Freedom of Slavery?
Freedom. It is one of the most
fundamental desires of the human heart. No one wants to be a slave. In 1966 a
chimpanzee, whose name was Washoe, was adopted by two doctors. Washoe learned
sign language for several years. Finally she was able to say what is on her
heart. In her safe and secure cage, well taken care of, Washoe said the first
three words of her own initiative: “LET ME OUT!!!”[1] She
signed these words several times. Even in animals, there is a strong desire for
freedom, not to mention human beings.
But in today’s passage Paul uses an analogy of slavery. He was well aware
that the imagery of slavery would bother many. So in verse 19, he pauses to
apologize, “I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations.”
Even though Paul was aware of the limitations of the slavery analogy to explain
heavenly truths, he still wanted to use it because he believed there is much
more benefit than detriment. In fact, in today’s scripture Paul’s message is
crystal clear, and it’s expressed as paradoxical truth, that is, true freedom is slavery to Christ. And
he gives us at least two reasons why this statement is so true.
Slaves to Something
First, everyone is a slave to something or someone. We are all slaves.
None of us is free. We become slaves of whomever or whatever we present
ourselves to. Neutrality is impossible. In verse 16 Paul says that we can be
either slaves of sin or slaves of obedience, either slaves of
unrighteousness or slaves of righteousness (v. 18), either slaves of Satan or
slaves of God (v. 22). But we cannot be neither, and we cannot be both at
the same time. Rebecca Pippert rightly said, “Whatever controls us is our lord.
The person who seeks power is controlled by power. The person who seeks
acceptance is controlled by acceptance. We do not control ourselves. We are
controlled by the lord of our lives.” We are slaves to whatever controls our
lives.
In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, the main character,
Christian, meets two men, Formalist and Hypocrisy, on his way to the Celestial
City. These two men didn’t enter the narrow gate but climbed over the wall on
the narrow way. The two men said, “Our way is shorter. It is our custom to
enter this way. You know in the long run we are all traveling along the same
road.” But Christian answered, “I walk by the rule of the Lord. You walk by the
rule of your own hearts. You are already counted as thieves by the Lord of the
way.” But they laughed and went on in their own way. And three of them came to
the Hill Difficulty. When Formalist and Hypocrisy saw its towering summit, they
decided to take the side roads. They chose their own way. One took the way of
danger and got lost in the forest; the other took the way of destruction,
stumbled over a cliff and fell to his death. To choose our own way is not to
choose freedom. To choose our own way is to choose sin because it constitutes a
refusal to serve God. Remember, neutrality is impossible. Many people assume
that if they choose to live for themselves, they can experience true freedom.
But, this is Satan’s lie. Again, to choose our own way is to choose sin. Today
Paul clearly tells the truth that our choice is not, “Should I give up my
freedom and submit to God?” but “Should I serve sin, or should I serve God?” True freedom is slavery to Christ.
A Matter of Life and Death
Second, by comparing their fruits we know that this statement (“True
freedom is slavery to Christ”) is true. In verse 17 Paul says that we were once
slaves of sin. Slavery to sin begins at our birth. We are born into this
slavery. That is, when we were living apart from Christ, we had no choice of
masters. We had no choice to
serve sin or to serve God. We were slaves to our old self, and therefore slaves
to Satan. We could never break free from the power of sin. We were slaves of
sin. Ephesians 2:3 says, “All of us
also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature
and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.” In a sense, being a slave to
sin does bring freedom, but only from the control of righteousness (v. 20). When
we obey sin, when we do what we (our old self) want to do, it feels like
freedom. It feels like we're getting gifts of pleasure and freedom. But what fruit
or benefit do we reap from this? The answer is “guilt and shame” and eventually
those things result in “death” (v. 21). There is something very deceptive about
sin as a master. It seems to give us pleasure and freedom, but it leads us to
destruction. Tim Keller rightly said, “When someone says that they are
rejecting Christianity because they want to be free, they are right only in the
narrow sense that they’re free from living in the way that will most satisfy
and fulfill them; in every other way they are slaves.”[2]
So remember if you don’t obey God and his law, you become a slave to
selfishness, lust, bitterness, pride, worry, fear. Sin brings death.
But the results of slavery to God are a complete opposite. In verse 22
Paul says, “But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the
advantage you get is sanctification.
The end is eternal life.” Here notice
the passive verbs. We don’t free ourselves, but we have “been freed.” And
ultimately, we don’t make ourselves slaves of God, but we have been “enslaved”
to God by his grace. Behind these passive verbs is the work of
God. God did not purchase us (Christians) out of sin’s slavery to set us
free in the world. Rather, he bought us to be his own, his slaves! In 2
Corinthians 5:15 Paul says, “And he died for all, that those who live should no
longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
Salvation is decisively the work of God, and then, dependently our work. We
need to do our part. It is to love God, trust God, and obey God. It is to
present ourselves as his slaves (v. 19).
One time Rick Warren interviewed
Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. Warren asked, “Your life and
ministry have been so blessed and fruitful in many ways. What is the secret?”
Then, Bright told his story. He was living without God and without hope in his
early 20’s. But through his pastor, he received Christ. And he fell in love
with him. One Sunday morning, led by the Holy Spirit, he and his wife literally
wrote out a contract of total surrender of their lives to the Lord Jesus
Christ, and they signed the contract to become Christ’s slave. During the
interview, Bright said, “My wife and I have been slaves now for 50 some years,
and I must tell you it's the most liberating thing that's ever happened to me… My
life's message is be a slave of Jesus. And all that involves. Love your master,
trust your master and obey your master. Obviously, I'm a son of God, heir of
God, joint-heir with Christ, and if He was described as a slave… this to me is
the highest privilege anyone could know. I evaluate everything I do in light of
what He wants me to do. I try to relate every move, every day, in light of how
I can help fulfill His Great Commission and fulfill His ommandments.”[3] To be a slave to God is not a burden; it is
the highest privilege and exceeding joy. And it gives us freedom, because true
freedom is slavery to Christ.
Chaff vs. Tree
In fact, Jesus is our perfect example.
Philippians 2:7 speaks of him becoming a slave. Though he was God, he emptied
himself and took the form of a slave.
And he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death
on a cross! Paul always refers to himself “a
slave of Jesus Christ” (Rom 1:1; Phil 1:1; Titus 1:1), “a soldier of Christ” (2Tim 2:4), and “a prisoner of Christ” (Eph 3:1). These
three imageries - slave, solider, prisoner – have one thing in common. They
don’t have their own freedom. They belong to someone. Paradoxically, when we are bound to Christ, we are free most.
In Psalm 1 we see two ways of life
– the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. On the one hand, the
wicked are described as “chaff.” It seems they have freedom. They do what they
want to do. They go their own way. They follow the rule of their own hearts.
But in reality, they are swayed and controlled by the waves of the world. They
are slaves of sin. And in the end they cannot stand in the judgment. On the
other hand, the righteous are described as “tree.” They are living in the
passive voice. They don’t plant themselves, but they are being “planted” –
planted by streams of living water. They are nourished, grown, and finally bear
much fruit in its season. They delight in God’s instruction and meditate it day
and night. They wait, endure, trust, obey. They are slaves of God.
Are you a slave of sin? Or are you
a slave of Christ? Let us remember if we are in Christ, we have been set free
from sin. We are no longer a slave to sin. But instead, we have been enslaved
to God. Let us celebrate our Christian slavery. Let us put our life at Christ’s
disposal. And let us always remember true freedom is slavery to Christ. Amen.
[1]
Keith Krell, “The Freedom of Slavery,” https://bible.org/seriespage/14-freedom-slavery-romans-615-23
[2]
Timothy Keller, Romans 1-7 for You: For
reading, for feeding, for leading (The Good Book Compant, 2014), 155.
[3]
“Rick Warren Interviews Bill Bright,” http://www.nppn.org/InnerViews/Innerview011.htm
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