Slavery- to Sin or to Christ

We’ve looked at slavery from several angles in this series. Slavery in the ancient world, slavery in the modern world, slavery in the time of the Roman Empire, and now slavery and how it impacts us today. We are all slaves to the one we obey. We learned that from the words of the apostle Paul to the Roman church (6:16). We are either slaves to sin (through obedience to anything that contradicts God), or we are slaves to God by obeying him as Lord. We get to choose, but the choice is not for independent freedom, rather it is for who our master will be. “Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are offspring of Abraham, and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it you say – you will become free?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is slave to sin…If the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’” (John 8:31-36) Pride can get in the way. When the Jews said to Jesus, we “have never been enslaved to anyone” they surely knew that was a boldfaced lie. They had been slaves in Egypt for about 400 years, only free to truly serve God once Moses delivered them (an obvious case of slavery). They had also been slaves to Babylon after they were defeated by them, and the temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s army. And even as they speak, they are slaves to Rome. But in their pride, they were slaves to no one, and Jesus points out they are in fact slaves to sin. We can see parallels to this in our modern culture. In Peter’s second letter, he talks about false prophets and false teachers doing harm among the church, and after detailing their sins, he says, “They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.” (2 Peter 2:19) Repeatedly we are told that prior to our knowledge of Christ, we were slaves to sin. But when we turn to Jesus in faith, repentance, baptized into Christ, we are free to make Jesus Lord. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6). Free from sin’s hold on us, are we now free to do what we want? Of course not. “What shall we say then, are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6). “Don’t use your freedom (in Christ) as a cover-up for evil but live as servants of God” (I Peter 2:16). Here is one of those places where the translators use “servant” when the word used is actually slave. Live as slaves of God once you choose him as Lord. Calling Jesus Lord means he is your master, and the relationship with a master is as a slave, doing the will of the one you obey. And never forget we have a good master. One whose honor brings honor to us. One who meets our needs, who uses our skills for the good of others, who will reward us beyond anything we can imagine if we remain faithful till death. He sends us on journeys to do his will, trusting us to carry out what is needed, faithful to our master in all things. “No servant (slave) can serve two masters” Jesus said, so use your free-will to decide, and I pray you will make Jesus your master and Lord.

Cross Point: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). We get to choose, but if we choose Jesus, he demands our allegiance as his disciple.