1 Corinthians 7:21

But if thou mayest be made free, use it rather] an ambiguous sentence, like 1 Corinthians 7:16. 'It' may mean 'slavery' or 'freedom.' Either 'even if you have an opportunity of freedom, remain a slave'—this suits the immediate context—or, 'but if you have an opportunity of freedom, take it.' This would be a parenthetical piece of advice. This is favoured by St. Paul's thought elsewhere. He was proud of his citizenship; he prefers celibacy because it gives greater freedom to serve God. So does liberty compared with slavery. Slavery was an essential part of the social conditions of the time. The Apostle accepts it as such, but lays down a principle which undermines it, viz. that Christ makes no difference between bond and free. He insists, not on the rights of slaves, but on the duties of masters towards their Christian brethren (Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22 to Colossians 4:1; 1 Timothy 6:1, and especially Philemon). The spread of the Christian spirit swept away the worst evils of slavery, before abolishing slavery itself.