A Slave of Christ -

“When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.”

- Romans 6:20-22

“For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.”

-1 Corinthians 7:22-23

"And from the throne came a voice saying, "Praise our God, all you his servants (douloi = slaves), you who fear him, small and great."

-Revelation 19:5

“There is a sense in which all people are Christ’s possession because he created them and now sustains them; he is the one ‘through whom all things were made and through whom we live’(1 Cor. 8:6). But in every sense believers are his special possession, a people of his very own, because he purchased them as his slaves (1 Cor. 6:19-20, 7:22-23) along with their freedom from all iniquity (Titus 2:14). As a result of that purchase they belong to him totally, and only to him, a comprehensive ownership that his slaves voluntarily embrace. He is their absolute and exclusive Master. His rights over what he purchased are unlimited and he tolerates no rivals to his lordship, for no slave can adequately serve two masters. ‘Proof of purchase’, or the mark of this ownership is the presence and activity of the Spirit in the believer’s life. And that same Spirit is the guarantee that this divine ‘property’ will reach its destination intact.”

- Murray Harris, Slave of Christ, p. 125

If you are a Christian you belong to Christ. Because of His mercies to you, you are not your own. You no longer belong to the dominion of self. You are no longer rightfully in charge. You have been ransomed or purchased for Christ as His own possession and for His own purposes. You have been bought at tremendous cost. The metaphors used for the Christian are many…friend, son, daughter, sheep, soldier, and disciple, but rarely do we refer to the Christian as slave. There is something in us that bristles at the thought of being the possession of another. One of the things my brothers and I used to tell one another is, ‘You’re not the boss of me!’ We couldn’t bear the thought of anyone telling us what to do, let alone one another. If we are Christians Christ is the gracious one in charge. He owns us… lock, stock and barrel. We are no longer our own. We belong to Him. To see ourselves as those who have been purchased will help us see things clearly. It will help us as we love and serve one another. It will help us as we determine priorities for our time and finances. It will help us as we interact as husbands and wives, and as we interact with our children. The shadow of the Cross casts long over our ownership. We are not our own, we’ve been bought with a price.

-DJM