Verse 17
Only, as the Lord hath distributed to each man, as God hath called each, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.
The problem of the innocent party in a mixed marriage disposed of, Paul here made a digression to legislate in the power of the Holy Spirit on the larger question behind it, that greater question deriving from an error being advocated at Corinth by certain false teachers. "The Judaizers taught that, by embracing the true religion, all former obligations under which the convert lay were dissolved."[35] Any widespread acceptance of such an error would have resulted in social chaos and precipitated even more savage and relentless persecutions against the church; therefore, for both practical and ethical reasons the error had to be struck down.
As the Lord hath distributed to each man ... refers to the status of each man in the fabric of the social order, some being wealthy, others poor, some free, others slaves, etc.
As God hath called each, so let him walk ... Accepting the gospel did not change prior conditions and obligations of the convert in any legal sense, despite the fact that the holy principles of Christianity were inherently charged with power to destroy many shameful institutions in the pagan society. "The gospel, instead of weakening any moral or just political obligation, strengthened them all."[36]
[35] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 108.
[36] Ibid.
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