Are you a Slave for Christ?

NOTE:  I am sure some of you will notice when I write, that I spell satan with a lower case letter in front, which is actually not grammatically correct.  I do this simply as a preference because I will never put satan in the same realm of importance as Jesus or God.  I don't believe satan deserves a "capital letter billing" :)

You are either a slave to God, sold out, bought with a price, or you are a slave to satan and sin.  Those are the only two choices.  Jesus paid the ultimate price to buy you out of slavery to sin (if you are one of the chosen of God, called to Him), and to be a slave for Christ.  This picture or analogy is from John MacArthur's book Slave.  Most people think that when you are saved you are a servant of Christ, and they don't think of it as being a slave.  If you go back to the Greek and Hebrew though, you will see that the word they are using is "doulos" which means slave, not servant.  When it was translated, it was translated as servant because of the negative connotation everyone had on slavery in those days.  Even in this day and age, we look at it as a negative thing to be a slave, so we don't realize the importance of this small word distinction.  If you are a servant, you can quit, you can decide what you will or won't do for the one you serve, and you are free to do whatever you want.  When you are a slave, you are purchased, with a price, and you are to do the will of the Master who purchased you.  You are to do whatever that master asks, and are not free to do whatever you want.  So, ask yourself this question, would you rather satan be your master, and be a slave to sin?  Or would you rather Christ be your master and be a slave to Him?  Because if you are a slave to sin, you are bound for eternal hell, separated from Christ and His love.  If you are a slave to Christ, He has bought you with the ultimate price of His own precious blood, so that you might be joint heirs with Him in the next life.  God is a good Master, who loves us so much He sent His ONLY son to die for us so that we might be with Him in eternity. 
Col. 3:12-14
¹² Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, ¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

You cannot serve two masters, so you need to make a choice.  Either you are going to be a slave to sin and satan, and live for your flesh, which leads to death:
Col. 3:5-6
⁵ Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

Or, if you are one of Gods chosen elect, you can serve as the good Masters slave, and walk in the light both in life and in death:

John 6:63-65
⁶³ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) ⁶⁵And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."

Are You Really Saved?

There are so many people out there who are claiming to be Christians, but are they really saved, or are they under a false assumption because they said a canned prayer when they were young?  How can you tell if you are really saved?  How can you tell if others are true Christians or just lost, misinformed souls who are so sure they are saved that they won't even enterain the thought that they may not be a child of God at all?  How can we know if we are Christs Chosen or if we are just going through the motions?  Some aren't even going through the motions, but still believe they are saved.  How can we tell the difference, in our lives and in others, if we are true children of God or children of satan?  God has given us a book, his holy inspired word in which to find the answers.  If you really want to know, and are not afraid to find out the truth, then you will continue to read.  If, on the other hand, you are not one of Gods elect, then you will most likely read no further. 

I would like to go over two scriptures that can pretty much sum up and answer this question.  These two areas of the Bible are by no means the only place these statements are made in the word of God, but it will help you to understand and know if you are truely saved.  It will also help you in telling the difference when someone says to you "I am a Christian" if they are truely a Christian or just a nay sayer.  The first scripture I am going to share with you is I John 4:7-8
 ⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  
So, if someone is saved, then what can we see in their lives?  Love, Gods love.  The second question is, what is Gods love?  What is real love, true love?  How can we know if we are showing true love or just going through the motions?  This brings up the second area of scripture I would like to share,  I Corinthians 13:4-8.
⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
 ⁸ Love never fails. 
Are you impatient?  Are you unkind?  Do you envy others?  Are you boastful or proud, or dishonoring to others, or self-seeking?  Are you easily angered and keep track of others wrongs?  Do you delight in evil?  Then you do not have the love of God, and you are not saved.  You can not know God if you do not have love.  This doesn't mean you may still not be one of the chosen, only that God has not revealed himself to you yet.  If you want Him to reveal Himself, and you are one of the chosen, then read more to find out how. 

On the other hand, are you patient and kind?  Are you humble, and honoring to others, not self seeking and slow to be angered?  Do you forgive easily, knowing what God has forgiven you for and always keeping that in mind before keeping track of others wrongs against you?  Do you delight in good and rejoice in the truth?  Do you protect, trust, hope and persevere in times of trouble and trials?  Is your love unfailing?  Because the only love that is unfailing is Gods love.  If you answered yes to these questions, then congratulations, you are one of the chosen ones!  You love God, and God has chosen you!  Keep in mind always, that your salvation is not anything you have done, but that Christ died to save His chosen ones that were written in the book of life before time began.  He chooses us, we do not choose Him.  If we chose Him, then we could loose our salvation, but the scripture says we cannot lose our salvation, because He chooses us!  He gives us his Holy Spirit, which allows us to love in the way that is described above.  If you do not love with Gods love, then you do not love at all.  He knew all before the beginning of time.  He knows your hurts, he knows your fears, and he knows your heart.  Do you have a heart after God like David did?  Or do you have a heart like Judas Iscariot did, a hardened sinful heart that betrayed God?  I pray everyone who reads this will be a chosen one and believe ON the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved as one of Gods chosen elect.