Scripture Reading: Acts 22:16

Introduction

A. It is difficult to imagine the life of a slave who isn’t free to choose where he goes or what he does.

B. The truth is that we are all slaves to someone, but the good news is that we get to choose our master.

Discussion

I. Before his conversion, Saul likely didn’t realize he was a slave.

A. Many of the Jews failed to realize this (John 8:33).

B. As a Pharisee (Acts 26:5; 23:6), he was a slave to many worthless traditions (Mark 7:3, 8).

C. As a Jew without Christ, he was a slave to the law (Romans 7:1, 6; Galatians 3:22–24).

D. As a mortal man, he was a slave to sin and death (Romans 6:23).

II. When he became a Christian, he was bought by a new Master.

A. Paul frequently uses this imagery of being purchased (Romans 6:17, 22; 1 Corinthians 6:19–20).

B. He often identified himself as the slave of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:10; 1 Corinthians 7:21–23).

C. His new Master was far better than his old one (Matthew 11:28–30).

D. As the slave of Jesus, Saul was at last free from bondage (Romans 7:6; Hebrews 2:14–15; Romans 8:2, 21; 6:18).

A. Like Saul, we each must make the choice of which master we will choose to serve (Joshua 24:15; Matthew 6:24).

B. That choice is yours today: whom will you choose to serve?