A Servant of the Lord

A Servant of the Lord

“But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to sanctification, and the end, everlasting life.”

To be set free from sin is the same as having victory over conscious sin. Let us read in Galatians 5:19-21. There Paul mentions a number of the works of the flesh which are evident. These—as well as other works which are not mentioned—are sin, and both believers and unbelievers know that. You cannot be called a servant of God if you have not been set free from such sins. Paul says that all those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Children have a right of inheritance. Therefore you do not become a child of God by having your sins forgiven without surrendering yourself to be a disciple. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are children of God. Rom. 8:14-17. Those who are led by the Spirit do not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Gal. 5:16. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. V. 24.

We can see that those who walk in the Spirit come to a life of victory, and they can be servants of God. Nevertheless, their development does not stop there. They are comforted by having a good conscience. Jesus said that the Spirit of truth will lead us into all truth. Then we also come to the sin that dwells in the flesh—the sin that has not yet been revealed to us. It proceeds from the body in deed and word; but we understand that it is a manifestation of our nature, and that it must be put to death. This is what the Scriptures call the “deeds of the body;” and if we walk in the Spirit, He will give us light over these deeds in due course in the same way as the Father condemned sin in the flesh in His Son. Rom. 8:3, 13. Jesus was the sacrifice, so that He put to death the things over which He received light. Heb. 9:14. We must also be a sacrifice when the Spirit leads us to sin in the flesh, so that we can put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit.

We have this development as servants of God. That is the fruit we have from our ministry when we serve God—sanctification, which makes us become partakers of divine nature. We will regress in our spiritual life if we do not enter into this development after we have become servants of God. Such servants usually begin to lord it over the others; and we can see in Revelation—in the letters to the angels of the churches—that it had gone badly with most of them.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Heb. 10:23.

There are many people who have received knowledge concerning salvation through the gospel, and they are enthusiastic for the message. Consequently they begin to proclaim the gospel as if they were servants of God. If that is the case, they go too far, and they represent themselves as being something which they are not. Then they can lose the grace that is over them. Many of those who have spiritual understanding suffer under their ministry. If they had loved the truth, they would have boldly confessed their hope and acknowledged that they have not yet come to the victory which the gospel promises, but that it shall succeed. Then they would be a comfort to many people, and they would have kept God’s grace over their lives. However, if they stand up and preach as if they had victory, they will lose the grace they have received. Heb. 4:14-16.

There is no excuse for not coming to a life of victory, for where sin abounds, grace abounds much more. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it—we who were baptized into Jesus’ death? And how could we continue in sin—we who are under grace and not under the law??? Rom. 5:20; 6:1-3, 14.