What the Bible says about Slaves of Righteousness
(From Forerunner Commentary)
The instructions for the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Exodus 12:17; 23:15; 34:18 reveal the primary reason for its observance is to remember God's deliverance. Second to that is the instruction to eat unleavened bread every day for the duration of the Feast. These two elements of the commanded observance set the stage for what comes next.
Exodus 12:19-20 gives a third, vital aspect of this Feast: We must eat nothing leavened nor have leavening in our houses. Applying this spiritually, we understand our responsibility to overcome and "not let sin reign in [our] mortal bod[ies]" (Romans 6:12). Whether we are speaking of the leaven of corrupt doctrine and practice (Matthew 16:12), the leaven of hypocrisy (Luke 12:1), or the leaven of malice and wickedness (I Corinthians 5:8), leaven is a symbol of corruption. A significant part of pursuing holiness (Hebrews 12:14) and going on to perfection (Hebrews 6:1) involves identifying sinfulness, removing it where we find it in our lives, and avoiding it where it tries to make inroads.
Yet, from what we have seen, this aspect of avoiding sin—of overcoming—is not actually at the top of the list for this Feast. Certainly, it is on the list, and we dare not neglect it lest we be cut off (Exodus 12:15). But our ability to put all the corrupt things out of our lives entirely depends on the first two aspects of this Feast. In other words, if we overlook God's deliverance or neglect the eating of unleavened bread, we cannot perform the third aspect—the putting away of sin that God requires.
Colossians 1:13 informs us that God "has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love." The apostle Paul writes in Galatians 1:4 that Jesus Christ "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age." Numerous verses relate this in various ways. Because our life-debt has been paid, we are no longer under the sway of the one with the power of death (Hebrews 2:14). We have a new Master and a new lease on life. God purchased us, taking away Satan's dominion over us, so now we can be slaves of righteousness instead (Romans 6:18).
This Feast, then, is a joyous remembrance of the difference God has made between us and those who are still under the spiritual Pharaoh—still enslaved to sin and death. Our deliverance is an indescribable and rare blessing, and it opens up avenues that this world can only dream of. As with Israel, we have this freedom only because of what God has done.
Paul says something quite encouraging in his rebuke of the Corinthians: "Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the Feast . . ." (I Corinthians 5:7-8). He is writing to a fairly carnal group, yet even with their manifest weaknesses, he still tells them, "You truly are unleavened." It is another way of saying that righteousness had been imputed to them because of Christ's sacrifice. In essence, he says, because they truly are unleavened, they must start behaving like it. Since Christ's righteousness was imputed, they now need to conform to it to make it their own.
In the same way, we "truly are unleavened" because we are in Christ. Our sins have been forgiven, and we have been delivered, so now we have the opportunity to walk in conformity to that unleavened state that has been imputed to us through our fellowship with Christ. But it all begins with what the Father and Son did on our behalf.
David C. Grabbe
Why Do We Observe Unleavened Bread? (Part Two)
Revelation 12:11 states that "they did not love their lives to the death," demonstrating an attitude of complete surrender to God, whether or not martyrdom is actually involved. When we come under the blood of the Lamb, we are changed from being slaves to sin to slaves of righteousness (see Romans 6:16-22). Our lives have been paid for; they are no longer our own. Christ requires that we love Him above all else, including our own lives (Luke 14:26).
Satan and his world are diametrically opposed to our Lord and Master's way of life, and we must be willing to accept the consequences of standing in the truth without compromise, even to the point of physical death. Hebrews 11:35 tells of faithful men and women who "were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection." Such a stand, whether the battle is minor or ultimate, demonstrates the value we place on the blood shed for us, and in this way, Satan is overcome.
There is a reason why overcoming is spoken of so highly and rewarded so richly and why there is rejoicing in heaven when Satan is overcome. Overcoming represents success in God's project to create sons and daughters in His image. Our ability to overcome means that we have pursued, with all of our being, the divine relationship offered to us, which has resulted in our resembling the Object of our affection in mind, attitude, character, and action. It means we have so successfully taken on the image of God that, when the ruler of this world approaches, he has nothing in us (cf. John 14:30).
All this begins with the blood of the Lamb and continues because of the blood of the Lamb. Our part is not to focus on Satan or on our sins, though we will certainly be aware of both. Our part is to follow the Lamb and get to know Him because He is the only One who has done what we are trying to do.
David C. Grabbe
How Did They Overcome? (Part Three)