Linked text accompanying the You Tube video with the same name. God calls us. God's call presents neither a question of what human has "authority" nor of human "leadership," but of God's right to make free use of what He gives.
Video presentation which this linked text accompanies:
1. Title: You are not the one to build, Part 4. God is “calling!” What does that mean?
2. Romans 11:29—the statement I’ve been trying to explain and apply throughout this series.
3. Heading: A question I’ve been asked. In connection with my writings, I have been asked the same question the officials asked Jesus, but I admit the “question” has more often been raised as a demand to cease and desist than as a question.
4. Here it is: By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority? Matthew 21:23. This question contains the assertion that someone in authority needs to give you permission before you may do the things you are doing!
5. Luke 12:13-15 (NASB). The question of authority is sometimes a legitimate question. Jesus himself asked a person who asked Jesus to help them satisfy their greed by commanding their brother to pay up “who appointed me a judge between you?” Jesus had not been sent to arbitrate disputes between greedy people. Instead, his message was “Be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one is affluent does his life consist of his possessions.”
6. Matthew 21:24-25: I often wish I could get away with an answer like the one Jesus gave! The officials’ question about which merely human official had authorized Jesus to do miracles and act as God’s spokesman was not a legitimate question. Jesus could have answered that only his Father could give the authority, and he had done so. But, instead, Jesus answers with a question about the authority of John the Baptizer, who we know was a prophet sent by God, even though most of the officials didn’t recognize him as a prophet: “John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
7. Matthew 21:25b-26: Jesus had the officials who were questioning him over a barrel. They could not safely give either answer. If they answered that John’s authority came from God, Jesus would have asked them why they didn’t believe him when he said Jesus was the Messiah. That would have answered their question about Jesus’ authority in Jesus’ favor by their own admission. But if they gave the answer they were really thinking—that John was a self-appointed charlatan and no prophet—they feared the crowd, which had believed in John’s baptism, would riot.
8. Matthew 21:27: When the authorities said they didn’t know where John’s authority came from, Jesus likewise declined to answer their question about his authority, since they had made it clear they wouldn’t believe his answer. Which brings me to my first point:
9. Answers about authority are only for those who will listen to them. Jesus still works this way.
10. Questions about God’s “callings” and “gifts” are not at their root questions about who, that is, what human or group of humans, has authority. They are also not questions about human leadership. They are questions about God’s right to make free use of what he gives us.
11. Matthew 23:10-12: Jesus himself warned us not to be called leaders, because he is our only true Leader. The greatest among us will be our servant. Those who try to make themselves important will be humbled, and those who practice humility will be exalted. In God’s kingdom, the way up is down!
12. Matthew 20:25-28 is an extension of the same point. Those who have authority and want to be known as leaders in the world flaunt their authority, making unnecessary demands of those under them just to prove who is “boss.” But among the band that follows Jesus, the opposite should be true—prominence should belong to those who serve others, not those who boss them. Why? Jesus himself, God who had come among us as a human, “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Follow his example!
13. Yes, I will beat this horse until it is thoroughly dead! This is a persistent problem for me. Romans 12:3 tells me not to think of myself more highly than I should. Instead, my thoughts of myself and of my own importance—my self-image, in modern jargon–should be both determined and measured by the faith God has given me. They should be carefully thought out and reasonable, not inflated. The faith that measures my self-image should be faith in God, not in myself.
14. Though its primary application is to my activities that another Christian finds morally “questionable,” Romans 14:4 also applies to people who want to judge my work and my words in Christ, and my authority to do and say them. “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” God will make me stand, even though others judge me for the things I say and do in him. He is the only qualified judge.
15. Heading: Callings: What is a “Calling?”
16. Heading: Traditional Approach. Text and explanation: The traditional approach of organized Christianity to the “call” word group, when used in a church setting, is an example of semantic specialization or narrowing. This narrowing of the “call” word group occurred after the Scriptures were completed. (The slide then gives a link to a Wikipedia discussion of “semantic change.” ) Nearly all discussions of church “callings” start with the following verse, by itself, pulled out of its context:
17. “And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as [a]pastors and teachers…” Ephesians 4:11 (NASB). This verse is then used to say that the “offices” of service and leadership to which a few Christians are or have been specially “called” by God are the four or five “offices” listed in this verse and no more. There is active dissension between denominations regarding whether “pastor” and “teacher” are separate “offices” or only one “office,” that is, “pastor-teacher.” There is also active dissension regarding whether God has stopped sending apostles and prophets. But, once the list is reduced to the two, three, four or five “offices” any particular denomination teaches are presently in use, there is general agreement among virtually all denominations that, when one receives a “call” to “service” in a church setting, that “call” must lead ultimately to one of these “offices.” But please notice three rather annoying things about the language of this verse: 1) it never uses any form of the word “call;” 2) it never mentions any “offices;” and 3) it never actually confers any authority upon any of the individuals it says God has given to the Church.
18. So it is really very questionable whether Ephesians 4:11 can support the structure of “callings” to church “offices” that has been erected upon it. Instead, it is probably better to say that the list of people God says he has given to the church does not lead to any specific human “program” or support any human “job descriptions.” It leaves God free to do what he wants.
19. Even so, all human church organizations build systems of qualifications and “job descriptions”—some of them merely necessary to the functioning of that organization, and others having some scriptural support—to define who will be allowed to lead, and to speak, in their local churches. They then tend, to a greater or lesser degree, to insist that activity outside of the structure and the “programs” they have established must be suppressed. This has a long history, which I won’t go into here. But nearly all insist on prescribed courses of formal, academic religious education as a prerequisite to do any of the work of any of the Ephesians 4:11 church “offices.” English-speaking Protestant groups usually quote 2 Timothy 2:15, out of the King James only, to support this insistence on academic education. It says: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. “
20. 2 Timothy 2:14-16 (CEV): “14 Don’t let anyone forget these things. And with God as your witness, you must warn them not to argue about words. These arguments don’t help anyone. In fact, they ruin everyone who listens to them. 15 Do your best to win God’s approval as a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed and who teaches only the true message. 16 Keep away from worthless and useless talk. It only leads people farther away from God.” This passage shows why 2 Timothy 2:15 is quoted out of context and only from the King James version to “prove” the need for academic “study.” First, if Paul had told Timothy he needed to go to a Bible college or seminary before he could serve, the command would have thoroughly confused poor Timothy. It would have been like telling him to get permission from the present King of France. France didn’t exist in the First Century, and neither did any seminaries. Second, as far as I can tell, only English translations that follow the Geneva Bible/KJV tradition even use the word “study” in verse 15. Most translators have instead instructed Timothy to “be diligent,” or something similar, to be approved as one who handles God’s words accurately. Finally, as the context quoted on this slide shows, Paul was concerned, not that Timothy would have adequate formal “preparation,” but that Timothy would give his full effort to presenting God’s message accurately, pure and not mixed with idle talk and arguments about words he had picked up from his environment. This doesn’t mean that I deny the value of formal academic study—I have five degrees, including three advanced degrees. It means only that I disagree with the organized church’s traditional insistence that prescribed courses of academic study are always required before one may answer God’s “call.”
21. 1 Timothy 4:13-15. This is a passage in 1 Timothy directly parallel to 2 Timothy 2:14-17. Paul’s instruction to Timothy is to give his whole attention and effort to the reading of Scripture, exhortation, teaching and the spiritual gift which had been granted to him. No mention is made of formal education.
22. Acts 4:13-14. This slide is a reminder that formal education, or the lack of it, wasn’t an issue for the original 12 Apostles. When they appeared before the Sanhedrin, that body noted that they were “uneducated, common men.” But they also recognized from seeing the Apostles’ boldness—and from the man who was healed standing with them—that the Apostles “had been with Jesus.” Jesus wasn’t one of their approved teachers, but Jesus’ method of educating his disciples was the same as the approved Jewish teachers, and even the pagan philosophical “schools” of the day, used: the disciple spent years, full time, “with” their teacher, learning intimately both the master’s teachings and the way of life that went with it. Jesus still teaches us in this way. The way to come to know Jesus, not just know about him, is to spend time with him. To be recognized by others as Jesus’ disciple, I must live with him!
23. Galatians 1:15-18, 21. Paul had formal education as a Pharisee and teacher of the Law at the feet of Rabban Gamaliel the Elder, who Jews still regard very highly today. But he had no formal preparation for his role as Apostle to the Gentiles. Paul explains that, after Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus, Paul did not first seek formal training from the original Apostles or any other non-resurrected human. Instead, he spent three years in Arabia and then back in Damascus, being with Jesus.
24. Heading: The Only Example in the New Testament that Even Looks Like a Later “Ordination” Ceremony Doesn’t Mention any “Call”
25. 1 Timothy 4:14 gives all of the available details of this ceremony: “Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was granted to you through words of prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.” No call is mentioned.
26: Heading: Principle to watch for in the next few passages: God doesn’t think like we do. God chooses, calls, befriends and empowers the weak and the foolish, not the people we naturally respect.
27. 1 Corinthians 1:27-31 is Paul’s summary of the principle and God’s reason for it: “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” God wants us to trust him, not our own wisdom and abilities—so he chooses the foolish, weak and insignificant in whom to show his wisdom and power. In many ways, I fit the description—weak, lowly and despised. My strength and honor are all his.
28. Deuteronomy 7:6-8. God has always worked with people in the same way, choosing the weak rather than the strong to receive his favor. God here reminds Israel that he did not make Israel his beloved and choose them for his own possession because they were numerous or mighty. No, when God brought Israel to himself, they were the fewest of all the nations and were slaves!
29. Matthew 18:1-4. Who is greatest in the kingdom of the heavens? Great people? No, children. The only way to enter God’s invisible kingdom all around me is to come to him like a child, completely dependent on him. I must humbly give up all dependence on my own abilities and merit. As long as I depend on myself, I am to that degree the king of my life, he is not, and I haven’t entered his realm.
30. John 15:15-17. Returning to uses of “call” words, Jesus indicates that God once called us slaves, but now “I have called you friends.” We did not choose him. I did not choose him. He chose me, and us, and called us to bear lasting fruit—and that fruit starts with our love for each other. This is review but brings out the use of the words “call” and “called” here, which are entirely general and do not refer in any way to church “offices.”
31. Heading: General Calling and Other Callings
32. Heading: “Call” is a Very General Word. Subheading: It applies to anyone God gives a special purpose, even some unbelievers. Explanation: In fact, in general usage, it has nothing to do with God’s activity at all. When I say that I “called” you on the telephone, it would be improper to read any religious meaning into my statement! It is only in some, but not nearly all, contexts in Scripture that “call” has anything to do with God’s choice of particular people.
33. Isaiah 45:1-4. I admit this is a deliberately shocking example of my point. God says King Cyrus, a then-future king of Persia, has not known him. Cyrus would have attributed his success to his own power and wisdom, and to the pagan deities of Persia. Nevertheless, God calls Cyrus “my anointed” who God has “taken by the right hand,” and says twice that he “calls” or has “called” Cyrus “by your name,” to conquer kingdoms and become great. He promises to “go before” Cyrus, who has “not known” God, breaking down all obstacles before him, and to “give [him] the treasures of darkness,” “for the sake of… Israel my chosen one.” Thus, even in the time of Isaiah, two centuries before Cyrus, and one century before the Exile of Judah, God had already “called” Cyrus by name to prepare the way for the return of Israel from the Exile!
34. John 10:34-36. Another “shocking” example. When the people proposed to stone Jesus because they understood him to say “I am the son of God,” Jesus pointed out that, in the Psalms, God had “called them gods, to whom the word of God came,” quoting Psalms 82:6.
35. Romans 13:1-4 & 6. I have included this passage and the next two because Christian writers and the organized church in general have traditionally included being a secular ruler and work in government as divine “callings.” This tradition goes back to at least 50 years before the rule of the Roman Emperor Constantine I in the Fourth Century and is inferentially supported by this passage at least as well as the tradition of identifying the functions named in Ephesians 4:11 as church “offices” and the only divine “callings” in the Church is supported by that verse—which is to say, not very well. This passage says that secular “rulers” or “governing authorities”—even very nasty ones—are servants of God, sent by God, ordained by God to bring God’s vengeance on those who do evil. The emphasis is on the individual persons of the rulers, not the institutions to which they belong. The passage doesn’t speak to governing institutions collectively at all. The individuals are ordained by God and are individually responsible to him. And we are assured that even very evil rulers are serving God’s purposes toward us. How this works is suggested by the next passage.
36. Proverbs 21:1-3. Verse 1 shows that when a matter is of importance to God’s plans for us, he is able to turn the ruler’s heart to accomplish it. God may not change the ruler’s mind, or his expressed policies, and the ruler may not understand the importance of what his heart moves him to do, but God remains in control of the outcome. This is true even when the immediate outcome appears to us, with our limited perspective, to be quite perverse. Verse 2 identifies the main function rulers—even very bad ones—carry out: testing their subjects’ hearts to make clear to everyone whether their ways are right. Verse 3 is the ideal for a ruler, as well as for us individually—to do righteousness and justice.
37. 1 Timothy 2:1-4. Here Paul indicates once again that God’s work is with the individuals who are in authority—for whom we are to pray—not with the governing institutions to which they belong. It further says that we are to pray for these individuals, not pray against them for God’s judgment and their swift demise, even when they are very evil people. Nero Claudius Caesar was Emperor when Paul wrote both Romans and 1 Timothy. Among the line of Roman Emperors, Nero was the first truly violent, virulent persecutor of Christians. He was also such a corrupt, violent and ineffective leader that, a few years after 1 Timothy was written, the Roman Senate voted the death penalty on him and his own Praetorian Guard abandoned him. Today, we name our dogs Nero; we don’t give this name to our sons. Yet Paul told Timothy to pray for Emperor Nero. What we are to pray for our rulers is that they will permit us to lead a peaceful and quiet life with dignity while we are pursuing godliness. Peace, quiet, and the ability to pursue God unmolested are acceptable to God and favor others being saved and coming to knowledge of the truth through us. If our rulers are keeping order and dispensing God’s justice among ordinary people (as in the Romans passage) and letting us pursue God peacefully and with dignity, that is really all we can expect. Our rulers are then performing their ordained function, their “calling.” It is for this we are to pray.
38. Heading: Changing subjects a bit, the next passage is an example of the word “called” being used to describe God providing direct guidance to a believer in making a decision that was not a vocational choice.
39. Acts 16:6-10. Paul and his companions were “kept… from” preaching in the province of Asia—we aren’t told how, exactly. The Spirit of Jesus then would “not… allow” them to enter the province of Bithynia—again, we aren’t told how—so they went to Troas to wait for instructions. Paul then had a night vision of a man from Macedonia begging him to come help the people there, and understood this vision to mean that “God had called us to preach the gospel” in Macedonia. Paul’s “call” in this case consisted of specific instructions where he was to go next.
40. Heading: And I also must “call.” Explanation: The activity of “calling” isn’t limited to God. He tells me that I must “call” in three areas. The first is that I must call on God’s name, in His name, to be saved. All of these terms mean a great deal more than is commonly believed. The second area is that I must also declare my agreement with him before people. This agreement with God is my “confession.” What God wants me to “confess” is not just (or even mainly) sin or an agreement to doctrinal statements. It is my “confession” of Jesus as Lord before other people. It is my agreement with God about everything he is doing or plans to do, with me, in my life, in my world, and in the cosmos. Everything he says is right, and I will do it; everything he does is right, is done for my ultimate good as a member of his Body, and I accept it. The third area in which I am to “call” is speaking—calling—to other people in God’s name, as He directs. The next few passages illustrate these points.
41. Romans 10:12-13. God is Lord of all and has prepared abundantly for all who are calling, who keep on calling, on him. Verse 12 really does carry the implication of persistence in calling on God [lit., “all those calling him”], which is often overlooked , leading to verse 13 being ripped out of its context to say that God is bound to give “eternal salvation”—defined as deliverance from eternity in Hell to eternity in Heaven after we die, and nothing more—to anyone who calls on his name for salvation, even once, and never calls on him again. But nothing in the context of these verses supports this. What this passage is talking about is salvation—that is, deliverance—from separation from God and everything that goes with that separation, both now and after I die. I must keep on calling on God; otherwise, logically, the separation remains!
42. Romans 10:5-11, which is immediately before verses 12 and 13, has already explained this, along with the separate roles of the words of my mouth and the thoughts and perceptions of my heart in my act of calling, or failing to call, on God. First comes the heart. The righteousness, rightness with and before God, that is based on faith in him does not come from a heart which says to itself that he is far away and needs someone to go to Heaven or to the abyss to fetch him before he will hear me. No, the heart that leads to rightness with God says “the word (of God) is near me,” that it is already present “in my mouth and in my heart.” It is from that heart, that recognizes his presence nearby, with me, that I can keep calling on him and be saved. So what was the “word of faith” that Paul was preaching? If I “confess” with my mouth that—that is agree out loud with God about—Jesus “as” Lord and believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, I will be saved. Neither half of this can happen without the other. I can’t declare my agreement that Jesus is Lord without agreeing that he is, and has a right to be, in control of everything. “No, Lord!,” is a contradiction. But it would be foolish to put him in charge of everything if I believe he might still be dead. So to declare him my Lord and act consistently with this declaration, I must also believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead. On the other hand, if God raised Jesus, as I believe, he also has the power to keep me living consistently with the declaration of my mouth that he is Lord. And that is salvation.
43. Matthew 10:32-33. This explains why Jesus could say what he said in this passage, and a parallel passage in Luke. Here, Jesus isn’t talking about “eternal salvation”—my fire insurance policy. He is talking about moment by moment, here and now. When I agree with Jesus’ lordship—both his control of everything and his right to tell me what to do and say—before other people, he declares his agreement with me in front of his Father. And I receive the power to go forward. But when I deny Jesus—when I say “no, Lord!”–in front of other people, Jesus denies me before his Father. He cannot endorse and support things in me that did not come from him. Far from being “difficult,” these passages could not be any simpler.
44. James 3:2-6. James explains why calling to God and agreeing with God with my own mouth, not just silently in my heart, is important. It is my words, even more than my actions, which show where my heart is. The course of my life is set on fire by my tongue. If I can control my tongue, I can control my whole body. So my consistent confession that Jesus is Lord—that is, my consistent statement of my agreement to his rights as my Lord and to his plans (and not my own) as far as I know them—will always be accompanied by right actions before him. My vocal agreement with Jesus as Lord also gives him my permission, in the sense explained in the Matthew passage I just discussed, to declare his agreement with me before his Father and bring the things we are both saying to pass. My right actions and his power both flow from my agreement with him. It can’t be any other way.
45. 2 Corinthians 9:12-14. The immediate subject of this passage is a “ministry of service” that consisted of a promised offering for the poor believers in Judea. But Paul also speaks, as part of the same thought, of the Corinthian church’s “confession of the gospel.” That church, and its members individually, declared openly their agreement with—that is, they “confessed”—the good news about Jesus. Paul urges them to show their obedience to this confession by giving generously to the poor. Right actions follow real agreement with the good news of Jesus and are the proof of its genuineness.
46. 1 John 4:1-3. I will now reconcile two short passages in 1 John with this line of thinking, and with each other. This passage deals with identifying the spirits in which people speak, or the spirits which speak through people, that we hear. Any spirit that declares its agreement that Jesus Christ has come as a human being, like us in every way except sin, is from God. That is because Jesus’ full humanity is our only hope. If Jesus was entirely like us except that he never wavered in his dependence on his Father and on the power of the Holy Spirit, because of that dependence was able to lead a sinless life, and was then raised bodily from the dead, we have hope of the same things. We can also depend on the Spirit, as Jesus did, and overcome sin and death. But if, as some of the false teachers of John’s time (and today) say, Jesus was only God, but not really human, we can’t hope to do as he did. Then all we have to fall back on is our hope in something that replaces the true Christ—the anti-christ, that which stands in the place of Christ. This anti-christ need not be a person or a deity; it may be a whole religious or philosophical system that asserts we have hope without a risen human Christ. So any spirit that says Jesus did not come in the flesh must give us hope by substituting an anti-christ for Christ. And the thing that distinguishes the two types of spirits is what they, and their human mouthpieces, consistently say about Jesus. It’s all in the words that reflect the spirit!
47. 1 John 4:15-16. This passage deals with the opposite error, belief that Jesus was only human and is not the Son of God. There is no hope in that position, either. It is only because the Father “remained in” his Son that we, as his adopted children, have any reason to believe that both Father and Son will “remain in” us. It is those who continually declare their agreement—that is “confess”—that Jesus is the Son of God who “remain in” God. It is these people who can say “We have come to know”—a knowledge which grows with experience—”and believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.” Confessing our agreement with God, growing in our knowledge of his love, and remaining in him are the key concepts here, and they always work together.
48. Romans 10:16-17. Though not everyone will listen to the good news when it is spoken—and demonstrated—to them, it is important that I speak. We are made in the image of God, who spoke everything into existence and who talked to himself while creating the first humans. He then spoke to the humans he had created, who obviously were created with a language and a fully-formed capacity to understand and respond to what God said. We think in internal speech, and God approaches us through our reason. Communication through heard, spoken language is the channel by which God has always preferred to communicate with humans. Therefore, as Paul wrote, Faith comes from hearing, and hearing God comes from someone saying God’s words. I will continue to write as directed, but I will speak more!
49. Heading: Introduction to My Personal Application. First Bullet: I will show more diligence to make all of my words more consistent with what God says. I’ll likely take the whatever short years I have left in this life learning to control my tongue all the time, even in idle social conversation, but I am ready to begin. Second Bullet: Keep writing. Besides the kingdomoftheheavens.net blog and this audio/video series, there are some other areas God is beginning to show me in which my writing will serve a purpose, always directed toward increasing opportunities for oral confession of God’s words during conversations. Third Bullet: Develop areas of mutual interest with those outside as a starting point for gentle, quiet outreach. For now, history and genealogy. Fourth Bullet: Develop my recognition that God is interested in both my immediate family and my broader earthly family/kinship group. Renovate ties with my sons and grandchildren, as the Lord presents opportunity. Declare God’s intention to offer my identifiable relatives—both those I am able to contact directly and those that self-identify through the Lost Cousins website or other media (even after my departure from this life)—a friendship with Christ as a result of what I’m doing. Last Bullet: Continue my recovery work through Celebrate Recovery and increase my involvement.
50. Romans 10:8b-10. A review of the need to believe in Jesus’ resurrection and agree out loud that he is Lord: “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
51. Romans 10:11-13. This leads to continually calling on his name: “11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
52. “14 How then are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? 15 But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” Romans 10:14-15. Finishing the thought, others will not hear unless someone is sent to them.
53. Heading. We now come to the basic principle which should govern the whole matter of hearing God’s call: it is “Let God do the calling.” Once he calls, follow where he leads, and trust him to know what he is doing. The first point, let God do the calling, as opposed to calling myself and signing God’s name to it, spinelessly letting other people “call” me to do what they want, or simply giving up and doing nothing, is illustrated by the next passage. This passage is often considered a “difficult” passage because it has implications so radically different than the way we naturally want to live. I’ve broken it into three frames, but Paul wrote them all as parts of a single argument.
54. 1 Corinthians 7:7-13 and 17, is the first part of the larger passage that is displayed in the next four frames. This passage is most commonly treated as four separate discussions of four “moral” issues—marriage and divorce, circumcision, slavery and the advantages of lifelong virginity. But this is not an accurate way to look at the passage. The focus of the passage—the discussion of all four issues—is remaining in the situation in which I was when God called me until he makes changes in that situation, not seeking to initiate changes on my own. Paul directly states that a believer “should remain in the situation they were in when God called them” four times in the broader passage, once in each of the not truly separate contexts. See verse 17 on this frame and compare it to verses 20, 24 and 26 on the next three. On this frame, in the sub-context of marriage and divorce, Paul first states that it is good for the single to remain unmarried, if they have the gift to tolerate that way of life. He then states repeatedly that a married believer should not divorce their spouse. The underlying concept, though, is that they should stay in the situation into which God has called them until he changes it.
55. 1 Corinthians 7:17-20. Paul treats circumcision the same way. A man who is called to Christ circumcised should not attempt to reverse it, and a man who is called while uncircumcised should not be circumcised. The ritual is meaningless, “keeping God’s commands is what counts.” “Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.”
56. 1 Corinthians 7:21-24. Paul does not endorse slavery. He writes, “you were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.” But he says to those who Christ calls when they are slaves that they should “as responsible to God” remain in that state unless they can “gain their freedom.” In that case, they should take the opportunity to be freed. But, if they are not in a position to be granted their freedom, they should remain in the state in which they were called. They should not do God’s work for him. This is Paul’s message once again in this context.
57. 1 Corinthians 7:25-31. Paul now returns to the questions of marriage and virginity. Both are permitted. One who is called in a married state should not try to be released from it. One who is called in a single state should not “look for” a spouse. It doesn’t say that single believers should not marry—only that they should not “look for” a spouse. (God may bring one they are not looking for). But the key to all of this—and to the previous instructions about circumcision and slavery as well—is that “the time is short,” so I should not act as though any of the things I have in this life—possessions, a spouse, even my own freedom—is mine to keep. “Those who use the things of this world,” Paul says, should do so “as if not engrossed in them.” That is why I am to remain in the situation in which I am called unless God changes it. My focus is to be on God, not on changing my circumstances. “For this world in its present form is passing away.” I must let God do the calling.
58. Hebrews 11:8. Abraham is the perfect example of this. He stayed where he was until God called him. Then he obeyed God’s call and left, following God’s call even though he didn’t know where he was going.
59. Preview of the next part: 1) God chose me. 2) I did not choose him. 3) He calls me to be his child and friend.
60. Romans 9:23-26: What God is doing in the world, “he did… to make known the riches of his glory upon objects of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory, namely us, whom he called, not only from among Jews, but also from among Gentiles, as he also says in Hosea, I will call those who were not my people, my people, and her who was not beloved, beloved. And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, you are not my people, there they shall be called sons of the living God.”
61. John 15:15-17: Jesus said: “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another.”
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