Christians and Social Revolution

You see, Christianity was never designed to be a disruptor of social relationships. And that is Paul's message. And what was happening in the Corinthian church was this. They were coming in and using their Christianity as a justification for all kinds of social change. Welcome to Grace To You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. The Bible says, when Christ saves you, the old things pass away. But does that mean you're to help that process along by removing every reminder of your sinful past?

What if part of your past includes an unbelieving husband or wife? Today on Grace To You, John MacArthur examines that perplexing question, moving ahead in the study he calls Guidelines for Singleness and Marriage. Whether you're married or single, it's important to remember there are unique, God-ordained rules for the road, for both men and women, in the home and in the church. To help you know and pursue God's standards with vigor, here's John. Follow along in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. There has been much said in the past about the revolutionary nature of Christianity, and there has been much printed about Christian revolution, and there has been much discussion about the social implications of Christianity, and does Christianity bear weight against social status and social institutions, and what kind of weight does it bear, if any?

What social activism is justified biblically, et cetera, et cetera. Well, this simple passage, not difficult to understand once you really see it, from verses 17 to 24, will help us to focus on the priorities of the Christian experience, particularly as they relate to social things. Now in the seventh chapter, we have noticed that Paul is writing about the issue of marriage.

The Bible has a lot to say about that particular subject. It talks about single people and their behavior. It talks about married people and their behavior. It talks about divorced people.

It talks about widows. It has much to say about what is required within a marriage, what God's standards are for the life of the husband, the wife, the children. There is much in the Word of God about the whole theme of marriage.

Some of what is in the Word of God is contained here in the seventh chapter of Corinthians. Now the Corinthians were having problems with the whole subject of marriage. The problem basically arose from the fact that when people were becoming Christians, there was certain pressure being put upon them to conform to a certain view of marriage. For example, you're a single person, and you happen to get saved in the city of Corinth, and you attend the Corinthian assembly. There are some well-meaning Jews there who believe, because Orthodox Judaism always believed this, that to be single is to defy the law of God.

God said to multiply, replenish the earth, and if you do not do that, then you are slaying the posterity of God. And so the Jews would say, you must get married, especially now that you're a Christian. And so there was tremendous pressure being put on single people. On the other hand, you had a kind of an ascetic attitude that was a holdover from pagan philosophy, and some of the Gentiles were coming into the church and saying, marriage is not the thing, singleness is the thing, because then you can be ascetic, totally devoted to God, and you don't have any of the encumbrances of marriage.

And what you really ought to do if you're married is get a divorce and get out of your marriage. And it went further than that, especially if you happen to be married to an unbeliever, dump him for sure, because he'll defile you, and if you have children, you'll have half-breed, defiled children. So these were the confusing elements in the Corinthian situation regarding marriage. And so some were saying everybody has to get married, some were saying everybody has to get single again so we can be totally devoted to God. And there would be a high level of spirituality in the Jews' mind connected with marriage, and a high level of spirituality in the Gentile philosopher's mind connected with being single. So Paul has to speak to these issues. And he writes the seventh chapter in response to that very struggle.

Some were challenging marriage, and some were challenging the right to be single. And we've already seen what Paul has to say to the single, to the married, and to those who are married to unbelievers. And now as we look at verse 17, Paul takes these particular things that he has said and draws from them a general principle.

And this is very interesting. It's very simple, and it's very repetitious. So I'm sure you're going to go away understanding the basic principle. The tough thing is going to be where you apply it, and that the Holy Spirit will have to work out with you. But Paul takes the particulars that he has given and makes a general rule out of it in verses 17 to 24. Now here is the general principle.

I'm going to state it to you, and then we'll see how it unfolds. Christians should not be concerned with changing their outward circumstances. Christians should not be preoccupied with changing their outward circumstances. Now that's the basic principle. The Christian life is not a social issue.

It is not social revolution. It is spiritual regeneration. There is no reason to say, now you're a Christian, you have to stop being single. Now you're a Christian, you've got to dissolve your marriage and be celibate. Now you're a Christian, dump that unsaved spouse or you'll defile yourself. Now you're a Christian and a slave, get out of that slavery. Christianity cannot be commensurate with bondage. You're free.

Tell your master to go fly a kite. You're walking out. You see, Christianity was never designed to be a disruptor of social relationships. And that is Paul's message. And what was happening in the Corinthian church was this. They were coming in and using their Christianity as a justification for all kinds of social change. They were dumping husbands and wives. Single people were being forced into getting married when they had the gift of celibacy which God had granted them for unique purposes of ministry. Slaves were chafing under the role of slavery and saying, I demand to be free, after all we're equal, one in Christ. Galatians 3 28, there is either male or female, bond or free, but all are one in Christ. And all of this social reactionary attitude could have destroyed the testimony of the Corinthian assembly.

Just destroyed it. Because if anybody began to see Christianity as a social revolution, they would put the revolution down and then they would lose the opportunity to be exposed to the reality of Christianity, which is a transformed life, not a social reformation. So what Paul is saying is don't turn Christianity into a social thing.

Make sure that everybody understands that it is a spiritual regeneration and that it can exist in any kind of social situation. Now that's the basic content of these verses. There is no question in my mind and certainly in the mind of anybody who studies the Bible that Christianity must have had a profound effect upon society. The fact of miracles and signs and wonders, the teaching of equality of the sexes and of bond and free, the tremendous preoccupation with the second coming of Jesus Christ, the idea of coming judgment, the idea of eternal bliss in heaven, disdain for any earthly wealth. These things were factors that were very, very hard for the world to understand and I'm sure it had a profound effect.

And in the midst of this effect, which I think at that point is legitimate, it could have had an effect further than that that would have been illegitimate. It was enough that the world was confused without confusing them further by making Christianity not just theological but social. And so the Spirit of God wants to make sure that the world always keeps its perspective. Yes there are signs and wonders. Yes there is a preoccupation with heaven and eternal things and a disdain for the earthly things. Yes there is the coming of the Lord Jesus for the Christian that's good, for the non-Christian that's bad. Yes all of these things are true but let's keep it at the spiritual level and let's not make Christianity a justification to overthrow the government.

Because when we do that then we become just like every other revolution and the distinctiveness is lost. It doesn't matter what you are. It doesn't matter what the society is in terms of the basic identity of Christianity. The gospel is not an immediately revolutionizing disorganizing element in society. For example, if a wife becomes a Christian what should she be? A better wife, right? If a husband becomes a Christian what should he be? A better husband.

1 Corinthians 7 talks about those two things. If you have a friend who becomes a Christian what should he immediately be to you? A better friend. If there is a slave who becomes a Christian what should he be? A better slave. A master who becomes a Christian? A better master. A citizen who becomes a Christian what should he become? A better citizen.

Not a social reactionary. Now this is repeatedly spelled out in the New Testament. Now lest I be misunderstood let me add this footnote.

I am not saying that Christianity has nothing to do with social activism. I feel that the Bible is very clear about the fact that we are to meet the needs of people. That we are to bind up the wounded. That we are to feed the hungry.

That we are to clothe the naked. That we are to house the lonely and the outcast. The Bible is very clear that we are to do good to all men, especially those of the household of faith. There is a social responsibility that Christianity has. That Christians should seek justice in a society through the means that that society provides. That Christianity should seek right and honest things. And that Christianity should speak the truth of God against an unjust, unrighteous society. But the heartbeat of Christianity with all of its deep social ramifications is still this. It is a spiritual regeneration and spiritually transformed people will change a society not like dynamite but like leaven. Not by blowing the lid off the society but by spreading the power of Christianity through the transformed lives of the people within that society.

And so I would say it this way. Christianity interferes indirectly, not directly with social institutions. Christianity has really been the cause of great social change in history. But not by exploding on that society but by leavening that society.

That means penetrating it at its roots. Paul reveals the divine truth that Christianity is never to become a superficial social situation. It is always compatible with any earthly circumstance in any society. Eventually as it grows the seeds of godliness and justice and righteousness etc. will begin to affect the society in which it grows. I believe that in whatever place in society a person finds himself he can be a Christian and he can be a good Christian.

You can be a Christian in any society because Christianity is a spiritual relationship to the living God and it has little or nothing to do with social status. Now this is the principle Paul wants to get across here because he wants the Corinthians to know that being a Christian is no reason to start changing every kind of social relationship. The principle he states in verse 17 in verse 20 and in verse 24. He repeats it three times, the same principle. And then in between those three times he illustrates it. So point one is the principle, then the illustration two, then the principle again, then the illustration, and then the principle at the end. Now notice as we go let's begin with the principle first of all in verse 17. The words God and the Lord in the manuscript should be reversed so it would read this way.

Only and that's probably a better way to start the verse. Only as the Lord has distributed to every man as God has called everyone so let him walk and so ordain I in all churches. Now however it is that God's called you stay there.

Don't create a social revolution. Whatever God has allotted to you just keep in that course. Everybody walk in the chosen course that God has given him. Conversion does not mean that single people who have the gift of celibacy are to get married. It doesn't mean that married people are to break their marriage. It doesn't mean that at all. It doesn't mean that if you're married to an unbeliever you dump the unbeliever.

No, not a bit. Stay where you are. If you're a slave, stay a slave. If you're a Jew, stay a Jew. If you're a Gentile, stay a Gentile.

Stay where you are. This is the general principle. The normal thing is to maintain your social status. Now I hasten to add it doesn't mean that if you got saved when you were 13 and you were single that you have to stay single the rest of your life. Doesn't mean that. It is a general principle, not an absolute law.

Later on you'll see how that works. I mean it even said in chapter 7, remember that if you're married stay married. But then it gave an exception. If an unbeliever wants to depart, let him depart. So there's a general principle that does have exception.

Here is one as well. God says stay the way you are. That's the general rule. Now if you're a slave, stay a slave. But if freedom does come along, take it. Just don't be preoccupied with that problem. We are not to create social turmoil.

Why? Verse 15, back up and remember this principle. The end of verse 15, God has called us to what?

What did he call us to? Peace. Whatever it is that we do in the world should have the ultimate effect of making what? Peace. In Romans 12, 18 it says if possible so far as it depends on you be at peace with all men. In Romans 14, 19 so then let us pursue the things which make for peace. In 2 Corinthians 13, 11 live in peace and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Hebrews 12, 14 pursue peace with all men. Now notice the 17th verse for some particulars. Only as the Lord has distributed to every man.

The Greek verb for distribute means to apportion to one his share of something. If you're a slave, who is it that apportioned to you that position? Who is it? It's the Lord. If you're a wife, who is it that apportioned to you that position? It's the Lord. Husband.

Single person. Whatever it is, remember this, whatever the Lord has allotted to you in whatever way God has called you so continue to walk. If you're a slave, did you know that God put you in that position before he saved you and he saved you in that position to use you in that position? If you're single, God had you single before he saved you. If you're married, God allotted to you a married situation and saved you in it to use you in it. God knew that. God saved you in a certain situation for the time stay in that situation. Married, unmarried, mixed married, circumcised, enslaved, free, whatever it is, your life status is given by the Lord.

Now that's an interesting thing to realize people. The kind of job you have and the kind of marital status you have is related to the plan of God even before you got saved and when the Lord redeemed you in that, he redeemed you in that to use you in that, at least for the moment. Don't be discontent. Don't say, oh now that I'm a Christian I can't do this anymore. Now I'm not talking about, I know if you're a, if you run a brothel or you pedal whiskey across the state line or something, that's something different because that's illegal and immoral but when we're talking about things that are just social relational things that have no moral value, God doesn't expect you all of a sudden that you're a Christian to bail out of everything. God has you there for a reason.

He had you there before he even saved you, saved you while you were there and so it's simple, stay that way. Whatever social situation you're in, God can work and Christianity can be compatible with that so stay where you are. Let's not make Christianity the upheaval of the whole society. Let's show people in the world, says Paul, that Christianity gives solidarity to society, that it gives solidarity to life, not that it's chaotic. We don't want women leaving their husbands who are unbelievers to find nice Christian husbands just because they're Christians now and think they can't live with an unsaved man.

No, stay there. So let him walk. Now after stating the principle, he illustrates it. Now watch verses 18, 19.

This is fascinating illustration, believe me. When I first read this, I didn't really understand it. Is any man called being circumcised? Were any of you, the word called means saved. Were any of you saved while you were circumcised? Now a circumcised person is a what? Is a Jew. Were any of you saved when you were Jews? Well of course, many of them. Then do what?

Let him not become uncircumcised. You say, well why would they do that? Well it's obvious why they would do that. They would do that for the purpose of identifying with the Greeks for social status. So you know what Paul says, look, if you were saved a Jew, don't do that. You say, well why not?

Let me tell you. A Jew comes to Christ, he gets saved. Who would be the most likely person that he then could lead to Christ? Another Jew, right?

And somebody in his own family. So if a Jew comes to Christ and immediately renounces his Judaism, wants to get uncircumcised and totally identify with a Gentile culture, what are his Jewish friends going to say? They're going to call him a what? A blasphemer, an apostate who isn't fit for heaven. To remove the mark of the covenant would be unthinkable and he would immediately alienate himself from the harvest field that he is most capable of reaping in.

You see? So Paul says don't do that. There were some Gentiles in the church saying, now that you're a Christian, if you really want to reach the Gentile society, you're going to have to quit the Jewish thing and you certainly can't go with me down to the local spa down here and everybody's going to know, you know, you got to do something about that fella. Otherwise you're not reached to these people and he says, look, stay the way you are because in your effort to reach those people, you probably won't succeed anyway and you'll alienate the people that God intends you to reach. Your own people.

Every one of us has a harvest field. There's no reason to alienate all the Jews who feel strongly about their Jewishness. Now he turns it over in the next part of verse 18 and says, as in he called an uncircumcision. Were any of you saved while you were Gentiles? Let him not be circumcised.

Now you know what this story is all about, don't you? Some Gentiles came to Christ and what would the Jews say? Oh, it's so nice that you've come to Christ, but listen, if you want to get in on the really great stuff in the kingdom, you've got to have this operation. Now I don't think it was like Galatia. In Galatia they were telling the Christians there they had to get circumcised to be saved. I think here they're trying to show them that they had to have this to get the full blessing.

And the reason I believe that is because Paul would have been a lot more adamant here if it was an issue like Galatia for salvation. But I think the Jews here were saying, you ought to identify with God's people. You ought to identify with the covenant people and we'll just have this little operation.

And you know what? The Gentiles looked down on the circumcision and the Jews as a despised people. They really believed that the Jews were a low class, despised people. Now to identify with the Jews then would have alienated a Gentile from what? From all his people.

And you see then he would have alienated himself from the harvest field that God had designed him to reach. Do you see the point? God says just stay where you are.

That's where I have you for the reason that I have you there to reach those people. Don't worry about your social status. It doesn't matter. Look at verse 19.

This is pretty clear. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Neither one of them matter. But the keeping of the commandments of God. The only issue is a moral issue, a spiritual issue, not an external.

It doesn't matter what operation you had or didn't have. And there's no sense for something that doesn't matter. There is no sense in you alienating yourself from all your friends and all your family. There's no sense. I could say a lot about the word obedience. That's the heart of everything, isn't it? The thing that matters in verse 19 is keeping the commandments of God. Let's focus on what is important. Let's not major on the minor.

Let's not get bogged down in the externals, the superficial. Let's remember that the issue is obedience. Alright, having stated the principle and illustrated it, he now states it again.

And if you think it's repetitious, you're right. Anytime God says something, it's important. Anytime he has his prophet or his apostle say it three times, it's that much more important. Verse 20. Let every man abide in the same calling in which he was called. Let every man stay in the same situation he was in when he was saved.

That's precisely what he's saying. Concentrate on the spiritual. Emphasize the Christianity, not the circumstances socially.

Christians need to be preoccupied with spiritual things. Now he's going to illustrate it again. Look at verse 21 and 23. And this is illustration number two. And here's a good illustration because it's an illustration out of slavery. Art thou called being a slave, doulos, a bond slave?

Were you saved as a slave? Don't worry about it. Care not for it.

That's a Greek idiom means never mind. It doesn't matter. If you were called as a slave, it doesn't matter. You say, John, does the Bible say slavery doesn't matter?

No. No, the Bible doesn't say slavery doesn't matter. The Bible says if you were saved as a slave, don't worry about it. You can be a Christian as a slave, can you? You can be a Christian as in anything.

Generally speaking, I'm not talking about moral things, but social. Paul is not approving of slavery. He is merely saying that slavery is not an obstacle to Christian living. Notice what he says in verse 21 at the end of the verse.

If you may be free, then use it rather. But I'm not saying you got to stay a slave. Now some people use this passage, they turn the end of the verse around to mean even if you have liberty offered to you, turn it down. Boy, if you were saved as a slave, you are a slave.

No. Now I think what he's saying here is if you're saved as a slave, then don't worry about it. But if freedom comes along, grab it. Now let's take it to verse 22.

And here he draws a very interesting paradox that is not really totally understandable if you keep pushing it out, but in its simplicity, it's very clear. He that is called in the Lord being a servant or a slave is the Lord's free man. He that is called in the Lord while he is saved while he is a slave is really the Lord's free man.

Do you understand that? I mean, what does it matter if you're a human slave or a physical slave if you're freed from sin, freed from Satan, freed from hell, freed from the curse of the law? I mean, what does it matter that you have to serve somebody else? I mean, you're really God's free man. And on the other hand, he says, likewise, he that is called being free, in other words, somebody who gets saved while he's a free man becomes Christ's slave. All he's simply saying is, you may be a slave physically, you're a free man spiritually, and you may be a free man physically, but you're a slave spiritually.

In other words, he just kind of shows the fact that nothing really matters on the surface. It doesn't matter whether you're physically bound or free. It only matters that you're both spiritually bound and free in the paradox of Christianity. Do you understand that paradox? That as a Christian, you're the servant of Jesus Christ, and yet as a Christian, you're free from the law, from sin, from Satan, from hell, from the curse. Do you understand that paradox? That's what he's saying. Christ has totally set you free to be his servant.

Don't worry about the superficial situation you're in. Now, he takes it a step further in verse 23. He says, you are bought with a price. Be not ye the slaves of men. Do you ever again consider yourself a slave? You may be a physical slave, but you don't go on saying, oh, I've got to get rid of the bondage of my slavery. Listen, you're not really a slave to men. If you happen to be a Christian slave, you're a Christian slave because God has you there, and he bought you with a price, and you're his slave, his servant.

He repeats the principle in verse 24. Brethren, let every man in whatever state or status or situation he is called there abide with God. However it is that you've been called, however it is that you've been set apart, whatever status in life you've been allotted by the divine sovereignty of God, maintain it.

Hold on to it. God has you there for a reason. And conversion is no signal for a man to leave his occupation, for a man to leave his wife, for a man automatically to panic and want to get married.

No. All of life is God's. We are all his servants. He places us in all different positions, and we are to serve him in those positions. Let's concentrate on spiritual service, concentrate on obedience, and let the social thing take care of itself, as the leaven of righteousness will permeate a society and bring about change.

It's John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary. His message today is part of his compelling series here on Grace to You, titled Guidelines for Singleness and Marriage. Well, John, you briefly touched on the options a Christian has if his or her non-Christian spouse wants to leave the marriage. Of course, when divorce is the subject, the variety of questions is huge, because no two situations are exactly alike.

And yet we can be confident that God's Word provides answers. Yeah, that is one of the things that we learn about the Scripture, that the principles of Scripture stretch across all kinds of individual episodes in life, all kinds of varying circumstances. There are principles laid out in Scripture for marriage and for divorce. And they actually start way back in the Pentateuch, the first books of the Old Testament, as Moses lays out some prescriptions with regard to divorce and remarriage. And of course, the whole idea of marriage goes all the way back to the beginning in the book of Genesis with Adam and Eve. When you begin to talk about divorce, of course, then you move into the Gospels and there's more information.

Then you move into the writings of the Epistles and there's more information. We have pulled all that the Scripture says about divorce and remarriage together in one book. It's a relatively new book called The Divorce Dilemma. It's designed to build up good marriages, prevent divorce, heal troubled ones, and offer wisdom for single people considering marriage or remarriage after a divorce.

It impacts basically the Scripture that relates to the seven detailed chapters carefully designed to give you biblical answers. We'll send this book, The Divorce Dilemma, free to anyone contacting us for the first time. Call or email us today and get a free copy of The Divorce Dilemma. Yes, friend, this book gives specific, clear answers to the most common questions about divorce—answers every Christian should know. To get your copy of The Divorce Dilemma free if you've never contacted us before, get in touch today. Call our toll-free number, 855-GRACE, or go to our website, gty.org.

The Divorce Dilemma is packed with truth that you'll benefit from whether you're married now, never married, divorced, or widowed. Again, we'll send you The Divorce Dilemma for free if it's your first time contacting us. Just call 855-GRACE or go to gty.org.

That's our website, gty.org. When you visit there, make sure to take advantage of the thousands of free resources available. You can read daily devotionals, watch episodes of Grace to You television, and download more than 3,500 of John's sermons from over 54 years of pulpit ministry. To tap into these free Bible study aids and download John's current study, Guidelines for Singleness and Marriage, visit gty.org. And to keep up to date on all that we're doing here at Grace to You, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Now for John MacArthur and the staff here at Grace to You, I'm Phil Johnson, encouraging you to be here at the same time tomorrow when John looks at how you can effectively glorify God no matter what your relationship status. It's another half hour of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on Grace to You.