Do Not Become Slaves of Men!

Bible Study #646 –Church in the Houses Tuesday, July 27-August 2, 2010

Topic: "Do Not Become Slaves of Men!" I Corinthians 7:17-24 Do not become anyones slave! You owe yourself to anyone who you become slave of. You owe yourself to whoever you belong to. Something we should know is that we should walk according to God’s call. It is to know that if you are married, well, you remain married; if you have children, you should take care of them, attend to their needs. If you work, you should not leave your job. It is to know that we are here, but we do not belong here. Who is it that wants to lead in your life what the Father chose for you? Well, no one. We cannot have anything that does not come from God. What comes from God flows; no one can take away what God prepared for you. They can oppose, but, the same one who called you will clear the road. Each person who God has called should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. To be married, to work, to raise children, all must be done fearing the Lord. What is needed is for each one to behave as requested by God according to his or her call. There are those who become enemies of God’s work instead of behaving as God has requested. This is how Paul ruled things in church. The rule was to be a Christian wherever you may be. It is not to change your wife as it is done in some churches. It seems as if that was happening with the brothers of Corinth. If the Jews carried the mark of the circumcision there was no reason to erase those marks. They were to remain calm, it was what Paul spoke to them on God’s behalf. The Corinthians old way of living had already been forgiven, then, they had to continue to walk forward. The matter was not whether to be curcumsized or not, to be married or not, to work, among other things, the important thing was to start a new life. The married would continue with their responsibility, also in their job, etc., that was the kind of life they lived. God takes care of our inner being, whether we’re married, single, Jewish, with the circumcision or not; God wants us to belong to Him. False men cannot have freedom but rather they are always slaves of their falsehood. It is better to be a slave of the Lord and not a slave of our inner being, of what is inside of us, hatred, envy, jealousy, lust, contends, lack of love, of sincerity. Christ has bought us with price of blood and that does not mean that you should not stay away from what is sinful. We must stay away from sin, this way we please the one who delivered us from sin. If the Corinthian brothers had been slaves, it is not the most terrible thing to be a slave, well stay like that. It is not a motive to be upset, now they are slaves of Christ. Of course, if they can be delivered from human slavery, then it is best for men. What advantage does freedom have if at the end we are slaves of Christ? If one is called being a slave, one is called by God, so one is liberated in the Lord, and the one called to freedom is a slave of Christ. The slave is already liberated in Jesus, he has been delivered of his sins and of the slavery of Satan. If one was delivered at the time of conversion, one should realize that from then on one is a slave tied in feet and hands to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you owe yourself to friendship and to others you become their slave, then you will not be able to do what the Father wants. You are bought at a price of blood. Since the day you converted you owe yourself to the one who bought you. Now, you do not belong to the men on earth; you belong to the one that bought you at a price of blood. We should be slaves of Christ, not of men. The people who know you intend to guide you. Some will say: "Your are not you, be yourself." But you answer: "I am a slave of Christ." They will say: "You don’t go to dances, that’s nothing." You answer: “I know that I have been

bought at the price of blood and it is the blood of Christ.” Or they will say: "Why don’t you have dancing, alcohol, etc., at your wedding." You answer: "Because I am a slave of Christ and I do not belong to anyone here on earth but to Him." Do not become anyone’s slave! Are you someone’s slave, and why? Since there is group pressure and one wants to be on good terms with everyone, they are going to want to encourage you to do what you should not do. Therefore, get away from them and obey your Lord who gave it all for you. Amen.