Part 4 WHOSE SLAVE ARE YOU?
“But God be thanked that though you were SLAVES of SIN, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been SET FREE from sin, you became SLAVES of righteousness.” (Romans 6:17-18)
We have been reminded that there are only two kingdoms. There are only two masters. The Word of God also clearly teaches us that, “we are all slaves to the master known as ‘The sin’, by our natural birth.” The only way to escape the tyrannical domination of this personified master called “the sin” is to be liberated by grace, to become the slave of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But what kind of Master is the Lord Jesus Christ? OH FRIEND, Jesus is a Master who proclaims that, “I so loved rebel sinners that I came to this cesspool of sin called the earth, and I lived a perfectly righteous life, as the Servant of Jehovah. Then I voluntarily marched to Calvary, to present Myself as the Great High Priest and as the Lamb of God. Moreover, I voluntarily presented myself to be the sinless object of the full equivalent of an eternity of the just wrath of God. I thoroughly exhausted all of the damning waves of the eternal wrath of My Father (as the sinless, substitutionary sacrifice for enslaved sinners). So that I might come to those who are in abject slavery to sin and powerfully emancipate them through the glorious Gospel; so that, as a direct consequence, they would become My slaves. I am a Master who rules with a scepter of mercy and grace. My crown is a crown of supernatural and sacrificial love. This Master’s crown of His Lordship is overshadowed in the countenance of His face of amazing love! Why would anyone be so foolish to continue to cling to a master who will drag them into the eternal flames of the lake of fire, when such a Master of love, grace, and mercy appeals to their bondage of sin, from His Cross of incredible love?
Oh, but the Lord Jesus Christ is no longer on His Cross. For He has paid the wages of sin, on behalf of any and every sinner who will repent and believe His Gospel. God the Father pronounced His “amen” on Jesus’ redeeming work, by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Jesus is now reigning as the exalted Lord of lords and King of kings. He has promised to receive even the vilest of sinners and set them free from their slavery to sin, if they will only come to Him on His conditions of genuine repentance and saving faith in Him. If any sinner will embrace Jesus as his Master, he will be rescued from the penalty of sin, redeemed from the power of sin, and liberated from the tyranny of sin! If anyone who is under the tyranny of sin will lay down his weapons of rebellion, he shall be liberated from captivity to sin to become a loving captive of the Lord Jesus Christ. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. And when the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Oh dear friend, the Lord Jesus is a gracious, loving, and merciful Master. His scepter is a scepter of lovingkindness, which is better than life.
“For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” God is calling on believers to be just as devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ as you were previously devoted to the mastery of sin. Sinners are extremely earnest and zealous in their servitude to sin. However, God is calling on believers to be just as earnest and zealous in their loving slavery to Jesus. For the Lord Jesus Christ is an infinitely more worthy Master than the master who is called “the sin.” Oh, that we might expend all of our energies in joyful service of the blessed Lord Jesus. May there be no lethargy and apathy in the life of a slave of Jesus. Instead, may we burn out for the glory of the Master of grace.
Paul’s favorite description of himself is the bondslave of the Lord Jesus Christ. Does this describe your life? Are you a faithful and loving slave of the Lord Jesus Christ? “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”
WHOSE SERVANT ARE YOU? — Part 2
“But God be thanked that though you were SLAVES of SIN, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been SET FREE from sin, you became SLAVES of righteousness” Romans 6:17-18).
In the previous devotion, we observed that the slave of sin exhibits “a voluntary obedience to the demands of this master known as sin.” The slave of sin also demonstrates ‘a total disregard for the demands of God’s standard of righteousness.’ Thirdly, the Word of God explains that ‘the final end, to which this slavery to sin ultimately leads, is eternal death in the lake of fire.’ However, questions immediately come to mind. How could the apostle Paul (having never met these Roman believers) make such a sweeping statement concerning every one of those Roman disciples, before their conversion to Christ? How could Paul unequivocally state that, without exception, all of them manifested this slavery to sin by exhibiting a voluntary obedience to sin as their master? How could he declare, without any reservations, that all had demonstrated a total disregard of the demands of righteousness? How could Paul definitely proclaim that each one of them was on a pathway that was leading to eternal death in the flames of hell? Wouldn't it be rather presumptuous of Paul to announce that all of these Roman citizens (no exclusions) were the slaves of this master known as “THE SIN”?
Well, friend, the unadulterated truth is that their enslaved condition of bondage to sin was no different than the condition of every human being who has walked on this earth!" The Bible declares that every heir of fallen Adam lived in captivity to sin before their conversion to Christ! Until the grace of God powerfully arrests a person, this is the universal condition of every sinner. Before the mighty grace of God redeems a sinner, they are slaves of sin, which includes every person reading this devotion!
Subsequently, it is only when the Spirit of God powerfully plants the roots of conviction and contrition, so that He reveals to you the desperate condition of the slavery that you are existing in, that you will begin to cry out for the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver you from this dominating bondage to sin. It is only when you come to personally know the truth about your condition, being in captivity to sin and under condemnation, that you will begin to call on the name of the Lord to make you free.
The Word of God clearly establishes the biblical fact that all men are conceived in sin. From the very moment that your conception is initiated, in the womb of your mother, you are under the tyranny of sin. The Lord Jesus has proclaimed, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” When our Lord uses the term ‘flesh’, He is describing the fact that every human being is born with the pollution of both ‘the stain of sin and the slavery to sin’.
Consequently, every person’s life becomes a commentary on the reality of this stain of sin and slavery to sin. This deadly reality of sin is not pressed into the human heart by the perversions of a fallen world system. On the contrary, sin flows out of the thoroughly polluted fountain of every human heart, which is hopelessly corrupted by its very nature! Sin is not programmed into us by sinister forces from without. Sin proceeds from the bondage of sin, which incarcerates every human heart from within; if not in action, it is in thought and motive.
Has there ever been a time in your life when the truth mightily came home to your heart, causing you to see that you were a slave of sin? Has the Spirit of God ever powerfully and personally prosecuted you, so that you realized that you were a condemned sinner, in desperate need of being delivered from slavery to sin; redeemed from the power of sin; and rescued from the penalty of sin? So that, as a direct consequence, you began to seek the Lord while He may be found, and began to cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy on your lost soul.
Dear reader, the Holy Lord God of the universe, who has been utterly offended by our wicked lives, is the same God who has come to seek and to save that which was lost. But the only hope to be delivered from the slavery to sin is to enter into a new slavery to the Lord Jesus Christ. “
Whose slave are you?” You are either a slave to sin, or you have, by the amazing grace of God, become a slave to the Lord Jesus Christ!
WHOSE SERVANT ARE YOU? — Part 1
But God be thanked that though you were SLAVES of SIN, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been SET FREE from sin, you became SLAVES of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18).
“The sinner (which all have sinned) by his very nature, is a slave who is in captivity to a master known as “THE SIN”. He is in bondage to the servitude to sin, which is personified by the Apostle Paul within this passage as a master. For this reason, the unconverted sinner lives desiring to fulfill the will of this master. There are three outstanding manifestations of this slavery to sin.
First, the sinner exhibits " a voluntary obedience to the demands of this master known as sin” in his members. “For just as you presented your MEMBERS as SLAVES of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness,”; Romans 6:19a. The word “members” refers to the physical and mental faculties of the body. For these faculties often become the vehicles of sin. In Colossians 3:5, the apostle urges believers to “put to death YOUR MEMBERS which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Notice that Paul is not only describing physical sins. For he also speaks of “evil desires and covetousness, which are both sins of the mind and heart. Paul is describing both your physical and mental faculties. So we clearly understand that the unconverted sinner exhibits a “voluntary yielding of his faculties to this master who is personified as ‘THE SIN’.
Notice the phrase “lawlessness leading to more lawlessness” in Romans 6:19! One could state this phrase as follows: “no law leading to no law.” As sin continues to pollute one's life, in connection with its “subjective defiling dominance, it manifests itself in the objective result of lawlessness. This is why the apostle John defines sin as ‘lawlessness.’ With that assertion, John was stating that the very essence of sin is “no law” with reference to the Lord God! In other words, the sinner refuses to recognize the moral law of God. Instead, his own sinful and selfish appetites, affections, attitudes, and ambitions are the dominant influences in his life. He is exhibiting a voluntary obedience to the depraved demands of this master known as “THE SIN”.
Consequently, the sinner is willfully and deliberately presenting all of his faculties (members) to internal defilement and external lawlessness. His ongoing practice of lifestyle is shouting out, “I will do my own thing. There will be no law for me.”
However, there is a SECOND expression of the unconverted sinner’s “slavery to sin”, given in the following verse. “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free regarding righteousness.” This signifies that the unredeemed sinner demonstrates a total disregard for the demands of righteousness. Paul is employing the “master-slave” imagery once again. He declares to these Romans, well acquainted with the master-slave lives, that “when you were the SLAVES OF SIN, you regarded yourself as being free from submitting to God’s standard of holiness.” Paul is not stating that the unconverted sinner is free from his personal obligation to obey God’s righteousness unto a life of holiness. Every person is personally responsible to God’s absolute standard of righteousness and holiness.
Instead, Paul is describing the continual mental disposition of a “slave to sin”. When their master, ‘sin’, speaks to this sinner, he does his bidding. However, when righteousness and holiness speak to this slave, he deems himself to be free from heeding that voice. This is the heart attitude of a slave to sin. The slave imagines that he owes no allegiance to the moral law of God and to the God of the moral law. He personally chooses to walk in his voluntary and willful obedience to the mastery of sin. This is the frightening portrait of the slave to sin.
THIRDLY, we see the final end to which this slavery to sin ultimately leads in the next verse. “What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. For the wages of sin is death.” (verses 21 & 23a) The word “death” in verse 23 means nothing less than the judicial punishment of the just wrath of God, which will be executed upon the slaves of sin in an eternal lake of fire. They shall be cast into an eternity of outer darkness, where there shall be weeping, wailing, and the gnashing of teeth. Where the worm of an amusing conscience never dies, and the fire is never quenched. This is God’s terrifying assessment of these “slaves of sin.”
THE DIVINE AGENDA IN ALL ADVERSITY IN THE LIFE OF THE DISCIPLE
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love” (I Peter 1:6-7).
Every true disciple, sooner or later, walks through the valley of adversity. The reality of saving faith in the Lord Jesus, by its very essence, implies that there must be a testing of that faith. God did not grace us with the gift of saving faith to serve merely as a tool for the personal acquisition of pleasures and treasures. The very gift of faith in the Lord is graced to you to be matured, expanded, and enlarged, through the testings and proving of adversities and afflictions.
The Word of God clearly declares that many are the adversities and afflictions of the followers of Christ. This diversity of adversities assaults the children of God from many different directions and many varying degrees. Some trials and troubles come from expected people, places, and circumstances of life. These adversities are a living reality for the disciple of Jesus Christ.
Every follower of the Lord Jesus has been graced with glorious privileges. I am among those who have tasted the blessed joys of knowing the Lord Jesus. I have been brought into a saving knowledge of the Great Pearl of heaven! I have been given to drink of the rivers of God’s precious pleasures. I am in personal possession of the earnest of the inheritance, who is dwelling within me. Yet, like other believers, to prevent me from thinking more highly of myself than I ought to think, I am frequently given humbling visitations of adversities and afflictions.
You would think that a person who has previously seen himself as a bankrupt, guilty, condemned, and desperately needy sinner would never succumb to the poison of pride again! Yet both scripture and personal experience inform me that a saint can become proud even of his measure of grace! They can become guilty of being proud of our good works; proud of our spiritual adventures; proud of our spiritual accomplishments; proud of our spiritual position; and even proud of knowing more of the Lord Jesus Christ than others may appear to know! It is for these divine reasons that our Lord graces us with thorns of adversities and afflictions of various kinds! Out of His love and care for His own, the Lord is preventing pride in our lives, which is our greatest enemy; promoting humility in our lives, which is our greatest friend; and drawing us to personal dependence on His sustaining grace, which is our great blessing.
For this reason, the apostle Paul could give praise, writing, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Dear friend, do you desire to be strong? Then you must boast about your weaknesses! Do you desire to be truly blessed? Then you must become poor in spirit. Do you long to be first? Then you must be willing to occupy the last seat. Do you desire to be exalted on that final day? Then you must be willing to be brought low! Do you want to be a spiritual leader? Then you must be willing to serve others as a servant. Do you have a passion to be fruitful? Then you must die to self-centeredness.
Do you find that you are not as ready to praise your Lord when things are going wrong and the road is difficult as you are when they are going right from your limited viewpoint? You may have enough spiritual insight to thank the Lord for your roses, but do you thank Him for your thorns? Oh, how I need to value His “orchestrated thorns” more and more, which He sovereignly places into my life and ministry.
My perfectly wise Father is preventing pride, promoting humility, and prompting dependence on His all-sufficient grace, growing me more into His image. Thank you, Oh my, Father!
As we step into this new year, we are excited to welcome you back and begin a fresh season of daily devotions, spending time in God’s Word together.
THE MASTER’S CROSS OF PROPITIATION; THE SERVANT’S CROSS OF PROCLAMATION! — Part 1
“Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings FOR the gospel according to the power of God, ...” (2 Timothy 1:8).
These words from the apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 1:8 encouraged me greatly this morning. I sit before my open Bible, less than 48 hours away from heading to the other side of the world. I am well aware of my physical affliction with small fiber neuropathy (which has caused my feet and hands to burn continually) for the last 14 years. In recent years, this malady has been complicated by three serious illnesses. Even now, as I prepare for this next opportunity, I am battling an ongoing bacterial infection in my small intestines, ‘Barrett’s Esophagus’, and still not totally out of the woods concerning this latest “flu-like bacterial assault” that both Dianne and I have struggled with for well over a week.
Moreover, I received the news that ‘the location of this upcoming pastor’s conference’ was recently attacked by a group of furious men, who rushed into the worship place, demolishing it, and assaulting the brothers and sisters who were participating in worship. However, because of the timely intervention of the police, there were no further problems. The decision was made to forge ahead with the conference.
It is with this personal backdrop, ruminating in my heart, that this precious verse came powerfully to me this morning. I needed this timely reminder of what I have been teaching for many years in many nations: “God’s design for the evangelism of the world and the consummation of His sovereign purpose often INVOLVES THE SUFFERINGS OF HIS SERVANTS!” To state this truth more specifically, my dear friend, God’s blueprint for His great mission actually incorporates the sacrifice and suffering of His servants. It is, in fact, one of the Lord’s essential means in the triumphant spread of His Gospel among the nations of the world!
Dear reader, the Lord God, in His sovereign wisdom, has ordained voluntary sacrifice and suffering in the life of His disciples, for the salvation of souls and the glory of God! This truth I am referring to refers to your personal willingness to be a living sacrifice to the Lord, Who gave Himself as a sinless sacrifice for the salvation of your eternal soul. This describes the born-again disciple of Jesus testifying with a sincerity from the heart, “Here am I, Lord! Send Me. I am ready and willing to go anywhere; at anytime; to anyone; and at any cost; for the extension of the kingdom of Jesus into the hearts and lives of sinners."
Acts 1:8, “You shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses unto Me….” is often quoted in the context of calling for world evangelism. But we should not neglect to consider that the Greek word translated as “witness” is actually the word that means "martyr"? So, let's look at that verse again. “You shall be martyrs unto Me.”
I realize that the immediate response of many 'professing believers' in our culture would be, “Well, Ed, we live in the United States of America. We will never be martyrs unto Jesus.” Oh, but consider that, “If you are going to be a faithful ambassador for the King of kings, then you will have to DIE to your comfort zone? Certainly, one will have to DIE to some spare time, to saturate their mind and heart with a “Christ-centered gospel message. Additionally, you will have to DIE to your plans so that you can invest quality, consistent, and priority time in evangelistic intercessory prayer for the lost sinners that God has placed within your sphere of influence. Some may very well have to DIE to apathy, complacency, and numerous other self-centered and worldly goals and desires. You may even have to DIE to personal fear, shyness, or timidity, to become a courageous and compassionate witness.
The verse, Colossians 1:24, in which Paul writes, “I now rejoice in MY SUFFERINGS for you, and fill up in my flesh what is LACKING in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.” Some may gloss over that as a typographical error; for there is absolutely NOTHING LACKING in the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord paid the full price for our atonement! But it is not a typo, it is a divinely inspired word of God. So then, what does this servant of Christ mean by saying, “he is filling up what is lacking in the suffering of Jesus?”
Dear friend, the Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily became the sinless, substitutionary sacrifice and suffering for my PROPITIATION, the atonement for sin. But I, and every born-again believer, am to be involved in voluntary sacrifice and suffering for the PROCLAMATION AND PROPAGATION of His message of propitiation. The Lord Jesus purposely and perfectly took up His Cross for the salvation of sinners. But I, as His follower, take up my cross of voluntary sacrifice and suffering for the declaration of His glorious message of salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth! “Lord, anywhere; anytime; to anyone; at any cost!
As we close out another year and enter a new one, I want to view it as another opportunity to serve and love the Lord each day.
I want to consider each and every day a gift to be embraced and cherished. Looking ahead, there may be days of triumph and days of adversity, yet through it all, the Lord God Almighty reigns.
I encourage you to ponder with me as we close out 2025 and enter 2026, with Psalm 100.
“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness: Come before HIs presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God: it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.”
I'm really looking forward to posting the next series of devotions beginning on January 5th. Hope you will join us.
Striving to do God's work, God's way for God's glory,
Ed Lacy Ministries
🎄 Merry Christmas from our Ministry Family to Yours! 🎄
As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, we are filled with gratitude for each of you who walk alongside us in faith and support.
We will be taking a short break to spend time with our family and reflect on the true meaning of this season. During this time, we pray your homes are filled with peace, joy, and the love of Christ.
Thank you for being part of our ministry.
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given…” – Isaiah 9:6
May Christ be the center in our homes and lives this Christmas!