If an opportunity to improve your situation arises, and you can take it and remain obedient and keep your priorities straight, take it.
But always remember who you are. Remember what you are. You are called of God. You are a new creation.
And you are free in Christ.
But also remember that you belong to Him.
For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ.
Ultimately, it is our standing in Christ that defines who and what we are. And what a great joy that is. What a relief. What a comfort.
In Christ, no matter what my situation is, my situation doesn’t really change. I am freed by Christ. Freed from the bondage of sin. Freed from the fear of death. Freed from the need to be what the world says I should be.
I am free.
But I am free because I’m a bondservant of Christ.
Paul can tell those who are bondservants in the world that they can honor and serve Christ as bondservants. And if they can be free - be free and honor and serve Christ as a freedman.
But either way - even for those who are free in the world - if we are called by God, we are bondservants of Christ no matter what.
And this sounds almost unfair for Paul to say: “if you’re a slave, don’t worry about it, you’re already a bondservant of Christ.” But that’s not really the startling part of what he says.
Because the harder fact to grasp is for everyone else. The free, those who have, be it money or power or standing. Most of us in here have some of all of this.
It is harder to grasp that we are bondservants. It is harder for us to live as bondservants of Christ.
Again, in Christ, we all have the same standing - regardless of our worldly standing.
And do you know what worldly standing is? An illusion. Because there are only two types of people - those who know Christ, and those who need to know Christ.
Or, those who are bondservants of Christ and truly free, and those who are bondservants of sin and death.
And this is why we have to use the opportunity to glorify God in our present state before we worry about improving our worldly standing.
We are - no matter who we are, no matter where we are - if we have been called by God, we are bondservants of Christ. We are free, but only in Christ.
We have the liberty to live for Him, and we are called to use it.
Because those who don’t know Him - bondservants of sin and death - God wants to free them.
And He wants to use us who are bondservants of Christ to do it.
Because we belong to Him.
Why?
Because God called us to be?
Because the Lord assigned us to be?
That’s part of it. But the real reason we belong to our Lord is one that Paul already gave us.
You were bought with a price;
He already told the Corinthians this when he addressed sexual sin:
for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
He has not left this topic yet. How we are to use our bodies to glorify God. Because we are to use our whole being to glorify God.
That is our calling.
Because we belong to Christ.
Why?
Because He bought us with a price.
Because He gave Himself as the cost to make us His. He purchased us by His own blood. By His own life.
He stepped into a unique situation as the unique Son of God. He stepped into humanity. He stepped down into humanity. Way down!
And being found in human form — that was the situation He stepped into — being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient.
Christ became obedient in His situation.
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
God the Son, in flesh that died on a cross.
And could he have improved His situation? Yes. He’s God.
Could He improve His situation and remain obedient? No.
So He didn’t.
Because He loves us that much.
Right in that situation, He obeyed, and He died for all God would call.
That’s why we belong to Him. We were literally bought at the highest possible price.
You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.
This where Paul completes his thought. If you are a bondservant, don’t be concerned. Improve that if you can. If you are free, don’t sell yourself into bondage.
This is slave talk - Christians are bondservants - slaves - of Christ first no matter who we are - Jew or Gentile, slave or free. This is a point Paul makes many times - later in 1 Cor 12, Gal 3, Romans 1-11, Ephesians).
And often Paul throws in “male or female” as also irrelevant to one’s standing in Christ. And he really already did that, because last week we saw him equate men and women in their responsibility to honor God in marriage or singleness.
So this talk about circumcision and slaves in the middle of his teaching about marriage is very natural for Paul - it isn’t a random digression - the focus is on our call in whatever situation we are called.
So no matter what dividing lines the world sees, we aren’t supposed to see them when it comes to our standing in Christ.
In other words, right where you are, is right.
Who you are, is right.
It is right where you need to be - you are exactly who you need to be - for God to use you. For you to obey. For you to glorify God with your whole being.
Because we belong to Him. And He is with us.
So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.
I touched on this already. Paul calls for us to remain as we are and serve God right there.
But the important part is the “remain with God.” (this is the remain from verse 20 - this is a repeat of the command to obey in verse 19).
But don’t forget what Paul just said about taking the opportunity if you can improve your situation. Paul is not contradicting himself. He is in both cases - in every case - pointing out the important fact that wherever you are - right now - if you know Christ - if you are called by God - you are where you are, with God.
That’s why you don’t need to change what you are in this world once God changes what you are. Because without you changing anything, everything has changed.
Because God has called you. This is the eighth time Paul points that out in our passage today.
You have been called by God. And that’s all any of us need.
And He is with us. That is why - that is how - we can lived as called. The One Who called us is with us, and He will work in us to want to do - and to do - for His good pleasure. And He will finish what He has started in us when He called us.
Brothers and sisters - who are we?
We are called by God. That is who we are.
Let us lead the life that the Lord Who obeyed unto death for our sake has assigned to us.
Right where we are. God has us - each of us - right where we need to be.
Let us seek to glorify Him right where we are.
Because no matter where we are, now is the time. The situation is perfect for us to obey.
Let’s be what we are.
