Christianity has been marked for centuries by its radical commitment to the point of giving one’s life for his or her faith. Countless Christians have been persecuted and even martyred throughout the centuries and around the world, not the least recognizable of which are the New Testament Christians. Further, while the concept of Jesus Christ setting believers free from sin and the former way of life might seem appealing, following Christ also comes at a cost. Rather than slavery to sin, however, God’s people have become slaves to Christ. By the end of the second century, “Christianity was illegal, and believers throughout the Roman Empire faced the threat of imprisonment, torture, or death.”[1]

The Apostle Paul employs the term, slave, in several of his New Testament letters, and it is implicit that Christians should understand not only the cost of serving Christ but also the matchless benefit. The shift from non-believer to believer is a change in the form of slavery—from slavery under the law to slavery in Christ (i.e., there is not an option that does not include a type of slavery). Paul, in his letter to the churches of Galatia, details life in the natural state as sinners and the disparate newfound life in Christ, which, although slavery, is slavery with Christ as the new owner and with his people as children and heirs to the promises of God. In Galatians 3:23-4:7, Paul offers an argument for the type of slavery that is life-changing and life-giving, for while the law’s temporal nature contains no salvific ability, faith in Christ affords permanent salvation for the people of God that nothing in addition to or apart from Jesus Christ could give.