Slaves or Sons?

There are Christians out there who attempt to assert their sonship to God while denying their servitude to God. They profess to be sons of God but deny they are slaves of God. In fact, many of them, confused on the issue of biblical slavery versus the slavery that occurred in England and America, downright hate the word "slave" and fight against it with all their might. They deny they are a slave of any kind.

Here is a list of Bible saints who explicitly identified themselves as slaves of God or Christ: the virgin Mary, Paul, James, Jude, and John. Peter said, "Live as slaves of God" (1 Peter 2:16). Paul wrote, "You have become slaves of God" (Romans 6:22). Jesus commanded His disciples to regard themselves as slaves of God (Luke 17:10).

The Bible affirms both our slavery and our sonship to God. It is utterly impossible to read the Bible, pay attention when you read it, and miss this point. We call God "Father" because we are His children, and "Lord" ("Master") because we are His slaves. God's fatherhood does not trump his lordship, and our sonship does not trump our servitude.

I have already addressed the issue of slavery here.