Slavery

The Bible says everyone is a slave. We all obey something, whether it is the will of God or the desires of our own hearts. In fact, from God’s perspective, there are only two kinds of people: those whose hearts are renewed to obey God and those whose desire is to run their own lives.

The Bible calls this desire to run our own lives “slavery to sin.” Sin is a taskmaster that every person serves. It may not look like a big ogre with a whip because most of the sin we do is pleasing to us. Isaiah 53:6 says that “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way. . . .”

That means that the taskmaster looks just like me. I do what I want instead of what God wants, and God calls that sin, even slavery to sin. He says that I was born into this slavery and no matter how “good” I try to be, I am still serving that taskmaster—by being “good” in my own way.

That is why God can say that no matter how “good” I am, human goodness is not good enough. I cannot earn the pleasure of God by my own behavior. Instead, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Salvation by grace means that I do not do anything to earn or deserve forgiveness and eternal life. This has been secured for me by the death of Jesus Christ for my sins, and by His resurrection. Because He lives, I live also. So does that then mean that I can do whatever I wish?

Romans 6:15-16 answers that frequently asked question. “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”

Going back to doing what I wish (because God has forgiven that sinful bent) just puts me where I was before forgiveness. How foolish is that? This verse says it is really foolish for it leads to death.

This “death” must be defined. If it means the end of life, then the first time a person sinned they would drop on the spot. That obviously isn’t the meaning in these verses. Instead, death (in a larger sense) means separation. It can be the normal separation of soul from body in physical death, but in the Bible it often means separation of a person from God. This separation happens because of sin. If a person persists in sin without any interest in God’s forgiveness and offer of eternal life, then that death/separation continues throughout eternity.

The place is called hell, and hell’s description ought to make anyone tremble. It is being apart from God forever, not knowing or experiencing all that God is: love, joy, peace, light, truth, a solid foundation, etc. I’ve a cousin who thinks he will party in hell with all his friends, but hell is not a party. Instead, it is being alone, abandoned, without any peace or joy, tormented by lies and evil all the time in utter blackness and with nothing solid to stand or rely on. That is no party!

I don’t want to be separated from God, not even for a moment. The alternative to that is “obedience that leads to righteousness.” However, with that phrase, another explanation is required. If I do not earn salvation by works (or obedience), how then does my obedience lead to righteousness? It sounds as if doing what God says will make me into a good person, but this contradicts other passages that are clearly saying this is not how it happens.

My devotional reading agrees. Obedience blesses us, but it does not give us anything to boast about. Instead, doing as God says actually reveals that I have “an interest in the finished work of the Son of God.” Obedience shows that God has done something to my sinful nature that always wanted to go its own way. Paul explains it in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; 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 gave Himself for me.”

Grace is an incredible work of God. It produces faith and brings dead people to life. It also brings out the righteousness of Christ in the lives of those who belong to and obey Him. It is His life that is brought out, His life that manifests itself, His righteousness that appears, yet in the process, I am blessed. Incredible.

I cannot boast in even the highest acts of faith or obedience, including the obedience of believing in the Son of God, or the obedience of walking in the fear of God, or the obedience of doing the things that please God. All I can claim is my fleshy self-interest, pride and self-righteousness. As the devotional writer says, if I “live after worldly customs and conform myself to worldly opinions . . . if there be a grain of godly fear, or one spark of the life of God in my heart” the best thing I can do is “be in misery.”

Yet, this path of godly obedience is such a blessing. It does not honor me, but honors God, yet in doing that, my soul is comforted and filled with joy. All of this makes me shake my head in wonder and delight. After more than thirty years of knowing Him, of knowing the truth about my salvation and what He has done in my life, I’m still thrilled by it all and motivated to serve Him with all of my heart. I know that it is because of grace that I can obey God and because of grace I can enjoy obeying God and that this blessing of obedience makes me wish to continue being His slave.