Backsliding

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2ndTimothyGroup

Well-known member
Feb 20, 2021
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Why should anyone use the term...slave......what is the point? It has a negative connotation towards Christ.

Why isn't ......servant........ appropriate?......it is used in scriptures often.
Because servants are paid, whereas slaves have been purchased . . . they are not their own anymore, but owned by Christ. We do not belong to ourselves. We are God's Holy Possession.

Acts 20:28 NKJV - "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood."

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT - "Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body."

Colossians 1:13-14 NLT - "For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins."

Ephesians 1:7 NLT - "He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins."

Ephesians 1:13-14 HNV - " . . . in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation, -- in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Ruach HaKodesh of promise, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory."

1 John 4:4-5 NLT - "But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world's viewpoint, and the world listens to them."

Revelation 14:4 NLT - "They have kept themselves as pure as virgins, following the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been purchased from among the people on the earth as a special offering to God and to the Lamb."
 

2ndTimothyGroup

Well-known member
Feb 20, 2021
5,210
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I believe what he means is being completely devoted to Christ. It is a good place to arrive at, though one may become proud about it.
A person can become proud of anything . . . such as the Jewish community being proud of their physical circumcision (of all things).

Ephesians 2:11 NLT - "Don't forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called "uncircumcised heathens" by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts."
 

2ndTimothyGroup

Well-known member
Feb 20, 2021
5,210
1,830
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Servant denotes complete devotion...... and I pray that God finds me as a devoted servant .
I'm not a mere servant to God, but consider myself a Slave to Him, for I will die simply for His name and nothing more.
 
May 22, 2020
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Because servants are paid, whereas slaves have been purchased . . . they are not their own anymore, but owned by Christ. We do not belong to ourselves. We are God's Holy Possession.

Acts 20:28 NKJV - "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood."

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT - "Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body."

Colossians 1:13-14 NLT - "For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins."

Ephesians 1:7 NLT - "He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins."

Ephesians 1:13-14 HNV - " . . . in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation, -- in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Ruach HaKodesh of promise, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory."

1 John 4:4-5 NLT - "But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world's viewpoint, and the world listens to them."

Revelation 14:4 NLT - "They have kept themselves as pure as virgins, following the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been purchased from among the people on the earth as a special offering to God and to the Lamb."

All servants are not paid. WOW...what a statement.

None of your references apply.