“For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.”
My Notes
What Does 1 Corinthians 7:22 Mean?
"He that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant." Paul creates a paradox: the slave who belongs to Christ is free. The free person who belongs to Christ is a slave. Both social statuses — enslaved and free — are inverted by Christ's claim. The slave gains freedom. The free person gains a Master.
The word "freeman" (apeleutheros) is a specific Roman legal category: a freed slave, a person who has been liberated from bondage. The slave who is called by Christ receives manumission — spiritual freedom that exists regardless of physical chains. The social condition remains. The spiritual condition has changed.
The reverse — "he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant" — prevents free people from claiming spiritual superiority. Your social freedom doesn't make you spiritually autonomous. You've been bought (verse 23 — "ye are bought with a price"). You belong to Christ. Your freedom is real, but it comes with a new Master.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What social status are you using to define your identity that Christ's claim redefines?
- 2.How does being 'Christ's slave' change the meaning of your freedom?
- 3.What does spiritual freedom look like for someone in a difficult social condition?
- 4.How does the double inversion — slave freed, free enslaved — level the playing field in community?
Devotional
The slave is free. The free person is a slave. Christ inverts every social status: the bottom becomes liberated, the top becomes owned. Nobody is what their social category says they are — everybody is what Christ's claim makes them.
The slave who belongs to Christ has been freed from the ultimate bondage: sin, death, and separation from God. The chains on the wrists are real. The freedom in the soul is more real. The social condition hasn't changed. The spiritual condition has been transformed. The slave is the Lord's freeman — manumitted by divine decree, liberated by the price Christ paid.
The free person who belongs to Christ has gained a Master they didn't expect: Christ Himself. Your social freedom — your economic independence, your political rights, your personal autonomy — doesn't translate into spiritual autonomy. You've been bought. You belong to someone. Your freedom is real, but it operates under a new authority.
The double inversion levels the playing field. The slave can't be condescended to — they're the Lord's freeman. The free person can't condescend — they're Christ's slave. Both are owned. Both are free. The social hierarchy that the world observes is irrelevant in the community where Christ's claim determines identity.
What social status are you using to define yourself? Whatever it is — Christ's claim redefines it. The slave is freed. The free is bound. And both belong to the same Master.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
For he that is called in the Lord,.... Which is to be understood, not of any civil calling, or of calling to an office;…
For he that is called in the Lord - He that is called by the Lord; he that becomes a Christian. Being a servant - A…
For he that is called - The man who, being a slave, is converted to the Christian faith, is the Lord's freeman; his…
Here the apostle takes occasion to advise them to continue in the state and condition in which Christianity found them,…
the Lord's freeman Rather, freedman, the Latin libertus. So Beza, Calvin and the Vulgate, and the margin of our version.…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture