What Is Christian Slavery

“Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:1-7 NASB).

True freedom is to know a Person who is higher and better than one’s self. The Person is Jesus Christ. The Greek noun doulos (slave) means Paul was not only a slave of God, but he was owned by God, body and soul. Paul was not his own man because he had been bought with a price, and the price was the death of the Son of God. It was Paul who said to the Corinthians, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body” (I Cor. 6:19, 20 NASB).

The noun doulos refers to a slave that is in permanent relationship to his Master. This word doulos divides every audience into two classes—the saved and the unsaved. Every person is born into slavery to sin by his first birth. The chosen sinner is born into a loving and willing bond service to the Lord Jesus Christ by the second birth. The believing sinner’s identification with Christ in His death severed his relationship to Satan. Since Christ will never die again, the believer will never die, because Christ is his life. That is why Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20 NASB).

The word doulos is also used to denote one’s acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as his Master and Lord. Paul applies the term to himself in Romans 1:1, Galatians 1:10, Philippians 1:1, and Titus 1:1. It also expresses the condition of one who has surrendered to the will of Jesus Christ. Spiritual servitude must ever be the product of choice and never that of coercion. Thus, the believer’s surrender is not forced. It is the expression of self-surrender. The new life purchased by Christ and applied by the Spirit develops in every recipient of grace the sense of eternal debt to Jesus Christ. There is a sense of personal debt, because the Christian can never forget what Christ has done for him. There is also the sense of an infinite debt, because the Christian’s growth in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ seems so insufficient in honoring his Master and Lord properly. David felt this when he said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:23, 24 NASB).

The word doulos also gives us the true meaning of Christian liberty or freedom. Adam and Eve wanted freedom from God. Slavery to self is a bondage that includes all other slaveries. Until a person is saved, all so-called freedoms are counterfeits, because they form nothing but a mirage. The true meaning of Christian liberty is an important subject. There is no thought of coercion with Jesus Christ. To talk about freedom of religion in the Biblical sense is related to talking about freedom of love. What freedom is there in love unless there be the consent of the one loved? If a man says he wishes freedom to love and the woman does not desire his approach, it is nothing short of attempted rape. The analogy applies to worship.

The Song of Solomon is a revelation of the chaste and virtuous love which no splendor can dazzle and no flattery can seduce. Christians are attracted to Christ not merely for what He has done, but because of the Person that He is. He is the Son of the living God. He is our Mediator who stands between us and the righteous and holy God. He is the One who has settled all the claim against me at Calvary. He can take me into the presence of the Father in worship. He is my Surety, my all in all. The love of Christ is a reality. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, FOR THY SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:35-39 NASB).

As Christians are Christ’s love, Christ is their Beloved. The Song of Solomon gives three stages of Christian love. Every Christian loves the Lord Jesus Christ, but all Christians do not have the same stage of love. First, the new believer thinks chiefly of Christ as being his and, in some way, for his pleasure. This is the baby stage. Solomon said, “My beloved is mine, and I am his; He pastures his flock among the lilies” (S. of Sol. 2:16 NASB). Look at the baby stage of love. A baby thinks everything is his. Baby Christians are like that. They think that everything is for them, and they get upset when things do not go their way. Second, Christ’s ownership takes place in the Christian’s thoughts. Solomon said, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine, He who pastures his flock among the lilies” (S. of Sol. 6:3 NASB). In this stage, there has been growth—“I am my beloved’s.” Third, finally the word “mine” is dropped in the perfect assurance that to be Christ’s includes everything worthwhile, because it is external. Thus, Solomon said, “I am my beloved’s, And his desire is for me” (S. of Sol. 7:10 NASB). Recognition of Christ’s ownership swallows up every other thought. Therefore, Christian growth goes from “mine” (babyhood love) to “ours” (we belong to Christ) to “His” (all emphasis is on the Savior). That constitutes true Christian growth.

It is the responsibility of every Christian to let everyone he meets know that Christ is first in his or her life. Paul knew Christ better than any one else, but he desired to know Him better. He said, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Phil. 3:7-11 NASB).

Paul’s first recognized relationship with God was that of a son—“Abba! Father!” (Rom. 8:15 NASB). On the day of his conversion experience—the fruit of regeneration—Paul said, “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10 NASB). A regenerated son does not need to do anything to be born of God, but as a purchased slave he must do everything to please the One who bought him from the religious slave-market of sin. Paul said to the Galatians, “For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure, and tried to destroy it; and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. But when He who had set me apart, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood” (Gal. 1:13-16 NASB).

Although a son does not do anything to enhance his relationship with Christ, he must do everything to please Him who bought him. While the regenerated person is “compelled” to do nothing to complete the relationship, he is “impelled” to do everything that pleases his heavenly Father. Therefore, the word doulos involves two ideas: (1) The Christian “belongs” to a Master, and (2) he is the “servant” of his Master. I Corinthians 6:20 proves the first point—“For you have been bought with a price…” (NASB). Romans 1:1 proves the second point—“Paul, a bond-servant [doulos] of Christ Jesus [Christou Iesou—both nouns are in the genitive case, the case of description]” (NASB). The latter part has been compounded by the fact that Paul had been called to be an apostle, plus the fact that he had been permanently separated (perfect passive participle of aphorizo, meaning to separate, set apart, or to appoint—Rom. 1:1) for proclaiming the gospel of God.

The second Christian idea of a slave is the believer’s self-surrender. Spiritual servitude must be the product of choice and never that of coercion. Therefore, the believer’s surrender is never forced, because it is the expression of self-surrender. The new life purchased by Jesus Christ and applied by the Holy Spirit develops in every recipient of grace the sense of an eternal debt of gratitude to Jesus Christ.

The only true freedom is found in slavery. Freedom is not a product of human craving or action, but it is a condition brought about by Divine grace. It is unique because it is unsolicited and gratuitously given. On the other hand, the condition of the unsaved is characterized by bondage (in bondage to the Devil himself), slavery (a slave of Satan himself), and oppression (comes from knowing the conclusion of Satan and what will happen to him in the future).

Christ had a debate with the religious Jews in John 8. It consists of ten points. In the fourth point of the debate, Christ said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him” (John 8:28-30 NASB). Were these believers saved? Consider Christ’s reply! “Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and truth shall make you free. They answered Him, We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, You shall become free? Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. And the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:31-36 NASB).

True freedom becomes actualized in slavery, not to sin but to Jesus Christ. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Rom. 8:2 NASB). Jesus Christ is the true Liberator. Paul said, “Am I not free…” (I Cor. 9:1 NASB). The stronger the believer, the more independent he is of forms, customs, and fashions. (See I Cor. 9.) There are three kinds of liberty: (1) Liberty without law is like a dog running wild. (2) Law without liberty is like a dog chained to a post. (3) Liberty with law is the Christian’s life.

The Christian is free from the curse of the law, but he is not free from obedience to the moral law (the commandments). He is not free from the sins of the old nature, from troubles that come to us on account of indwelling sin, from rods of affliction that are sometimes executed on us, and from the stroke of physical death without its sting.

The true believer obeys from the principle of his eternal life in Jesus Christ and in the sphere of reverential love. The legalist obeys in hope of achieving life in the sphere of a slavish fear. True believers know that God chose us, regenerated us, converted us, and set us apart for His honor and glory. You cannot have that teaching if you do not believe in Jesus Christ.