When Slavery is Good
Next Part What Makes a Christian Invincible
Hebrews 9:15 . . . Christ . . . died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
If we are truly saved/redeemed – rescued from the power and eternal consequences of sin – we are not free to make our own decisions. Jesus is our master.
1 Corinthians 7:23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
Being bought by Jesus is contrasted with being a slave to a human master because biblical references to being bought/ransomed/redeemed are usually a reference to the purchasing of one’s liberty from slavery or imprisonment and often the thought of being bought at a slave market seems to be in mind.
The wondrous result of being “bought at a price” – having your freedom purchased by the blood of Jesus (Revelation 5:9) – is that you are God’s slave.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 You are not your own; you were bought at a price.
To be God’s slave means that at last you belong to purity, royalty and divine authority. Yes, you obey as fully as a slave but with God as our master, we do so with the joy and devotion of a lover and with the dignity of a prince/princess of God.
When hoping to cast out demons, some people act as if there is something almost magical about using the words “blood of Jesus”. The sobering truth is that such words are powerless – and demons know this – unless they cease to be mere words but we are actually redeemed by the blood of Jesus. And if you are truly redeemed, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). If, however, you are “your own,” how can you be redeemed/saved from the bondage and eternal damnation of sin?
We were not freed so that we would again become enslaved and shamed by our fickle passions, but so that we would follow Christ. Pursuing our own whims would bring us back into slavery to sin again.
Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
If we disregard this warning we could actually fall into an even worse quagmire than before.
2 Peter 2:20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. Those who follow this route could end up as Jesus described:
Luke 11:24-26 When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, “I will return to the house I left.” When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.