The unity of the church at Corinth was seriously fractured. Not only were there numerous parties and factions, but some groups were encouraging those with the gift of celibacy to get married, while other groups were encouraging those who were married to become celibate.

The first illustration Paul gives of that general principle has to do with identity as Jew or Gentile. Was any man called already circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. In the epistles, being called by God (cf. v. 17) always refers to an effectual call to salvation. When a Jew is saved, he should not try to become like a Gentile.

This had a very specific application. Circumcision was an embarrassment in the Roman world. According to the Maccabees, some Jewish men “made themselves uncircumcised.” Josephus tells us that during the Greek rule of the eastern Mediterranean several centuries before Christ, some Jewish men who wanted to be accepted into Greek society had surgery performed to make themselves appear uncircumcised when they bathed or exercised at the gymnasiums. They literally became uncircumcised surgically. The Roman encyclopedist Celsus, in the first century A.D., wrote a detailed description of the surgical procedure for decircumcision (De Medicina VII. 25).

Circumcised and uncircumcised were commonly used to represent Jew and Gentile, respectively. By extension, the terms may even have related to women, for whom literal circumcision obviously does not apply. And the idea could also be that, when they become Christians, Jews are not to give up their Jewishness and try to appear like Gentiles. Many religious beliefs must be changed, but not racial or cultural identity as Jews.

The same principle applies to Gentiles. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let Him not be circumcised. Gentiles who become Christians are not to become like Jews.

The problem concerning circumcision was not as serious in Corinth as it was in Galatia, where Judaizers taught that circumcision was necessary for salvation (Gal. 5:2–3). In Corinth the practice may have been viewed as a mark of special dedication and a means of special blessing. But circumcision is not necessary either for salvation or for blessing. It has no spiritual significance or value for Christians at all. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing.

Most sensitive believers have wondered how and to what extent they should be involved, if at all, in promoting social, economic, and political change. All human institutions and forms of government are imperfect; some are obviously corrupt, cruel, and unjust. But what are Christians, individually or collectively, to do about wrongs and abuses in civil systems and social practices?

Christians individually and corporately are to minister in many ways, including the practical, material ways of feeding the hungry, healing the sick and injured, and other such services. Christianity has far and away been the leader in building hospitals and orphanages, in visiting prisoners, in helping the poor, and in ministering in countless other ways that are considered social services. But those are ministries Christians do as Christians, not services that they persuade society to perform.

Christ made it clear that He did not come to instigate an external social revolution, as many Jews of His days thought the Messiah would do. Jesus told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm” (John 18:36). Christ’s mission was “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10), and that is the mission of His church. When Christianity becomes closely identified with a social movement, the message of the gospel is in danger of being lost.

When it is faithfully followed, however, biblical Christianity cannot help having radical effects on every person, institution, and practice around it. But the primary purpose of the gospel is to change people, not change society. Its focus is on inward change, not outward.

We should be satisfied to be where God has put us, to accept what the Lord has assigned us, and to be faithful in whatever condition God has called us.

In the Roman empire of Paul’s time, perhaps fifty percent of the population were slaves. But unlike most slaves throughout history, the slave of that day often was better educated, more skilled, and more literate and cultured than the average free person. A large percentage of the doctors, teachers, accountants, and other professionals were slaves. Many of them lived in relative ease and were treated with respect. Others, of course, lived in constant poverty and humiliation under cruel and merciless owners.

Paul consistently taught that principle. Slaves were to serve their masters honestly and sincerely, “as for the Lord rather than for men” (Col. 3:23). Slaves had a unique opportunity to testify for the Lord. They were to show their human masters that they worked hard and honestly not because they were forced to but because they wanted to, out of love for and obedience to their true Lord and Master. They could demonstrate true contentment and peace in the midst of slavery, thus showing the inner provision of salvation.

The book of Philemon centers around the runaway slave Onesimus, whom Paul had led to Christ while in prison (v. 10). As it happens, Onesimus’s owner, Philemon, was a Christian. He was Paul’s “beloved brother and fellow worker,” and the church in Colossae met in his house (vv. 1–2). The apostle makes a strong personal and spiritual appeal for Philemon to forgive Onesimus and to accept him back, not just as a slave but as a Christian brother (v. 16). Yet, as embarrassing as it has been to some Christian activists, Paul did not condemn slavery or question Philemon’s legal rights over his slave. He did not ask for social equality for Onesimus. In fact, he even used slavery as an analogy for the believer’s walk with God.

Even having affirmed that principle, Paul makes it clear that he did not consider slavery to be the most desirable state. But if you are able also to become free, rather do that. Freedom is immeasurably better than slavery, and a Christian is not more spiritual for staying in slavery. If he has opportunity to become free, as did many slaves in New Testament times, a believer should take advantage of it. Paul was content to be in jail and to serve the Lord as long as he was jailed. He carried on much of his ministry from a jail cell. But when he was freed he left jail. If a Christian slave has the opportunity to become free, he should rather do that.

When we focus on our spiritual freedom and our slavery in God, our freedom or slavery among men is not all-important, and we can look at it in the right perspective and live in it in the right attitude

Obedience is the only mark of faithfulness the Lord recognizes. Obedience is sometimes costly, but it is always possible. We can be obedient anywhere and in any circumstance. The issue is internal.