WE ARE ALL SLAVES TO SOMETHING: CHOOSE WISELY
The word “SLAVE” today is a socially distorted, politically charged word. Today, I want to show you what God says in the Bible through the apostle Paul, who uses the word “slave” in it’s correct, non-political context regarding regarding the singular fact that ALL human beings slaves. Because, as sinners ALL human beings are slaves to either good…or evil.
- In Romans 6:20-23, the Apostle Paul says this:
“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free to God’s righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Let’s now do a deep dive in what Paul is saying to us in this very short but potent passage. I will lay this passage out for you in SIX important points-let’s get started.]
- FIRST: Paul makes clear that “when you and I” were slaves to the world’s sinful ways, that we were actually FREE! Hold on…I thought we were free in Christ. What Paul is saying is that all human beings are FREE to choose their master, because every human beings has two and only two choices in our lifetime. We can choose to be a slave of the world, whereby we are (or think we are) free as to the ways of God as prescribed in Special Revelation (God’s Word), which applies only to those in Jesus Christ. On the converse, all human beings have the freedom to choose life in Christ, which gives us supernatural access to the Scriptures on a whole new level through the Holy Spirit; the HELP of the Holy Spirit supernaturally to choose good, restrain evil (temptations) and become a slave of God.
- SECOND: Paul goes on to say, “But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? Paul makes clear hear that all humans bear fruit, whether good or bad. I want to be clear here that all people know RIGHT from WRONG through the “natural law” and the “moral law” which is written on all men and women’s heart. That fruit that we bear is from God, and as s result, is evident in our secret thought life, actions, and words. Even those who choose to live a life with a sexual deviant way, meaning apart from God’s moral code as communicated through His Word, their “conscience” hounds them their entire lives. As a result , they cannot escape feeling “shame”. The sinful world affirms our shame while God condemns it and lovingly but firmly call us to confront it, confess it, and change teams from team-earthly slave to slave of Christ. This is why so much of culture today stands with out self-affirmation and pride regarding their social status and sexual choices, despite the fact that they live so contradictory to God.
- THIRD: Paul makes clear that “For the end of those things (living as a slave to the world) is death. This plays into number TWO in that all people know that heaven is a good, righteous place and that their sinful, deviant ways. For those who choose to be a slave to the world, they face a dilemma because to live as such is to live in the world’s carnal, sinful, lustful ways. As such, unless that person makes a full-on decision to confess their sinful worldly ways and embrace the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, they will NOT receive the supernatural power to overcome their sinful ways, and as a result miss out on the beauty of being truly “free-in-Christ” as a slave, bond-servants to Jesus Christ and the goodness of God’s ways.
- FOURTH: Paul goes onto give us the great news in that for those who have chosen Jesus Christ, and who authentically follow the Bible as opposed to the world. Paul says this: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God,…” This is a simple affirmation of number THREE.
- FIFTH: Paul goes on to give us a tangible marker for being truly saved in Christ in saying, “the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.” In other words, a marker of those who are true bond-servants (slaves) of Christ is made evident in that there will be “fruit” in our lives. This fruit is from God and materializes in our daily living out visibly to the world, the ways of God in the face and against the grain of the common culture.
- SIXTH and LAST: In closing out his point, Paul makes clear that: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In other words, we have two and only two choices. There is no third choice. Either choice carries with it a promise and a consequence of eternal life or death and effects “how” we live out our life on earth-morally or immorally according to God’s ways or against them. I want to shift gears now, and in the second half of today’s devotion, I want to speak more to what is meant by the word “SLAVE” because the word “SLAVE” is a sticking point for so many in our modern age as read read this ancient text.
- The Oxford Dictionary defines the word “slave” as a person who is forced to work for and obey another and is considered to be their property. They also define “slave” as “a device, or part of one, directly controlled by another”. These seem to be two very different definitions of what it means to be a slave. On one hand, the former is a total ownership as a piece of property while the latter is a “part of one controlled by another”. I would submit that the biblical definition is more closely aligned with the latter, because the for the follower of God through Christ, one has free will to chose which he will serve. On the other hand, to be a slave of the world or to God is to be totally committed to one or the other, so both apply. As a side note, First Principles of Logic mandate through the Law of the Excluded Middle, that it’s either A or B. There is NO C option. The Bible is clear and reality proves the fact that there are only two choices, and that all human beings by default, choose one or the other.
- The Bible contains many references to slavery, which was a common practice in biblical times of antiquity. The Scriptures speaks to “slavery” in light of things such as sources, the legal status of slaves, the economic roles of slavery, the different types of slavery, and the debt of slavery, which explains in great detail the institution in Israel and in antiquity in a much broader understanding that just our modern, civil rights context. In the Bible, there are “numerous types” of slavery. While I won’t get into that, it’s important to note that in our modern age-world wide and in antiquity, that our modern understanding of “slavery” is distorted to some degree as opposed to how the Bible often eludes to slavery.
- As we wrap us, let’s read Paul’s exact words once again:
“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:20-23)
- In conclusion, in Romans 6, Paul is thanking God for the change that has taken places in the lives of the Christians in Rome whom he is writing to and you and I today. What Paul is saying in Romans 6 to his audience and to us today (as followers of Jesus Christ) is that we were once slaves to our sinful desires, but we are now a new creation. What this does NOT mean is that we do and never will sin again. As a new creation, we have a new sensitivity to sin and the help of the Helper, the Holy Spirit to overcome the sinful temptations of this world. We as Christians are now a new creation “in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This means that we have become obedient from our hearts and minds. As such, we are committed to obey the teachings of God’s truth and trying and make the best effort we can to live them out in our daily life. In the end, Paul writes that we have becomes the “slaves of righteousness”. In other words, we present ourselves -our bodies and minds-to God to be used to accomplish His righteous purposes. While it seems odd for us to hear God use the term “slavery” for God’s righteous purposes, let’s remember that Paul himself begins his letter by describing himself as a “slave” of Christ, using the Greek word “doulos”, meaning a “bond-servant”. In this verse, Paul uses the root word. Paul uses the “human term” for slavery because of our limited ability to fully understand the supernatural change the Christian undergoes when they become a new creation in Christ. As such, this limited ability to fully understand this change in our allegiance because a life-long, daily struggle we all face to do “right” in a very sinful and “wrongly driven” world.
- And this ladies and gentleman is what it means to be a slave to God or man. The choice is is ours and the choice is a free one for all human beings to make. For those of us who are reading this who have not made the decision to fully and authentically place your trust in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation and life here on earth, I pray you will do so now. Don’t wait any longer, for tomorrow is not guaranteed. For those of us who have made that decision and placed our full trust in Jesus Christ, I pray that you will read these verses with a fresh mind and heart, and make the decision as to how you can live more rightly, as a true bond servant (slave) of Christ-to God, according to His Word (the Bible) even when when those ways go against the grain of culture. The choice is yours. I pray you will choose wisely.
