The Clover Patch: I AM A SLAVE^{0}

One purchase takes us from an evil master to The Benevolent Master. 

“16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” Romans 6:16–18 ESV

Often we Christians who became such later in life look back on our life and we focus on a moment when we “choose” God. Maybe a response to an alter call where we walk an isle to pray the sinners prayer or after a medical scare we realize the importance of God. For C.S. Lewis it was while riding in a motorcycle side car to the zoo. As I read this text today it struck me how much we focus on the event, the moment, the choice with relief while Paul looks to the change with gratitude. 

Notice Paul begins this text as a praise to God thanking Him for all that is now true for Christians. His very thanking of God for this change of condition is an acknowledging that it is God who accomplished this task, not Paul. We simply do not thank people for what we ourselves have accomplished. If I make myself dinner, first it wouldn’t taste to good, second I wouldn’t thank my wife for it. But what is Paul thanking God for?

The Gospel is what Paul is thankful for, being released from one master and yoked to another master. Paul is (and we ought to be) grateful for this freedom from enslavement to sin.

We don’t really have a concept of enslavement. We’ve read about it in history books, but we don’t know what it is like to be enslaved to someone. Yet here we are told that sin was our master. We did what sin told us to do, we wished to please sin, we spent our time to further the purpose of sin. Sin was our motivator, from rising sun to rising sun we followed sin. Sin was our master Sin was a cruel master

Now we are free and we are once again slaves. Free from our old master, sin. But we are still slaves of righteousness, slaves of Christ. Freed from sin, as we have been purchased from sin, we no longer belong to sin, but we also do not belong to self, we belong to Christ. We serve a master who calls us to love God, who calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Our master calls us to a life devoted to Christ alone, we are called to magnify His name and praise be to God we are not left to do it on our own, but are empowered by our new master as he works in and through us for his own glory.

What does is mean to be a slave (doulos) of Christ?
What does it mean that Christ choose you as his slave by purchasing you?
Is it concerning to be the slave of Christ?
Is it any comfort to know what a loving and gracious master we have?
Does this truth change how you view your time? your money?

There are many more passages that speak of our position as slaves of Christ we might look at in the future