<p>7:17 <em>Only as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk- </em>Paul's argument is that it would be wrong to justify ending a marital relationship under the excuse that one is seeking a higher spiritual experience, and all the more wrong to then use church prostitutes. The immediate context here speaks of accepting our marital situation where possible and seeking to reconcile and live at peace with the partner, whether they are believers or unbelievers. The distribution or calling in view therefore refers both to marital status, and to the nature of our marriage. Those situations which the Corinthians were tempted to wriggle out of were in fact gifts from God- each therefore has &quot;his own gift from God&quot; (:7). This is not the same as saying that our situation must be glumly accepted at all costs; rather is it an elevation of 'the ties that bind' and seeing them as gifts from God. Paul began in chapter 1 by saying that every believer has been given gifts at the point of baptism. Here he is saying that those gifts may not necessarily only refer to talents or characteristics, but also to life situations. He uses the same word to speak of the gift to him of a ministry to preach to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 10:13). He uses a related word in speaking of how each believer is a different part of the Lord's body (1 Cor. 12:27). We are to run with what we were given- to walk according to our calling, as he puts it here. The 'calling' again is that spoken of in chapter 1; it is not simply a calling to the Kingdom, but a calling to a unique path to that end, which includes marital situation and the nature of the marriages we have.</p><p><em>And so ordain I in all the churches- </em>Understanding Corinth ecclesia as a series of house churches explains Paul&rsquo;s comment to the Corinthians that he ordained his guidelines to be practiced in all the ecclesias- i.e. the house churches that comprised the body of Christ in Corinth. He gives some guidelines for behaviour that appear to contradict each other until we perceive the difference between the commands to house groups, and commands about the &lsquo;gathering together&rsquo; for special breaking of bread services. The role of women is a classic example. 1 Cor. 14:34 says that women should keep silent &lsquo;in ecclesia&rsquo; AV &ldquo;churches&rdquo; is a mistranslation- i.e. a sister shouldn&rsquo;t teach at those special breaking of bread meetings when the house churches &lsquo;came together&rsquo; (1 Cor. 11:17,18,20). And yet within the house groups, it&rsquo;s apparent from other New Testament accounts and from what Paul himself writes, that sisters did teach there (1 Cor. 11:5). Thus in the house church of Philip, there were four women who &lsquo;prophesied&rsquo;, i.e. spoke forth the word of God to others (Acts 21:8,9). This to me is the only way to make sense of Corinthians- otherwise Paul appears to be contradicting himself.</p>