30th Mar 26 | 13:54
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Luke 16 1-13 God's Regents 14 Slaves of righteousness
📖 Luke 16:1-13
02Apr2020 - *Slaves of righteousness* - _Luke 16:1-13_ - Bible reading: _Romans 6:16-19_
_Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."_
We simply cannot afford to think and fool ourselves that since we are involved in Christian activity, we are God’s slaves. We must break clean from mammon. It would be dreadful that at the final accounting, we are found to be slaves of mammon. We must choose to be slaves to God and that begins with a definite decision and must continue all through life.
Daniel made that choice early in his life and continued to live, all through his long and illustrious life, as a slave to God. _Daniel 1:8 But Daniel *purposed in his heart* that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself._
Joshua challenged the people to make that first clear decision and continue their entire life as slaves to God. _Joshua 24:14-15 “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! (15) And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. *But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD*."_ Joshua had the courage to present himself and his family, before the people, as a verifiable witness, of being a slave to God.
This life of being a slave to God has to be continuous. Apostle Paul teaches us of this everyday battle, which we must engage in, not with fear but with joy for we are on the side of victory. We are in the flesh and in the world and satan will seek to deceive us to think that we are his slaves once again.
_Romans 6:16-19 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?_ To the one whom we choose to obey, to that entity, we become slaves to. When we choose to obey sin, it leads to death.
_(17) But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered._ We were once in slavery to sin but praise the Lord, we have been delivered from that slavery. We have been delivered to a life of overcoming sin.
_(18) And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness._ We now have a new identity. Our new designation is *slaves of righteousness*. This is the title that we must shout out to the powers of darkness that seek to frighten and deceive us into slavery to sin, once again.
_(19) I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness._ Every day, we live out our new title of *slaves to righteousness*, which leads us to greater holiness.
*Thought to ponder*
```No more living with a foot with the world and a foot with God.```