Bound to a Master - Introduction

“Where do you fall on the spectrum between Calvinism and Arminianism?” That was the first question of my ordination council. I knew the question would come, but I did not anticipate this being the first question. My answer satisfied the council. Well, all but one person. His response was direct, and I was initially taken aback. His words, “quite frankly, you did not answer the question directly.” I reiterated my belief. You cannot deny God’s sovereign election in salvation, and you cannot deny man is response for what he does with the Gospel in his life. Though the conversation moved on after this, I was not happy my answer did not suffice. This question led me down the road to find a deeper answer to the question, “where do you fall on the spectrum between Calvinism and Arminianism?”

In the weeks following my ordination council, I spent time in prayer regarding this question. I believed that I was not seeing the whole picture. In fact, I believed most do not see the whole picture. Instead, we tend to argue over the characterizations of each view never willing to learn from each other or from Scripture.

As I prayed, I continually asked God to help me sort through this question with Scripture as center. My prayers led me to Romans 6:19. I immersed myself in the text and found myself wrestling not with Calvinism vs. Arminianism, but with the very identity of humanity. The door was swung wide open, and the spectrum of Calvinism vs. Arminianism faded away. I found a breathtaking view of the soul of humanity. One that I had never seen before. This view came all because of one verse. Well, one sentence in one verse.

Romans 6:19b (ESV)

For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

The words jumped off the page. I was no longer thinking about two theological paradigms, but the very essence of the identity of humanity: slavery. As Paul writes in Romans 6, we are either slaves to sin or slaves to God. Regardless of our salvific status we are slaves. In damnation, slaves to sin. In salvation, slaves to God. Slaves.

As slaves, we serve a Master. In damnation, our master is sin. Our longing is to gratify the sinful desires of our wicked and evil hearts. In salvation, our Master is God. Our desires are altogether changed because we are new man, and we seek to please the Lord Jesus. In both cases, our will is bound to a master. Free will is impossible because we are bound to a master as a slave. As a slave, our bound will desires to please our master. Again, regardless of salvific status humanity is a slave.

In this series we will look at the following truths from this text:

We are bound in and because of Adam

Our identity is as a slave – either to impurity or righteousness – we have a bound will to either sin or God

Impurity and lawlessness are sin

Righteousness comes as a slave of God

Righteousness leads to sanctification

We present our members as both individuals and as a congregation

The result of our slavery is either salvation or damnation

Christ is bound to the will of the Father

Christ and the Cross liberates us from the slavery of sin

My prayer for this is that it helps you go beyond the characterizations of the Calvinism vs. Arminianism debate. I pray that this helps you to see a majestic view of God. As I mentioned earlier, I saw a breathtaking view of humanity’s soul, but more importantly I saw a breathtaking view of God. The reality that in God’s goodness He has chosen you to be His and that your will is bound to a good and loving Master. The aim of our lives is to give God glory. What greater way is there to glorify God than to be an obedient slave seeking to give Him glory for all things!