Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
March 2024
Let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches. 18 Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not undo his circumcision. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised.
19 Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter. Keeping God’s commands is what matters. 20 Let each of you remain in the situation in which he was called. 21 Were you called while a slave? Don’t let it concern you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.
22 For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of people. 24 Brothers and sisters, each person is to remain with God in the situation in which he was called. (I Corinthians 7:17-24 CSB)
The Bible is not just a book of doctrines and mysteries. It is not just a book of theology. It is not just a book of end-time prophecies. It is a practical book. Today, we come to a very practical topic.
This section is all about contentment. Today, we are going to talk about contentment. We are not just going to talk about contentment. We are going to talk about radical contentment. Are you a contented Christian?
Most of us would say we are content. Are we really? Are you content when things are bad or just when they are good?
It is easy to be content when things are going great. Are you content when you are in a difficult trial? Are you content when you are suffering?
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:3-4 NIV)
The Apostle Paul said something very important in Philippians. Very few people could say what Paul said. He may have been the greatest Christian who ever lived. He learned how to be content in any situation.
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11-13 NIV)
Paul said that from a prison cell. He wrote Philippians from a Roman prison. Paul says that we should be content in every circumstance.
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (I Thessalonians 5:18 NIV). What are some applications to this?
If we are single, we should be content. If we are engaged, we should be content. If we are married, we should be content.
If we are divorced, we should be content. If our spouse dies, we should be content.
If our spouse leaves us, we should be content. That would make some people happy, if only the fool husband would leave.
Paul says if we are a slave, we should be content. That seems unthinkable to be content even in an oppressive or abusive situation.
Paul does not say that we can never better our situation. He does not say that we can never change jobs or careers.
He does not say no matter how poor and miserable you are, you have to suck it up and stay unhappy. He says if slaves are able to get free, they should take it.
He says if you are single, you can get married. If you don’t have the gift to be married, you should get married.
God may call you to be get married. He may call you to change jobs or careers, but you can be content in any job.
You can serve God in any circumstance. Paul did. He served God from a prison cell. That is where He wrote Scripture.
Joseph served God growing up in a large family. God spoke to him. He gave him revelation. He gave him some prophetic dreams. He served God after he was sold into slavery by his brothers.
It was a bad situation. It was a terrible situation to be sold into slavery by your own brothers and sent to another country, never to see your family again.
It was a disappointment, but God was with him, and he blessed him, and his master saw it.
Joseph was accused of rape, convicted of a sex crime and thrown into prison. He lost his reputation and his freedom again, but God was with him, and he still used him.
He still spoke to him and gave him a revelation in prison. He gave him another prophetic dream. He had a prison ministry.
The Contentment Principle
This is completely radical. It goes against the whole idea of prosperity theology. Contentment has NOTHING to do with your outward circumstances.
You can be filthy rich and be content. You can be dirt poor and be content. You can be healthy and be content. You can be sick and be content.
You can be single and be content. You can be married and be content. You can be free and be content. You can be a slave and be content.
You can be locked up in prison and be content. You can also have everyone one of those things and be miserable and unhappy.
Paul lays out a really important principle. It is not just a principle for the Corinthians. It is a principle for us today. It is a principle for everyone. Notice what Paul says.
Let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in ALL THE CHURCHES. (I Corinthians 7:17 CSB)
This principle is not only apostolic; it is universal. it is a principle for Christians everywhere. It has been called the contentment principle.
This principle says that true contentment is not found in your outward circumstances. We should not focus on our outward circumstances. We should not be preoccupied with our outward circumstances.[1]
The big lie is that if you could just change your circumstances, you would be happy.
If you could just get married, if you could just get divorced, if you could just have kids, if you could just have a different job, if you could just make more money, then you would be happy.
Three times in this chapter, Paul told the Corinthians to be content in their life situation.
Let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches. (I Corinthians 7:17 CSB)
Let each of you REMAIN in the situation in which he was called. (I Corinthians 7:20 CSB)
Brothers and sisters, each person is to REMAIN with God in the situation in which he was called. (I Corinthians 7:24 CSB)
Three times, he told them to REMAIN. He said “remain, remain, remain.” Remain in your family. Remain in your home. Remain in your job. Serve God where you are.
If you become a new believer in Christ, you don’t have to immediately quit your job. You don’t have to have a career change, unless you work as a porn star or in a strip club or are a drug dealer.
Paul says three times to remain. Whenever anything is important, you repeat it. My wife has to use repetition with me sometimes. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t.
Jesus used repetition. He used repetition with the Apostle Peter. He said, “Do you love Me? Feed my sheep. Do you love Me? Feed my sheep. Do you love Me? Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17).
The repetition drove Peter crazy, but he needed to hear it. He had just denied Jesus three times. It is an exhortation that some leaders have forgotten about.
Areas of Contentment
Today, we are going to look at five areas of contentment that Paul talks about in I Corinthians 7 and in some of his other epistles.
1) Contentment in your Possessions
But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. (I Timothy 6:6-7 NIV)
Notice that Paul said that godliness with contentment is not just gain but “great gain.”
Jesus said, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15 NIV).
He also said, “Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” (Matthew 6:25)
Jesus told several parables about this topic. In our society, especially living in America, there is the temptation to get more and more and never be satisfied with what we get.
The opposite of contentment is covetousness, which is one of the Ten Commandments. Paul called covetousness idolatry (Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5).
2) Contentment in your Finances
The Bible talks not only about contentment in your possessions and property but in your finances.
Jesus said that you cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24 NIV). Choose your master. You can’t serve both.
John the Baptist said that to the Pharisees says, “Be content with your wages” (Luke 3:14 KJV).
How many of us are content with our paycheck? That rarely happens. We are always fighting for more. That’s why we have unions.
Paul talked about the love of money. He talked about people who want to be rich. Some preachers today almost encourage it.
“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (I Timothy 6:9-10 NIV)
That is an interesting passage. There is a connection between your view of money and your faith. Paul says that some who wanted to become rich have wandered from the faith.
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5 NIV)
3) Contentment in your Relationships
Many people who are single think that have to immediately run off and get married. If they do not do it now, it will be too late. They will marry anyone just to get married and make the biggest mistake of their life. It happens every day.
Paul says in this chapter not to do that. If you are married, stay in the marriage. If you are single, don’t rush into marriage. But if you do get married, you haven’t sinned. (I Corinthians 7:27-28 TPT)
Paul says if you are single, stay single. If you are married, stay married. You can serve God as a single person but if God calls you to get married, you should do so.
4) Contentment in your Identity
Now we come to a passage which may seem strange to modern readers. It deals with circumcision.
Let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches.
18 Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not undo his circumcision. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised.
19 Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter. Keeping God’s commands is what matters (I Corinthians 7:17-19)
None of us when we become a Christian immediately rush off to have surgery on our sex organs. What is the big deal about circumcision?
Well, circumcision today is different from circumcision in Paul’s day. Circumcision today is just a medical procedure. It is just done for medical or health reasons.
Paul was circumcised but it was not for medical reasons. He was circumcised for religious reasons.
To the Jews, circumcision is not just a medical procedure, it is a religious rite. It is a sign of the Abrahamic Covenant. It refers to being Jewish (Galatians 6:13). It is a mark of being Jewish. It was part of the conversion process for Gentiles to Judaism.
Paul says if you are saved as a Gentile, stay a Gentile. If you are saved as a Jew, stay a Jew. Paul took pride in his Jewish heritage. He came from the Tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5).
When Paul became a Christian, he did not stop being a Jew. He still went to the synagogue. You always see him in the Jewish synagogue in the Book of Acts (Acts 13:14, 14:1, 17:1-2, 17:10, 17:16-17, 18:4, 18:19, 19:8, 28:17)
Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter. Keeping God’s commands is what matters.
That is interesting. Paul believed in salvation by grace, but he still said that keeping God’s commandments matters. It doesn’t matter if you have a Jewish or Gentile background, that is what matters.
Was Paul against circumcision? How could he say that circumcision does not matter, just keeping God’s commandments when circumcision is one of God’s commandments. It is part of the Abrahamic Covenant, so it is not nothing. It definitely has value.
In the OT, if you were not circumcised, you were cut off (a play on words with circumcision). You were outside of the covenant. Moses had two sons (Gershom and Eliezar). They were born in Midian. One was circumcised. One was not.
God appeared to Moses in a burning bush. He gave him a mission to do. On the way back to Egypt, God was angry at Moses and almost killed him. Why? One of his sons was not circumcised.
In fact, he would have died if his wife Zipporah didn’t step in and come to his rescue. His wife saved his life. This is a Bible story you don’t hear too much in church.
Moses didn’t circumcise his oldest son Gershom, so Zipporah did it in protest. She did it but she was furious with Moses. She was hot.
She called Moses “a bridegroom of blood” (Exodus 4:20-26). Moses had both God and his wife mad at him at the same time.
Was Paul against circumcision? Why did he say circumcision was nothing? He said it twice (I Corinthians 7:19; Galatians 5:6). Paul was not against circumcision but the misuse of circumcision.
Paul circumcised Timothy in Acts 16:1-3. He is dealing with false teaching (Judaizers). Paul believed in circumcision, but it has nothing to do with salvation. It is irrelevant to your standing with God.
Most members of the church were converted Gentiles. Most were uncircumcised. The big question of the day was this. If I become a Christian, do I need to get circumcised?
If you came from a Jewish family, you would have already been circumcised but do Gentiles need to be circumcised to become Christians.
Paul said “no.” The Jerusalem council in Acts 15 also said it was not required for Gentiles. You could do it for medical reasons, but it is not required for religious reasons.
Paul said that a man should not change his state. If he is uncircumcised, he should not try to be circumcised by surgery and vice versa.
Today, he would say something else. If you are male, don’t try to become female. If you are female, don’t try to become male.
5) Contentment in your Social Status
Now, we come to a social issue. Paul addresses a social issue in his day. It was the issue of slavery. We have different issues today. What are some of the social issues people talk about today?
What do you hear talked about in the media? You hear talk about racism. There is talk about climate change. There is talk about immigration. There is talk about abortion. People talk about gender identity and transgenderism They talk about gay marriage.
Paul does not write an essay on slavery, but he does address the topic in several of his epistles.
Slavery was a big part of the ancient world. It played a big role in Roman society.
Scholars estimate that one third of the city of Corinth were slaves. Some became Christians.
Slavery was different from the slavery we think of today. Western slavery was race-based. It was based on racism. Roman slavery was not based on race.
In the first century. slaves could work for pay. They could earn income and could buy their freedom.
What does Paul say about slavery? He talks about it in several epistles. He never says that slavery was good.
It was bad. Slaves had no rights. They were regarded as property. They could be bought, sold, and mistreated but what he says is radically different from what we hear in society.
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. (Ephesians 6:5-9 NIV)
Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. (Titus 2:9-10 NIV)
Were you called while a slave? Don’t let it concern you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.
22 For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of people. (I Corinthians 7:21-23 NIV)
1. God does not play favorites
He treats everybody equally. He does not give slaves special treatment or masters special treatment. Both will be judged by the same God.
Paul did not just give instructions to slaves and tell them to obey their masters. He told masters not to mistreat slaves and not to threaten them.
Masters have to be careful how they treat slaves because they will one day be held accountable.
2. Don’t be preoccupied with freedom
Going back to the contentment principle, Paul does not focus on their outward situation. He does not tell them to demand their rights, although if they get a chance to be free, they should take it.
He does not encourage slaves to rebel against their masters. He did not encourage civil disobedience. He was not a social activist. He was an apostle.
3. Serve God where you are
Even people on the lowest end of the social class can serve God. Even they can worship God.
They should serve their masters wholeheartedly as if they were serving the Lord. They were to obey them just as if they were obeying Christ.
Christian slaves were not to do anything to ruin their testimony. Paul says that slaves were to make the teaching about Jesus attractive in every way.
[1] https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/1830/christians-and-social-revolution
