John MacArthur - Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ

PRAISE FOR SLAVE

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

So much of our Christian walk is focused on self how will this trial refine my faith, improve my character, or fit into a pattern for my good? Often when believers speak of a personal Savior, they mean a Savior who is personally committed to their health, success, and life fulfillment. But such a view couldnt be farther from the truth. In his new book, John MacArthur presents a powerfully riveting and truly eye-opening look at our relationship to the Lord Jesus. Want to rise to a new level of trust and confidence in your Master? Then this is the book for you!

JONI EARECKSON TADA, JONI AND FRIENDS
INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY CENTER

Dr. John MacArthur is never afraid to tell the truth and in this book he does just that. The Christians great privilege is to be the slave of Christ. Dr. MacArthur makes it clear that this is one of the Bibles 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

Dr. John MacArthurs 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 dont want to simply be a follower or even just a servant... but a slave.

THE REV. DR. DALLAS H. WILSON JR.
VICAR, ST. JOHNS EPISCOPAL CHAPEL
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

slave

slave

The Hidden Truth about Your Identity in Christ

JOHN MACARTHUR

Slave
2010 by John MacArthur

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Published in association with the literary agency of Wolgemuth & Associates, Inc.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible. The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

Scriptures marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Broadman and Holman Publishers. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-4002-8111-4 (IE)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

MacArthur, John, 1939
Slave : the hidden truth about your identity in Christ / John
MacArthur.
p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-4002-0207-2
1. Identification (Religion) 2. Christian life. I. Title. II. Title: Hidden truth about your identity in Christ.
BV4509.5.M2525 2011
248.4dc22 2010032926

Printed in the United States of America
10 11 12 13 14 15 QG 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Nathan Busenitz

Wise and accomplished beyond his years, he has proven to be a treasure to me in multiple ways. He has served me as a personal assistant in pastoral ministry, as a writer of many articles on the Pulpit blog, as a fellow elder teaching and preaching at Grace Community Church, and as a professor at The Masters Seminary. He has applied both his mind and heart to the research and writing of this book. He is as committed to its truth and urgency as I am. The dedication can only be to him so that all who read it in the years to come will know of my gratitude for his efforts.

Contents

A fter more than fifty years of translating, studying, teaching, preaching, and writing through the New Testament, I thought I had its truths pretty well identified and understood especially in the realm of the New Testament theology of the gospel. In fact, clarifying the gospel was the most important and constant emphasis of my writingfrom The Gospel According to Jesus, Ashamed of the Gospel, Hard to Believe, and The Truth War to countless sermons and articles through the years. But through all those efforts, a profound and comprehensive perspective, one that dominates the New Testament and is crucial to the gospel, escaped me and almost everyone else.

It wasnt until the spring of 2007, on an all-night flight to London while reading Slave of Christ by Murray J. Harris, that I realized there had been a centuries-long cover-up by English New Testament translators that had obscured a precious, powerful, and clarifying revelation by the Holy Spirit. Undoubtedly, the cover-up was not intentionalat least not initially. Yet its results have been dramatically serious.

A cover-up in the English New Testament translations? Was that true? Why? And with what consequences? Had no one uncovered this before Harris in 1999?

It didnt take long to find one who hadEdwin Yamauchi in his 1966 Bulletin of the Evangelical Theological Society article entitled Slaves of God. Why had there been no response to his work? And how could a truth related so essentially not only to translation integrity but also to New Testament teaching about our relation to Christ be purposely hidden and the cover-up ignored?

I also discovered in my trips around the world that there are many other major language translators who have followed the lead of the English versions and maintained the cover-up. Yet there are some who do translate the word correctly. Thus this revelation is not hidden to my fellow believers in places like Russia, Romania, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Why in English?

I have no doubt that this perpetual hiding of an essential element of New Testament revelation has contributed to much of the confusion in evangelical teaching and practice. In fact, I wonder if it wasnt the reason I felt the need to write so many books to clarify the gospel. If this one reality had been known, would any of those books have been necessary?

As I began to dig down into this buried jewel of the gospel, its pervasive splendor began to dominate my thinking and preaching. Every time and everywhere I addressed the subject, the response was the samestartled wonder.

During the same period I was asked to write a book on the doctrines of grace that was faithful to the Reformers. Was another one really necessary? Who could improve on Calvin, Luther, the English Puritans, Edwards, or Spurgeon? Certainly not me. I couldnt hope to add to the clear, complete, and enduring works of past and present theologians on gospel themes. So I struggled to find a reason to write something new, considering what had already been written.

Until I saw the cover-up.

Though all those noble theologians in the rich Reformation tradition of gospel truth touched on this matterno one had pulled the hidden jewel all the way into the sunlight.