Ye are bought with a price
Some read these words interrogatively, as ( 1
Corinthians 7:18 1
Corinthians 7:21 ) , "are ye bought with a price?" and
suppose them directed to such who had bought out their time of
servitude with a sum of money, and ought not to return to their
former condition; but they are rather to be read affirmatively,
and to be understood of all, whether freemen or servants, that
are bought with the inestimable price of Christ's blood, as in (
1
Corinthians 6:20 ) and contain in them a reason why such as
are called by the grace of God, whilst in a state of civil
servitude, are Christ's freemen, because they are redeemed by him
from sin, Satan, the law, and from among men; and also why such
as are called by the grace of God, being in a state of civil
liberty, are Christ's servants, because he has purchased them
with his blood, and therefore has a right unto them, both to
their persons and service:
be not ye the servants of men:
not that the apostle dissuades such as are redeemed by Christ,
and are believers in him, from being the servants of men in a
civil sense; for this would be to contradict himself, who here
and elsewhere exhorts servants to continue in the service of
their masters, and to perform it heartily and cheerfully, and
with great sincerity and integrity; but his meaning is, that
since they were redeemed from a vain conversation by the blood of
Christ, they should not be servants to the lusts of men, nor obey
them in things sinful and wicked, which were contrary to law and
Gospel, and which were made unlawful by the word of God, and were
a breach of the command of their Lord and master Christ; nor
should they in matters of religion and the worship of God submit
to the authority of any set of men whatever, or be subject to the
doctrines and commandments of men; whether these relate to Jewish
ceremonies, or Gentile superstitions, or be a mixture of both:
they were to call no man master upon earth; nor suffer any to
lord it over them, as the false teachers very much did in this
church; but to acknowledge Christ, who had bought them to be
their only Lord and master. The allusion seems to he to a
tradition of the Jews, that the Israelites being redeemed out of
Egypt were the servants of God, and not of men {p};
``R. Jochanan ben Zaccai was explaining this Scripture, ( Exodus 21:6 ) how different the ear is from all the members of the body; says the holy blessed God, the ear that heard my voice on Mount Sinai, at the time I said, the children of Israel are my servants, (Mydbel Mydbe alw) , and "not servants to servants"; and this goes and gets itself a master, let it be bored: R. Simeon ben Ribbi was explaining the same Scripture, how different the door and the door post were from all the parts of the house; says the holy blessed God, the door and the door post, which were witnesses in Egypt, at the time that I passed by the threshold, and by the two door posts, and I said, the children of Israel are my servants, and not servants to servants, and I brought them out of bondage to liberty; and this goes and gets itself a master, let it be bored before them.''