Week 44 Romans
One of the complex-er ideas in the NT is the mechanism by which people trade-up from their normal dead-while-physically-alive life to a new life in Christ. Jesus tried simplifying the concept for Nicodemus by describing it as a new birth – a rebirth. That didn’t seem to help Nicodemus very much.
Anyway another completely different illustration that’s used is the idea of being set free from slavery. I’d map it out this way…
Life before Christ: Slavery
Life after Christ: Freedom
But when I got to Romans 6 I realized I’d need to revise that idea of freedom. Paul said: thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you have obeyed with all your heart the new teaching God has given you. Now you are free from sin, your old master, and you have becomes slaves to your new master, righteousness.
Things were going along okay until I saw the last ten words.
If what Paul says is true I need a different scheme. More like…
Life before Christ: Slavery
Life after Christ: Slavery
There’s a rule in the books of Moses that a slave had to be released after six years work. But if a slave really liked his master he could elect to remain his slave. Hard to believe but there it is…a volunteer slave…willing slave-itude. I figure that’s what Paul was driving at. The Lord’s willing slave.
Note: quote from Romans 6:17-18 (NLT). And see Exodus 21.