1Cor 7:21-24 - Estate Keeping - Part 5

Freedom From Slavery to Sin is the Greatest Form of Freedom

21 Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity. 22 For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. 23 You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

By way of illustration of Paul’s point he takes the example of slavery. He doesn’t do what many people in our age would be tempted to do. He doesn’t start a crusade against slavery. He doesn’t organize the Christians to hold protest rallies. He doesn’t moralize to the rich Christians and try to get them to give up having slaves and to lobby for some sort of democratic state. Why? Why is there no definitive condemnation of slavery?

The answer is because it would lead to the very legalism that Paul has just been opposing. Don’t get me wrong - slavery is an abomination and men ought not to enslave others. But the best means of overcoming slavery is not law (civil or religious) - it is the gospel of Jesus Christ. When men’s hearts are changed then they will no longer enslave others and those who are enslaved in outward ways will nevertheless be free in their spirit.

What, then, is one to make of Newton, Wilberforce and Martin Luther King Jr. and other believers who have pioneered social rights and equality? Were they wrong? If so, why did they succeed? What’s wrong with social action?

Good questions all. And the answer is that there is nothing wrong with social action per se. I would say that the Bible refers to such people when it says, "Leave them alone, for whoever is not against us is on our part." Such things do not fall outside the purview, nor the will of God. They happen for a reason and, because they may ultimately bring grace and mercy and light and relief of suffering in some measure, they can be readily understood as things that the common grace of God brings to the world.

But the greatest expression of God’s love is found in the gospel itself and the message must not be diverted or subverted by turning it primarily into a means of changing society in general. It is first and foremost the means of saving men’s souls, by which they will be transformed, and will take the light of Christ into that society so that more will hear the good news.

But make no mistake - only a relative few will be saved. Evil men will wax worse and worse and God will eventually come to judge the world with fire. The gate is strait and the way is narrow, and few there be that find it. {Mt 7:13-14} Indeed, it is all in God’s plan - for how could we be brothers of Jesus and children of God unless we were called to do good not only those of the household of faith, but also those who may never belong to it, but remain its inveterate enemies until the bitter end? Isn’t this Jesus? He warns and admonishes and chastises not because he desires the lost to perish, but because He has no pleasure in their death and would that they all repent and believe the gospel.

And so - this is the commission given to the disciples by Christ Himself: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Not "Go and change the way the world works." Not "Go and make the world a place suitable for My return." The church is supposed to take the gospel to the world, through which God will call out His people so that they may be salt and light in the place where he finds them. Some will be slavers, like Newton, and will be salt and light in that milieu. Some will be the downtrodden and abused, like Martin Luther King Jr. - and they will be light where they are found. But nobody - nobody - can be salt and light unless and until they are regenerated by receiving Christ through the gospel. "Apart from Me," He said, "You can do nothing." {Joh 15:5}

Notice again the indifference of Paul to the social issue as contrasted to the issue of salvation and sanctification in Christ. His exact words are, "Do not be concerned." If, in the providence of God and the unfolding of their lives in obedience to God, the circumstances arise by which they can (legally) gain their freedom, then all well and good. He does not tell them to remain slaves and he does not tell them to take up arms against their "oppressive" masters. That is not the point of this instruction, nor of the gospel about which it speaks.

But, unless a person has entered into eternal life, his world-centred, here-and-now, view of life will cloud his personal perspective of what Paul is talking about here. We are sojourners on the earth. We are citizens of heaven right now. We don’t belong here any more but we stay just as long as it pleases our new Master to keep us here - and then we are content to go. More than that, we yearn to go. Matthew Henry put it nicely when he stated:

"For the unbeliever, death is the end of all joys, whereas for the believer, death is the end of all griefs".

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, which is far preferable. Yet while we are here we accept by faith that He is preparing a place for us this very moment; and it will be a place where there are no more tears, pain or death and where we are once and for all fully reconciled to God, to each other and to ourselves. No more temptation to guilt, or the fear of condemnation. Just perfect peace and joy in His presence - the earnest of which we experience through faith in the interim.

Paul’s point diverts the attention of individuals from a mindset where they define themselves by their circumstances, and towards the definition of their being in the context of their relationship to God in Christ. All of these other issues pale by comparison to the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. Resting in Him in any and all circumstances of life helps us to see those circumstances as not only bearable, but as something brought by the sovereign, loving hand of God for our good and for His glory. We may not see it that way at first, but we can come to see it in time, if God chooses not to change our situation.

The slave owner who comes to Christ is no better and no different than the slave himself. In God’s kingdom there are no ranks. There is one Master of all, one General - and all the rest are slaves or soldiers together. Thus, the slave owner is not even admonished to set his slaves free (though it is not forbidden either). What matters is not the station in life but the treatment of others under the Lordship of Christ. If I might be permitted to quote John Kenneth Gailbraith once more, on inequities:

"Under communism man exploits man. Under capitalism, its exactly the reverse."

If we truly believe our Bibles then we ought to give great consideration to the implications of statements such as verse 24, in the contexts in which they are given. Yes, there are social and cultural contexts - but I primarily refer to the textual context, through which the Spirit of Life and living teaches us about the things of the kingdom. "So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God."