1-ое послание к Коринфянам ап. Павла, Глава 7, стих 24. Толкования стиха

Для Бога не важен социальный статус человека; кем бы он ни был, это ничего не меняет в его отношениях с Богом: «В каком состоянии кто призван, братья, в том пусть каждый пребывает пред Богом»

Свобода доступна всем, рабам так же, как и свободным людям, и не предполагает предварительной перемены состояния (1 Кор. 7:22 — «Ибо раб, призванный в Господе, есть свободный Господа; равно и призванный свободным есть раб Христов».

1 Кор 7:23, 24 - «Вы куплены дорогою ценою, не делайтесь рабами человеков. В каком звании кто призван, братия, в том каждый и оставайся пред Богом».

Верующий свободен в том смысле, что победная смерть Христа освободила его от тяжких уз греха, смерти и дел закона. Вспомним Рим. 8:2 - «Закон Духа жизни во Христе Иисусе освободил меня от закона греха и смерти». В Рим. 11:26 Павел подчеркивает духовный характер освобождения: «...и так весь Израиль спасется, как написано: придет от Сиона Избавитель, и отвратит нечестие от Иакова» (Ис. 59:20).

оставайся пред Богом - Имеется в виду, что (а) человек должен не просто оставаться в том положении, в котором он был призван, но жить с Богом, в Его присутствии; (б) человек ответственен перед Богом, а не перед людьми.

Учение о браке, которому посвящена гл. 7, вызвано вопросом, поставленным Коринфянами в их письме к ап. Павлу (ср. ст. 1). Но оно внутренне связано с темой о телесной чистоте, и этим объясняется то, что Павел касается его именно здесь. С первого взгляда может казаться, что Павел подходит к браку чисто утилитарно. Брак для него средство против блуда (ср. ст. 1–2, 9). В смешанных браках, где один из супругов уверовал во Христа, а другой остался язычником, Апостол высказывается против расторжения брака, в надежде, что верующий супруг может обратить неверующего (ср. ст. 12–16). Во всех этих случаях брак есть средство к достижению некоей высшей цели. Но состоянию безбрачному: девству или вдовству, апостол отдает предпочтение перед состоянием брачным. Это свое убеждение ап. Павел высказывает со всей ясностью (ср. ст. 1:38–40). Он ставит в пример самого себя (ст. 8) и думает, что и он имеет Духа Божия (ст. 40б). Однако, высказываясь в пользу девства, Павел делает оговорку: девство не предписано Господом. Павел проводит различие между тем советом, который предлагает он, Павел, и повелением Господним (ст. 25). Он объясняет свой совет условиями переживаемого момента (стт. 29–32, ср. еще ст. 26). Мы и здесь улавливаем в его словах напряженность эсхатологического ожидания: «преходит образ мира сего» (ст. 31). Очевидно, чисто-утилитарное оправдание брака не выражало мысли ап. Павла во всей ее глубине. Он, во всяком случае, далек от уничижения брака. Мало того, из отдельных его замечаний вытекает, что он понимает брак, как теснейшее единение супругов (ср. стт. 3–4). При этом он обосновывает запрещение развода прямым повелением Господним, и исключает самую возможность второго брака разведенной (стт. 10–11). Это представление о теснейшем единении супругов и о нерасторжимости брака открывает путь к мистическому учению о браке, как отображении союза Христа и Церкви, учению, которое несколько лет спустя будет дано ап. Павлом в послании к Ефесянам (гл. 5). Основная мысль ап. Павла во всяком случае ясна: в союзе брачном или в безбрачии, человек имеет одно призвание. Это призвание есть всецелое служение Богу: недаром все земные и, в первую очередь, социальные ценности подвергаются переоценке во Христе (ст. 22).

Scholion 1

140 Some of those who were circumcised were probably saying among themselves, How can we be accepted and honor our life in Christ when we are already circumcised? Perhaps we should remove the marks of circumcision, that is, apply force to the nature of our flesh and return to being uncircumcised. Those who came from the Greek error, on the other hand, perhaps learned from those who still value the shadow of the law that circumcision is a precious thing that is observed by all the saints. Though they once accepted the faith, they tried to complete it with the flesh, just like some in Galatia whom Paul rebukes by saying, “Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?” Therefore, it was necessary to open the way for them with a clear and utterly unambiguous proclamation of the truth that circumcision is nothing apart from the other commands of God. Likewise, uncircumcision is nothing if it is not adorned with the life of the gospel. It is therefore fitting that those who are called remain in the calling in which they find themselves. He has to intervene 142 because he must once again scare away another blasphemy, as it were, to keep it away from the divine proclamation. That is because there is a spirit of slavery in those under the law, but he says that the gospel message inserts a Spirit of adoption in those who want to believe, and that Spirit calls them no longer to slavery but to a rank of freedom.

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Scholion 2

For this reason, some who were called by faith to spiritual freedom tried to escape from their physical slavery. Paul writes to them in another place and says, “Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.” He exhorts 144 them also with these words: “Were you a slave when you were called? Do not be concerned about it. Even if you can gain your freedom, make use of your present condition now more than ever.” This means: Even if you have the yoke of physical slavery imposed on you, you have been called by faith to freedom and sonship. And since you have become participants in the divine nature, transcend pettiness! You will find that your toil in slavery will not go unrewarded. Those who endure slavery by the oppression of another will certainly be free of that evil when the Lord transforms all things in the coming age to the way they were in the beginning. The Creator has made nature free, and that is how it will be, as I said, in the coming age. “And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress,” according to the prophecy of Isaiah. Therefore even if you can “gain your freedom,” he says, “make use of your present condition now more than ever.” For those who have a good heart and lead an upright life, the yoke of slavery is not without profit, as I said. In any case, he says, it would not be possible for us as human beings to escape the name slavery. After all, everything that is created is a slave. That means that “the slave is a freed person belonging to Christ,” and that the one who is called to freedom is surely a slave, just as the psalm says: 146 “For all things are your slaves.” Indeed the mystagogue shows us in another way as well that those who are saved by Christ are debtors to him. That is what he means when he says, “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of human masters.” As we all know, we were bought with a price when Christ the Savior of us all offered his own blood for us. We were rescued from the violence of the devil and from the savagery of the demons, and we were called to freedom through Christ. Since we were purchased and bought, we owe our life to him. So “do not become slaves,” he says, “of human masters.” Now we are not saying that he is urging them to run away from their physical slavery. Rather, he is quite rightly teaching them this: do not become slaves to those who try to carry off believers to the observance of the law and who pour into the souls of the simple the poison of the ancient deception and convince them to observe days and months and who practice what is termed “self-imposed piety” and persuade others to do so as well. Since you were bought with a price, he says, and “you were ransomed not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish,” let us be subject to his laws instead. 148

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Scholion 1

140 Now the apostle is speaking as a spiritual man. He does not allow types now that we have the revelation of the truth, that is, Christ. He helps both the Greeks and the Jews. He does not compel the former to be circumcised, nor does he compel those who are circumcised to apply force to the nature of their flesh to return it to uncircumcision. That is because circumcision in type has come to an end, while circumcision in spirit is brought about spiritually by Christ. After all, what benefit is circumcision to someone who leads an ungodly life? Let’s say there is an uncircumcised man who is conspicuous among those who pride themselves on goodness. And let’s say there is another man, a Hebrew of Hebrews who is circumcised in the flesh but unholy in his ways. He is beset by great weakness and lowers himself to every kind of alien and shameful act. Which of the two is worthy to be admired? Well I think it should be clear that we ought to honor not the circumcision that has been disfigured but the uncircumcision that contains virtue. The mystagogue, then, is telling the truth when he says, “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing.” Therefore, those who are called should 142 remain in the calling into which they have been called, that is, in which they find themselves, whether they are uncircumcised or circumcised. Now when some hear that faith sets them free and grants them the rank of adopted sons, they run away from the yoke of slavery. But Paul urges them not to do this but rather to remain in their physical slavery since they have been called by faith, he says, into a free sonship and have become “participants of the divine nature.” After all, their labor in slavery will not go unrewarded, since the Creator created nature free and knew it to be so. However, greed slipped in and spoiled the freedom. Nevertheless, we ought to love freedom because it provides help and reward, at least where God preserves it for everyone. On the other hand, we as human beings cannot escape slavery, since everything that is created is a slave. Therefore, even if you could gain your freedom, he says, “make use of your present condition now more than ever.” Indeed, the yoke is not without profit for those who have a good heart, and physical slavery does no harm to virtue.

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Scholion 2

Since some who are worthy of the grace of the Holy Spirit have shaken off the yoke of slavery, he writes somewhere else, “Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.” But here he bewitches them, as it were, 144 with a highly sophisticated discourse: “Were you a slave when you were called,” and the rest. This means: Even if you have the yoke of physical slavery imposed on you, you have been called by faith to freedom and sonship. And since you have become participants in the divine nature, transcend pettiness! You will find that your toil in slavery will not go unrewarded. The Creator knew a nature that was free because he created it that way. But greed rushed in at a certain time and spoiled the beauty of the freedom. Those who have endured slavery must surely be free of that evil when Christ transforms all things to the way they were in the beginning. What is in him is a new creation. There is neither slave nor free, but he is “all in all.” And Isaiah lifted up his voice ahead of time to describe the conditions and the equality before God that there will be in the life to come that we wait for. He said, “And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress.” Therefore, even if you could gain your freedom, he says, “make use of your present condition now more than ever.” For the yoke is not unprofitable, as I said, for those who have a good heart and lead upright lives under it. The oppressive imposition of physical slavery on some people now will not harm them as long as 146 the same freedom is preserved for everyone before God, who judges justly and weighs our deeds in holiness. In any case, he says, it would not be possible for us as human beings to escape the name slavery. After all, everything that is created is a slave, and everything that has been called into being is subject to the divine scepter. That means that “the slave is a freed person belonging to Christ,” and that the one who is called to freedom is surely a slave.

We were bought with the precious blood of Christ and rescued from the oppression of the devil and the rulers of the world when we washed away the filth of their wickedness and were called to freedom through Christ. So since we owe our life to him who bought us, “Do not become slaves,” he says, “of human masters.” He is not saying, Do not serve as physical slaves, but rather, Do not be slaves to the observation of laws that command circumcision and refraining from certain foods. Instead, let us be subject to him who purchased us not with perishable things but with his precious blood, and let us obey his laws. 148

7:20. Какой род жизни имел ты, в каком классе состоял, в каком состоянии находился, когда призван был Богом и уверовал в Господа Иисуса р Христа, в том и оставайся (Феофилакт).
7:21. Если ты в рабстве призван к вере Христовой, то этим не смущайся и внимания на то не обращай, даже если можешь сделаться свободным, то тем более служи. Лучше оставайся в рабстве и ожидай воздаяния (Златоуст).
7:22. Почему же уверовавший раб не должен смущаться своим внешним рабством? Потому, что он призван Господом к свободе духовной. От ужаснейшего рабства – греху, диаволу и страстям, он уже не раб их в покаянии и крещении. Ему прощены все его грех. В миропомазании и святом причащении подана благодатная сила для освобождения от рабства диавола и страстей, и он стал свободен от них, если верою прилепляется к Господу Иисусу, поработив себя Ему всецело.
7:23. Вы – рабы Господа Иисуса, ибо искуплены из рабства греху и диаволу дорогой ценой Его крови, поэтому Его воле во всем и повинуйтесь. Противное же Его воле, в чем бы оно ни проявлялось, ни за что не соглашайтесь делать, из угождения людям. Не делайтесь рабами человеческих мнений, обычаев и желаний наперекор воле Господней.
7:24. В заключение своей речи о нерасторжимости брака, святой Павел в третий раз повторяет общее правило, общее для всех Церквей, чтобы никто не тяготился своим званием и состоянием, а держался бы того, в котором был призван, и оставался бы верным Богу.