A People-Pleaser or A Servant? (Priolo)

Here's a good question: what's the difference between being a people-pleaser and being someone who is a servant of others? John wrote about the attitude of people-pleasers: "They loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God" (John 12:43 NASB). Of course Scripture also talks about those who serve other people in the …

Slave of Christ, Protected by Christ (Harris)

 One aspect of the Christian's identity is being a servant or slave of Christ (1 Cor. 6:20, Col. 4:12, 1 Tim. 4:6, etc).  Although being a slave typically isn't a good thing, when a person is a slave of Christ it is totally good in every way.  The Christian has been set free by Christ, …

Christ Has Set You Free

One very rich NT theme is the freedom that Christ has gained for his people in his death and resurrection.  In fact, because Paul talks about this freedom so frequently, he has been called “the apostle of freedom.”  Here is Murray Harris’ summary of the NT’s teaching of the freedom that Christ has won for …

Slave of Christ

The NT teaching that Christians are “slaves” of Christ is a metaphor full of meaning.  Jesus owns us because he’s purchased us with his blood.  He’s our Lord and Master because he owns us.  We have a duty to trust him and obey him because we are not our own.  In body and soul, God’s …

Models of the Church

Since one of my reading hobbies is ecclesiology I recently picked up and read the newest edition of Avery Dulles' Models of the Church (New York: Doubleday, 2002).  In this book, Dulles summarizes and explains what he thinks are the five major models of ecclesiology in contemporary Christianity: Church as institution, church as mystical communion, church as sacrament, …