Passage: 1 Corinthians 7:17-40

The Big Idea

When people come to Jesus, there’s a huge temptation to think they have to change their outward circumstances to become more spiritual. Paul says: stay where God called you, and walk with Him there. What matters isn’t religious markers or life circumstances, but the new command of Jesus: faith in Him and His love flowing through us. Whether you’re single or married, slave or free, you have everything you need when you have Jesus.

Change

Someone was asked, “Are you surprised at how little people change?” They answered, “Actually, the process is the same. They just have tiny clothes.” (That was a nurse in the maternity ward.)

And one guy said, “My wife was mad at me for changing my outfit every half hour. I told her, ‘Wait, I can change!'”

Walk Where You’re Called (1 Corinthians 7:17)

Paul says each person should live the life the Lord assigned and the situation in which God called them. That’s what he teaches in all the churches.

You have everything you need when you have Jesus.
There’s a huge temptation to try to become something more or different when you come to Jesus.
God does have a purpose for you. He has assigned each person a life. He chose when and where you live (Acts 17:26).
All so that He could call you, and you could be His friend and His instrument in the life you’ve been given.
God is giving! He gives you life, then calls you to live that life with Him.
“So let him walk.” Walk with Him. Walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16).

Paul taught this principle in every church: you have everything you need when you have Jesus.

You don’t need anything to change on the outside when you’ve been born again on the inside.
What more could God give you than He already has?
We don’t live a life of begging God for scraps. We overflow with praise and thanks for the abundant life He’s already given us.

Does God Want Me More Religious? (1 Corinthians 7:18-19)

Was anyone called while circumcised? Don’t try to undo it. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Don’t get circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. What matters is keeping God’s commandments.

We won’t understand this unless we’re wearing grace glasses. If we still see our relationship with God as a religious list of rules and obligations, this will confuse us.

This isn’t the Old Covenant commands of the Law. It’s the new law of faith and love.

The command is faith and love: faith in Jesus, and the love of Jesus living through us.
It’s a relationship. I trust Him, and He lives His love through me, after He first pours His love into me.
I believe in Him, and He fulfills His loving promises to me.

Faith working through love

In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything. What counts is faith working through love (Galatians 5:6).

Why doesn’t circumcision matter, or any religious rule? Because we’re in Christ. Union with Christ!
Rules don’t accomplish anything. Rules never change Christians.
Our new lives in the New Covenant are faith-based, not rule-based.
We trust in Jesus alone, and Jesus shares His love to us and through us.
That describes our relationship with God. It isn’t religion. It isn’t a list of rules and outward measurements of how good or bad we are.
It’s a life of faith in Him, and then He lives through us. We’ll never stop talking about this.

Are we sure this is Jesus’ command?

John says: this is His command, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another (1 John 3:23).

Yep, this is it. The way of Jesus is to trust Him, and then let His love overwhelm you and flow through you to others.

Where did Jesus say this? When people asked Him what they must do to do the works God requires, He answered: the work of God is to believe in the One He sent (John 6:28-29).

That’s as clear as it gets.
You can do nothing to measure up to God’s perfect standard.
So God sets us free through the life and death of Jesus.
No law we keep can undo the laws we’ve broken.
So God offers grace instead of law. He promises to save everyone who trusts in Jesus alone.
And not just save us, but invade us. He takes over our inner lives by giving us His Holy Spirit. That’s how we do the works of God, the good deeds He wants our lives to produce (Ephesians 2:10).

Then what? Jesus gave a new command: love one another as I have loved you. By this everyone will know you are My disciples, if you love one another (John 13:34-35).

This is different from the Old Covenant command to love God and others perfectly.
This love is rooted in the love Jesus has for us: “as I have loved you.”
So it’s a reflection of the love we receive and walk in through the New Covenant of grace.
The Holy Spirit empowers us to love this way. It isn’t a rule like in the Old Testament.

So now we understand Paul: circumcision is nothing, uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping God’s commands matters. Your life isn’t found in how well you follow rules, but in your relationship with Jesus: faith and love.

What About My Circumstances? (1 Corinthians 7:20-24)

Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

Don’t follow Jesus to get Him to change outward things in your life. But don’t be surprised if He does.

Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you, though if you can gain your freedom, take it. Whoever was a slave when called is the Lord’s freed person. And whoever was free when called is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; don’t become slaves of people. Brothers and sisters, each of you should remain with God in the situation you were in when you were called.

Jesus changed our identity, and that changes how we see everything. Grace glasses.

“I’m not just an employee. I’m a missionary of grace in this company.”
“I’m not stuck here. I’m God’s undercover agent, bringing light and love into a place of darkness.”
Or, “I used to be free to do anything I wanted. Now I only want to do the will of my Father in heaven.”

What About Relationships? (1 Corinthians 7:25-38)

“What if I was engaged when I became a believer? Should I break it off?”

Paul says he has no command from the Lord here, but gives his trustworthy judgment.

Because of the present distress, it’s good to stay as you are. Paul doesn’t say exactly what the “present distress” was. It may have been a time of hardship or famine, and it certainly included the pressures of following Jesus in a hostile world.
Are you married? Don’t seek to be released. Are you unmarried? Don’t go looking for a spouse. But if you do marry, you haven’t sinned. Married people will face extra troubles in this life, and Paul wants to spare them.
The time is short. From now on, those who have wives should live as if they don’t, those who mourn as if they don’t, those who rejoice as if they don’t, those who buy as if they don’t own anything, and those who use the world as if not absorbed by it. In other words, everything for the gospel and God’s kingdom, not ourselves. The present form of this world is passing away.
Paul wants them free from anxiety. The unmarried person can focus on the Lord’s affairs and how to please Him. The married person also has to care about how to please their spouse. Their interests are divided. That isn’t bad. It’s just focused love. Paul isn’t trying to put a leash on anyone, but to help them serve the Lord without distraction.
For engaged couples. In that culture, people were often promised in marriage young, and then reached the age to marry. If a man feels he should marry the woman he’s promised to, he isn’t sinning. Let them marry. But if he’s settled in his heart, under no pressure, and decides not to marry, he also does well. The one who marries does well; the one who doesn’t marry does even better, in terms of undivided devotion.

What If I’m Widowed? (1 Corinthians 7:39-40)

A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If he dies, she’s free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord. But in Paul’s judgment she’ll be happier if she stays as she is, and he believes he has the Spirit of God in saying so.

When it comes to relationships:

They all require investment and effort.
Love costs time, attention and sacrifice.
Getting married is signing up to love one person more than everyone else, including yourself.
Paul says that’s good.
But there’s another way to live, where you love everyone with all your energy, and that’s good too.
To thrive single, though, you need the gift of singleness and self-control.

The Main Point

Here’s the main point again: each person should walk in the life God has assigned and the calling He’s given.

God has given each of us grace: from our very lives to a new relationship with Him that’s free from the self-life and completely dependent on Jesus for everything.
He calls us to walk with Him in every circumstance. He promises to be there and supply everything we need: guidance, wisdom, and the care He gives His beloved children.
Our response is to trust Him with faith and let His love for us spill out of our lives.
That happens through relationships. Most often through marriage, though not only there. That’s the most common place where the world and our children can see the love of God in a dark world.

Grace Takeaway

You don’t need a new situation to have a new life. Jesus has given you everything you need right where you are. Walk with Him there, trust Him, and let His love flow through every relationship He’s placed you in.

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Something’s Gotta Change