Slave: The Hidden Truth about Your Identity in Christ

by John MacArthur

A cover-up of Biblical proportions…

Centuries ago, English translators perpetrated a fraud in the New Testament, and it's been purposely hidden and covered up ever since. Your own Bible is probably included in the cover-up!

In this book, John MacArthur unveils the essential and clarifying revelation that may be keeping you from a fulfilling—and correct—relationship with God. It's powerful. It's controversial. And with new eyes you'll see the riches of your salvation in a radically new way.

What does it mean to be a Christian the way Jesus defined it? MacArthur says it all boils down to one word:

Slave

"We have been bought with a price. We belong to Christ. We are His own possession."

Endorsements:

"Dr. John MacArthur is never afraid to tell the truth and in this book he does just that. The Christian's great privilege is to be the slave of Christ. Dr. MacArthur makes it clear that this is one of the Bible's most succinct ways of describing our discipleship. This is a powerful exposition of Scripture, a convincing corrective to shallow Christianity, a masterful work of pastoral encouragement...a devotional classic." ―Dr. R. Albert Mohler, President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"John MacArthur expertly and lucidly explains that Jesus frees us from bondage into a royal slavery that we might be His possession. Those who would be His children must, paradoxically, be willing to be His slaves." ―Dr. R.C. Sproul

"Dr. John MacArthur's teaching on 'slavery' resonates in the deepest recesses of my 'inner-man.' As an African-American pastor, I have been there. That is why the thought of someone writing about slavery as being a 'God-send' was the most ludicrous, unconscionable thing that I could have ever imagined… until I read this book. Now I see that becoming a slave is a biblical command, completely redefining the idea of freedom in Christ. I don't want to simply be a 'follower' or even just a 'servant'… but a 'slave'." ―The Rev. Dr. Dallas H. Wilson, Jr., Vicar, St. John's Episcopal Chapel, Charleston, SC

BUY NOW

Hardcover, 227 pages

Published December 28th 2010 by Thomas Nelson Publishers (first published January 1st 2010)

tags: theology, spirituality, faith, christianity, christian non fiction, religion, nonfiction, christian living, discipleship, christian

Book Quotes

“But the language of slavery does more than merely picture the gospel. In fact, it is central to the message of salvation. That is because the slavery metaphor points to the reality of Christ's lordship, and the lordship of Christ is essential to the biblical gospel.”

― John MacArthur

“You and I believed the gospel, not because we were wiser or more righteous than anyone else but because God graciously intervened, opening our hearts to head His Word and believe.”

― John MacArthur

“Over the last twelve chapters we have considered the crucial difference between servants and slaves- noting that while servants are hired, slaves are owned. Believers are not merely Christ’s hired servants; they are His slaves, belonging to Him as His possession. He is their Owner and Master, worthy of their unquestioned allegiance and absolute obedience. His Word is their final authority; His will their ultimate mandate. Having taken up their cross to follow Him, they have died to themselves and can now say with Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live nut Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). As the apostle elsewhere explained, “[Christ] died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf” (2 Cor. 5:15). In reality, all of life should be viewed from that perspective. As Christians, we are slaves of Christ. What a radical difference that truth should make in our daily lives! We no longer live for ourselves. Rather, we make it our aim to please the Master in everything.”

― John MacArthur

“To be a Christian is to be a slave of Christ.”

― John MacArthur

“Genuine believers are characterized by a deep love for Christ, and that love inevitably manifests itself in obedience. By contrast, those who do not love the Lord, either by what they say or how they live, evidence the fact that they do not belong to Him.”

― John MacArthur

“He call us to obey, not because He needs us but because He knows we need Him.”

― John MacArthur

“Paul was far more concerned with obeying his divine calling than with gaining man’s approval. Only one thing mattered—pleasing the Master.”

― John MacArthur

“I am a free man, the slave of Christ;”

― John MacArthur

“The freedom of the Christian is not freedom to do what he or she wants but freedom to obey God—willingly, joyfully, naturally.”

― John MacArthur

“All those who are truly born again will be kept by God's power and will persevere as Christians until the end of their lives, and that only those who persevere until the end have been truly born again.”

― John MacArthur

“Like Lazarus lying motionless in the tomb, the unredeemed soul remains lifeless until the voice of God commands it, “Come forth!”

― John MacArthur

“We did nothing to earn our adoption into God’s family, and we can do nothing to lose it either.”

― John MacArthur

“On the flip side, those who profess salvation but later fall away, demonstrate that their profession was never genuine (1 John 2:19).”

― John MacArthur

“[Man’s] nature is so corrupt that he has neither the will nor the power to come to Christ unless drawn by the Spirit.”

― John MacArthur

“Murray Harris has observed: One of the classic Christian paradoxes is that freedom leads to slavery and slavery leads to freedom.”

― John MacArthur

“The story of Lazarus not only demonstrates Christ's divine power over death (both physical and spiritual); it also demonstrates the converse theological truth---namely, that the dead cannot raise themselves.”

― John MacArthur

“The gospel message is not simply a plan of salvation; it is also a call to embrace the Person of salvation.”

― John MacArthur

“Like the saints of old, we no longer chase after the passing pleasures of this world.34 Instead, our eyes are fixed on heaven, our true home, the place where Christ is.”

― John MacArthur

“And how can one be a slave and not a slave?” When he does all for God: when he feigns nothing, and does nothing out of eye-service towards men: that is how one who is a slave to men can be free.”

― John MacArthur

“The only right response to Christ’s lordship is wholehearted submission, loving obedience, and passionate worship.”

― John MacArthur

John MacArthur

John F. MacArthur, Jr. is a fifth-generation preacher who serves as a pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. He is also a prolific author, conference speaker, and is president of The Master's College and Seminary. MacArthur received a B.A. from Los Angeles Pacific College, his M.Div. from Talbot Theological Seminary, Litt.D. at Grace Graduate School, and D.D. from Talbot Theological Seminary. In addition to his administrative responsibilities, he regularly teaches Expository Preaching at the seminary and frequently speaks in chapel.

MacArthur's pulpit ministry has been extended around the globe through his media ministry, Grace to You, and its satellite offices in Australia, Canada, Europe, India, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Africa. In addition to producing daily radio programs for nearly 2,000 English and Spanish radio outlets worldwide, Grace to You distributes books, software, audiotapes, and CDs by John MacArthur. In thirty-six years of ministry, Grace to You has distributed more than thirteen million CDs and audiotapes.

John Fullerton MacArthur, Jr. is a United States evangelical writer and minister, noted for his radio program entitled Grace to You. MacArthur is a fifth-generation pastor, a popular author and conference speaker and has served as the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since 1969, and as the President of The Master's College (and the related The Master's Seminary) in Santa Clarita, California.

Theologically, MacArthur is a conservative far-right Baptist, a strong proponent of expository preaching, a dispensationalist and a self-described Calvinist. He has been acknowledged by Christianity Today as one of the most influential preachers of his time, and is a frequent guest on Larry King Live as representative of an evangelical Christian perspective.

MacArthur has authored or edited more than 150 books, most notably the MacArthur Study Bible, which has sold more than 1 million copies and received a Gold Medallion Book Award. Other best-selling books include his MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series (more than 1 million copies), Twelve Ordinary Men, (more than 500,000 copies), and the children's book A Faith to Grow On, which garnered an ECPA Christian Book Award.

Get Bible verse every day in your inbox