Whose slave are you? Part 2

Pastor-Teacher
John Farley
Wednesday,
December 2, 2009

Whose slave are you?  Part 2

The second packed phrase here is “a slave of Christ Jesus.”

PauloV douloV Cristou Ihsou

Paul the slave, the slave of Christ Jesus

Doulos = “slave.”

When introducing himself to these Roman Christians, the first and most important thing Paul wants them to know is that he is a slave of Christ Jesus.

Slaves were the exclusive property of their masters, and they had no control over their lives.

This notion of a slave is very important in the Christian way of life.

The slave concept is rather fundamental to the whole idea of the Gospel, the good news.

Redemption refers to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ paid the price for the sins of the world by His substitutionary spiritual death on the cross.

He bought us out of the slave market of sin.

The Bible tells us that we are born into an inescapable slavery - spiritual bondage.

Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”

We are born in slavery to sin.

Gal 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free [from the slave market of sin]; therefore [believer] keep standing firm [spiritual growth] and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [the bondage of the sin nature and the law].

What words do you want to hear?

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”

“Well done, good and faithful slave.”

So we celebrate the fact that we are rescued from the slave market...

...Yet we are striving to hear the words “well done good and faithful slave” - which means we want to be a slave!

Paul, the free Roman citizen, writing to a community of Christians in Rome that included slaves, describes himself as a slave to Christ.

It is estimated that over 25% of the population of Ancient Rome was enslaved.

Now if 25% of the population in Ancient Rome were slaves, then it is likely that at least 1 in 4 of the people that Paul wrote to were slaves.

Are you a slave to anything or anyone?

The word for “bond-servant” in your English NAS translation of Rom 1:1 is doulos.

The Greek word for slave, doulos, would have aroused negative feelings - feelings of dehumanized and unwilling servitude.

“For the Greek in the classical tradition it was well-nigh impossible to use a word of the doulos group without some feeling of abhorrence.”

Now slavery is a taboo subject in the United States.

You cannot ignore the fact that slavery and slave imagery are found in the New Testament.

Unbelievers are slaves to sin.

Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”

Are believers slaves, or not?

A person is either a slave to sin or a slave to Christ!

Salvation therefore is an exchange of yokes.

1Th 1:9 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve [douleuo = to be a slave to!] a living and true God,

Slavery shows up in human romance and sexuality.

Addiction is really slavery. You put yourself in bondage to a substance.

Some people are slaves to money.

Some people are slaves to their enemies.

Others are slaves to their friends.

Sometimes the Bible calls our master an idol.

God’s people the Jews were slaves in Egypt for 400 years before they were set free by the Lord.

Paul had been a slave to the Law. That’s why Romans 7 is so personal while Romans 6 is more clinical.

Whatever it is, or whoever it is, this one has a total hold over you. It holds the power. You bow to it.

The question is only - Whose slave are you?

Salvation therefore is an exchange of yokes.

1Th 1:9 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve [douleuo = to be a slave to!] a living and true God,

2Co 5:15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

The most convincing evidence that you truly possess freedom is your willingness to surrender it to achieve a more worthy goal.

The Greek word for “bond-servant” in Phi 2:7 is doulos - a slave.

Our Lord became a slave to free us from slavery to sin so that we might freely live as slaves to righteousness and slaves to Christ Jesus.


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