Explanation:

Paul says that each person should walk according to God’s calling. What does that mean? Paul uses the verb to call several times in this letter to the Corinthians with an emphasis on God’s call to salvation.³ For example, in 1 Corinthians 1:9 Paul says that God called the Corinthians to fellowship with his Son. And in 1 Corinthians 7:18 he tells the Corinthians to remain as they were at the time of their call. The notion is that God called the Corinthians to repentance and faith in the gospel, and now Paul tells the Corinthians to walk in the situation to which they were called. In other words, God called the Corinthians to repentance and faith in Christ, and their focus should be on living out that call, regardless of their external situation.

Counterargument:

While it is possible that Paul has the call to salvation in mind when he uses the verb to call, it is more likely that he has in mind one’s external situation in life. We can deduce this from the first clause of 1 Corinthians 7:17 where Paul says that each should walk according to what God has assigned. He then follows this up by with according to God’s call. It is likely that Paul repeats the same thought twice. In other words, he says, According to what God has assigned, that is, according to God’s calling, one should walk. To walk according to what God has assigned suggests that one should walk according to the circumstances in which God has placed him. And the situation one is placed in is one’s calling. Thus, one should walk according to the situation, that is, the calling God has placed one in.

Response to counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that it assumes that Paul repeats the same idea in 1 Corinthians 7:17, but this is likely not the case. When Paul says that each should walk according to what the Lord has assigned, he uses the verb in the simple past tense. On the other hand, the verb to call is in the perfect tense, which is used to indicate an action that occurred in the past and has present effects.⁴ That these two verbs are in two different tenses suggests that Paul is not saying the same thing twice.⁵ Rather, by using the simple past tense for to divide/give/assign, Paul indicates the life circumstance, while the perfect tense of the verb to call indicates the call of God. God has called the Corinthians to faith in Jesus Christ, and they ought to live out that call in whatever external circumstance in which they find themselves.

Explanation:

When Paul says that the Corinthians should walk in the situation to which they were called, he fleshes out what he means in 1 Corinthians 7:18–24. Paul has been discussing marriage, but he turns to the example of circumcision and slavery to drive home his point. In 1 Corinthians 7:18, Paul explains that if anyone was circumcised at the time of his call, let him remain so, and likewise for anyone who was uncircumcised. He then explains that if anyone was a slave at the time of his call, let him remain a slave or take advantage of an opportunity for freedom (1 Corinthians 7:21). In either case, the point is to live up to one’s call to faith in Christ. Paul is saying that it does not matter whether one’s external circumstance remains the same or changes when God calls him to faith in Christ. What matters is one’s response to God’s call, which involves living a new life of faith regardless of the external circumstances.⁶

Counterargument:

The assumption behind this argument is that Paul uses the verb to call with the same meaning throughout 1 Corinthians 7:17–24. That Paul uses the verb to call in the same way is not necessarily so. For example, he may use it in 1 Corinthians 7:17 to say that one should live according to the external circumstances to which God called them. Paul then uses the verb to call in 1 Corinthians 7:18 to indicate God’s call of salvation, and he connects God’s call of salvation with one’s call to specific external circumstances. In other words, God called some to salvation and ordained that their external circumstance would entail circumcision or slavery. God calls each of us to specific external circumstances and while we are in those circumstances, he calls us to salvation. Thus, we should continue to live out our external callings even after we are called to salvation.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument is confused and confusing. It is not sensible for Paul to use the same verb with two different meanings in such close proximity. This is especially true given the fact that in the first part of 1 Corinthians 7:17 Paul says that each should walk according to the circumstance God has assigned them. When Paul says that each should walk according to the circumstance God has assigned him, he has in mind external social conditions.⁷ It would only confuse his audience if Paul were to then use the verb to call to repeat this thought and denote one’s external circumstance, before using the same verb throughout 1 Corinthians 7:18–24 to denote one’s call to salvation.

Possible weaknesses:

A plain reading of 1 Corinthians 7:17 suggests that when Paul says one ought to walk according to God’s calling, he means one ought to be content with the situation in which one finds himself. It is only by identifying the verb to call as a special summons to salvation that the plain meaning is overturned. Given the context and plain meaning of 1 Corinthians 7:17, it is possible that Paul simply means that one ought to walk according to one’s situation. Still, because Paul uses the verb to call throughout 1 Corinthians 7:18–24 to refer to God’s call to salvation, it is most likely that Paul means one should walk according to one’s call to salvation.

Explanation:

Paul has explained that married people should not abstain from sexual relations (1 Corinthians 7:2–5), that single people do well to remain single (1 Corinthians 7:8), and that mixed marriages should not divorce (1 Corinthians 7:12–13). Paul now summarizes his teachings with the principle that one should walk according to the situation in which God has called him.¹⁰ In other words, through his providence, God places people in a variety of circumstances, and one ought to be content with those circumstances.

Counterargument:

There are at least two problems with this argument. For one, when Paul uses the verb to call he normally has in mind the call to salvation, and this is supported by the fact that the verb is in the perfect tense (see Interpretation 1, argument a). Second, this view seems to misunderstand Paul’s point throughout 1 Corinthians 7:1–16. It is true that Paul has explained that married people ought not to abstain from sexual relations, single people may remain single, and mixed marriages ought not to end in divorce. Still, his point does not seem to be that one ought to be content with one’s situation. It is important to remember that Paul is responding to a letter from the Corinthians. They seem to suggest that married people should abstain from sexual relations, and possibly that mixed marriages should divorce. Paul’s response to these suggestions is not the practical notion that the Corinthians should be content, but the theological notion that God accepts the Corinthians by his grace. In other words, God called the Corinthians to faith when married people did not abstain, and when husbands and wives were not believing. God does not call people to faith because of their external circumstances but because of his grace. Since sexual relations happen in marriage, and marriage to an unbeliever is not sin, there is no reason for the Corinthian Christians to alter these circumstances.

Paul reinforces the notion in the verses that follow that each should remain in the situation in which they were when they were called. In those verses he explains that the circumcised and uncircumcised should remain so. And the slave should remain so (or take advantage of freedom). In either case, the point is not to be content with one’s situation, but to live out one’s call to faith in whatever situation one is in.

Possible weaknesses:

The weakness of this view is that it interprets 1 Corinthians 7:17 in isolation. Thus, one misses the fact that Paul is about to use the same verb to call several times. One must take into account Paul’s use of the verb throughout 1 Corinthians 7:17–24 in order to make sense of his meaning.