He
bought you to free you
Bible
Texts (Concordant Version of the Old Testament and Concordant Literal New
Testament with keywords Concordance-CLNT:
1 Corinthians 6:20; John 19:30
1
Corinthians 6:20
20.
For you are bought with a price. By all means glorify God in your body.
John
19:30
30.
When, then, Jesus took the vinegar, He said, "It is accomplished!"
And reclining His head, He gives up the spirit.
During
civil war in the United States, some people buy slaves for their personal uses.
Let us imagine you were one of the slaves bought by a man. He did not mind the
price. He paid it to your former slave Master.
He
took you into his wagon among all other hundred slaves.
When
he got to his house, he changed your clothes, fed you and provided you place to
sleep. In your mind, you might be thinking what comes next. You might be
thinking of what manner of Master would the man be. You might be thinking what
kind of work he was going to assign you. You might even be thinking he may sell
you to another Master.
To
your surprise, on the following morning, you all assemble before this man. He
walks majestically in front of all of you. He clears his throat and said, “you
are all free to go”.
What
may come to your mind would be what? Did I hear him right? Is he joking with
us? Is he pulling our legs? Is he planning to test our characters? Is there any
catch to his kind gesture?
You
may all stare at him at disbelief. To make sure you hear him clearly. The man
repeated himself. I said, you are all free to go.
At
this confirmation, you would be joyful. You and the rest slaves may not know
the measure of your joy at that moment. This would be one of the best news to
you ever.
So,
clearly, there is no catch. This kind Master meant all he said. The
understanding of this event would make any of the slaves want to stay with him.
This
is exactly what Yeshua had done for you. This is when you come to realize his
work of salvation. He saved you from being a slave to sins to become a totally
free person from it. All your debts are being paid in full.
Remember,
there is no catch in this. It is by grace through faith that you have been
saved. He did not save you to enslave you. With this understanding, you would
want to follow him, serve him and stay with him. See the picture above. These people were not forced to serve their Masters. They were freed from them. They showed attitude of gratitude. Their attitude of gratitude is not also an exchange for their freedom but an expression of people who were truly freed.
Religion
wants you to re-invent the wheel on this issue. They do not seem to understand this work of salvation. God wants you to come as you
are. He expects nothing from you to pay as a price to the work of salvation he
did through his Son.
However,
in the above 2 scripture passages, Paul wrote these epistles to explain the
price Yeshua had paid for humanity. He admonished us to live the life that show
gratitude for the great work Yeshua had done. Remember that there is no compulsion in this. It was an admonition from Paul. This cannot be achieved by human
abilities but by the Spirit of God (Zechariah 4:6). Spirit of God helps you to serve God in Spirit and in truth. Flesh cannot serve God.
I
pray we are occupied by the Spirit of God to achieve this. Amen.
I
hope this week’s blog has blessed you too.
Stay
for another episode next week.
Please,
leave your comments in the comment section below this blog.
Shalom.
References:
https://www.concordant.org/version/read-concordant-new-testament-online
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/faces-of-emancipation-1860-to-1880/4/
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