what constitutes slavery you were bought with a price there is no more defining expression in terms of what it means to be a slave it means to be owned it means to be owned do you remember these words Matthew 25:21 well done good and faithful that's what you have read all your life that is not the word for servant that is not any of the six words for servant that is Doulos well done good and faithful slave when you give somebody the gospel you are saying to them I would like to invite you to become
a slave of Jesus Christ I would like to invite you to give up your independence give up your freedom submit yourself to an alien will abandon all your rights be owned by controlled by the Lord that's really the gospel we're asking people to become slaves I don't hear a lot of that slave talk today to you a kind of service which is not a matter of choice for the one who renders it a kind of service which he has to perform whether he likes it or not it describes one subject totally to an alien will
the will of the owner and in total and utter dependence on that owner that's what the word means it is the word for slave if you think that's a hard word for us to swallow imagine how hard it was for those living in the midst of slavery to swallow that I how can Jesus and the apostles of the New Testament talk to people living in the midst of a slave dominated society ten to twelve million slaves at that very time about the fact that being a Christian was being a slave to Jesus Christ there wouldn't
be any distant foggy idea of what that meant they would know exactly what that meant precisely what it meant let me tell you about slaves in the Greek Roman world they had no freedom they had no rights they had no ownership of anything they had no legal recourse in the courts they could not give testimony as a witness in a law case they had no citizenship they had no possibility of doing what they wanted to do they weren't asked say they're mr. slave what would you like to do to be fulfilled they weren't asked what
do you think your purpose is can you dream your dreams so I your master can fulfill it bizarre they had no choice about anything they owned nothing they couldn't be citizens and they couldn't be a part of the army the military they were totally dependent on whoever owned them doesn't mean that it didn't have some benefits they were provided for cared for protected in many cases treated kindly compassionately loved within families so the idea of coming along in that world and announcing to people that you must become a slave of Jesus Christ was just another
way to present the message to make it impossible to believe nobody is going to line up to become anybody's slave we're called to be slaves and the difference between a slave and a servant is obvious obvious servants were hired to work for wages servants were hired to work for wages and they could quit they were paid a wage for a job slaves were owned and they could not quit if they ran away they were found arrested flogged and has all kinds of ancient writings about the flogging of slaves and worse and sometimes sometimes many times
crucified publicly as a demonstration to the rest of the slaves what could happen to them if they ran away in back in Galatians chapter 1 and verse 10 Paul says it again the end of the verse he says if I was trying to please men I would not be a slave of Christ now he understood what slavery men I only do what pleases my master this is the singular focus of being a slave you don't have to please a lot of people you just please one that metaphors critical to understanding our relationship to the Lord
if we're going to talk about a personal relationship to Christ and to God then our personal relationship is we're slaves that's the best way to define that relationship and Paul here tells us it means that we only please him he says to the Corinthians I have as my ambition to be pleasing to him it came down to this do what he says and do what pleases him it's that simple that's what a slave did really only two possibilities where there was a direct command you obeyed it where there was not a direct command you found
a way to do what you knew would please the master you obeyed him and you pleased him and he says these familiar words come now you who say today or tomorrow will go in to such a such a city and spend a year there engage in business make a profit yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow you're just a vapor that appears for a little while and vanishes away instead you ought to say if the Lord wills we shall live and do this or that that's slave talk that's what it
means to be subject to an alien will they were slaves in the past they'll be slaves in the future slaves in heaven we're his slaves now who are being taught by the book of Revelation that these things will come to pass we will never stop being slaves never servant could be hired and quit the slave was owned that means exclusive ownership because he was bought with a price does that sound like New Testament talk to complete and constant availability and obedience complete and constant availability and obedience three subject to one alien will no man can
be a slave to two masters right impossible you could have two employers you could have a day job and a night job but you can't have two men who have total control over you because they both own you and everybody knew that that's why that statement is self-evident no man can be a slave to two masters so exclusive ownership by one master complete constant availability and obedience to that one master and simple in the sense that it's singular let's call it singular devotion to that one master that's New Testament talk too isn't it love the
Lord your God with what all your heart soul mind and strength have no other gods do all that you do to please him to honor Christ fourth the slave had complete dependence on his master for everything for everything absolutely everything and fifth all discipline and reward came from that one master that's what it was to be a slave you were owned by one person you were completely and constantly to be available and obedient to that one master you had one consuming raison d'être reason to live and that was to please that master you were dependent
on that master for absolutely everything and all discipline and reward came at the discretion of that master all of that is directly connected to what it means to be a slave of Jesus Christ we are owned by him because we've been bought with a price we are in a position of complete and constant availability and obedience to that one master to the degree that we can say not my will but then be done all the time we are singular in our devotion and that means we have no other master to obey and no other master
to serve and that's why the New Testament says you cannot these are the words of Jesus serve God and money you can't serve God and anything else I can't tell you how many years I have gone through discussions with people about the lordship of Christ let me tell you something real simple curious and Doulos are two words that describe both sides of a relationship if there is a slave let me tell you something there is a lord if there is a slave there is a master if there's a master there's a slave you don't call
yourself a master if you don't have a slave and you're not a slave if you don't have a master that's why the New Testament never even bothers to defend the idea as it were of whether or not when you come to Christ he is your Lord that is patently obvious when you confess Jesus as Lord you are at the same time confessing yourself as slave there's no other way to view it curious and Doulos are the two sides of the relationship a slave is someone whose life belongs totally to someone else absolute ownership absolute control
absolute subjection absolute obedience absolute loyalty absolute dependence now if you don't grasp that idea of slavery and a lot of us we miss it because it's been hidden from our English text it's hard for us to really understand the essence of what it is to be a Christian you are a slave of Jesus Christ you are owned you have been purchased by his blood that's plenty you have been bought not with silver and gold but with what first Peter 1:18 19 the precious blood of Jesus Christ you have been purchased revelation 5:9 you have no
independent rights slaves had no rights slaves owned nothing they could not own their own property in the eyes of the law they were not citizens they could hold no public office they were completely under the discretion and the provision and the protection and the care and the abuse in an earthly sense of their owner there was a great upside to being a slave of a benevolent gracious generous kind compassionate master I can't think of a better life if any man will come after me let him deny himself that slave talk that's slave talk take up
his cross and follow me it's the end of you the end of your life you're finished it's over you're done you are now the slave of Jesus Christ and it's not burdensome Jesus said take my yoke because my yoke is what easy and my burden is light and you'll find rest you're going to be a slave to someone being a slave to Jesus Christ is beyond any kind of slavery that anybody ever knew because this master listen to this one makes us sons and gives us all the rights of his own sons he adopts us
into his family calls us joint heirs with Christ takes us to heaven where we rule and reign from his own throne and pours out all the lavish riches in his possession forever and ever and ever for our own unmitigated joy and his own glory who wouldn't want to be a slave under that master what a joy to be a slave of Christ
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