11/14 - Married or Single: Focused on the Glory of God.

In Corinth, the division in the church has affected everything even to the very core of their families. The church is only the sum total of its members. The families were made up of people who have been saved out every background: Slaves and free, religious, and prostitutes. These were people whose lives were being changed. People bought with a price. Slaves… set free by Christ. So this section starts with “You have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body.”

With so many distractions, some desperately wanting to be married, and some desperately wanting out of marriage… How are we going to stay focused on Living (married or single) to the glory of God?

In this passage, God give us a few areas to focus on:

V17 - Focus on living out your calling.“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.”

“If all that a believer does grows out of faith and is done for the glory of God, then all dualistic distinctions are demolished. There is no higher/lower, sacred/secular, perfect/permitted, contemplative/active or first class/second class. Calling is the premise of Christian existence itself Calling means that everyone, everywhere, and in everything fulfills his or her (secondary) callings in response to God’s (primary) calling.” —Os Guiness

There is a calling to walk in: Lead the life: Let him walk (Behave, Conduct, Tread) (4043) peripateo from peri = about, around + pateo = walk, tread) means literally to walk around (walk around in a complete circuit or full circle), to go here and there walking, to tread all around. The 39 uses in the Gospels always refer to literal, physical walking. (See Spurgeon's comments on what it means to walk) Paul uses peripateo only in the metaphorical sense (32 times in his Epistles) meaning to conduct one's life, to order one's behavior, to behave, to make one's way, to make due use of opportunities, to live or pass one’s life (with a connotation of spending some time in a place), to walk with God in the complete circuit (course) of faith. Stated another way, to "walk around a circuit" begins with faith and ends with faith works (cf James 2:14-26+), initiated and enabled by the Spirit. The believer "walks out" with the Lord, what He first works in, doing so by obedience of faith leading to good (God) works (see Eph 2:10+). Walking Track...

Assigned: something divided, and then measured out. : according to the measure of the limit (or area) An order that has been given, you take and advance. To give a charge or a command. The word is used in the military of a chain of command, how a commander gives the order and takes it to his staff sergeant. He takes it and relays it to the troops. But the order came from back here.

Called (invited, summoned) (2564)(kaleo from root kal-, whence English “call” and “clamour”) literally means to speak to another in order to attract their attention or to them bring nearer, either physically or in a personal relationship. To call in the sense of to choose so that one might receive some special benefit or experience. This refers to God's call of sinners ("Divine call" of God to participation in salvation). Of the Divine call to partake of the blessings of redemption. effectual call to salvation . used 9x in 7 verses (1 Cor 7:15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24)

Paul’s point isn’t really about circumcision; that is just an example in the context of his discussion about marriage and singleness. One is not superior to the other. If you are assigned to singleness for now, be single to the Glory of God. Just like being circumcised or uncircumcised is irrelevant when it comes to serving God, so is your current marital state.

Eph 5:8 “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light”

Ephesians 5:15-18 “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is....”

There are directions to obey: “This is my rule in all the churches.”

“And so I (present tense - continually) direct in all the churches (ekklesia)” Direct is a "Military term....to arrange in all the churches" (Robertson) Paul’s Apostolic authority means that his words are applicable to all the churches.

1 Cor 4:17 “That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church”

“Was anyone called while circumcised?” -- Paul is saying that if you were circumcised when you became a Christian, fine! If you were not circumcised when you became a Christian, fine! It doesnt matter. What matters is serving the Lord where we are at right now!!

“Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision.” (don’t seek the painfully unnecessary) Acts 15 “burden impossible to keep”

“Become...uncircumcised” (1986)(epispaomai from epi = upon + spao = to draw) means literally to draw over and was a medical technical term pull over the foreskin to conceal former circumcision, to remove the marks of circumcision. Used on in 1 Cor 7:18. “Some Jews, for fear of Antiochus, made themselves uncircumcised, 1 Maccab. 1:16. Others for shame after they were gained to the knowledge of Christ, as here. This was done by drawing up the fore-skin with a surgeon’s instrument.” (Trapp) “By frequent stretching, the circumcised skin could be again so drawn over, as to prevent the ancient sign of circumcision from appearing.” (Clarke) beware this may setoff your internet filter...

Macarthur: Circumcision was an embarrassment in the Roman world. According to the Maccabees, some Jewish men “made themselves uncircumcised.” Josephus tells us that during the Greek rule of the eastern Mediterranean several centuries before Christ, some Jewish men who wanted to be accepted into Greek society had surgery performed to make themselves appear uncircumcised when they bathed or exercised at the gymnasiums. They literally became uncircumcised surgically. The Roman encyclopedist Celsus, in the first century A.D., wrote a detailed description of the surgical procedure for decircumcision (De Medicina VII. 25). The practice was so common that considerable rabbinic literature addressed the problem (e.g., Aboth 3:11; Jerushalmi Peah 1 and 16b; Lamentations Rabbah 1:20).

Don't try to change. Here he is speaking of circumcision, but this principle was to apply to their marriages.

“Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised?”

“Let him not seek circumcision.” (don’t seek the unnecessarily painful)

“For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.”

Keeping is (5084) teresis (from tereo - see uses in related passages above) which speaks first of the action of watching as someone in jail (Acts 4:3, 5:18), but here is used figuratively of persistently "watching," observing or obeying God's commandments, not legalistically of course but under grace and empowered by the Spirit Who enables one to generally (not perfectly) keep God's commandments which are always "holy and righteous and good." (Ro 7:12+).

“Thus, for followers of Christ, calling neutralizes the fundamental position of choice in modern life. “I have chosen you,” Jesus said, “you have not chosen me.” We are not our own; we have been bought with a price. We have no rights, only responsibilities. Following Christ is not our initiative, merely our response, in obedience. Nothing works better to debunk the pretensions of choice than a conviction of calling. Once we have been called, we literally “have no choice.” ― Os Guinness

This is what being a disciple looks like:

Colossians 2:6–7 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

1 John 2:3-4+  By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we (present tense - not perfectly but habitually) keep (tereo) His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not (present tense - habitually) keep (tereo)  His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;

1 John 5:2-3+  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and (present tense - not perfectly but habitually) observe (tereo)  His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we (present tense - habitually) keep (tereo) His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.

Don't focus on changing your status… focus on living out your calling in your status.

V21 Focus on living out your freedom: “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.”

Don’t focus on your constraints, focus on the freedom you have in Christ.

Paul's charge to remain in their condition they were in when they were called (saved) is his repeated message to the saints at Corinth....MacArthur -For the second time Paul states the principle of being content to stay in the condition we were in when saved, whether it is racial or social. The focus of a Christian’s concern should be on divinely supernatural things. Instead of thinking that you can or will walk for the Lord when your status changes, walk for the Lord in the place you are right now.. This also is a warning about trying to undo the past in regard to relationships. God tells us to repent of whatever sin is there and then to move on. If you are married to your second wife, after wrongfully divorcing your first wife, and become a Christian, don’t think you must now leave your second wife and go back to your first wife, trying to undo the past.

Remain: to take up residence, or to find yourself in a fixed position. (Ex. A ship that is stuck on the reef, it is fixed there…uncertainty about duration.)

1 Corinthians 7:8 But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.

1 Corinthians 7:17 Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk. And so I direct in all the churches

1 Corinthians 7:20 Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called.

1 Corinthians 7:24 Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.

1 Corinthians 7:26 I think then that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is.

1 Corinthians 7:40 But in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.

“Were you a bondservant when called?” Doulos: Slave. Recall that some estimate up to 50% of the Roman population was composed of slaves. In general, Paul’s rule means that conversion does not require the violent disruption or forcible overthrow of pre-salvation relationships and associations that are not expressly forbidden by Scripture.

A man who is a slave at the time of his new birth should not rebel against his servitude and thus bring trouble and punishment upon himself. He can be a good slave and a good Christian at the same time. Social position and class distinctions do not matter with God. However, if a slave can obtain his freedom by legitimate means, he should do so.

“Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.)”

Concern: a sense of personal concern. Overly concerned...NAMB CHURCH PLANTING DIRECTOR’s unbiblical racial sensitivity: "The gospel is not good news without spiritual redemption and restoration, but the gospel is also not good news without emotional, economic, and social restoration, as well." “Our refusal to validate our neighbor’s current struggles is often more offensive than the gospel itself.” Church planters are turned into community organizers… THE DANGER FOR THIS MINDSET IS THAT THE GOSPEL BECOMES MORE ABOUT EQUALITY, AND SOCIAL INCLUSION THAN IT DOES ABOUT REDEMPTION OF SINNER - NO MATTER THIER CIRCUMSTANCES. (Dhati Lewis.)

Hymn-writer Horatius Bonar - “A Christian is the Lord’s freeman. This expression means the following things”

He was once a slave. He was not born free. He did not free himself. Like Israel in Egypt, he was “delivered.”

He was set free by the Lord. The name of his liberator is a glorious one; one betokening power and authority. His former masters were sin, the flesh, the devil. From these this mighty Lord hath set him free

As a free man he still belongs to Christ. Nay, he belongs more to Him than ever; more to Him than to his former masters. A new tie has been formed between him and the Lord; the tie of liberty; the tie of love; the tie of gratitude.

His life is one of liberty. There is no return to bondage. All is the joy of freedom, Christ’s own freedom; true, heavenly liberty; liberty in every part; perfect throughout; yet not the liberty of self-will.

His is liberty which earthly service cannot affect. He may be a slave or a prisoner, he is still the Lord’s freeman. Hands, and feet, and body may be in chains, he is as free as ever. No earthly bondage can intermeddle with or neutralise this liberty.

“But how and when does all this begin? In what way is it carried on?”

Ye are bought with a price. A ransom has been paid for our liberation; and the spring of all our liberty comes from this ransom. Christ hath redeemed us. We are redeemed not with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ.

If the Son make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Our liberty is the direct work of the Son of God. He unbinds us and disimprisons us. He became a bondman for us. He took our chains and prison that we might have his liberty.

The truth shall make you free. The truth revealed in Christ contains in it all liberating elements and ingredients. It neutralises and undoes all that made us slaves. And from the moment that we know it we are free! Our belief of this liberating truth sets us at full liberty.

For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. (slavery will not keep you from Glorifying God)

Freedman (558) (apeleutheros from apó = from + eleútheros = free) means a freedman, an emancipated slave.

Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. 23 

You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. 24 

So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God. Whatever your STATUS...

Barclay - “Here there is a picture in Paul’s mind. In the ancient world it was possible for a slave at a great effort to purchase his own freedom. This was how he did it. In the little spare time he had, he took odd jobs and earned a few coppers. His master had the right to claim commission even on these poor earnings. But the slave would deposit every farthing he could earn in the Temple of some god. When, it might be at the end of years, he had his complete purchase price laid up in the Temple, he would take his master there, the priest would hand over the money, and then symbolically the slave became the property of the god and therefore free of all men. That is what Paul is thinking of. The Christian man has been purchased by Christ; therefore, no matter what his human status may be, he is free of all men because he is the property of Christ.

“The Christian is free from all other human beings. He does not have to live over against others, controlled by their actions and responses. Rather, he lives according to Christ's commands. This is Christian freedom. It is a freedom unknown by others. It is not just when others do the things that we like that we act properly toward them; we are free to do good even when they don't because our actions are not dependent on their responses. It is the Lord Christ when we serve!" --Jay E. Adams

Gal 5:1 “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

1 Pet 2:16 “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”

Conclusion:

John Wesley was the most prominent evangelist of the eighteenth century. He made his mark both in Great Britain and the United States and was the driving force in the establishment of the Methodist church.

Wesley was forty-eight when he married Mary Vazeille. He had never been married before and Mary was the widow of a prominent London merchant. She had known John and his brother Charles for about two years. Charles was "thunderstruck" when he heard of his brother's intentions to marry her. Mary was known as a vulgar woman prone to hysteria.

Here is the danger: “Soon the problems others saw became apparent in the marriage. John traveled a great deal and Mary neither enjoyed traveling nor staying alone. John was set in his ways and showed little interest in domestic concerns. Mary did not possess a drive to serve the Lord. When John wrote consoling letters to widows Mary's jealousy flared. She wrote scandalous letters to newspapers lying about John's character. She had episodes of violence and finally left John after twenty years of marriage. Mary died alone and John wasn't informed of her death until three days after the funeral. Everyone desires a happy marriage. But the Lord first calls us to do his will. Do you want to be married or wish to be single?

Its a good lesson… there are somethings worse than being single… Your focus… is the Glory of God.

Focus on the call of today, and focus on living in the freedom you have… you can leave your tomorrow to God, and know… He WILL take care of you.

Matthew 6:33 ESV

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.