9. Yamauchi, "Slaves of God," 48 – 49.
What Does Jesus Mean When He Says, "Follow Me"?
In other words, everyone serves some master. No one is truly independent and self-governing. We are all enslaved in one way or the other. In the words of the apostle Paul:
Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righ teous ness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righ teous ness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your fl esh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righ teous ness, resulting in sanctifi cation. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righ teous ness. (Rom. 6:16 – 20)
No message can rightly be called the gospel if it glosses over or denies those truths. The gospel according to Jesus calls sinners to give up their independence, deny themselves, submit to an alien will, and abandon all rights in order to be owned and controlled by the Lord. By confessing Jesus as Lord (Kurios), we automatically confess that we are His slaves (douloi).
What does this mean in practical terms? To borrow the words of Edwin Yamauchi,
It means that we have been captured, beaten, and enslaved. We discover, however, that our captor is a Despot of love and mercy. Neither is there anything slavish or servile about our slavehood, for we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but the spirit of adoption (Romans 8:15). Nor has our reduction to slavery been a debasement or an abasement. . . . We have been elevated to serve in a heavenly court and have been invested with a higher nature.
. . . [It also] reminds us of our ransom from another master at an incredible price. It was not with the fabulous sums of all the royal estates we were bought, nor was it for handsome features or some prized skill we were purchased. But rather unlovely, without any merit, rebellious at heart, we were redeemed with the precious blood of the Master Himself.
Having thus been bought by Christ we are entirely His.9
9. Yamauchi, "Slaves of God," 48 – 49.
Today's Gospel: Good News or Bad?
There is no other possible way to view it.
There is also no legitimate way to adjust that message to make it sound appealing to people who admire Jesus but are not prepared to serve Him.
Jesus Himself never catered to that perspective. He was not seeking admirers; He was calling followers — not casual followers, but slaves. That explains why He demanded His disciples' implicit obedience, and when He encountered people who were unwilling to obey unconditionally, He discouraged them from following Him at all.
Thus He declared His lordship without hesitation or apology, and He made it clear that true faith in Him begins with an unconditional surrender of the sinner's heart. And therefore the very spirit of saving faith is comparable to the demeanor of a slave. It is a glorious surrender, and it is the supreme joy of every true believer's heart to be Christ's slave. But remove that spirit of submission, and the most profound kind of "admiration" for Christ is not even true faith at all. Yielding completely to Christ's lordship is that vital an element of true saving faith, and therefore the proclamation of His lordship is an absolutely necessary component of the true gospel.
As we work our way through some of the most important chapters of Jesus' life, ministry, and public discourses, you will see clearly that He consistently made His lordship a prominent theme. The topic dominated His public preaching and teaching; it was a common motif in the parables He told; and it was the underlying point of most of the doctrinal topics He expounded. It is the unifying idea in the story of redemption, the song of the redeemed, and the reason for the gospel in the first place, "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10 – 11).
A Look at the Issues
isten to the typical gospel presentation nowadays. You will hear sinners entreated with words like, "accept Jesus Christ as personal Savior"; "ask Jesus into your heart"; "invite Christ into your life"; or "make a decision for Christ." You may be so accustomed to hearing those phrases that it will surprise you to learn that none of them is based on biblical terminology. They are the products of a diluted gospel. It is not the gospel according to Jesus.
The gospel Jesus proclaimed was a call to discipleship, a call to follow Him in submissive obedience, not just a plea to make a decision or pray a prayer. Jesus' message liberated people from the bondage of their sin while it confronted and condemned hypocrisy. It was an offer of eternal life and forgiveness for repentant sinners, but at the same time it was a rebuke to outwardly religious people whose lives were devoid of true righ teous ness. It put sinners on notice that they must turn from sin and embrace God's righ teous ness. It was in every sense good news, yet it was anything but easy-believism.
Our Lord's words about eternal life were invariably accompanied by warnings to those who might be tempted to take salvation lightly. He taught that the cost of following Him is high, that the way is narrow and few find it. He said many who call Him Lord will be forbidden from entering the kingdom of heaven (cf. Matt. 7:13 – 23).
Present-day evangelicalism, by and large, ignores those warnings. The prevailing view of what constitutes saving faith continues to grow broader and shallower, while the portrayal of Christ in preaching and witnessing becomes fuzzy. Anyone who claims to be a Chris tian can find evangelicals willing to accept a profession of faith, whether or not the person's behavior shows any evidence of commitment to Christ. A few years ago the national media reported on the spectacle of a notorious pornographer who claimed to be "born again" yet continued to publish the worst kinds of smut. A well-known sports figure professed faith in Christ and was baptized in a highly publicized ceremony, then weeks later was accused and later convicted of rape. Another celebrity who claims to be a Chris tian is renowned for the profligacy of his lifestyle. What troubles me about all these is that many Chris tians insist such