1 Corinthians 7:20Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

All this, he says, means nothing for faith. Therefore do not argue or be troubled. Faith is above all these things. “Let each remain in the calling in which he was called.” Were you called in marriage with an unbelieving wife? Remain with her. Do not drive your wife away because of the faith. Were you called as a slave? Do not be anxious. Remain a slave. Were you called uncircumcised? Remain uncircumcised. Did you believe while circumcised? Remain circumcised. This is what the words mean: let each remain “as God has assigned to him.” None of this is an obstacle to piety. You were called in the condition of a slave, another in marriage with an unbeliever, another in circumcision. This is how he regards slavery.

In the calling in which he was called, that is, in whatever manner of life, rank, and condition you believed, remain in it. For by calling he means the bringing to faith.

Whether he had a wife or did not have one when he believed, he must remain in the state in which he was called. By this he does not so much urge virgins to enter marriage as forbid divorces. Just as he does not give those who have wives permission to dismiss them, so he deprives virgins of the right to enter marriage.

By calling, the Apostle Paul understands different positions in society. He does not make these positions equal, nor does he abolish the distinctions between them. By commanding each person to remain in the calling in which the summons found him, or in which he turned to Christ, the Apostle also commands him to observe the rights of that calling and fulfill the duties joined to it. Having turned to Christ, let the master continue to possess his slaves. Let the slave continue to submit to his master. Let the Roman citizen make use of the exceptional right of inviolability (Acts 17:37; 22:25-29). After this, to assert that outward distinctions among people have no meaning according to Christ’s teaching is to impose one’s own arbitrary notions upon the Gospel.

The thought of remaining in the condition in which one was called to the faith serves as the foundation for the teaching on the indissolubility of marriage bonds. It also applies to every other bond not contrary to the spirit of Christian life. St. John Chrysostom says of this: “Let each remain in the calling in which he was called. Were you called in marriage with an unbelieving wife? Remain with her, and do not drive your wife away because of the faith. Were you called as a slave? Do not grieve, but remain a slave. Were you called uncircumcised? Remain uncircumcised. Did you believe while circumcised? Remain circumcised.

Already for the second time the Apostle says this, and he will say it once more at the end of this little section, in verse 24. His intention was to impress this commandment on the mind, and for this reason he gives examples. "Whatever manner of life you had, whatever class you belonged to, whatever condition you were in when you believed, remain in it. He calls the bringing to faith a calling" (Theophylact).