There is only one good slave-master. . . .

 

The religious people in Jesus’ day claimed they were not slaves to anyone. They were thinking of human physical bondage, but Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34)

His words fly in the face of those who say we have a free will. Without Jesus, our so-called freedom is doing whatever we want, running our own lives apart from God. The Bible calls that sin and sin is ordering our lives. This is why the Bible tells me:

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

I could make a list: eating after I’m full, watching TV when God is telling me to do something else, becoming angry about something and letting the sun go down on my anger, putting off praying for another person’s request, blah, blah. My friends say that too much focus on sin is not good, and they are right, but what is the alternative? To me, if I am not obedient, then I need to repent and do what the Lord says, focusing on His forgiveness and goodness.

This is simple, but as today’s reading says, legalism or living by rules is natural, a big part of that old nature. It causes me to seek assurance or recognition based on my own works instead of on Christ. It can also cause me to shirk what I should be doing because I feel inadequate and unworthy.

Legalism is motivated by pride, fear, unbelief and a sense of duty — all slave drivers. So is the way it can lead me to judge others by rules (theirs or mind) instead of loving them as brothers and sisters in God’s family.

This passage is long, but when slavery calls, I need to read and re-read it:

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:6–23)

PRAY: Jesus, what arrogance to think that my choices for life are better than Yours. While You do use a rod and staff to direct me, it is far better than the whip I carry to motivate myself. Thank You Jesus for wanting and securing my freedom and for being my Shepherd.

To Live is Christ — choosing God’s will over mine

Routine is important to me. Without it, distractions take me away from the important responsibilities. I’d never wash windows or weed my garden without a schedule of some sort. Weekends and vacations are difficult because routine slides and life becomes unpredictable. I reason that this is the way my brain is wired, yet know it could also be a control thing. This makes me wonder just how much I try to control and how much I am really trusting God concerning all the interruptions and disruptions of life.

Again, I’m drawn to these words from Paul. His life was in constant flux. He made no plans of his own, instead followed the daily leading of the Holy Spirit, and making choices that complied with the ministry God had given him. No matter what life threw at him, he did not veer from his goal.

But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24)

Since then, there have been Christian leaders with the same sense of purpose and the same ability to focus. However, there are thousands more like me, who struggle with having an overall goal that keeps us on target. Maybe Paul knew that those who came later would not be as able to stick to it the same way he did. He went on to say that those he had preached to would not see him again, therefore, 

Take heed to yourselves. . . . For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. (Acts 20:28-31)

If the enemy uses false teachers to pull people away, he certainly uses false ideas and thoughts for the same reason. Several important commands come to mind, and with them the struggles that I have to stay on track.

The big one is loving God with all my heart. I can feel as if I do, but loving Him boils down to obedience. Every time that I fail to do His will, I go off track concerning this main life purpose. Instead of running the race with joy, I’m wallowing on the sidelines.

Another big one is loving others as I love myself. I think I’m really important, otherwise I wouldn’t give myself so much attention or want so much for myself. That is how I’m supposed to love others (self love is assumed in this command), but do I? Do I even have to answer that question?

Several more Bible words come to mind besides love and obedience: persistence, patience, faith, goodness, meekness, worship. My track record isn’t anything like it could be or should be.

Sometimes I say, “Lord, I cannot do this. You are the Savior and I need saving.” Yet is that passing the buck instead of making good choice? Can I choose to serve others or choose to serve me? Can I choose to obey God or choose to do my own thing? God has given me a new nature governed by the Holy Spirit. Can I choose life in the power of God or life according to the disposition of my old sin nature?

I know the answer. It is explained well by Oswald Chambers in A Series of Talks on the Ethical Principles of the Christian Life. He says people are free to choose in that no one can convince me against my will. However, there is more to it. He goes on: 

Only God could exercise constraint over a man which would compel him to do what in the moment of doing it is not his own will; but that God steadily refuses to do. The reason man is not free is that within his personality there is a disposition which has been allowed to enslave his will, the disposition of sin. Man’s destiny is determined by his disposition; he cannot alter his disposition, but he can choose to let God alter it. Jesus said, “Whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin”; but He also said, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:34, 36) i.e. free in essence. We are only free when the Son sets us free; but we are free to choose whether or not we will be made free. In the experience of regeneration a man takes the step of choosing to let God alter his disposition. When the Holy Spirit comes into a man, He brings His own generating will power and makes a man free in will. Will simply means the whole nature active, and when the Holy Spirit comes in and energizes a man’s will, he is able to do what he never could do before, namely, he is able to do God’s will.

The Bible puts it simply: “It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13).

In other words, because of Jesus in my life, to plead helplessness and say that I have no power to obey Him is a lie, a false notion from a savage wolf perhaps, but whatever its source, it is not from God and I need to quit listening to it. Jesus lives in me; I have His power and whenever I ask Him, He will give it to me.