It is a strong figure...
Illustration
It is a strong figure of speech Paul uses when he refers to being "slaves to sin." A slave has to do what the master demands of him or her. No choice. Can't get out of it. Yes, that's a strong figure of speech.
I remember the night I picked up our daughter at the bakery where she worked that summer. Her turn was over at 2 a.m. When she got into the car, she burst into tears. I pulled over to the curb to talk about the problem.
As soon as she got control, she said: "I know what hell is." She described what she had been through on the assembly line in the bakery. They were putting sweet-cakes into cartons, much like the scene in the hilarious Lucy show years ago. It was easy for me to picture.
The problem? She explained that the man sitting up there kept yelling at them, ordering them, demanding that they go faster. I said: "Betsy, you didn't have to do it faster." She said: "Oh, yes, we did. He made us do it."
She wasn't really a slave, of course. She would soon be finished with her summer job and ready to go back to school.
Paul's figure is what we would call "right on." We need to choose wisely our master or masters in life. We need not be "slaves to sin." We can choose Christ for our Master and live the exciting life of freely loving and serving him.
I remember the night I picked up our daughter at the bakery where she worked that summer. Her turn was over at 2 a.m. When she got into the car, she burst into tears. I pulled over to the curb to talk about the problem.
As soon as she got control, she said: "I know what hell is." She described what she had been through on the assembly line in the bakery. They were putting sweet-cakes into cartons, much like the scene in the hilarious Lucy show years ago. It was easy for me to picture.
The problem? She explained that the man sitting up there kept yelling at them, ordering them, demanding that they go faster. I said: "Betsy, you didn't have to do it faster." She said: "Oh, yes, we did. He made us do it."
She wasn't really a slave, of course. She would soon be finished with her summer job and ready to go back to school.
Paul's figure is what we would call "right on." We need to choose wisely our master or masters in life. We need not be "slaves to sin." We can choose Christ for our Master and live the exciting life of freely loving and serving him.
