1 Corinthians 7:22Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

When he does not surrender to greed, anger, and other similar passions. “You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men” (1 Cor 7:23). Slavery is the consequence not of nature, but of sin. “Were you called as a slave? Do not be anxious” (1 Cor 7:21). Do you see how here also the Apostle shows that slavery is an empty word when virtue is present? “But if you can become free, make use of what is better,” that is, remain all the more in slavery. Why? “For the slave called in the Lord is the Lord’s freedman.” Do you see that slavery remains only in name, while in reality there is freedom? But why did he permit the believer to remain a slave? So that you might know the excellence of freedom. The preservation of the three youths unharmed in the furnace was far more wondrous while the furnace remained burning than if it had been quenched. So the continuation of slavery is a far greater and more wondrous testimony to freedom than its abolition. Therefore he says: “But if you can become free, make use of what is better,” that is, remain a slave, because you possess the truest freedom.

Truth came, and the likeness ceased. Life came, and the kingdom of death vanished. The remission of sins came, and the bonds of sin fell away. Formerly even light offenses were tightened by the bonds of death. After the coming of the Lord and Savior, even graver sins were forgiven. The kingdoms of the spirits of evil under heaven fell into decline, because the preaching of the Gospel teaching weakened the worship of idols, and the scandals of sin began to diminish. Unbelief declined, and faith began to reign in the hearts of the Gentile nations. The kingdoms of sin declined when we read: “Let not sin reign in your mortal body” (Rom 6:12). All kingdoms of unbelief and treachery declined when the Lord said: “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). The Most High spoke these words, and all the Gentile nations followed Him. They fled from the kingdom of sin, from the cruelty of eternal death, and from the unbearable slavery of transgressions. He promised rest to the weary, release from captivity, and freedom to slaves. Having shaken off the iron burden of the king of Babylon, the Lord placed His sweetest yoke upon the necks of the faithful. Thus the enemy would not again constrain with his harsh chains the necks of the Gentiles that had become free. Christ frees those whom He joins to Himself, and delivers from bondage those whom He binds. “The slave called in the Lord is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise the one called free is Christ’s slave” (1 Cor 7:22). Paul praises his bonds with these words: “I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus” (Eph 3:1). To be another’s prisoner is disgrace, but to be Christ’s prisoner is glory. During His Passion, Christ cried out, and all the elements in the world trembled, and the whole earth was shaken. This happened so that the rites of the Gentiles might be abolished, and so that “the earth and its fullness” might become the Lord’s (Ps 23:1), as it is written. It happened so that the divinations of the unbelieving might cease, and the knowledge of faith and the desire for piety might destroy impious sacrifices. Every day the Lord turns to us and cries out. His voice sounds in all hearts. Everything earthly loses its power in the one who believes with a loving heart. All the inner senses of the soul are freed from sin, from corrupting luxury and decay. They turn to the knowledge of the heavenly mysteries. They strive toward purity. Through pious confession they ascend from baseness to virtue. For all people in whom there was earthly corruption became dust. They did not know how to lift the eyes of the mind toward exalted heavenly grace. They could not say, “The God of hosts is with us” (Ps 45:8), because with them was only the instigator of the fall and the author of sin.

None of this is an obstacle to piety.” Concerning slavery in particular, he says: “As circumcision brings no profit, and uncircumcision does no harm, so also slavery and freedom are alike. But to show this as clearly as possible, the Apostle says: ‘But if you can also become free, rather make use of it’ (χρησαι), that is, serve all the more. I know that some maintain that the words ‘rather make use of it’ are spoken of freedom. They explain them thus: if you can become free, then be freed. But such a thought would be wholly contrary to Paul’s intention. He is consoling the slave and proving that slavery causes no harm. He would not then command him to seek freedom. In relation to Christ, he says, both are equal: you are a slave, and so is your master. When is a slave free while remaining a slave? When he is freed from passions and diseases of the soul, and does not surrender to greed, anger, and other such passions.” Conversely, when is a free man a slave? When he serves men in some evil thing, in gluttony, greed, or vainglory. Such a man, though free, is worse than any slave. Here is an example of both. Joseph was a slave, but he did not serve men slavishly, for he did not submit to his mistress. She, on the contrary, though free, proved lower than any slave. Today we have no slaves, but we have servants and masters, superiors and subordinates. These lessons apply to all Christians who occupy different positions in society. To persuade Christians all the more to preserve their outward condition, the Apostle says that he teaches this to Christians everywhere. This statement has great significance both historically and for the practice of the Church. It concerns the establishment of common orders of life for all Christians, not in conflict with other prevailing orders, insofar as those are not contrary to the spirit of the Christian faith. According to blessed Theophylact, “The Apostle said this so that Christians, knowing that they have other Christians sharing the same order of life, might be more zealously disposed to obedience to the Apostle’s decree.”

At the very time when he gives himself with his whole soul into slavery to the Lord, the Lord by His grace frees him from his former moral slavery. The enemy is driven out of the heart. The enchantments of the world are unmasked and seen in their repulsive ugliness. Power is given over the sin that dwells within, to trample it and set foot upon its neck whenever it lifts its head. This happens to everyone, whether he is outwardly a slave or free, even if he is a king. It is all the same. “In relation to Christ,” he says, “both are equal. As you are Christ’s slave, so also is your master. When is a slave free while remaining a slave? When he is freed from passions and diseases of the soul. When he does not surrender to greed, anger, and other similar passions” (St. Chrysostom). For who is free to such a degree as one freed from sin? And who is enslaved in such bitter slavery as one held in bondage by the passions? (Theodoret).