Slaves of Christ: The Servant-Slave Nature of the Church

By Johannes Marsland

To be redeemed is to be purchased by God
Who are you in Christ? When asked this question, most respond with terms like saved, a child of God, surrendered to Jesus, or just a Christian. While these are all good descriptors of our relationship with God, they are incomplete and misunderstood without the purchase of the soul called redemption. The apostles Jesus commissioned understood that they were slaves of Christ. They saw redemption as a literal purchase of their souls from the cruel master of sin.
If the church is to rediscover the authenticity and power of the New Testament Church, then believers must rediscover the servant-slave identity that the apostles embraced. This identity redefines how to live in Christ and transforms believers’ relationships with each other and with the organizations of His Church.
This book will help the reader see the wonders of being enthralled with Jesus. A slave of Christ is purchased by an entirely benevolent master; a master who fully provides; a master who richly rewards those who diligently serve him; and a master who assumes responsibility for successes and failures alike.
Discover how embracing the servant-slave nature douses the fires of division, relieves the burden of leadership, and empowers believers to catalyze the success of others. The servant-slave of Christ is the hope of the world. Read within to discover the freedom of living the life of a slave, love-bound to Jesus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seeds of Grace Press
• Release date: Sep 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798989102815

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Acknowledgments

This book is written first for my Lord and Master, who showed me the joys of the submitted Christian life.

Second, I want to thank my wife, who has faithfully prayed for me through three years of writing and editing this book.

Next, a special thanks to my editorial team of Deborah Teske, Samuel Marsland, Kent Keller and Thomas Womack. Without their input, this book would be mired in the swamp of too many words said in too confusing a way.

Last, I want to thank the innumerable people who have prayed for me, disagreed with me intelligently, and encouraged me to continue to write despite my flaws.

To God be the glory. May this work serve to expand the slave kingdom of Christ.

Introduction

Christians are given the power to become children of God, and Jesus is the firstborn among many sons and daughters of God—but Christian identity in this life is incomplete if believers see themselves only as God’s entitled sons and daughters. In fact, the apostles never referred to themselves as sons of God. When describing themselves, they used functional terms like apostle, and the phrase a slave of Jesus Christ (as in, for example, the opening verses of Romans, 2 Peter, James, and Revelation). What does it mean to be a slave of God? Why did the apostles describe themselves this way?

The answers lie in the nature of Christ himself, who lovingly and voluntarily chose to submit himself as a slave of all, even of wicked humanity.

To neglect this servant-slave identity of Christianity is akin to weaving a rug leaving every third row threadbare, or engineering a building from an architect’s drawing that shows only every other floor. A comprehensive and complete identity is the key to our sustained spiritual health and growth. If Christian identity is malformed, then Christian life is inhibited. The biblical concept of slavery to Christ is, therefore, vital to a strong and healthy church.

As humans with limited perception and reason, we are forever becoming who we already think we are. Our self-concept reinforces the interpretation of our perceptions to make us more and more like what we believe we are. This creates a confirmation bias loop that sustains and strengthens wrong self-concepts which are difficult to change.

When a significant component of identity is absent from our Christian psyche, the church becomes progressively more malformed and anemic. Divine intervention is needed to break this vicious cycle of deception.

That’s why Paul says, Be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Roman’s 12:2). It’s why we must be sanctified by the washing of the water with the Word (Ephesians 5:26 esv). The concept of who we are must conform to God’s Word in order to embody the fullness promised to the believer. To leave out any component of God’s design is to handicap the expression of the Spirit.

This book begins the work of restoring the servant-slave identity of the believer and the servant-slave nature of the kingdom of God. It starts by describing the need for reformation in the church through a restoration of the servant-slave nature of the gospel.

We’ll see how Jesus’s life and ministry displayed his voluntary submission to the Father, to the law and the prophets, to his disciples, and to wicked humanity. Jesus set the pattern of the servant-slave by willingly taking on the position and nature of a slave, then dying a slave’s death on the cross. This established a new kingdom of redeemed (purchased) people (slaves), transforming the world.

The new servant-slave kingdom paradigm reframes the doctrines of grace and salvation. The chapters on grace and salvation make clear that without slavery, grace cannot be fully received, and that the pathway to freedom in Christ is a slave-purchase called redemption. Only a slave can be purchased, and only through a slave-purchase can anyone be freed from slavery to sin.

Freedom in Christ is then redefined as a progressive conforming to his servant-slave nature. The default state of humanity is described as that of a slave, reframing the conversion decision. People can either be a slave to sin or a slave of a good God who became a slave himself to rescue them.

After exploring the doctrine of the servant-slave nature of God’s kingdom, we’ll examine how the world’s hierarchical leader-follower system infects the church, effectively corrupting the loving service of the saints.

In Part Two, we’ll look at roles, authority, and clergy in the servant-slave church. We’ll see how those called to steward God’s church do so as authorized slaves (overseers), charged with caring for and serving those around them and enabling others to thrive in their labor for the Lord.

The church thrives as an organic organization, since God is the leader of his church through the Holy Spirit’s direction. Its submitted servant structures display the resilient brilliance of God’s unstoppable kingdom.

Finally, Part Three examines how this new servant-slave paradigm changes the way we interpret the Bible narrative. Starting in Genesis and progressing to the apostolic age, the servant-slave nature of the kingdom is contrasted with the leader-follower identity of the world. The power of embracing the servant-slave nature is starkly compared to the insidious wooing of the world’s hierarchical leader-follower identity.

This revelation of the nature of Christ and his church opens the way to discovering fullness of joy. It’s the joy available to every loving bondslave of an entirely benevolent Master who promises to receive all into his family as sons and daughters.

Part One: Restoring the Servant-Slave

Nature of the Gospel

1 The Slave Kingdom’s Call

Western Christianity is suffering from a debilitating weakness. A core truth of the gospel has been lost and must be restored in order to see the kingdom of God move victoriously again in cultures and nations. When believers serve their own needs before the needs of others; when leaders and influencers in the church bicker and fight over agendas and competing visions; when the statistics for sexual immorality and divorce within the church are at parity with those in the unbelieving world; and when syncretism with pagan cultural morals corrupts whole denominations that once stood for holiness—the church is suffering from a debilitating spiritual deficiency.

For decades western Christianity has effectively preached God’s love and the believer’s adoption into the divine family. The doctrine of salvation by grace through faith has been trumpeted loudly and clearly to packed stadiums and small local churches alike. The internet, social media, and streaming services have enabled the spread of the gospel message to friends, acquaintances, and strangers both near and far as never before. With the internet, powerful anointed preaching is just a few clicks away. But transformation of the western culture is minimal. Immorality and idolatry are claiming the channels of power and influence. Most of the church in the west¹ is powerless, prayerless, and lacks the miracles meant to confirm the gospel message to the unbelieving world.

Overcoming these symptoms and recovering the church’s strength will require more than a minor change in approach, strategy, or doctrine. The pervasive, debilitating weakness in the church indicates that a significant component of the gospel message has been lost. The restoration of that core truth is required to start a reformation.

If restoration doesn’t occur, the church will slip further into a dark age, where gospel light becomes obscured beneath a smothering canopy of ritualism, organizational hierarchy, and doctrinal compromise. Generations will be saddled with a spiritually anemic church that ministers to this world like a spiritual amputee, unable to engage the power of God because a critical limb of truth is missing.

What basic doctrine has the church forgotten or neglected? The doctrines of grace, love, and adoption are well established, as are the doctrines of miracles, prayer, and the power of God. However, western Christendom has forgotten the foundational doctrine of slavery to Christ. The church has instead embraced leadership and personal development, because such things bring in crowds and builds organizations.

Just as the Catholic church in the Middle Ages embraced the selling of indulgences because it built big cathedrals,² the modern church has embraced self-help and leadership development to build large churches. As indulgences corrupted and obscured the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith, so the emphasis on individuals and leadership have obscured the Christian call to a servant-slave life.

The Missing Core of the Gospel

A reformation was needed in medieval Europe because a core principle of Christianity had been lost. Today’s debilitating weakness in the church also requires a reformation, this time around the following principle:

The redemption of the soul from sin makes the redeemed one a slave of God and a servant of others.

This truth is not a new concept. To the writers of the New Testament, redemption was a well-known term indicating that a debt was paid. When used in the context of people, it indicated that a slave was bought back from his master. A slave could not purchase himself unless his master permitted it. Slaves did not have rights; slaves had obligations. The only way redemption resulted in the slave’s emancipation was if the slave’s master allowed it.

Salvation begins with Jesus paying the price, at the cross, for the redemption of all humanity. To be saved, one must accept the payment Christ offered. He purchases (saves) the individual from the cruel master of sin and death. Since God graciously purchases the individual, the new believer is the property of God. If a person isn’t purchased, he or she is not saved, but remains a slave to sin (John 8:34).

The New Testament plainly states that Christ purchases (redeems) believers; believers therefore have no right to self-rule (Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23; Revelation 5:9). Furthermore, the Scriptures require believers to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Master (Romans 6:22; 10:9; 2 Corinthians 4:5; 1 Peter 3:15). There is no salvation without the transfer of ownership. If the deed to one’s life isn’t fully signed over to Jesus, then the transaction of salvation is incomplete.

The loss of the slave nature of the salvation transaction has reduced Christianity to just another religious belief. The world looks at the claims of Christianity with skepticism because Christianity without the redemption (slave-purchase) accomplished by Christ is just another leadership-based human system of personal development. Christ had a different and radical plan to oppose the world’s system.

Implications of the Church’s Servant-Slave Nature

Our leader-centered and leadership-promoting culture directly opposes the kingdom culture that Jesus came to proclaim and establish. His kingdom culture is founded on the servant nature of his redeemed. To state it even more strongly, Jesus promoted a kingdom whose citizens chose slavery over leadership and abasement over exaltation. The world seeks leaders, vision, and success; citizens of Christ’s kingdom seek humility, service, and the betterment of others.

The kingdom’s culture and the world’s culture diametrically oppose each other. Any blending of the world’s system with the slave-servant system of the kingdom of God falls short of the mark set by Christ. Blending the two systems diminishes the church’s influence and power over the culture. Blending the two systems also reduces the expression of Christlikeness within the church, negatively affecting the unity and love that should be the hallmark of a Spirit-filled life.

For example, a good pastor who ascribes to a leadership culture might be inclined to cast his vision for the church and then seek to gather support to implement it. As part of this effort, he gives positions of influence and authority to those who agree with him. Those who have more of a corrective or cautionary voice toward the vision are frequently marginalized. Thus, rather than creating strength and unity, a leader-driven vision often limits the work of the Spirit by limiting the voices meant to color and correct the vision.

On the other hand, a good pastor in a leadership culture might surround himself with people who do disagree with the vision the Lord gave for the church. In these cases, the vision is often hindered because those who surround the pastor feel a duty to press their own opinions and preferences to make a difference—after all, haven’t they been appointed to the leadership team? This can lead to divided loyalties and a hampering of the church’s efforts through disunity.

Both scenarios are the direct result of mixing a leadership mentality with the servant-slave nature of the church. In both cases, submission to one another as fellow slaves of the heavenly master would resolve the issues and help the church thrive in its mission and calling. Instead, all too often the siren call to be a leader instead of a slave entices people to seek their own will and way.

Unfortunately, the condition of fallen humanity makes some blending of leadership culture with kingdom culture inevitable. That’s why the church’s efforts must remain focused on helping believers fulfill their call to become slaves of Jesus and servants of all. This goal must be the central theme of our engagement with the world and with each other. We must reject the world’s wooing that influences churches and denominations to pursue self-centered goals like leadership development, vision casting, and five-year plans as a way to grow and develop the kingdom and the church. We must instead embrace the spiritual discipline of waiting on the Master, obeying his directions, and working to accomplish the tasks he calls us to.

The church must put its focus on the call of Christ to abject humility through a life that no longer belongs to the individual but to God himself. Emphasis must always be placed firmly on conforming to the Master’s will and the servant-slave call, which is the nature of genuine Christianity. With our self-centered nature that’s instinctive in sinful humanity, we naturally look to leaders and leadership to grow and develop organizations and systems—yet this is counter to the call of Christ to become lowly. Therefore Christ’s call must be supernaturally emphasized and empowered, so as to subsume the call of the world to have and become great leaders.

There is only one Lord and Master, and he chose to become a slave of all. The rest of this book uses the life and teachings of Jesus, the message of the Old Testament, the writings of the apostles, and the story of the church to describe a servant-slave culture that, when restored to the church, will enable God’s people to more fully express the nature and power of Christ in the world today.

Jesus, the Central Figure of a Slave Kingdom

Jesus was born into a world much like our own. While it’s true that technologies have advanced and respect for human dignity has expanded since then, modern times and the times of Christ are similar in many key ways.

Jesus lived in a world rife with political and ideological struggle. The Romans lorded their power over the Jewish people, ruled with an iron fist, and attempted to seduce the Jews to Roman ways.

The religious leaders of that era struggled for influence with Rome and authority over their fellow Jews. Pharisees contended with Sadducees for control of the ruling council, the Sanhedrin. Several would-be messiahs had already proclaimed themselves, gathered a following, and sought to establish their right to rule a Jewish kingdom. These revolutionaries were then brutally humiliated and executed by the Romans. Racial tensions were high between traditional Jews and the Samaritan Jews. The divide between the pagan dogs³ and devout Jews was even worse, as each considered the other to be subhuman.

Into this stewpot of leadership struggles and societal divides, Jesus proclaimed a radical message. He said the kingdom of God was near and needed only to be grasped (Matthew 4:17). A kingdom of peace and joy could be possessed by those who would choose it with all their heart and strength.

This kingdom was not to be possessed by force of arms or conquering determination. It wasn’t to be imposed upon the world by political wrangling or religious edict. Rather, this new kingdom was to be established by complete submission of a people to the lordship of God above. The rich were called to sell all to possess the kingdom (Luke 18:22). The poor were called to embrace the riches of a heavenly kingdom even amid their squalor with no physical succor to buoy them (Matthew 5:3; Luke 16:19-31). The men of renown and influence were challenged to humble themselves and serve those whom they considered beneath them (Mark 12:41-44; Luke 18:9-14). In this kingdom, the Ruler of the universe would bend his knees in half-naked humility to wash dung from the feet of those who had chosen him as their master (John 13:1-17).

When Jesus was asked who would be the greatest in his kingdom, he stood a little child before his listeners and said, Become like this little child (Matthew 18:1-4). A young child was dependent upon his or her parents for all things. The child had no influence, power, or leadership skills. The child couldn’t communicate at the same level as a mature person. The child hadn’t yet developed an ambition to succeed and be recognized. Becoming like this is the citizenship test of the kingdom of heaven. Yes! Like a young child, a citizen of heaven is expected to love and obey the Father.

Jesus said also that if a person wanted to be great, that person must become the least; and if a person wanted to be lauded, that person must become the servant of all (Mark 9:35). Submission was the foundation of the kingdom he promoted, which he proclaimed as being at hand. This submissive serving was the vision, the kingdom culture for his chosen people, his church—his ekklesia (which is the Greek word usually translated as church; it means people called out, or called-out ones). Jesus wanted his people to become humble servants, just as he himself had chosen to be a servant to them all.

Jesus set the example when he, being God, chose to abase himself and become the servant of those he had created. Out of love, he humbled himself even to the point of suffering the greatest injustice ever perpetrated upon a person. He humbled himself to serve, suffer, and die. He loved the world and fulfilled the desire of his Father (John 3:16). The demonstrated humility of his kingdom has ever since devastated the arrogance of the proud and brought low the hierarchical systems of this world.

In the next chapter, we’ll take a closer look at the