The Rule of 1 Corinthians 7
The apostle Paul’s counsel in 1 Corinthians 7 touches many different people in many different seasons of life. He addresses various scenarios involving singles, widows, married people (whether married to fellow believers, or to unbelievers), slaves, freemen, circumcised, and uncircumcised. As he speaks to those varied groups, he mainly applies just one principle, or “rule” as the ESV puts it in verse 17: “This is my rule in all the churches.”
What was that piece of counsel the apostle consistently applied, to all kinds of different people in all the different churches? His universal rule was: “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him” (7:17). That is, each believer should seek first of all to be faithful in the state God has currently ordained for him, instead of clamoring for a change of circumstances, as if that was the key to being more pleasing or useful to God.
Thus, the repeated command of chapter 7 is “remain.” It comes up in verse 20: “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.” We hear it once more in verse 24: “So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.” The idea is found again in verse 26: “it is good for a person to remain as he is.”
Singles and widows are told, “It is good for them to remain” as they are (7:8, cf. 7:27b, 37, 40), though Paul grants they are free to marry if they desire (7:9, 28, 35, 36b, 39b).¹ Married people are commanded to remain in their marriages, unless an unbelieving spouse won’t agree to it (7:10-16, cf. 27a, 39a). Jews and Gentiles are told to remain in their circumcised or uncircumcised states, respectively (7:18-19). Slaves and freemen are also told to remain the condition in which they find themselves, though slaves should take advantage of opportunities to become free, and free people must not seek to become slaves of other men (7:21-23).
Do you see the pattern? Paul is applying his “rule” to each scenario. Notice, however, that Paul is not absolute and inflexible in the way he applies it. At times Paul allows, at other times even commends, that believers seize opportunities that may come along not to remain in their present situation in life. Paul is very nuanced and pastoral in the way he counsels in this chapter! We should be careful not to use Paul’s “rule” more rigidly than he did. Even so, the general truth stands and needs to be said: it is good for believers to focus on living the life God has assigned to them in the present.
Perhaps we could restate the principle like this: make up your mind to be content with where God has you, and make it your aim to be faithful to Him right there. Bear fruit where He has planted you. Believers should be on guard against thinking, “If only I was _______ (married? not a servant? in a different social situation? had a different background?), then I could really serve God and be happy in Him.” We must not think that way. Rather, let each person live the life the Lord assigned him, to which God has called him.
In this chapter, the apostle Paul also equips believers to be able to accept his rule. He teaches them how to think about their current status in life (marital, societal, economic, etc.) in a way that helps them find contentment to “remain” as long as the Lord has them in any particular season.
First, believers should see their current lot in life as God’s gift to them (7:7 – Paul applies this terminology to one’s marital status, but I believe a broader application could be appropriate given the larger context of chapter 7). Seeing our current situation as a “gift from God” means our season of life is the result of God’s determination (“from God”) and God’s benevolence (“gift”), in His perfect wisdom of what is good for us.
Further, believers should also see their current lot in life as God’s calling, which He has assigned or apportioned to them (7:17). Thus, what should matter most for a Christian is not whether we are in this state or that, but whether we are keeping God’s commands in whatever state He has put us in (7:19). Consider also how Paul adds an important little prepositional phrase to the end of verse 24, “in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.” This teaches believers that their current condition is the opportunity they have to walk with God and serve Him. God is “with us” in the place and state where He has called us currently to be. What a blessed encouragement towards contented, right-now faithfulness!
More fuel for contentment is found in the reminder that God’s gifts and callings for us will not be the same gifts and callings He gives to other believers. “Each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.” (7:7). And God does not assign, or apportion, the same kind of life to each believer (7:17). Recognizing God’s sovereign plan and prerogative to give different gifts and callings to different Christians will help us guard our hearts against covetous comparing, which makes contented faithfulness near impossible.
Verses 29-31 explore another truth that fuels contentment and faithfulness, whatever our lot: the present form of this world is passing away (7:31) after not too long (7:29). So we should not see the joys and sorrows of this world as ultimate (7:30a). Married people should not consider their earthly marriages as the ultimate lasting reality that should have first place in their hearts (7:32). Even those marriages will pass away with the present form of this world (cf. Matthew 22:30). The things we buy in this world won’t be our lasting possessions (7:30b). Even as we “make use” of the world, we do not “make full use” of it, as if this passing life in this passing world order is all there is, or what counts most (7:31, NASB). It’s neither. And that should motivate us to willingly accept whatever worldly gifts and callings God assigns to us, or doesn’t.
We would do well to learn to apply Paul’s “rule” in our counseling ministries to others, and to our own hearts as well. We could make a long list of heart sins and struggles that the rule might be effectively used to combat! Once again, though, we should always seek to apply the rule in a loving, skilled, and balanced way, as Paul models throughout 1 Corinthians 7. Anthony Thiselton sums it up well: “The key point is not ‘staying as you were’ but that Christians can fully serve Christ as Lord in whatever situation they find themselves.”²
¹ This is not an absolute freedom; Paul puts certain qualifications on this concession (7:11, 39).
² Anthony Thiselton, First Corinthians: A Shorter Exegetical and Pastoral Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 111. Emphasis original.