A New Master

Having been freed from sin, you become slaves of righteousness.
–Romans 6:18

Every one of us is a slave to someone. Here is the good news: you get to choose whose slave you are. Romans 6:17-18 says, “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 become slaves of righteousness.” We all pick who our master is going to be.

When you are choosing a new employer, you want to know what that employer pays. It is the same way when you choose whether you want to serve God or Satan. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” That is what Satan offers you. And Paul was not just talking about physical death or even spiritual death; the payment Satan gives you for serving him is the destruction of everything important to you: the death of a happy family, the death of fulfillment in life, the death of your peace of mind. But the verse continues, “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If you have received God’s grace, then you have a much more benevolent master than Satan. God offers you everything you have ever dreamed of.

You might ask, “If I have a new master, why do I sometimes obey my old master instead?” In his book “The Renewed Mind,” Larry Christenson gave this great illustration: Imagine you have a landlord who makes your life miserable. He charges astronomically high rent, and when you are unable to pay, he just tacks on exorbitant interest. He barges into your apartment at all hours, breathing threats, soiling your carpet, and then charging you for the mess.

One day, a man knocks on the door and introduces himself as the new owner of your building. He says, “You can live here for free as long as you want. Not only that, but I will repaint and refurnish your apartment at no charge.” You are elated. Finally, you have been delivered from your terrible landlord!

Then there is another knock at the door. It is your old landlord, demanding the rent. Do you pay him? Of course not! Instead, you explain to him that he has no authority over you; if he has a complaint, he can take it up with the new owner. The old landlord may continue to threaten you, hoping he can bluff you into paying him, but he knows he has no real authority over you. In the same way, Satan tries to make us think we are still under his control. But he has no more control over us than we allow him to have–because of God’s grace, we have a brand-new master.

***

Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Laying Down The Law Without Giving Up Grace” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2020.

Adapted from Larry Christenson, “The Renewed Mind” (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2001), 51-52.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org