But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.
Parallel translations
- WEB Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies.
- BSB Regardless, each one should lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is what I prescribe in all the churches.
- NKJV But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And so I ordain in all the churches.
- NASB Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this way let him walk. And so I direct in all the churches.
- NLT Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you. This is my rule for all the churches.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Each believer should keep living faithfully in the life-situation God assigned and called them in, rather than scrambling to change their circumstances. This guiding rule applies to all the churches.
Overview
Paul lays down a general principle for the chapter: conversion does not require an upheaval of one's external circumstances. The Lord sovereignly "distributes" and "calls" each person to a particular station, and faithful walking there is what matters. This frees believers to serve Christ wherever they are, and Paul notes he teaches the same rule everywhere, underscoring its consistency across the body of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 1 Cor 4:17For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.
- Rom 12:3–8For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
- 1 Cor 7:24Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.
- 1 Cor 7:20–21Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.
- 2 Cor 8:18And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches;
- 1 Cor 7:18Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.
- 2 Cor 11:28Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
- 1 Cor 7:7For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.
- Matt 19:12For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.
- 1 Cor 14:33For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
- 1 Pet 4:10–11As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
- 1 Cor 16:1Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.
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Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 7:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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