A Brief Introduction to Slave by John MacArthur

Slave by John MacArthur (2010) is one of those books that every Christian should own and read.  Personally, I find it a game changer, like Radical from David Platt.  Yes, Radical in my opinion is more important but Slave is right up there.  Outside of the Bible, I would say that all of Francis Chan’s books are extremely valuable followed closely by Radical and Slave. 

What is Slave about?

John MacArthur shows that the Greek word Doulos means slave and that almost all of our English translations have mistranslated the word into servant (HCSB gets it right), because there are at least a half dozen Greek words that mean servant and could have been used by the authors of the New Testament.[1]  Therefore, Slave contains thirteen chapters and one appendix that covers what is means to be a slave to Christ.  He does so by showing the differences of first century Greco-Roman slavery to the evil Western society’s slavery of the colonial era.[2]  MacArthur also includes the Old Testament views of slavery.  Furthermore, Slave does not read like some scholarly theology text book, instead it is reads at a personable level that all can enjoy and appreciate.

Why is Slave so good?

MacArthur does not just go through his own biblical exegesis on the issue by demonstrating what other Church Fathers and famous leaders believed about it.[3]  But more importantly the book goes through a large portion of the passages where Doulos is found and displays how the term slave gives much more theological importance to the meaning and context of the passage over servant.  Additionally, MacArthur gives a fair and solid analysis of the Free Grace Movement and demonstrates his biblical views on the Lordship of Jesus Christ.[4]

An Area for Improvement

The only area for improvement that I would have liked to see in Slave is a scripture index.  Almost every page has a footnote and a large majority of those footnotes are of passages in the Bible.  As someone who likes to reference and look up passages a scripture index would have been beneficial.

Concluding Thoughts

Instead of going on and on about how great this book is, I will close by exhorting all to go and read it for themselves.  I guarantee all that if we take the Bible passages that talk about being a slave to Christ serious and understand the original context of the Greco-Roman slavery our walk with the Lord will improve and we will all have fuller deeper lives!

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[1] MacArthur, Slave, 16.

[2] See pages 17-38.

[3] See the appendix for snippets of famous Church Fathers and Leaders like Spurgeon and Jim Elliot.

[4] 73-75 and 134-136.

Part 3 of The Fruits

Part 3 of 11: The Fruits/ Proofs of Authentic/ True Christianity

Genuine Humility:

Easton’s Bible Dictionary defines Humility as “a prominent Christian grace (Rom. 12:3; 15:17, 18; 1 Cor. 3:5–7; 2 Cor. 3:5; Phil. 4:11–13).  It is a state of mind well pleasing to God (1 Pet. 3:4); it preserves the soul in tranquility (Ps. 69:32, 33), and makes us patient under trials (Job 1:22).  Christ has set us an example of humility (Phil. 2:6–8). We should be led thereto by a remembrance of our sins (Lam. 3:39), and by the thought that it is the way to honor (Prov. 16:18), and that the greatest promises are made to the humble (Ps. 147:6; Isa. 57:15; 66:2; 1 Pet. 5:5).  It is a great paradox in Christianity that it makes humility the avenue to glory.”^[1]

Additionally, the term is closely connected in derivation with affliction, which is sometimes brought upon men by their fellows, and sometimes attributed directly to the purpose of God, but is always calculated to produce humility of spirit.^[2]

Psalm 51:16-17 ESV

            For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

                        you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

            The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

                        a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14, Acts 13:21), yet he committed horrible sins, such as adultery with Bathsheba and murdering her husband (2 Sam. 11-12).  Psalm 51 is David’s prayer for forgiveness for this sin against God and man. 

Now, these two verses are not a denial of sacrificial system, which by the way the Law did not have a sacrifice for adultery or murder only of sins committed out of ignorance, but a demonstration that a proper sacrifice is humility and brokenness.  And as we know, the Lord did accept David’s plea for forgiveness and used him for many mighty works and more importantly the lineage of Jesus. 

For us today, the issue of humility is important in both everyday living and when we mess things up.  For everyday living, see Romans 12:1-2 which talks about a living sacrifice which has to deal with humility (broken spirit and heart- look back in Ps. 51:16-17).  One of the worst things people can say when a trial or tribulation comes up for somebody else is that they caused it themselves, unless they did- such as an affair leading to a divorce, etc.  When I was going through Leukemia not one person said he must have some serious sin… and I thank the Lord for that because I have noticed that a lot of issues (miscarriages, loss of a job, serious illness, etc.) that Christians go through are not because of sin but because we must be broken to fully realize that the power by which live is from the Lord and not of ourselves. 

Therefore, if we want to be used powerfully by the Lord we must learn to live a lifestyle of humility.  There will be times in our lives where we have a choice to accept brokenness or become bitter.  When we accept brokenness and look to Him for our power in all aspects of life, we give him more Glory and have a fuller life here on Earth.

May the Lord Bless and Keep You!

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^[1] M.G. Easton, Easton's Bible Dictionary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996).

^[2] D. R. W. Wood and I. Howard Marshall, New Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 491.