And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness
Romans 6:18 (NKJV)
It seems that every time I publish a post from this blog my news feed has at least one story about people leaving the church or one of those pieces about Bible verses people misunderstand. Having been dubbed the least curious man in the world, I’ve never explored any of those articles. If they have any relevance at all for me, it is to point out my need to keep posting.
I understand that while Christianity is offered to everyone, it is not for everyone. Today’s verse provides sufficient proof of that. Our present society is acutely focused on guarding personal rights, celebrating a chosen identity, and eliminating personal affronts to our sensibilities. Who in such a society would ever want to become a slave?
Christians respect the rights and identity of others and seek to avoid giving offense whenever possible. Those things are fine for others. However, they have no personal relevance in the Kingdom of God. We are not Progressive, Marxist, Liberal, Fascist, or Conservative—we are slaves of our King.
We have no rights. When Christ says, “Go”, we go. Though there are times we don’t want to go; sometimes even fear to go; we go anyway. We go because we feel privileged to be His servants. Christ has liberated us from the chains of sin and graciously bound us to Him with love. We were not worthy of His love. We are still not worthy. He doesn’t seem to care about that as much as our neighbors. When we falter, He just keeps on loving us.
We seek no identity apart from Him. Read the salutation of Paul to the Romans, of that of James to the church everywhere. Their self-expressed identity is that of servants. They sought service, not exalted office or wealth.
Paul was beaten on multiple occasions for speaking “his truth” without crying about being offended. Like Peter and John, he thought suffering for Christ was a privilege. It remains our duty to be harmless as doves while fearlessly speaking the message we have been given.
Christ has given us the priceless gift of salvation. He followed that by pouring out yet more gifts and callings upon us. We received it freely, without merit. It is His command we share. As slaves, we cannot disobey it because the world is offended.
To give up our lives to become His servants holds no sorrow. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
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