Slave

Those who claim to belong to Christ but persist in patterns of disobedience betray the reality of that profession. The apostle John explained: “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6). Such is especially true of false teachers, whom the New Testament describes as “slaves of corruption” (2 Peter 2:19) and as “slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites (Rom. 16:18). They are “ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4; cf. 2 Peter 2:1). The true man of God, by contrast, is “the Lord’s slave” making himself “useful to the Master, prepared for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:24, 21 HCSB).

—John MacArthur, Slave (Thomas Nelson, 2010), 47.

On that day, the Lord will grant unto his people an abundant reward for all that they have done. Not that they deserve any reward, but that God first gave them grace to do good works. Then took their good works as evidence of a renewed heart, and then gave them a reward for what they had done. Oh, what a bliss it will be to hear it said, “Well done, good and faithful servant,”—and to find that you have worked for Christ when nobody knew it, to find that Christ took stock of it all,—to you that served the Lord under misrepresentation, to find that the Lord Jesus cleared the chaff away from the wheat, and knew that you were one of his precious ones. For him, then, to say, “Enter into the joy of the Lord,” oh, what a bliss will it be to you.

—Charles Spurgeon, quoted in John MacArthur, Slave (Thomas Nelson, 2010), 52–53.

The Lord expresses His rule in His church insofar as the Scripture is preached, explained, applied, and obeyed. To diminish the dominating role of Scripture in the life of the church is to treat the Lord of the Church as if His revelation were optional. It is nothing short of mutiny. And the seriousness of such revolt cannot be comprehended. Nonbiblical ministry, non-expository preaching, and non-doctrinal teaching usurp Christ’s headship, silencing His voice to His sheep. That kind of devastating approach steals the mind of Christ away from the body of Christ, builds indifference toward His Word, and quenches the work of His Spirit. It removes protection from error and sin, eliminates transcendence and clarity, cripples worship, and sows seeds of compromise. It deflects the honor due to the true head of the church, and the Lord does not take kindly to those who would steal His glory.

—John MacArthur, Slave (Thomas Nelson, 2010), 75.

John MacArthur on the marks of genuine faith:

Clearly, not all who claim to know the Lord actually do. Those who truly “belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). Rather than walking in the flesh, they now “walk by the Spirit” (v. 25), being characterized by a growing desire to obey the Word of God. As Jesus told the crowds in John 8:31, “If you continue in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.” After all, “each tree is known by its own fruit” (Luke 6:44); and genuine conversion is always marked by the fruit of repentance and the fruit of the Spirit. Loving obedience is the defining evidence of salvation, such that the two are inseparably linked; as the author of Hebrews explains: “he became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation” (5:9).

The rest of the New Testament issues similar warnings to anyone who might claim to belong of Christ while persisting in unrepentant sin. The first epistle of John is especially clear in this regard. There John wrote, “If we say that we have fellowship Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:16). And later, “Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices Sin is of the devil. . . . No one who is born of God practices sin. . . . By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother” (3:7–10). Though many call themselves “Christians,” the true condition of anyone’s heart is ultimately seen in how he lives. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. The profession of faith that never evidences itself in righteous behavior is a “dead” faith (James 2:17), being no better than that of the demons (v. 19). This is not to say that true believers never stumble. Certainly they do. Yet the pattern of their lives is one of continual repentance and increasing godliness as they grow in sanctification and Christlikeness.

—John MacArthur, Slave (Thomas Nelson, 2010), 91–93.

Beneath the tyrant Satan’s yoke
Our souls were long oppressed;
Till grace our galling fetters broke,
And gave the weary rest.
Jesus, in that important hour,
His mighty arm made known;
He ransomed us by price, and pow’r,
And claimed us for his own.
Now, freed from bondage, sin, and death,
We walk in Wisdom’s ways;
And wish to spend our every breath,
In wonder, love, and praise.
Ere long, we hope with him to dwell
In yonder world above;
And now, we only live to tell
The riches of his love.

—John Newton, quoted in John MacArthur, Slave (Thomas Nelson, 2010), 114.

John MacArthur on the permanence of adoption:

The doctrine of adoption establishes the reality that believers, once saved, are always saved. As one scholar, commenting on Paul’s use of adoption imagery, has explained, “The important term ‘adoption’ bears a relationship to justification in that it is declarative and forensic (inasmuch as it is a legal term). Adoption bestows an objective standing, as justification does: like justification, it is a pronouncement that is not repeated. It has permanent validity. Like justification, adoption rests on the loving purposes and grace of God.

. . .

If our adoption were not permanent, we would have great reason to fear. Our sin might yet condemn us. But “contrasted with this inner sense of dread before God, the righteous judge, is the sense of peace and security before God, our heavenly Father, that is produced by God’s Spirit in the heart of Christians. Paul could hardly have chosen a better word than ‘adoption’ to characterize this peace and security.” Thus Paul’s point in Romans 8:15 is that the spirit of adoption casts out the spirit of fear that comes from slavery to sin. The Holy Spirit testifies to our spirits that we are the children of God (v. 16), and if we have the Holy Spirit, we have God’s unbreakable seal guaranteeing our future inheritance. Moreover, “adoption does not depend on any worthiness in us, but upon unmerited favor. It is all of grace.” We did nothing to earn our adoption into God’s family, and we can do nothing to lose it either.

—John MacArthur, Slave (Thomas Nelson, 2010), 170–171.