(A) Introduction. (Read the reference)

This passage is very much a continuation of the preceding verses in chapter 7. I have divided up the exposition so that it should not be too long!

(B) Serve regardless of circumstances. Verses 17 to 24.

(1) A general principle.
Paul's consideration of how a Christian convert should behave toward an unbelieving spouse prompts him to declare a general principle concerning a Christian's response to circumstances. The apostle considers it of such importance that he states it three times: Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. v20. Also: vs17and24.

It is clear that several Christian converts with an unbelieving partner wanted to change. They desired a spouse who shared their love for Jesus. It is by no means ideal to be married to a non-Christian. But Paul states that having an unbelieving husband or wife is not in itself a ground for divorce. He suggests that there is a possibility that the unbelieving partner will be converted: How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband. v16. Paul tells the Christian to make the most of his or her opportunity by word and deed to witness to the pagan partner.

Paul then goes on to apply his general principle to other circumstances.

(2) Paul addresses a common reaction.
Some Christians, especially new converts, are discontented with their situation and want to change.

(a) They may be like the slaves in the Corinthian church - discontented with their menial work and lowly status. Surely God wants something better for them.

I have known young converts to Christianity who become discontented with their work especially if it is low status, low paid and unexciting. Some think they are called to high profile Christian work - to be an evangelist, pastor, missionary, soloist or bandleader. Perhaps a few are! But others are deluding themselves. It is better if they remain in their humdrum, secular jobs and serve God in all sorts of practical ways in their local church. That is what Paul would advise.

(b) They may be like the Corinthian Christians who thought the faction they belonged to was important. Some Gentile Christians were dissatisfied because they were uncircumcised. These legalistic believers wanted to join the Judaistic Christians -the 'I follow Cephas' party. Another group of Jewish Christians longed to be uncircumcised so that they could identify fully with the freedom loving , 'I follow Paul' faction.

Numerous English Christians are discontented with the church they belong to. They want one that is livelier, better supported, with a charismatic leader or one that is doctrinally sound or one that worships in a fine building with uplifting music and a beautiful liturgy.

Christianity is not primarily about the church you attend but devotion and obedience to Christ. It is an inward not an outward thing. And Paul's admonition still stands: Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. v20.

(3) Paul provides encouragement to accept our situation in life.

He reminds the Corinthians that:

(a) God is sovereign. Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. v17.

Paul affirms that God has called us to the situation in which we find ourselves. The psalmist writes: Lord you have assigned me my portion and my cup. Ps16v5. We may question our portion and our cup and wonder if God knows what he is doing. I questioned God when left to look after my chronically ill father after my mother died. I was a communicator not a carer! However, I did accept my situation - it was certainly a lot better than my poor father's in the terminal stages of Parkinson's disease - and I benefited from the experience. God does know what he is doing!

It is a tragedy when Christians move from a church where they are needed to one where nobody really wants them. I have a good friend with considerable teaching ability who left a church where his ministry was appreciated and blessed of God who moved to a charismatic church of over 400 mainly young believers with no intention of using his gift. I can understand the attraction of a vibrant, dynamic, growing church but my friend knows I think he should have stopped in the situation where God was using him. Each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him to which God has called him.

(b) They are God's freedmen. For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman. v22.

It is eminently possible to feel trapped and circumscribed by our situation but Jesus has freed us to serve wherever we are - at home, in hospital, at work and even in prison. Paul knew what he was writing about! He wrote to the Philippians when he was in chains in Rome: As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Phil1v13. See exposition on Phil1v12to26.

(c) They were bought at a price. You are bought at a price; do not become slaves to men. v23.

It is easy to forget this in an age where personal choice, freedom and happiness loom so large in the popular consciousness. Christians are not their own masters. Believers cannot come and go as they please. They are free - free to serve Christ where God has placed them. As one 19th century expositor put it: Too many listen to the call of inclination not the call of God. What would he say today?

It should be a great comfort to realise that we are bought. A man who has saved and saved to buy a car or to put down the deposit on a house will value his purchase. Jesus did not buy us cheaply. Our redemption was at the expense of his own shed blood. Such a ransom he paid for us. So we are Christ's treasured possession and very precious to him.

Christians should beware of being unduly influenced by the judgments of men and craving high status in the eyes of the world. In the long run it is very foolish taking on a time consuming, highly paid and prestigious job if this is going to make us less useful to God. We should let the words of Jesus inform our decisions: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Mt6v33.

(4) Paul highlights what is really important.
The important thing is not our situation but what we do in it. Instead of longing to change our condition we should glorify God in it.

Paul informs his readers of two obligations:

(a) To keep God's commands. Keeping God's commands is what counts. v19.

(b) To serve Jesus. He who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave.

We can fulfil these obligations where ever we are and whatever our condition. Christians can keep God's commands: faithfully in obscurity, sacrificially in poverty and courageously in adversity - like the certain poor widow who gave God all she had, little though that was.

(5) A personal testimony.
Paul's teaching on remaining in the situation to which God has appointed us was very helpful during a testing time in my life. A group of pastors in our Association of churches wrote to me and to the other officers of my church saying they considered my beliefs were the cause of our decline. This was very hurtful and I did consider leaving the Grace Baptist Church at Brockley and going somewhere else. I didn't for two reasons. The church officers supported me and the Holy Spirit led me to the passage we have been considering indicating clearly that I should remain where I was. This brought me much peace of mind.

(6) God's gracious provision.
Paul encourages us to change our circumstances if God provides the opportunity and by so doing we can serve him more effectively. Paul encouraged the slaves: Although if you can gain your freedom, do so. v21. A freedman was better able to serve Jesus than a slave just as Paul was able to do more for his master at liberty than in prison. If God opens the door to a life of greater usefulness we must pass through it.

(C) The time is short. See verses 29 to 31.

Much of Paul's advice in chapter 7 about whether or not to marry and his preference for the single condition, whether for virgins, widows or unmarried men, was coloured by his belief that the Lord's return was imminent. He wrote: What I mean brothers, is that the time is short. v29. He probably thought that the crisis current at the time he wrote his letter was a harbinger of the Last Days.

The advice of Paul, notwithstanding the 2000 years that have passed since he wrote to the Corinthians, is relevant to us now. The time available to Christians is short. Nothing is permanent, everything changes and will change. For this world in its present form is passing away. v31. So it will pay us to study what Paul advises:

(1) Those who have wives should live as if they had none. Perhaps a lady reading these words thinks Paul had no need to write them - her husband neglects her as it is. It does seem a strange statement to make.

Perhaps Paul is drawing attention to the fact that marriage is not a permanent relationship. It will end. There is no marriage in glory. So no human relationship, however precious, matters more than our relationship with Jesus - for it is the one that lasts. Our attachment to Jesus takes precedence over the marriage bond and family ties. This was even the case for the Saviour himself: "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." Mt12v46to50.

(2) Those that mourn, as if thy did not. Paul probably means by this that sorrow is transitory. It must not master us or break our hearts. We have to put set backs and disappointments behind us and press on. It is well to remember that: Weeping may remain for a night but rejoicing comes in the morning. Ps30v5. Hope is among the great Christian virtues. We look forward to the day when: There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Rev21v4.

(3) Those who are happy, as if they were not. We probably wish happy days to never end. I was on holiday this month in the Lake District with my friends John and Marion Skull. We were happy but accepted that we needed to return home and resume our Christian duties.

We do get much happiness from nature, music, literature, sport and companionship but none of it is lasting. Instead we look forward to something better: an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. 1Pet1v4.

(4) Those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep. Some Christians are active in business and create substantial wealth. This leads to a rise in standard of living and many possessions. Paul tells us that possessions should not be of great significance to us. He is merely repeating the words of his master who said: A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Lk12v15. I think most of us are attached to our possessions more than we care to admit. If I am away from home for any length of time I anticipate returning to find my house burned down. It is not something I contemplate with equanimity. I would be horrified to find my house burned down! Not many Christians in the West travel light. Few can say with Paul: To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags ..... we are homeless. 1Cor4v11.

(5) Those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. v31. The things of the world take up a lot of our time and energy. So much of our attention is given to work and pleasure. It is very easy for secular employment to preoccupy us and for the pleasures of the world to seduce us. Christians are readily distracted from what really matters. Paul knows what is truly important. He wrote: I would like you to be free from concern ... but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. v32 and v35.

(D) Conclusion

Paul's words in 2Cor4v18 are very apposite: So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Often the only thing that seems real is what can be seen and our eternal reward is treated as far off and illusory. Paul was different; he single-mindedly pursued his eternal reward: Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus. Phil3v12and13.