1 Corinthians 7:17

God hath distributed. See on v. 7.

Walk. The acceptance of Christianity does not necessarily mean that there must be a change in the believer’s economic, social, or vocational status. The joyous news proclaimed by the messengers of the gospel in some cases produced great excitement among those who believed it, both Jews and Gentiles. The glimpse of the higher, happier, holier experience that it presented resulted in making certain ones indifferent to this world and its affairs. These sought to live for spiritual things only and tried to forsake their regular vocations (see 2 Thess. 3:6-12). The gospel does not seek to overthrow suddenly the existing order of things. Instead, it slowly penetrates into all the affairs of one’s life and brings about a change by a slow and orderly process. The teaching of this verse is aptly expressed by Neander: “Here we learn the general fact that Christianity does not disturb existing relations, so far as they are not sinful, but only aims to infuse into them a new spirit” (Lange).