Articles
Slave
No one can serve two masters for he will love one and hate the other.
As an American, the thought of being a slave is repugnant. Not only because of this nation’s current obsession with pre-civil war and pre-civil rights history, but the idea of freedom is the bedrock of this country. We all need to realize that, spiritually, we are all slaves. There is no escaping it. We are lucky, though, that we are not like the slaves of yesteryear who toil for no gain and for a master which they have no say. Paul’s letter to the Romans tells us:
“What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.” (Romans 6:15-19)
Looking at the end of the passage, we must understand that Paul is making this analogy so that we can understand our spiritual place in the human terms of slavery. We are all slaves, but we are slaves to whom we choose to be. Initially, we did not have the choice. In Genesis 2:17, God forbids the eating of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. To not know evil gave us only one master by which to be bonded, and man’s potential was realized. Unfortunately, the devil tempted us away and gave us another choice through his lies. Joshua understood this choice.
“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)
He understood that, as human beings, he and his fellow countrymen were going to serve something, and he tells them their choice: the false gods, or the true God. His statement at the end of the verse is a favorite among many Christians today. He chose to be a slave to the only master who would feed and clothe him. He chose to be a slave to the only master who would give comfort and safety to him. He chose to be a slave to the only master who would not throw him into the pits of despair and destruction when his usefulness was over in this world.
As an American, the thought of, “I am my own master,” is an easy trap to fall into. Certainly, in this life, and in this country, we do have that privilege to an extent, but spiritually, we do not. Paul continues in Romans:
“What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” (Romans 7:7-12)
We could be our own masters, an agent of the free will given to us by God, but in the moment that we sin, transgressing the law, we chose that evil slave master. “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34) The law was there to warn us when we are following evil and give us the opportunity to come back. Satan gets us for a bargain when we choose to follow him for no cost. Like an indigenous man being captured from his homeland and then being forced to a place unfamiliar to him and put into cruel chains. He went to a place and was captured and is now a slave. The only way out would be for him to be purchased out of that slavery, which would make him the purchased slave of another who is benevolent.
Christ did just that for us as described in Acts 20:28 that Christ purchased us with His own blood. He is yours and my savior. The freedom we understand is not the same, spiritually. Who will you serve? Even in the American south, after the civil war, there were freed slaves who chose to stay with their master, and continue to serve because the master was righteous, and treated the, now former, slave with kindness and mercy. You have two choices: the master who will destroy you, or the master who will save you? There is no third option.
Lance Byers
8/24/2024
- Slave_8-24-2024.pdf (57.11 kB)
