I Corinthians 7:16  For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?
17  But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.
18  Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.
19  Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.
20  Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.
21  Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.
22  For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.
23  Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
24  Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.

One thing we as people are good at is making messes. Adam never expected to see the judgment he faced. He was warned. He knew that God is Almighty. He knew God is always truthful. However, he allowed his mind to turn away from what he knew to be true and he chose to believe a lie. It was a disastrous choice with dire consequences.
God did not leave Adam with his mess. He offered Adam and Eve a choice, even after they rejected His first choice. He offered them the only way of forgiveness and life. They would now struggle for the rest of their lives, but they could be forgiven and have a home in Heaven. The same is true for all people, except that we are born in sin. We are born separated from God and in defiance of Him. He provides all that is needed for man to consider the truth and be saved. It is true there are thousands of babies that are murdered before they ever see the light of day. That is a tragedy that most of those involved in it never stop to consider until it is too late. They will suffer for that unless they turn to God in repentance and are saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In our text we are again reminded that we dare not play God. We do not know everything. We may assume we know how things will turn out, but we really don’t. God reminds us here that the saved wife does not know if her husband will get saved. The saved husband also does not know if the wife will get saved. God is far more merciful with us than we are with one another.
It is true, as we noted already, that we can make a mess of things. God is able to do things and make something good come out of that mess if we will trust in Him. God is also teaching us here what true love is like. True love is forgiving. It is not compromising. It is not careless. God looks at us prior to salvation and He provided His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ for us. Jesus Christ came to this earth and shed His blood and died on the cross for us. Are we worth it? Do we deserve it? God is worthy.
Pastors need to teach the truth and that includes the importance of trusting in the Lord before we act, rather than coming running to Him after we make a mess and expecting Him to restore things to what they would have been without our mess.
Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden. They never went back there. After a while God destroyed the entire layout of the earth. We cannot even go and take a peak at the Garden of Eden now. It is gone. We can read about it, but it is gone. The ground that Adam and all the way to Noah walked on is all rearranged. We do not know what the layout of the earth was prior to the flood. We look at the world today and we see things that are amazing to our eyes. God gave us a beautiful earth to live on, but it is stained by sin.
God is able to take a broken marriage and restore it to something it should have been, but there will be scars of remembrance. Those memories will not destroy the relationship when true forgiveness has taken place.
In verse 17 we are reminded that God has a calling for every person. It is important to heed His calling. Paul stated that he taught the same truth in every church. We are again reminded of the fact that there is no universal church on this earth. There are godly churches. We are also reminded that the same teaching applies to every church. There can be unity when God rules.
In verse 18 Paul wrote about the Jews. The Jewish boys were commanded to be circumcised. They are Jews. They cannot undo that fact. A saved Jew has nothing to apologize for. He needed to serve God as a saved Jew. A saved Gentile needs to serve God as a saved Gentile. A Gentile does not need to become a Jew in order to minister to the Jews.
In verse 19 we see that circumcision is nothing without the Lord. There are many secular Jews today who have been circumcised. They do not know why that was done to them. They live in sin. There are many Gentiles that have been circumcised. Many Gentile parents never stopped to consider why they were circumcising their sons. What is important is to keep God’s commandments. This is not teaching works salvation. Paul was directed to write to Christians. Many of the saints in Corinth were carnal, but they were still saints. They needed to understand that for saints, God’s commandments are a must. We have soul liberty. John 1:12 tells us:

John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The liberty we have is to live like sons of God. Christians do not benefit for a moment in being carnal. That needs to be addressed and repented of. We must honour God according to His Word. In verse 20 we are again reminded that we need to be content to remain in the same calling we were called in. This is again taken in the context given to us. The saints in Corinth were not being told they could remain carnal. The rebel in chapter 5 could not remain in his state of fornication. The squabbling and taking one another to court in chapter 6 needed to stop, etc.
In verse 21 we see that the servant would not necessarily be set free just because he got saved. He might still be a servant for the rest of his life. Now that he was saved, he would have an entirely different outlook on life. He would see that he had a greater master than the human master. Those that were free, did not need to become a servant to man, understanding that in salvation each saved person is made a servant of Christ.
We have talked of this before. Jesus Christ becomes the Lord of the saved person. That is what true liberty is about. We are set free from bondage to sin and set at liberty to serve God faithfully.
In verse 23 we are again reminded that we have been bought with a price. That does not mean we need to find a way to pay back the price. We can never pay God back for His gift of salvation. The saved person is not looking at having a debt that he needs to try to pay back. He looks at a priceless gift he has been given and out of gratitude for the Giver, he wants to serve Him faithfully.
Born again Christians need to be careful not to put themselves under the servitude of men. Most people will never be their own boss. They will be a hired man. However, we do not need to sell our souls to any man. We do not need to be slaves to the dollar or to the corporate ladder. Serving Christ comes first. If the job you are interested in says you have to give up your Sundays for the boss, or you cannot attend Bible Study because of your job, you need to find a different job. You are not on this earth to see how much money you can make. If you are saved, you are saved to glorify God.
In verse 24 we are again reminded to be content with the calling of God in our lives. He has chosen each one that is saved and He has a specific work for each one. Ask God to show you what He wants of you and then put your hand to the plough and don’t look back. Serve God faithfully and rejoice in the blessings He has in store for you.
Today is the Lord’s Day. Get ready to go to a good church today where you can be fed and blessed. If you are not saved go to a good church and listen carefully to the Word of God. Get saved today. You do not need to wait for some special occasion. God wants you to be saved today. Do not delay any longer. Trust in the Lord alone for your salvation and then get in contact with the pastor of that good church and ask him to help you to learn how to walk with the Lord. You will never regret it.
Pastor Bartel