As promised last week, I am going to review and give some reactions to John MacArthur’s book – Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ.

I started reading this book on a Kindle with great excitement.  The first 1/2 to 2/3 of the book were exciting.  The sections dedicated to the topic of slaves in Scripture and the first century Roman slave were eye opening and impacted my understanding of my relationship as a “bond-servant” – slave of Christ.

As long as MacArthur stayed with this exposition his message was valuable.  But somewhere he felt the necessity to bring in the Calvinistic doctrines of Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Preservation of the Saints.  My enthusiasm for this book waned during this section.  MacArthur fails to see the inconsistencies of that doctrine when compared with the whole of scripture.   He even contradicts TULIP in what he says, “A slave only fears his master’s return if he has been unfaithful,” (Kindle location 2797).  According to MacArthur’s Calvinism an elected slave cannot be found unfaithful, so why should a slave fear?  There was value in reading this section if only to gain better insight in the mindset of those who believe in the TULIP doctrine.

Even with this section on Calvinism the book is worth reading.  It will challenge the way you view yourself as a Slave of Righteousness.

I will share some excerpts I found helpful in tomorrow’s blog.

– Scott