1 Corinthians 7:17-19 - Are you circumcised?

7:17

Paul now makes a brief digression to other matters, though he will return to the question of marriage shortly. However, there is a link to what has just been said. Paul has encouraged, if at all possible, for a man or a woman who has an unbelieving partner to stay with that partner. He now broadens that concept out somewhat. In Acts 17:26 Paul in speaking to the Athenians talks of God setting the boundaries. The same thought is at play here. The circumstances we find ourselves in are not totally random. The principle Paul applies is that the situation we find ourselves in is the one God wants us to be in, and we should seek to fulfil His will within that situation. Now this is not the whole story, and Paul will soon say other things as well, but part of human nature is to often want the circumstances to change, when what God wants is either for us to change, or for us to influence the situation, or both.

7:18,19

The first example that he give is that of circumcision. Now circumcision as an issue cropped up in many churches, Galatians is the most famous example. We see that in Galatians Paul takes the strongest possible line, here he just says accept things the way they are. So if you are circumcised, don’t worry about it, if you are uncircumcised then don’t try to change that. Clearly circumcision was not the big issue it had become in Galatia. The reason it did become such an issue in some places was the influence of the Judaisers, where it threatened the very heart of the gospel. It seems that the Judaisers did not have much, if any, influence in Corinth. So Paul just gives a brief comment. Circumcision is really neither here nor there. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. Note the importance of commands. There are lots of commands in the Bible, including in the New Testament, but too often we tend to treat them as suggestions.