Grace & Truth Chapel
131 Fardale Avenue ~ Mahwah, New Jersey
Phone 201-327-6226 ~ E-mail gtchapel@juno.com

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"True Liberty" (posted August 1, 2004)

If the slave plainly says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out as a free man," ... his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.
   - Exodus 21:5-6

A Hebrew, in payment of debt, could be sold into bondage for a period not to exceed six years. Then he was given his freedom without obligation or restriction. However, if his master had provided him with a wife who bore him children, they could not go free with him. Consequently, he had to make a choice between his family and his freedom.

No one would consciously choose to be a slave! However, we are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness, and so our choice is not if we will be slaves, but to whom!

Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ... But now, having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
- Romans 6:16-18, 22

We can choose sin as lord, or we can choose Christ as Lord; death, or eternal life (Romans 6:23). When we choose Christ as Lord, we say with the Hebrew slave, "I do not want to go free."

We become "marked men." The Hebrew slave was given a hole in his earlobe to tell people that he was a servant for life. Likewise, there should be evidence, a "mark," that Christ is our Lord and Master. Do we display it, or do we cover it up?

When we acknowledge Christ as Lord, we too give up our personal freedom. We give up our self-will, which instructs us to "do our own thing." We give up self-interest, which operates on the principle that "I have my rights" and the belief that "I deserve it." We give up self-indulgence, which tells us, "If it feels good, do it."

What do we get in return? We get new life and true liberty. "One who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it ... this man shall be blessed in what he does" (James 1:25). We are granted the means to live life effectively and to cope with all that life brings our way. We are encompassed by God's love, and in that atmosphere we will thrive.

James P. Trotzer



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