purchased at a high price

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
March 2016 (29)

1 Cor. 7:21-24

21 Were you called while a bondservant? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, I would rather you use that opportunity.  22 Because the bondservant called by the Lord is emancipated by the Lord, just like the free person is a bondservant of Christ.  23 You were purchased at a high price; do not become bondservants of other men.  24 As each has been called, brothers, stay in that state in the presence of God.

purchased at a high price

Paul now turns to yet another relational category in Corinth—bondservants—and he treats it with the same pastoral realism and theological depth that shaped his counsel on marriage and ethnicity. The Corinthians had been asking how becoming a Christian should alter their social relationships. Paul’s answer, repeated like a refrain, is that conversion does not require a person to overturn the external circumstances in which God first called them. Marriage does not need to be dissolved. Ethnic identity does not need to be changed. And now, Paul says, neither does one’s status as a bondservant.

Paul’s general principle

Paul applies the same guiding rule he has used throughout the chapter: remain in the condition in which God called you. Faith does not demand a social revolution in order to be authentic. A bondservant who becomes a believer is not spiritually inferior, spiritually handicapped, or spiritually restricted. God’s call reaches into every social condition, and the Spirit’s work is not limited by human structures.

Paul’s two important qualifications

Yet Paul adds two clarifying truths that reshape how bondservants should understand their identity and their future.

1. A higher reality now defines every believer

Regardless of earthly status, every Christian has been bought with a price—the death of Christ. That means no believer ultimately belongs to a human master. Even a bondservant is, in the deepest sense, free in Christ. And even a free person is, in the deepest sense, Christ’s servant. Earthly categories remain, but they no longer define the believer’s worth, dignity, or calling.

Paul is not endorsing the institution of slavery; he is relativizing it. He is placing it beneath the greater reality of redemption. The cross has redefined ownership. Christ alone claims the believer.

2. If freedom becomes possible, it should be embraced

Paul then makes a practical concession: if a bondservant has the opportunity to gain freedom, that opportunity should be taken. Not because bondage makes someone less spiritual, but because freedom allows greater flexibility for gospel work. A believer who is not tied down by contractual obligations can serve more freely, travel more easily, and devote more energy to the kingdom.

Paul is not commanding escape or rebellion. He is simply recognizing that freedom, when available, is strategically advantageous for the church’s mission.

Paul’s pastoral balance

Paul’s teaching avoids two extremes:

  • He does not demand that bondservants overthrow their social condition in order to be faithful.
  • He does not romanticize bondage or treat it as spiritually ideal.

Instead, he affirms that God calls people in real circumstances, not ideal ones. And he insists that God can use them powerfully right where they are.

The heart of Paul’s message

  • Conversion does not require external upheaval.
  • Christ’s redemption gives every believer a new identity that transcends social status.
  • Freedom, when available, is a gift that can be used for the kingdom.
  • Bondservants are not spiritually disadvantaged; they are fully God’s people, fully God’s temple, fully God’s servants.

Paul’s counsel is both liberating and stabilizing. It honors the dignity of believers in every condition while encouraging them to pursue opportunities that expand their usefulness to Christ.

LORD, thank you for setting us free by the high price you paid for us. Thank you, also, for the servanthood you have called us to – to a better master.

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spray painting the temple

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
March 2016 (28)

1 Cor. 7:18-20

18 Was someone called after having been circumcised? He should not try to undo his circumcision. Was someone called who is uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised.  19 Neither being circumcised nor having a foreskin is what really matters, but what matters is keeping God’s commands.  20 Each person has been called in a certain state; in that state each should remain.

spray painting the temple

Paul’s counsel in this section is both pastoral and protective, aimed at sparing the Corinthian believers from unnecessary anxiety, confusion, and spiritual harm. The Corinthians were being pressured—sometimes subtly, sometimes directly—to make external changes in order to appear more spiritual. Some were being told that true holiness required becoming more Jewish. Others believed that outward rituals or physical marks would elevate their standing before God. Paul dismantles that thinking with a single, liberating principle: God is not asking for external alterations to make someone more acceptable. God has already claimed that person as his own.

Paul speaks to a Gentile congregation and tells them plainly that circumcision will not change them. It will not make them more spiritual, more holy, or more pleasing to God. They are already God’s temple. The Spirit already dwells among them. Adding external markers is like spray‑painting a temple that God himself has already adorned. It does not improve anything; it only distracts from the work God is actually doing.

Paul’s concern is not theoretical. Entire congregations have been torn apart by the belief that spirituality requires adopting Jewish customs, dietary laws, or ritual practices. Families have been divided. Communities have fractured. The Corinthians were on the brink of repeating that same mistake. Paul intervenes to protect them from a path that leads to bondage rather than freedom.

Instead of chasing external changes, Paul directs their attention to the work God is already doing within them. The Spirit is the one who transforms. The Spirit is the one who sanctifies. The Spirit is the one who equips believers to bring others into the kingdom. Outward modifications cannot accomplish that. Only the Spirit can.

Paul’s message is simple and freeing:
Remain where God called you.
Let him use you as you are.
Do not burden yourself with external requirements that God never imposed.
Holiness is not achieved by altering the body but by yielding the heart to the Spirit’s work.

The Corinthians did not need to become more Jewish to become more Christian. They needed to trust that the God who called them was already at work in them, shaping them into a people who would reflect his glory.

LORD, here we are. Use us just the way we are, for your glory and to bring others into your future kingdom.

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called from conflict

Posted on March 27, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
March 2016 (27)

1 Cor. 7:15-17

“15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him or her leave. The brother or the sister is not bound in such instances. God has called us to live in peace.  16 Because how do you know, wife, whether you will bring your husband to salvation? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will bring your wife to salvation?  17 If not, then each of you should continue the life the Lord has assigned you, to which God called you. This is my rule for all the churches.

called from conflict

Paul’s guidance in this section is remarkably balanced, pastoral, and grounded in the realities of first‑century Corinth. Mixed marriages were common—one spouse converted to Christ while the other remained in paganism. That situation created tension, uncertainty, and a great deal of conflict within the congregations. Some believers were eager to justify divorce on spiritual grounds; others felt trapped in marriages that had become strained by their newfound faith. Paul addresses both sides with clarity and compassion.

Paul’s counsel to those whose unbelieving spouses want to remain

Paul urges believers in these marriages to stay. Conversion does not erase the marriage covenant. God called these individuals while they were married, and that calling includes the possibility that their presence may become a sanctifying influence in the home. Paul does not promise that the unbelieving spouse will be saved, but he insists that the possibility is real. The marriage is not defiled by the unbelieving partner; instead, the believing partner brings a measure of holiness into the relationship.

Paul’s counsel to those whose unbelieving spouses want to leave

Here Paul is equally clear: the believer is not bound to contest the divorce. The marriage covenant is not an unbreakable chain. There are circumstances in which divorce becomes the best—or only—option. If the unbelieving spouse insists on leaving, the believer is not required to fight to preserve the marriage at all costs. God has called his people to peace, not perpetual conflict. A forced marriage sustained only by legal pressure does not reflect the character of God’s calling.

Paul’s theological reasons

Paul’s reasoning rests on several key truths:

  • A believer is not enslaved to marriage under every circumstance.
    The covenant is sacred, but it is not absolute in situations where the unbelieving spouse abandons the relationship.
  • God calls his people to peace.
    Endless conflict, hostility, and turmoil are not marks of God’s kingdom. Peace is.
  • Salvation is not guaranteed.
    A believing spouse may be a powerful witness, but the outcome is not predetermined. Paul refuses to build false hope or impose unrealistic expectations.

Paul’s pastoral realism

Marriage is messy. Divorce is painful. But Paul does not treat divorce as a spiritual catastrophe. He sees hope even in brokenness. God’s grace does not evaporate when a marriage ends. God loves divorced people, and the church must reflect that love. Paul’s counsel protects the dignity of the believer, acknowledges the complexity of real relationships, and leaves room for God to work in unexpected ways.

The overall picture is one of sober hope: remain if peace is possible, release if peace is impossible, and trust that God’s grace is present in every circumstance.

LORD, give us compassion for those who have experienced the tragedy of divorce.

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stay if you can

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
March 2016 (26)

1 Corinthians 7:10-14

1Co 7:10 But for those of you already married, I have a command (not from me, but from the Lord): a wife should not leave her husband.

1Co 7:11 But if she does leave, she should stay unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband should not divorce his wife.

1Co 7:12 To the rest of you, I advise this (I, not the Lord): if a brother has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.

1Co 7:13 And if any wife has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce her husband.

1Co 7:14 Since the unbelieving husband is being made holy by his wife, and the unbelieving wife is being made holy by her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now, they are being made holy.

 

stay if you can

 

Paul’s counsel in this section becomes especially pastoral because he is dealing with a situation that is both emotionally complex and spiritually delicate. Many in Corinth found themselves in mixed marriages—one spouse a believer, the other not. That reality created tension, uncertainty, and the temptation to justify divorce on spiritual grounds. A believer could easily argue that the marriage had become fundamentally incompatible, that the differences were irreconcilable, or that holiness required separation. Versions of that argument have appeared in every generation.

Paul refuses to let that reasoning stand. He acknowledges the difficulty of such marriages, but he does not treat difficulty as a mandate for dissolution. Instead, he urges the believing spouse to remain, so long as the unbelieving partner is willing to stay. The situation may be less than ideal, but God is not limited by imperfect circumstances. The presence of a believer in the home can become a channel of grace, a stabilizing influence, and a quiet testimony to the transforming power of Christ. Paul does not promise that the unbelieving spouse will come to faith, but he insists that the possibility is real enough to make faithfulness worthwhile.

This counsel is grounded in realism. Paul does not romanticize the situation or minimize the strain. He simply recognizes that God often works slowly, quietly, and unexpectedly. Leaving the marriage prematurely cuts off possibilities that God may yet open. Remaining creates space for God’s work, even if the outcome is uncertain.

Paul’s teaching also reframes the idea of “calling.” A believer’s circumstances at the moment of conversion are not accidents. They are places where God intends to work. A difficult marriage is not a sign that God has abandoned someone; it is a context in which God may display patience, endurance, and grace. Paul’s instruction is not a command to endure misery for its own sake. It is an invitation to trust that God is present in the struggle and capable of shaping something redemptive within it.

The heart of Paul’s message is simple: do not assume that God is finished. Do not assume that the story is over. Stay, if the unbelieving spouse is willing, and allow God room to work in ways that may not yet be visible.

LORD, for my friends who are struggling with difficult marriages, please show your power and grace in their circumstances.

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misapplication

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
March 2016 (25)

1 Corinthians 7:5-9

1Co 7:5 Do not be depriving one another, except in those times when you both agree to it, so that you can devote yourselves to prayer, then come back together again, so that Satan might not tempt you both because of your lack of self-control.

1Co 7:6 I am saying this as an allowance, not as a command,

1Co 7:7 because I wish all men were like I am.  But each one has his own gift from God, one going this way, but another this way.

1Co 7:8 But I am saying to the unmarried and to the widows, it is good to remain unattached like me.

1Co 7:9 But if they do not have that kind of self-control, they should marry, because marrying is better than burning with lust.

misapplication

It is easy to imagine how Paul’s earlier words could have been lifted from their original context and turned into a slogan. Teachers experience this in every generation: a passing comment, meant for a specific moment, becomes a rigid principle in the hands of hearers who misunderstand the intent. Paul had likely expressed the view that, given the pressures and uncertainties of his missionary circumstances, it was “good for a man not to touch a woman.” In Paul’s situation—marked by constant travel, persecution, and the urgency of gospel work—celibacy allowed him to serve with fewer distractions and greater mobility. It was a personal conviction shaped by his calling, not a universal command.

But in Corinth, that statement appears to have been transformed into a rule. Some believers began teaching that abstaining from marital intimacy was spiritually superior. Others concluded that marriage itself was a lesser path, suitable only for those who lacked discipline. The result was confusion, tension within marriages, and a distorted view of Christian holiness.

Paul responds by clarifying the principle and correcting the misuse. His point had never been that marriage was inferior or that abstinence within marriage was virtuous. His earlier statement reflected his own circumstances, not a mandate for all believers. So he makes an allowance—not because he is compromising, but because the Corinthians had misapplied his words. He affirms that marriage is good, honorable, and necessary for those who do not share his particular gift of celibacy.

Paul’s reasoning is pastoral and realistic. Those who are already married should not attempt to impose celibacy on their relationship. Marriage includes mutual obligations, and intimacy is part of the covenantal bond. To deprive one another for the sake of a misunderstood spiritual ideal is to invite temptation and strain the relationship. Paul insists that married believers honor their vows and care for one another’s needs.

For the unmarried, Paul acknowledges that not everyone has the same calling he has. Celibacy is a gift, not a requirement. If an unmarried believer does not possess that gift—if desire burns and self‑control is difficult—marriage is not a failure but a wise and godly choice. It is better to marry than to be consumed by longing.

Paul’s teaching here is balanced, compassionate, and grounded in reality. He upholds the value of celibacy without diminishing the goodness of marriage. He corrects misuse of his words without retreating from his convictions. And he reminds the Corinthians that holiness is not found in rejecting God’s good gifts but in using them rightly.

LORD, may those who listen to our teachings understand them clearly and apply them appropriately.

 

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reciprocal rights

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
March 2016 (24)

1 Corinthians 7:1-4

1Co 7:1 Now, regarding those issues you wrote me about: Yes, “it would be good for a man not to touch a woman.”

1Co 7:2 But, because sexual sin is a reality, I say each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

1Co 7:3 The husband should give his wife what he owes her sexually, and the wife has the same obligation to her husband.

1Co 7:4 Because the wife does not have the rights to her own body, but her husband does, likewise, the husband does not have the rights to his own body, but his wife does.

reciprocal rights

 

It appePaul is correcting a misunderstanding that had begun to circulate in Corinth—an idea that marital abstinence was somehow more spiritual than marital intimacy. It appears that someone in the congregations had begun teaching that married couples should refrain from sexual relations, perhaps to achieve a higher level of holiness or to gain spiritual power. It is even possible that Paul’s own words, spoken earlier in Corinth—“it would be good for a man not to touch a woman”—had been taken out of context and turned into a rigid rule. Whatever the source, the idea had become controversial and was causing confusion among married believers.

Paul responds by setting the matter firmly in order. He argues that Christian couples should not deprive one another of sexual intimacy. Marriage does not cancel physical desire, nor does conversion eliminate the need for mutual affection and union. If a couple abstains for extended periods, both partners become more vulnerable to temptation. Paul is not speaking theoretically; he knows the pressures of Corinthian society, where sexual sin was readily available and culturally accepted. Abstinence within marriage, when not mutually agreed upon and temporary, creates spiritual and moral danger.

Paul also reframes sexual union as a mutual obligation within marriage. It is not something one partner can unilaterally decide to withhold, even for religious reasons. Each spouse has a claim on the other’s body—not in a hierarchical or domineering sense, but in a reciprocal, covenantal sense. Paul’s language is strikingly balanced. He does not say that the husband owns the wife’s body without saying that the wife owns the husband’s body. The rights are mutual, and the responsibilities are shared.

This teaching cuts against both ancient and modern distortions. In the ancient world, husbands often assumed sexual rights while wives were expected to submit. Paul overturns that assumption by insisting on reciprocity. In modern contexts, the temptation may be to treat sexuality as an individual right, something each partner manages independently. Paul overturns that as well. Marriage creates a shared life in which personal autonomy is willingly limited for the sake of love, fidelity, and mutual care.

Paul’s point is clear: married believers cannot act independently of one another in matters of intimacy. Even religious motivations must take second place to the covenantal obligations of marriage. The vow binds both partners to a relationship of mutual giving, mutual responsibility, and mutual protection.

LORD, forgive us our selfishness, and lack of responsibility toward each other. Show us how to demonstrate mutual love.

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singular body – plural you

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
March 2016 (23)

1 Corinthians 6:18-20

1Co 6:18 Escape from sexual sin. Every sin a person commits is outside the body, but the one committing sexual sin is actually bringing sin into his body.

1Co 6:19 Or do you not yet get it — the fact that your body is a temple housing the Holy Spirit inside you, which you all have been given from God, so you do not belong to yourselves?

1Co 6:20 You all were bought at a price, so bring glory to God with that body of yours.

singular body – plural you

Paul’s language in this section becomes especially delicate because the grammar of the passage carries a theological weight that is easy to miss in English. Every pronoun in verses 19–20 is plural. Paul is not speaking to individual Christians about their individual bodies. He is addressing the entire Corinthian fellowship as though they share one collective body. His concern is not merely personal morality but the purity of the whole community. The church, taken together, is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, and therefore the church, as a unified body, must remain faithful.

This matters because the Corinthians were treating sexual sin as a private matter—something one believer might do without affecting anyone else. Paul rejects that assumption. Sexual sin is not an isolated act. It fractures the unity of the body of Christ. When one member joins himself to a prostitute, the entire fellowship is implicated because the entire fellowship is spiritually joined to Christ. The sin of one becomes a wound in the whole. Paul’s plural pronouns underline this reality: the body that must remain pure is the shared body of believers, not merely the physical body of an individual.

Paul’s goal is to help the Corinthians see that their unity with Christ is not abstract or symbolic. It is a real spiritual union that binds them together as one people. Because of that, the temptation to porneia is not simply a personal struggle; it is a threat to the integrity of the whole church. The Spirit dwells within the community, and the community must therefore guard its holiness together. Faithfulness is a shared responsibility. Purity is a communal calling.

Paul’s argument is not meant to shame but to awaken. The Corinthians had been influenced by a worldview that separated spiritual identity from physical behavior. Paul counters that by reminding them that the Spirit inhabits the entire fellowship. What one member does with the body affects the whole body. What one member joins himself to, the whole body is dragged into. Therefore, the entire community must flee sexual sin—not only for individual well‑being but for the honor of the Spirit who dwells among them.

Paul’s plural pronouns preserve this truth: the church is one body, and that one body must remain faithful.

LORD, show us how to keep the whole body pure, so that our purity will give you glory.

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physical matters

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

 

1 Corinthians 6:15-17

1Co 6:15 Do you not yet get it — the fact that our bodies are parts of Christ? Should someone take the parts of Christ and make them parts of a prostitute? Absolutely not!

1Co 6:16 Do you not yet get it — the fact that someone who has sex with a prostitute becomes one body with her? The Bible says “the two turn into one flesh.”

1Co 6:17 But someone joining the Lord turns into one spirit.

physical matters

 

Some in the Corinthian churches had begun to develop a theological system which over emphasized the spiritual realities and viewed the physical consequences as not significant.  Someone with that viewpoint would agree that Christ had redeemed them spiritually, and would then see it as not a big deal that they continue visiting the local whorehouse to take care of their physical desires.

 

Paul got word that this was happening via a letter from Chloe’s house church.  His response was a reasoned, logical and theological argument, beginning from the same thesis that his opponents would begin with: once you are a believer, you are one with Christ spiritually.  But Paul does not agree with the second argument in their syllogism: that physical actions for such a person do not matter.  Paul argues that if someone is really one with Christ spiritually, he will not want to betray that unity by joining with a prostitute.

LORD, show us how to demonstrate our unity with you by staying pure for you, because physical matters as much as spiritual.

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physical matters

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
March 2016 (22)

1 Corinthians 6:15-17

1Co 6:15 Do you not yet get it — the fact that our bodies are parts of Christ? Should someone take the parts of Christ and make them parts of a prostitute? Absolutely not!

1Co 6:16 Do you not yet get it — the fact that someone who has sex with a prostitute becomes one body with her? The Bible says “the two turn into one flesh.”

1Co 6:17 But someone joining the Lord turns into one spirit.

physical matters

Paul is responding to a theological distortion that had begun to take root in Corinth—a system that exaggerated spiritual realities while dismissing the significance of physical behavior. Some believers had embraced the idea that because salvation unites a person spiritually with Christ, the physical body and its actions no longer matter. From that perspective, visiting a prostitute was seen as a harmless way of satisfying bodily desires, something unrelated to one’s spiritual standing. The body was viewed as temporary and irrelevant, while the spirit was considered the only part of a person that truly mattered.

News of this thinking reached Paul through the report from Chloe’s household, and his response is both pastoral and intellectually rigorous. He begins where his opponents begin: with the truth that believers are spiritually united with Christ. This is not a point of debate. Union with Christ is central to Christian identity. But Paul refuses to accept the conclusion they draw from that truth. Their syllogism runs like this: “Believers are one with Christ spiritually; the body is temporary; therefore, what is done with the body is morally insignificant.” Paul dismantles this logic by showing that spiritual union with Christ has profound implications for bodily conduct.

For Paul, the body is not a disposable shell. It is a member of Christ, a temple of the Holy Spirit, and destined for resurrection. Because of this, bodily actions are not morally neutral. They express allegiance, reveal desires, and either honor or betray the One to whom believers belong. To join oneself to a prostitute is not merely a physical act; it is a violation of the spiritual union that defines Christian identity. Paul argues that someone who is truly united with Christ will not want to fracture that unity by becoming “one flesh” with someone outside the covenant of Christ’s lordship.

Paul’s reasoning exposes the flaw in Corinth’s over‑spiritualized theology. Spiritual truths cannot be used to justify physical sin. The resurrection affirms the value of the body. The indwelling Spirit sanctifies the body. Union with Christ governs the body. Therefore, physical actions matter profoundly. The believer’s calling is not to escape the body but to glorify God in it, living out the reality of spiritual union through embodied obedience.

LORD, show us how to demonstrate our unity with you by staying pure for you, because physical matters as much as spiritual.

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free but responsible

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
March 2016 (21)

1 Corinthians 6:12-14

1Co 6:12 “I am allowed to do anything,” but not everything is profitable. “I am allowed to do anything,” but I will not be mastered by anything.

1Co 6:13 “Food is for my stomach, and my stomach is for food” but God will destroy both this stomach and those foods. But this body is not intended for sexual sin, but for its Lord, and the Lord for this body.

1Co 6:14 And this God who raised the Lord up from the grave will also raise us by his power.

free but responsible

Paul is responding to a set of slogans circulating in Corinth—statements that sounded spiritually profound but were being used to justify behavior that contradicted the gospel. Members of Chloe’s household had likely written these sayings down and sent them to Paul, asking whether they represented sound teaching. Two of the most prominent were: “All things are lawful for me” and “Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food.” Both statements contain truth in principle, but the Corinthians were twisting them into excuses for sin.

Paul acknowledges the theological truth behind the slogans. Believers are not under the Mosaic law as a system of bondage. In Christ, there is genuine freedom. The dietary restrictions of the old covenant no longer apply, and Christians are not defined by what they eat or avoid. But Paul insists that freedom must never be confused with license. A choice may be lawful and still be unprofitable. A behavior may be permissible and still lead to bondage. Freedom that leads to addiction is not freedom at all. The Corinthians were using their liberty to justify habits that were beginning to control them, and Paul warns that such misuse of freedom becomes a new form of slavery.

The second slogan—“Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food”—was being used to argue that bodily desires are insignificant because the body is temporary. If the body is destined to die, they reasoned, then what one does with it does not matter. Paul counters this with the doctrine of the resurrection. The body is not disposable. It is not a meaningless shell. God raised Jesus bodily, and he will raise believers bodily as well. The future resurrection gives present significance to the body. It is a temple of the Holy Spirit, destined for glory, and therefore must not be treated as an instrument for sin.

Both slogans illustrate a recurring danger in Christian theology: truths that are correct in principle can become destructive when removed from their proper context. Freedom without discernment becomes bondage. Spiritual insight without moral boundaries becomes self‑deception. The Corinthians had taken theological statements that were meant to liberate and turned them into justifications for behavior that dishonored Christ.

Paul’s response calls the church back to a balanced understanding of Christian liberty—freedom shaped by love, guided by wisdom, and grounded in the reality that Christ redeemed both soul and body.

LORD, teach us to be responsible as well as “biblical.”

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