1 Corinthians 7:22 – slave or free?

For, in the Lord, he who is being called a slave, is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise, he who is being called, being free, is a slave of Christ.

A slave had no social status. You were property of somebody else. A serf. Nevertheless, Paul relativizes this and compares it with the freedom someone experiences, as soon as he is called in the Lord. Even if he is a slave, in spiritual respect he is free! For he knows hope, peace and joy! Real freedom is on the inside.

Conversely, somebody who is ‘free’, i.e. someone who is not a slave, as soon as he is called in the Lord, is a “slave of Christ”. In his letters Paul often introduces himself as a slave (Romans 1: 1; Titus 1: 1). Saying that Christ is your Lord, is nothing else than saying; I’m not my own, but his property! I’m under his control, and I’m for his account.

Why no honour for a slave? What has social status to do with it? For whom is called in the Lord, it is totally irrelevant if he is a slave or free. The mission by which He calls us, thát gives dignity to our existence!

Delen: