Freed, but not Free

The New Testament describes the Christian as being both free and slave. We are free from the guilt and attached penalties of sin (justification). We are being progressively freed from the power of sin (sanctification). When the Lord calls us home, we shall be free from the presence of sin (glorification). Freedom is therefore important: Paul urged the Galatians: It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. We who have been freed must not burden ourselves with legalism.

Yet, rather more uncomfortably, we are described as bondsmen. Paul tells the Corinthians ‘You have been bought with a price’. Not freed but bought. Oh no! All our western liberal hackles begin to rise. We positively adore freedom; it suits our cultural world view. But slavery? Paul often introduces himself as Christ’s slave. And so are we. It is worth remembering that many Roman slaves were freed- when they were too old or sick to work. They were turfed out onto the streets to save the trouble of a doctor’s or undertaker’s bill. So ordinary freedom might contain a nasty sting. Yet slavery in the right household brought warmth, nourishment and care. In this regard, Christ does not free us to set us loose, wandering about. Rather, He admits us to His household, that we might partake of His service and wear His livery.

There is another dimension to understanding the freedom-slavery paradox as found in the New Testament. A freedmen class existed, made up of ex-slaves. Having been set free, they owed a contractual loyalty to their former masters to whom they continued to be attached. So they were free and yet they weren’t. They weren’t slaves, and yet they were. They were often richer than regular citizens; their former masters trusted them to be their agents and factors in business and commerce. The group is barely mentioned in the Bible. One negative example comes from Acts 6, where the Synagogue of the Freedmen disputed with Stephen. Yet I would suggest freedmen are a fitting additional illustration of our status in Christ- we are freed but not free.

The picture above I took in Rome’s Capitoline Museum and show examples of ‘freedmen portraits’ from the tombs lining ancient Rome’s highways.