Just As I Am

If God’s people would please
take your Bible and turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. Now
at this juncture, we’re about halfway through what is effectively
Paul’s marriage and family seminar. He has been addressing the questions
and the concerns that the Corinthian church had, questions about Christian
living, not the least of questions related to marriage. And they
indeed needed discipleship. That’s essentially what Paul
is providing. But especially in the realm of
marriage, they needed biblical instruction, godly wisdom. And seemingly, Few others except
Paul could have provided the straightforward instruction that
they needed. The culture in which they lived,
not unlike our own, provided nothing but ungodly counsel,
ungodly example, and an ungodly impetus to sin. The Corinthian
society was sold out to immorality. Everything in that society, ethically
and morally, was against the Christian living in her midst. Just as it is in ours. The only way to be raised out
of the miry filth of that particular civilization was for believers
to have their mind instructed about God’s ways that they might
cry out first in mercy and repentance and then for God’s inexhaustible
supply of amazing grace. Without such, this church, these
believers were doomed to continue to wallow and flounder in the
world’s degrading lewdness. Any initial shame that these
believers might have felt from the awkward questions that they
submitted to the apostle quickly disappeared because of his gracious
treatment of their concerns He informs them that marriage is
a good and godly state, as are the husband wife relations, marital
intimacy, one of the many blessings of marriage. God established
his most basic building block of society in the institution
of marriage. wherein a man and a woman might
stave off the manifold temptations of impurity through sanctified
and wholesome enjoyment of one another. And singleness too,
he tells them, if one is called to such, is
a good and noble status. in which one who is called and
graced for such is enabled to kind of hover above the sensual
temptations of the flesh. But one of the greatest concerns
related to marriage, especially in that culture, was the matter
of divorce, as we’ve seen. And there must have been numerous
and varied questions about divorce. Given Paul’s lengthy and wide-ranging
treatment of the topic here in this particular chapter, though
the world in which they lived gave little or no concern to
the dissolution of marriage, the collective conscience of
this church in Corinth could not ignore this topic. The many concerns related to
divorce troubled these believers. And so they sought their dear
friend’s counsel. And as I mentioned, Paul quickly
dispels the idea of divorcing one’s wife out of expedience,
just because it’s convenient to you, to allow one’s spouse
or both of them to be more readily available for ministry. There
is no just cause for that, no just cause to divorce a believing
wife simply for ministry convenience or for concerns, he adds, that
intimacy is somehow impure. Marital relations, as Paul details
in those opening five verses, are God-given. And that would
have dealt with the most extreme zealot in their midst. Someone
with such exacting scruples that he thought he might strike out
alone in his newfound faith as if it were what God desired
for him. Paul says, if you’re married,
fulfill your duty. Stop depriving your wife. Stop
depriving one another. But there were other divorce-related
questions, questions raised by those who were not so extreme
in their thinking. These were the more conventional
in their weakness. What if my spouse is an unbeliever? A question Paul readily dismissed. If the unbeliever, unbelieving
spouse, husband, or wife, desires to remain married, remain married.
It’s that simple. Continue to love and serve them,
pray for them, end of discussion. There was a third divorce scenario
we considered last Lord’s Day, not unlike the provision of Moses,
which Jesus mentioned himself, adultery. There is also the case
of abandonment, which we considered, as I said, last Lord’s Day. Divorce
is so negatively impactful upon families and society that a Christian
must avoid at all cost this get out of jail free mentality. That
literally misbehaves until their disagreeable spouse leaves the
marriage. A believer in that situation
married to an unbeliever must, by God’s grace, do everything
in their power to preserve the marriage, not undermine it. It must avoid strife and harshness. And actively love and serve their
God given spouse, praying for them, waiting for God. If he
will move. Paul picks up this particular
scenario right in the middle. He picks it up right at the end
of the marriage. The unbelieving spouse is walking
out the door. That’s when Paul captures it.
The unbeliever has decided, even in the face of the believing
spouse’s patient and gracious behavior, to end the marriage.
And it’s to that that Paul is speaking there in verses 15 and
16. After all the kindly Christ-like
treatment, the unbeliever ends the marriage. That’s what we
see. And so he says, if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave. He
makes explicit provision here for the abandoned spouse. And
for which I made the case last Lord’s Day, which would include
the possibility of remarriage in that scenario. There are indeed very few exceptions
for divorce, but adultery and abandonment are those exceptions. But then all of a sudden, here in verses 17 through 24,
Paul introduces a section that has stumped a lot of commentators. On the face of it, it doesn’t
seem to fit. The concepts like callings and subjects like circumcision
and slavery, what does that have to do with marriage? And so they
wonder, perhaps Paul has lost his train of thought. Perhaps
Paul has so many deep thoughts in his mind that this one leaks
out at a rather inopportune moment. But I would suggest to you that
the thoughts expressed here are not out of place. They’re not
ill-timed. They are fully in concert with
Paul’s one great theme of marriage here in this chapter. Would you read along with me?
Beginning in verse 17, we’ll course all the way down through
verse 14. Only as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God
has called each, in this manner let him walk. And so I direct
in all the churches. Was any man called when he was
already circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? He is not to be circumcised.
Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. But what matters
is the keeping of the commandments of God. Each man must remain
in that condition in which he was called. Were you called while
a slave? Do not worry about it. But if
you are able to become free, rather do that. For he who was
called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freed man. Likewise,
he who is called while free is Christ’s slave. You were bought
with a price. Do not become the slaves of men. Brethren, each one is to remain
with God in that condition in which he was called. Now, you
know, but no doubt heard the repetition of a single word in
that passage. It’s the word called over and
over again. It occurs eight times in this
passage, only three times in all the rest of this epistle.
And so Paul is zeroing in here in this paragraph, in this chapter
on a very special concept for a very special purpose. This
word in scripture, as you likely know, refers to the mysterious
process effected by the Holy Spirit by which a sinner is summoned,
called from sin and death to life and righteousness. This
call is a divine summons. And it’s initiated by God the
Father in eternity past. It’s enabled and secured by the
atoning sacrifice made by Jesus Christ on the cross. But the
final workings are carried out by the Holy Spirit. It is never
just a mere invitation to faith. It is one. It is not one that
either can be accepted or rejected like an invitation to a birthday
party. It is effective. It never fails. The sinner is brought to life
and repentance through the gospel. It is an effectual call. It works. No wonder Paul, at the outset
of this very epistle, chapter 1, verse 9, said, God is faithful. Through whom you were called
into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Paul
says that not only has God been faithful, but that there There
are results which carry over and endure to the present so
that God is seen to be now faithful. But in a final statement on his
very nature, his character, God is faithful, Paul says, which
immediately implies that God will be faithful. God and his
nature is trustworthy and true. The things that he says, he cannot
lie. He’s trustworthy in his promises,
true to his nature. He cannot be unfaithful. That
which God purposes to do, he does inevitably accomplish. The
response to Christ in faith is irresistible. As I said, Paul uses this word
called eight times in these verses. And he has a purpose here. He
intends to make it clear to the believer that in a very real
way, they have already been called out of the world. They now stand
in a completely different relationship to God and a completely different
relationship to the culture out of which they were called. Paul’s great purpose here in
these quick eight verses is to unfold Christian living, pardon me, Paul’s purpose is
here in these quick eight verses is to unfold to the Christians
living in Corinth what are God’s expectations to those who are
called. If we’re called, what does God
want from us and of us? I’ve entitled the message this
morning just as I am, which will remind most of us of that old
hymn by the same name. That’s not my design. My intention is not to get us
to hearken back to warm feelings that might be elicited by that
old song, but rather to recognize what Paul is directing this church
to do. And to us who are reading this
passage as well, he wants us to know the divine directives
of our call to faith. We are, as the Corinthians were,
called. If you have placed your faith
in Christ, that’s due to God’s call in your life. And we’ve
heard and we’ve heeded God’s summons by his grace, but that
summons came with clear directives. As Paul provides here for the
Corinthians and for us, what I would call directives for abiding
as called. Directives for abiding and as
called in the first one that I would point to. The first directive
for abiding as called is to consider the manner of our calling. Look at verse 17. only as the Lord has assigned
to each one as God has called each in this manner, let him
walk. So I direct in all the churches. Paul opens this section as you
likely noticed with a statement that he will repeat twice more.
Like a beautifully written hymn, this sentence enters in again
and again in this passage. It’s like a sweet refrain. He
utters this sentence not only here in verse 17, look at verse
17, only as the Lord has assigned to each one as God has called
each. But again, as he said, he repeats
the principle in verse 20 and again in verse 24. To round out
this particular paragraph, glance at those if you would, verse
20. Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called.
Verse 24, brethren, each one is to remain with God in that
condition in which he was called. It’s a refrain, a chorus, if
you will. It’s such an important principle
that he declares it again and again and again, three times
in all. Let’s begin by addressing the
obvious question here. That if this is not as some commentators
suggested, a sharp digression from the subject of marriage.
How does it fit? How does it relate to Paul’s
overall discussion of marriage? Well, as we’ve seen, the general
subject of this chapter is marriage and the things having to do with
the state of marriage. And what Paul simply does here
is to summarize by offering up an overarching principle. I think
you grabbed that in a moment. It’s an overarching principle
because as we’ve all seen already, Paul does provide instruction
regarding married and singles and divorced. But in that particular
unfortunate situation, as destructive as it is, he seeks to balance
the whole discussion with a general principle. Only as the Lord has
assigned to each one, as God has allotted to each, in this
manner, let him walk. It goes back to the discussion
of verse one of chapter seven. Those first five verses, should
I get rid of my wife? Is intimacy bad? And so verse
17 functions not only as a summary of the discussion of verses 1
through 16, it serves really as an introduction into his thoughts
up to verse 24. And the primary tie-in here would
be obvious. If you’re married, do not seek
a divorce. If you’re single, Unless you’re
showing signs of not being graced for such, do not seek a wife.
Once Christianity will make enough radical changes in the believer’s
life, we don’t have to manufacture additional changes, like divorcing
our God-given spouses. And so Paul says, as the Lord
has assigned to each one, as God has called each, The general principle of these
verses is directly related to the foregoing discussion. It’s
not a deviation from his purpose. It’s not an unrelated rabbit
trail. It’s a general principle, but
it is very much related to the marriage situation. It has the
potential, as we’ll see in a moment, for a very broad application. but it’s particularly apical
to marriage. And Paul issues a two-pronged
condition here, a glance at the verse, as the Lord has assigned
to each, as God has called each. And what may sound redundant,
like some kind of an echo, is not. The two statements are two
very different truths. The first one, look at it if
you would, as the Lord has assigned to each, That speaks of our particular
status, our place, our station in life. What one very capably
described as the outward circumstances of our life. And that blessing
is bestowed, portioned out, if you will, or assigned as is translated. We might even say it’s been divvied
up. It’s been divvied up by the Lord, that is, Jesus himself.
Jesus Christ, in God’s sovereignty, arranges even the conditions
in which we find ourselves when we are called out of the world
to salvation. He finds us in that state, whether
we’re married or not, rich or poor. Whatever our ethnic background
is, whatever our social station is, God finds us in that state
because that’s where Christ had us. And so the case before us, it
directly refers to one’s marital status. It includes that. The second statement, though,
as God has called us, we already talked about there, that refers
to God’s divine summons. It’s the summons, the call of
a sinner to faith in Christ. And everywhere in scripture,
it is God the Father who calls sinners to repentance and to
faith. This is the Father’s doing. Our
divine election from eternity past, issued into an effectual
call in an individual’s lifetime. God called you. And Paul basically
says here, whatever your status was when you were called, you’re
a poor man. You’re a married woman. Whatever your status was, Christ
had you there. Christ put you there. Whether
you’re married or no, remain, he says, in that condition. Remain
in the condition in which you were called. Now I want you to
know, because I know some of you just broke out into a cold
sweat, this does not forbid a single person from finding a spouse
if they are not gifted for singleness. But I will say it absolutely
forbids a married Christian from capriciously divorcing their
believing spouse. So he says walk, using one of
his favorite metaphors, Walk the way that you conduct yourself
in the world. Walk in the same manner in which
God found you when he called you. If you were poor when he
found you, don’t seek to be rich. If you were rich when God found
you, you don’t need to divest all of your wealth. If you were
single when he called you, it’s not like you have to get married
in order to be a more complete Christian. And Paul seems to
go out of his way, watch this, he seems to go out of his way
to let the Corinthian church know that he’s not picking on
them. When he issues this apostolic
command, look at it, he says this general principle is for
everyone. I tell this to all the churches,
he says. Paul says we can’t, what Paul
is doing here, he’s kind of comforting them. I’m not picking on you
Corinthians. Now we don’t know what kind of
a personality complex this church was developing, whether it’s
an inferiority complex or pride, but Paul makes the same exact
point on four occasions in this letter. 417, 1116, 1436, you can look those up. He basically says, look, it isn’t
just about you. I tell this, I direct all the
churches on this principle. And so the first directive that
he gives us for abiding as called refers to the manner of our calling
only as the Lord has assigned to each one. We’ll come back
to some of those thoughts in a moment because he repeats it
twice more. But I want to look secondly at
the examples of our calling. Paul, what exactly are you talking
about here? Well, church, let me give you
a few examples. That’s essentially what takes
place in verses 18-22. In this, the lengthiest portion
of this paragraph, to his very general principle,
which might have fallen on deaf ears, because everybody might
have thought, you know, if it applies to everybody, it certainly
doesn’t apply to me. Paul moves to provide, because
of that, a pair of examples, circumcision and slavery. You
say, well, that fixes everything. The first of these examples sounds
to our ears just plain strange. an application to the Jewish
right of circumcision? And not only that, but an even
stranger twist, the suggestion that if a man was called when
he was circumcised, that he could somehow possibly undo that procedure? Whether they longed or sought
for an actual surgical procedure, or they simply began to repudiate
their Jewishness, It’s not exactly clear. Far easier, at least,
on the opposite end of the spectrum, is the alternative, one called
in circumcision, would seek to be circumcised. And we know that
that became a major case in the church, and Paul says no to either
of those thoughts. especially for Gentiles who had
come to faith in Christ, the question of whether circumcision
was obligatory was decided in the conference on the matter
recording in Acts 15, remember? The answer was a resounding no. Circumcision is not going to
be required of believers. It was a Jewish right. It does
not carry over. Circumcision is a ritual, a rite,
R-I-T-E. In itself, it has no value. Circumcision did not save, does
not save, never did save, much like our baptism. It’s an outward
sign of an inward reality, right? Baptism doesn’t save you. Baptism
doesn’t make you more saved. and neither did circumcision.
To use Paul’s words, circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision
is nothing. You’re neither the better off
nor the worse, spiritually speaking, based on this ritual. Unlike a mere outward ritual,
The keeping of the commandments of God, that has great value
because it cultivates a godly character and obedience to God
himself. Here is the true submission to
the will and the heart of God. Paul quickly recites now for
the second time the refrain, verse 20, each man must remain
in that condition in which he was called. This is a reiteration,
as I said, of the principle given in verse 17. If you were called
to Christ as a Jewish man, you cannot disavow your heritage
and ethnicity. It’s not necessary, nor must
a Gentile convert yield to the observance of a Jewish right.
Remain in the condition in which you were called. And immediately
following that reiteration, Paul provides a second example. This
one about slavery. And it almost sounds insensitive
by Paul. Were you called while a slave?
Do not worry about it. But Paul is not being insensitive.
His point is still the same. Just like to those who are married,
to those who are single or to those who either have or have
not been circumcised. Don’t get hung up on altering
your status. Come as your call. If God called
you to salvation while being a slave. He can use you in that particular
circumstance. And he can do so in that setting
just as he can in any other setting. Even in the worst conditions,
Christians can flourish. In the darkest setting, the light
shines most brightly. Remember? There’s no need for
a dramatic social shift. Remain as you are, Paul says.
Someone might say, Paul, that’s easy for you to say. You don’t
know my slave master. Paul is not unfamiliar with this
condition, so much so that he adopted this as a descriptive
of his own spiritual condition. He was a slave for Christ. The
Christian has been liberated from the bondage of sin, but
joyfully now finds themselves to have been bought by a new
master, the Lord Jesus Christ. And now Paul quickly adds, if
you are able to become free, do that. He’s not against having
a slave liberated like he championed for Onesimus in the book of Philemon. But if not, even in such a humbling
role, it is actually a glorious place if the man is a Christian. He is what Paul calls a freed
man. That title refers to someone
who was a slave, but now has been freed. Not someone who was
born free. That’s not a freed man. So how
in the world can a slave be a freed man? There’s only one way if a man
is in Christ. If a man is placed in his faith
in Christ for salvation, he is freed from the worst taskmaster
that mankind has ever known. He’s freed from the bondage of
sin and the evil taskmaster, the devil himself. Such a man
is the most liberated freed man ever. Paul says, if you’re living
in the world as a freed man, keep your focus on that truth. And any earthly undertaking will
not seem burdensome or harsh because you know who your master
is, even the life of a slave. If we’re freed from our former
bondage to Satan’s sinful dungeon, any earthly condition is light
and bearable in comparison. That’s what Paul means here. One church historian noted, with
great surprise, as he observed the Christian slave, who, without
rebelling against his condition in which he found himself, discharged
all his duties with greater fidelity, and yet showed an elevation of
soul utterly unusual in men in his position. Did you hear what
he said? You could see the difference
in how he performed his duties. A Christian, he insists, can
glorify God in that role just as much as he could in any other
role. This is how he can render such
constant advice. to his brothers who, even though
they were under the yoke as slaves, could glorify God. Ephesians
6, 5. Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according
to the flesh with fear and trembling and the sincerity of your heart
as to Christ. Colossians 3.22, slaves in all
things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external
service as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart,
fearing the Lord. Titus 2.9, urge bond slaves to
be subject to their own masters in everything. to be well-pleasing,
not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith so
that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.”
No matter what Paul says, married, single, circumcised, uncircumcised,
enslaved, enslaved rather, the Christian stands above it all. in resting in their call to salvation
in Christ. And because of their spiritual
standing, they must not be restless toe alter their earthly standing. That’s Paul’s point. As we consider the directives
that we have in our call to salvation, If we’re going to abide in that
calling, we’ve seen the manner of our calling and the examples
of our calling, extreme examples, but look finally at the cost
of our calling. Verse 23, you are bought with
a price, do not become the slaves of men. Brethren, each one is
to remain with God in that condition in which he was called. You were
bought with a price. This is Paul’s final argument
of this section. And the price to which he alludes
can be none other than the price of our redemption. Christ’s shed
blood on the cross. And I never tire of meditating
on this great sacrifice that Christ made for sinners. If you
keep your finger there in 1 Corinthians 7, would you go to 1 Peter? 1
Peter 1, you know where I’m going, but let’s meditate on it. This
will give us perspective, so that regardless of our earthly
station, we will be reminded of the price that was paid for
our forgiveness. 1 Peter 1, scroll down to verse
17 if you would, if you address as father the one who impartially
judges according to each one’s work, Conduct yourselves in fear
during the time of your stay upon earth, knowing that you
are not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from
your feudal way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with
the precious blood as of a lamb, unblemished and spotless, the
blood of Christ. Back, if you would, to first
Corinthians seven. God paid for our redemption out
of bondage with the blood of his own son. That’s the gospel,
right? Paul’s whole point in reiterating
this is a point which he made all the way back in chapter 6.
There he raises the point because we were bought with a price.
We must not yield to fleshly temptations. That’s his point
in chapter 6, but here, Because we were bought with a price,
we must not submit ourselves to the mastery of another. Do
not become slaves of men, he says. They’re bought and paid for by
Christ’s blood. What does this look like? If
they were to begin to react to the world, Whether it was their
sentiments about Jewish rights or they’re assuming the world’s
perspectives on marriage or even rebelling against an earthly
master. This would be to allow another
master to begin to control them. This would be bondage to human
whims and preferences. No earthly man is the court. No earthly court is the Christians
judge. You’re a freed man. Paul says,
live free. Don’t worry about it. Regardless
of your life station, do not allow those circumstances to
enslave you all over again. And for the third time in this
section, verse 24, Paul expresses his refrain one more time. Look
at it, if you would. Brethren, each one is to remain
with God in that condition in which he was called. Remain as
you were found when God called you. And note immediately here
that when we do, we are not alone. Look at the passage again. We
stand, we remain with God in our called condition. This is
what makes our earthly situations bearable, doable. When we walk
with God, regardless of our earthly station, he strengthens us against
whatever trials or temptations come because of our circumstances. And it’s this frame of mind.
That everything the Christian does. Becomes a living act of
worship. And much of it comes down to
contentment, doesn’t it? We might have made this point
earlier, that this general principle here does not allow an individual
to continue in some criminal enterprise. When God finds you,
He expects you to quit that crime. That much is obvious. When a
person comes to Christ, If they are employed or involved in something
illegal or immoral, those are the things of which must be repented. And even regarding some legal
endeavor, sometimes, even though perhaps it’s a lower level position,
this general principle does not forbid a Christian from aspiring
and working hard to achieve a promotion. It’s not what God’s saying when
he says remain as you are. Those things are not forbidden
here. What Paul is saying is that in
whatever state God might find a person, he can use them in
that state and condition. We have a saying, don’t we? Bloom
where you’re planted. I remember just prior to coming
to plant this church, one of my last sermons in my
previous church, I preached Ephesians chapter six. Would you turn there
just for a moment? We’ll review one verse that we just read.
Ephesians chapter six. And I remember, boy, cranking
it up and preaching this. with all my heart passionately.
Ephesians chapter six, look at verse five. Slaves, be obedient
to those who you are masters according to the flesh, with
fear and trembling and the sincerity of your heart as to Christ, not
by way of eye services, men pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing
the will of God from the heart, and I preached my heart out.
And then, as you know, I left that Ministry
position and came here to plant a church and in the first three
years that I was Planting this church. I worked at the orange
box wearing the orange apron and then Then I got to live out this verse
The An employee a slave essentially
what you are Must do his work reverently You’re doing your
work as not according to the common standards. You’re
not there for a paycheck. You’re there out of fear and
trembling. You’re there in reverence to
Christ himself. That’s how we do everything that
we do, isn’t it? Shouldn’t it? We’re there genuinely. We’re
serving genuinely in the sincerity of our heart. I always tell people
Christians ought to be the best ever at customer service. Because
we want to truly take care. We do what we do devotionally.
It’s as to Christ. We do what we do as unto the
Lord, don’t we? We do it legitimately, not by
way of eye service. We had a guy, he would walk and
he was always, he looked so busy. And then I had occasion to observe
he never did anything. not by way of eye service as
men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, we do
it benevolently, doing the will of God from the heart, and then
mindfully, with goodwill, render service.
We’re there to help people. Well, I knew so many men who no sooner when they were
saved, enthusiastically headed off to seminary, right? Change
their position because I cannot possibly glorify God doing this. But as the words of a wise old
pastor said, some are sent, others just went. What he touches upon
is exactly what Paul is dealing with here. the flippant tendency
to change our place, change our position. If one is called to
seminary, that’s well and good. But Paul’s point is that God
can use us right where we are when he calls us. It isn’t just young men aspiring
to seminary. Many people, immediately after
they get saved, they think that they have to alter their condition,
their position for the sake of the gospel. They want to make
marital change, or career change, or they want to engage in some
social or political change. But I remember a professor once
asked, if you come across a dog who is not wagging his tail,
and you reach down and you grab his tail, if you live to tell
about it, and you wag it for him, have you made the dog a
happy dog? The answer is no. Don’t try that
experiment, by the way. But such is the case if a believer
tries to engage in such change without the gospel. Just wagging
the dog’s tail for him. The good news of salvation by
faith alone in Christ alone is the agent of change in individuals,
not entire cultures. If we immerse ourselves in changing
any scenario without the gospel, it will produce no genuine lasting
change. Empty. So the Christian does not have
to change his or her marital status. Doesn’t have to change
his or her race or ethnicity. He doesn’t have to change his
or her social standing, his or her nationality, his or her career
at all. Although God doesn’t forbid improving
our state, the truth is that God can use us in the condition
in which we are called whether we’re a plumber or a CEO or a
man or a woman or an Indian or a Norwegian or rich or poor or
slave or free educated or not married or single. If the gospel
comes to any one of them, God can use them right where they
are. One of the amazing things about Christianity is that we
overcome by submission, not through rebellion, not through revolution. A Christian indwelled by the
spirit of God and nourished by God’s word can flourish anywhere.