![]() We are to "live as free men," "live as servants of God," and to "love the brotherhood of believers." We shouldn’t use our freedom in Christ to rebel against just authority, nor should we forget that as God’s servants we serve Him by treating others with respect. The Principle of Authority and Service (I Pet 2:13-25): The first epistle of Peter points out that as Christians we each have real liberty, are under authority, and in a familial relationship with one another.The question becomes one of what kind of dependence. ![]() The Bible, then, recognizes that slavery is a condition of dependence. If we are free from sin, it is in order to be God’s follower (Rom 6:15-23, Gal 4:6-9, 5:1). If we are slaves to sin, we self-delusively are seeking to be free from God’s rightful rule over our lives. Likewise, Paul reminds us that "freedom" is always to be both free from something in order to be free for something. A life of sin is slavery, while obedience to God is true service. Paul, most notably, suggests that we are "slaves" to whatever we choose to obey. The Biblical Metaphors (I Sam 3:10, Ps 123, Ps 135:1-2, Mt 20:26, Mt 25:21, Lk 16:13, Phil 2:7) The Bible often uses the terms "master" and "servant" to suggest spiritual conditions.This position mitigates against worldviews that would judge servants or slaves to be non-persons, less valuable, or not worthy of political, legal, and economic representation. This suggests that we are each very valuable to God, deserving of fair treatment and justice, and that every person is to be treated with dignity (cf. The Image of God (Gen 1:26-27 , James 3:9): All human beings regardless of their race, gender, or station in life are the imago dei, the image of God. ![]()
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