Would You Go Free?

J. David Hoke

Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them. If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. If he comes alone; he shall go out alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master and he shall go out alone. But if the slave plainly says, "I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man," then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently. (Exodus 21:1-6)

Slavery is a terrible thing. It is hard to imagine that some, even in this very country, defended it. There was even a Supreme Court decision, commonly known as the Dred Scott decision, officially Dred Scott vs. John Sandford, 1857, which supported slavery. With the wisdom of hindsight, the overwhelming majority of humanity sees that grievous error. It is my hope that one day humanity will see the grievous error made in another Supreme Court decision. I’m speaking of Roe vs. Wade, 1973, in which abortion on demand was legalized. Those two decisions have much in common, not the least of which is the dehumanizing of individuals for personal convenience. How slow we learn from history. Who was it that said, "The only thing that we learn from history is that we do not learn from history?"

Slavery among the Jews was very different from the despicable slavery of modern times. In the Mosaic law, there are many regulations given to control it. It was not the dehumanizing kind of slavery which has been practiced by some. Rather, slavery, or servitude, then served an important social function. A person could become a slave or servant to pay off debts. By serving for a period of time, the debts could be repaid and the person freed of his obligation. Poor people could seek refuge by becoming a servant, in exchange for which they would receive food, clothing, housing and a certain remuneration. Servitude could even alleviate the society from the need of prisons. For, in some cases, thieves could make restitution by a period of service. And in any of these cases, servitude was limited by law to a maximum of six years. In the seventh year, the slave was permitted to go free. The law was very specific that no one could be a slave in perpetuity. He could only serve for six years and then he must go free. But there was one exception to this rule.

The exception was if the servant, of his own free will, decided to become a permanent slave. You might ask, "Why would anyone ever consent to do such a thing?" Well, in some cases, it could be very advantageous to do so. Suppose a person had no resources otherwise, but had a good master, good living conditions and a fair wage? He might view his service merely as gainful employment - a job, which was to his benefit to keep. He might, therefore, decide the position he now holds is better than one he could obtain otherwise, and so voluntarily submit himself to perpetual servitude. Another situation could be that he had married a wife who was given to him by his master. When it was time for him to be free, she could not go out with him. Any children born of such a marriage would also become servants to the master and they could not go free. Because of his wife and his children, this servant might decide he would rather continue on in his master’s service. One of the reasons given in our text for the choice of perpetual servitude is that the servant declares his love for his wife and his children. But the choice was his. He had to make it voluntarily. It could not be forced upon him. It must come of his own free will.

As we look at this text today, I would like to apply it to our service in the household of our Master, Jesus Christ May we gain a clear understanding of the nature of the choice of service before us, the considerations which make that choice the only reasonable one, and the commitment necessary to officially solemnize our position in his service.

The road one takes does make all the difference. There are some roads, after we have chosen them, from which we can never make our way back. The direction of our life changes in the choosing of them, and we are never again the same. Understanding this, it is unfortunate just how lightly decisions are made in the many important choices of life. In the choosing of friends, or a school, a career, and even a mate, all too often so little thought is put into the decision as to make one wonder whether or not any choice was actually made. It seems in many cases, that it just happened. But to allow things just to happen is to make a choice. You may think this tragic, especially as you see tragic circumstances which result from these ill-considered choices. But there is another situation even more tragic.

There are no choices more important than the choices we make concerning our spiritual destiny. The spiritual roads upon which we choose to travel will not only impact our life here and now, they will impact our life for eternity. The roads are before us. They are roads which lead to service. The choice is really one of whom we will serve.

Bob Dylan phrased it succinctly in a song he wrote some years ago during a time of spiritual searching. He said,

There is a profound truth in those simple lines. The truth is that there are only basically two roads — two choices. On the one hand, we can choose to serve Satan and his kingdom. We make this choice in many ways, and not all of them are equally as obvious. We choose to serve Satan and his kingdom when we choose to go our own way instead of God’s. When we continue to run our own lives by our own rules instead of His, we become Satan’s servant. When we choose to habitually indulge in sin, the Bible says, we become a slave to sin. Again, we are Satan’s servant. We are doing his bidding. That is one road. The other is to become a servant of God. We become God’s servant when we choose to surrender our lives to Him. When we give Him ourselves, unconditionally, to do His will, we become Christ’s slave. The great apostle Paul characterized himself as a "bond-slave" of Jesus Christ. There was no higher calling for the great apostle than to be a servant of Christ. And there is indeed no higher calling today for any Christian than to be a servant of Jesus Christ.

Let me turn for a moment to those of you who feel you are in the wilderness of decision. Knowing what you do about the goodness of the Lord and about what He did for you on the Cross, would you go free from service to Him? The choice is yours. You may be in the same situation that many in Israel were. They had been led forth from Egypt, and yet were not fully committed to the Lord’s plan for their lives. In Hebrews 11:15, it reads, "And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return."

So do you. You have the power to go free if you will. Jesus will not hold you to unwilling servitude. Our Lord desires willing servants. He desires dedicated servants. The Bible says we cannot serve God and mammon. In other words, we cannot serve God and the world. You should be clear about one thing: to choose one road means to reject the other. When you surrender to Christ, you are surrendering to a life of commitment to Him. You become a bond-slave. To receive Christ is to deny the world.

Frances Schaeffer once said that no one ought to become a Christian until he believed it to be true. But he believed that if a man examined the offer of Christ, he would find good and sufficient reasons for believing it to be true. Schaeffer delighted to point out that there were many such good and sufficient reasons for a thinking person to believe Christianity to be the only true way to God.

I fear that many have made professions of faith before they really believed it to be true. As a result, there was no change of life, no real conversion in the true sense of the term. Many have decided to make Jesus a part of their life without surrendering their lives to Him. They are trying to do what the Bible says no man can do — they are trying to serve two masters. They are dwelling in the wilderness, having never really let go of the world, yet claiming to be servants of Christ. It is sad that churches all over our country are populated by people in this precise position. They are professors and not possessors of life. They have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. It would be better for the church and for them if they would own up to their own spiritual condition and admit that they are not Christians at all.

If you’re in that condition, professing to possess something you do not have, all the while complaining and chafing about the duties and responsibilities attendant upon your service for Christ, let me say to you — You have the power to go free! Christ will not hold you to unwilling servitude. If you are not a Christian, then you do not have the power to serve with a joyful heart and a willing spirit. You can go free from your service to Christ. Would you go free? There is another alternative: You could surrender to Him and receive the power which you do not now possess, but which, upon receiving it, would enable you to serve him with gladness and joy. Would you go free, or would you surrender to Jesus Christ today?

Those of us who are Christ’s and have known Him and His goodness, have but one answer to that question. Would we go free? NEVER! Would we go free? NOT I! Not for one minute. You see, I have found life. I have found peace. I have found joy. I have found truth. I have found forgiveness. I have found meaning and purpose in life. I have found out who I am and why I’m here and what I’m here for. I have found abundant life because I have found Jesus. I would not go free, and I don’t know a true believer in Christ who would. The world has nothing to offer me. Oh, I am still tempted by its pleasures. The pleasure of sin for a season still has an allure to my fleshly nature, but the world, when weighed in the balances, is found wanting compared with a moment’s communion with Christ. All that the world has to offer is less than nothing.

Words fail me to tell just how wonderful my Lord is. NO, I would not go free. Not for one minute!

Those of us who know Jesus know that there are good reasons for that choice. There are strong considerations which make that choice the only real choice. Notice that the slave said plainly, "I love my master." That is the first consideration. Can we say that? I love my Master. Oh, what a Master we have. Let me ask you: Do you love Him? Look at what He did for us. He loved us before we cared anything about Him. He saw a need before we even knew we were needy. He devised a plan to save us before we were even born. Look at His sufferings for you. Because of that love, Jesus came to this earth and was humbled, being made a man. He endured all that mankind endures, yet without sin. He willingly gave Himself on that cruel Cross to pay the penalty for our sins, and because of that sacrifice, we are made free from sin. Look at what He is doing for you now. Think about His patience. None of us are perfect, and yet, in the midst of our struggles He does not lose His temper. He is patient with us. He continues to work with us. He continues to pick us up when we fall. Look at His care for you. Has He ever mistreated you? Has He ever hurt you, that in healing you He did not make you stronger? Oh, what a Lord we serve! What a Master we have! Those who truly know the Lord can say with all their heart, "I love my Master."

But notice the slave also said, "I love . . . my wife and my children." You see, there are others for which we must go on. For their sakes we cannot turn back. Do you not know that your life affects and influences many others? If you were not to follow the Lord what would happen to them? If they did not have your example and your testimony before them, how much further from the truth would they be? Do you not see those for whom you must follow Jesus? Look at your wife, or your husband. Should you not follow Jesus for their sake? How about your brother? Or your sister? Your family? What effect would your lack of service have on them? Look in the faces of your son and your daughter. Were they not to have your example of obedience to Christ, what would become of them? What about your neighbors, your associates at work? What about the lost? Oh, there are many others for whom we must not turn back.

But then, where would we go? When Jesus put it to His disciples as the multitudes fled, their response was "Lord, where would we go?" They understood, as we do, that only Christ can make you free. The Bible says, "You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free." Jesus Himself said, "I am the way, the truth and the life." Those of us who know the Lord also know that we would never be satisfied anywhere else.

Would you go free? NO! Not I! For I love my Master, I love my wife, I love my children. I will not go free.

Then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl: and he shall serve him permanently. (v. 6)

The Scripture says that the master brought him to God. The word in Hebrew here is Elohim. This is the word translated in this passage as God. It could also be translated as elders or as judges. The implication is that the elders or judges stood in as God’s representatives. This was a public forum. The parallels to New Testament Christian commitment are interesting. Jesus called people publicly. The New Testament calls for a public confession of Christ. In our church, we give you an opportunity, at the invitation, to come forward and publicly declare your intention to follow Jesus Christ. Here the slave was brought by his master to a public forum where his confession could also be made. Notice it says that "The slave plainly says...". Even though the master brought him, the slave must make the choice.

Has the Lord been dealing with your heart about that choice? Has He brought you to this place of decision? Are you willing to openly make a confession that you will serve Him? Are you willing to take that step of commitment and surrender of your life? Would you go free from your service to Him? Or would you, unconditionally, surrender to Him?

How could you not choose to follow Jesus, seeing that He has gone before. All He is calling you to do, He has already done. You see, before the foundation of the world, Jesus Christ became a servant. He willingly submitted Himself to the Father’s plan. He chose to be the Lamb of God, the sacrifice slain from the beginning of time, for the sins of the world. He loved His master, the Father. He loved His wife, the Church. He loved His children, the people of God. And He still does. The Bible tells us that He, faced with that choice, did not draw back, but "became obedient unto death...". Jesus refused the crown for the Cross. Even in Gethsemene, with the Cross before Him, agonizing over the way laid out before Him, there was no doubt about the course He would take. You see, Jesus was not agonizing about His obedience to the Father. There was never any question about that. His agony referred to the path which He had to take, the Cup He had to drink. There was never any question that He would submit to the will of the Father. And He did submit. And He stayed on the Cross because of His love for us. He could have gone free. They taunted Him to do so. "Save yourself," they said. "Come down from the Cross." The Bible says He could have called legions of angels to deliver Him. Yet, He didn’t. Just as the slave was taken to the doorpost to have his ear bored through with an awl, so Jesus submitted Himself to be pierced through for our sakes. And we, by following Him, enter into that sacrifice. By surrendering our lives we identify with Him on that Cross. We receive what He did for us and give our lives in perpetual service to Him.

Would you be free from Jesus? Or would you be free from sin? There is a contemporary song which says,