Bloom Where You are Planted
Notes
Transcript
Our text this morning is 1 Corinthians 7:17-24. Let us now hear God’s Word.
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.
May God bless this the reading of His Holy and Infallible Word.
The context of 1 Corinthians 7, is something we have already seen in the earlier chapters, the Corinthians were obsessed with social status, but it is not just the Corinthians, but the whole world that is obsessed with social status.
The World is Obsessed with Social Status
The World is Obsessed with Social Status
Commentators point out that Greco-Roman society was obsessed with social status. We clearly saw this in the opening chapters of 1 Corinthians where Paul dealt with true and false wisdom. Why were the Corinthians so concerned in looking wise in the eyes of the world? It was because wisdom was a status symbol in Greco-Roman society. In chapter seven, Paul is dealing with marriage, singleness, circumcision and slavery. Once again, all of these issues are being driven by their desire to look good in the eyes of the world.
We do not need a commentary to tell us that our society is obsessed with social status. We learn this lesson early on in the hard school of knocks. As children, we all longed to be numbered as a member of the “cool-kids”. A few years later, as teens we strove to be in the “in-crowd”. As adults we strive to “keep up with the Jones” and dream of being “social influences”.
As we look back upon the span of church history, many (if not the majority) of the times the church fell into theological error was caused by the desire to be “liked” by the world. Of course, no one actually admitted this, they usually used the excuse that by watering down or by denying essential Christian doctrine and practice they could be “more effective witnesses”.
Now that we understand the problem, let us move on to the solution. The first thing Paul wants us to understand is that...
God is Unimpressed with Social Status
God is Unimpressed with Social Status
This truth is found in verse 19:
For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.
Two parallel verses from Paul’s letter to the Galatians are worth looking at. The first:
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
The second:
For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
In both Corinth and Galatia, circumcision had become a major issue and interestingly enough it expressed itself in different ways. In Galatia, the “Circumcision Party” insisted that to truly please God, Gentile believers needed to be circumcised. In Corinth, it appears the exact opposite was happening, Jewish believers were being pressured to be uncircumcised in the belief that this would make them more effective witnesses to Gentiles.
The message to both churches was the same—God is not impressed with our human status symbols, there is only one thing that matters:
The Only Thing that Matters is Keeping the Law of Christ
The Only Thing that Matters is Keeping the Law of Christ
The three parallel passages I just read from seem to saying three things matter to God: “keeping the commandments of God” (1 Cor 7:19), “faith working through love” (Gal 5:6) and “a new creation” (Gal 6:16). However, when we look more closely at what Paul is saying, we discover Paul is speaking of the same thing in three different ways. “The new creation” is regeneration, or as Jesus called it, “being born again” (John 3). When a person is born again, God creates both faith and obedience by “writing His law upon their hearts” (Jer 31:33, Heb 10:16). This law that God writes upon a believer’s heart is not the Old Covenant Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai, but rather the “law of Christ” (Gal 6:2; 1 Cor 9:21).
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
In his first epistle, John writes of this new commandment and says this:
Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.
Why did John say that Jesus’ new commandment was an old commandment they already had from the very beginning? He said this because the commandment to love is found in the Old Testament law, quoting Lev 19:18 and Deut 6:5, Jesus taught this:
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Reflecting upon this truth, Paul would write the Galatians:
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
It is the love of God that the Holy Spirit writes upon the hearts of those who have been born again and by this love, the whole moral law of God is fulfilled! However, it is the love of God we are talking about and only God has the right to define what true love is. Some of the greatest evils of human history have been committed in the name of love. This is why we still include the Ten Commandments in our confessional standards. God’s moral law defines for us what true love is. There is so much moral confusion today, because we have attempted to define love, rather than allow God by His Word to define it.
It is not social status, but obedience to God’s commandments that matter; this is why Paul says...
Bloom Where You are Planted
Bloom Where You are Planted
Let us look at the first verse of our text again:
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.
The first thing I want to point out about this verse is that Paul says this rule “is my rule in all the churches”. Even though Paul is addressing particular problems in the Corinthian church, the rule he is giving applies to all churches, including Greene Valley Presbyterian Church.
What is this rule?
“Let each person lead the life that the Lord assigned to him, and to which God has called him.”
In other words, Paul’s general rule is that Christians need not seek to change the circumstances of their life or their status in life before they serve the Lord, but rather they can bloom where God has planted them. Please understand, this is not a prohibition against changing the circumstances of our life or our status in life, Paul make this clear later in our passage. For example, he advises slaves to seek freedom if the opportunity presents itself. Likewise, single people are free to marry if they so desire. The point is not that you cannot change your social status or the circumstances of your life, but that a change in social status or circumstance is not necessary for a fruitful Christian life.
Why are changes to your status or circumstance not necessary for a fruitful Christian life? The answer is provided for us in verses 21-23:
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.
You were bought at a price by the blood of Jesus. You are now Christ’s bondservant. A bondservant does not plan out his or her life, their master does! Jesus has placed you in the life circumstances you are in right now and your job is to serve Him with gladness in those circumstances. Perhaps God will give you an opportunity to change your circumstances, go for it, you can serve Christ in those circumstances as well. The only thing that matters is “faith working through love” (Gal 5:6).
Let me give you some examples of application.
We have all known a Christian single person who refuses to be thankful and happy in the Lord until they find a spouse. They live life under a perpetual rain cloud. They wrongly believe that they will suddenly become a happy, productive Christian once they find Mr. or Mrs. Right. My advice to such a person is to be happy in Christ now. If God has called you to the married life, He will provide you with a spouse.
As second example: We have also known the Christian who is always preparing, but never doing. They have to have a degree. They have to know their bible better. They have to have all their theological questions answered. They have to have the right spiritual gifts. The list goes on and on! What such persons do not understand is this: it is the Lord provides as He finds us faithful. Preparation is important, but it should never be used as an excuse for disobedience.
The bottom line is this, as bondservants of Christ; we serve the kindest, wisest and most generous of Masters. We simply have to wake up each morning and serve Him with a glad and happy heart. When our work is done each day, we can lay our head down and sleep in peace, knowing our Master has everything in control! Did not our Master tell us this was so:
And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Like the flowers of the field, bloom where you are planted!