May you have peace!
Thank you for your long answer...
My sincerest apologies. I am verbose, I am sorry to say. A life-long "fault," one I have battled with and finally accepted. Hope you can "hang in there" with me.
explaining how you are not a slave in the way that most people portray slaves, but a friend of Christ.
Yes!
Perhaps you overestimate your status as a slave? At the same time you overestimate how much choice you have now that you are a slave of Christ.
‘Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, “Come here at once and take your place at the table”? Would you not rather say to him, “Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink”? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!” Luke 17:7-10
I am the first to say, dear Trevor, that I AM... a "good for nothing slave" and what I do is only what I ought to have done anyway. Doesn't matter: folks question that, as well.
To be a friend of Christ you would have to share equal rights. All the while he is your Lord and Master and holds power over you, you remain a slave in every sense of the word.
I take no issue with what Luke wrote, Trevor; however, what Luke wrote is not what my Lord has since said to me. Rather, it is what John wrote:
"I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master does. But I have called you friends, because all the things I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you, and I appointed you to go on bearing fruit and that you fruit should remain; in order that no matter what you ask the Father in my name he might give it to you." John 15:15, 16
True, John wrote it when my Lord spoke it to my brothers earlier, but it is my truth also, for my Lord himself said these same words to me. And so, while I now know that I am his friend, I still CHOOSE to be his slave.
You have escaped enslavement to sin only to become enslaved to Christ. The penalty for changing your mind is to become an enemy of Christ and suffer the penalty.
That smacks of Paul, and while it is true to some sense, it is not entirely accurate. Although his motive and intent was pure, Paul was often inaccurate. Which is why I choose... to follow NO ONE... but the Christ. To respond to your statement, however, yes, I was indeed set free from sin by means of my Lord; and, as a result, I am now TRULY free, just as he said:
"Therefore, if the SON sets you free, you are TRULY free."
A FREE person... is not a slave. Thus, my Lord does not compel me to be his slave. It is my GRATITUDE for his releasing and my LOVE of him for doing so, particularly in the manner that he did, that compels me. Neither God nor Christ want forced service, dear Trevor. That was Israel's first mistake - assuming that they could please God and Christ by "works" (i.e., "thou shall... thou shalt not..."). The TRUTH is that both only want us to serve them IF we WANT to. Anything else is actually null and void. Thus, if I claim to accept the blood of Christ as atonement for my sins, but I follow him around mumbling and grumbling about the "works" he assigns, or "begging off", or somehow otherwise depising the "bond" of the New Covenant, of what benefit is that? If I go around telling people, "Hey, this One set me free, but the cost is that I now HAVE to follow him," of what benefit is it? True, there were some to whom my Lord said, "Follow me," but such ones did so voluntarily, yes? Yes, because he didn't say, "Follow me, or else." And others, once cleansed, healed, resurrected, whatever, he told, "Go YOUR way..." But, out of love and gratitude (and I give you Mary the Magdalene as a foremost example)... they followed him. Wherever he went. NOT because he said they had to... but because they WANTED to.
The premise that you appear to be promoting (and I may misunderstand you; please forgive me, if I do) is one of the VERY reasons that people DON'T seek Christ. They have been misled to understand that being under the New Covenant is really not much different than being under the Old. That is not the case, however: the Old WAS a compulsory enslavement... while the New is a RELEASING from such type of slavery. We who have received the free gift of holy spirit follow that One... BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM... for what he HAS done... NOT because we fear death if we don't. And THAT'S why we go WHEREVER he goes, even if it seems to be a treacherous "wilderness,"... and do/say whatever he tells us, even if it seems impossible. As Paul did rightly state:
"Who will separate us from the LOVE of the Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or hunger or nakedness or danger or sword? Just as it is written: 'For YOUR sake WE are being put to death all day long, WE have been accounted as sheep for slaughtering.' To the CONTRARY, in all these things WE are coming off victorious THROUGH HIM THAT LOVED US. For [WE] are CONVINCED that neither DEATH... NOR LIFE... nor angels nor governments nor things now here nor things to come nor powers nor HEIGHT nor depth nor ANY OTHER CREATION will be able to separate us from God's LOVE that is in Christ [JAHESHUA] our Lord."
Most of us here would do ANYTHING for someone we loved, particularly if we also felt indebted to that one. LOVE... is the "perfect" bond of our union with Christ, dear Trevor, starting with God and Christ's love for US first, and then ours for THEM... and for our fellowman. Because the LAW which SAVES us is:
"You MUST love God... with your WHOLE heart, your WHOLE mind, your WHOLE soul and your WHOLE strength... AND... you must love your neighbor AS you love yourself."
Love... is the Law's "fulfillment," Trevor... not keeping free from sin. Personally, I can't keep free from sin. I have sinned, I do sin... I am in sin now, as I write, and I will sin again before I leave this world. And not necessarily "little" sin. I might actually sin "big." BUT... there is a "propitiatory" for my sin, Christ, whose blood... so long as I exercise faith IN it... and in HIM... can and will "cover" my transgressions. That is, so long as I live by the LAW... of love... for love "covers a multitude of sins," and there is NO law against love.
And, so, it is because I LOVE the Most Holy One of Israel, JAH of Armies, and His Son and Christ, my Lord, JAHESHUA MISCHAJAH... that I choose to slave for them in the manner that I do.
Fortunately all these enslavements exist only in your mind. True freedom can only be enjoyed by free men and women. Those who have seen through religious slavery and started to enjoy their birthright of being born free of sin and free of religion.
I hope my response above helped you to see that such "enslavements" are not imaginary, but are quite actual and literal, and that perhaps you have again misunderstood me. Because I totally agree with this statement; yet, I openly and publicly acknowledge to you and everyone here that I AM a slave... to Christ... and servant to all those of his household... to time indefinite.
I bid you peace.
YOUR servant and a slave of Christ...
SA
