Slaves of the Master, Free in Christ

Now, I must admit that I am not a huge John MacArthur fan, although I do appreciate a lot of the work he has done. His most recent book, entitled “Slave,” is most assuredly among the work that I appreciate. MacArthur, simply yet methodically, explains why the Christian ought to be most comfortable with the title of “slave,” more so than anything else. This sounds ridiculous to the modern Christian, which is precisely why “Slave” is such a potent book. The term “slave,’ MacArthur explains, is one of the Bible’s oft-used metaphors to describe the follower of the Lord, and for good reason. He then proceeds to explain the historical precedent of the relationship between slave and master, and by placing us within this context, allows the reader to grow comfortable with his thesis, and understand the necessity of preserving this metaphor. What seems shocking at first becomes the Christian’s comfort, acknowledging himself as completely guided and provided for by the Master, that is Christ the Lord. One criticism I have for the book, however, would be that MacArthur tends to go on rabbit trails, although they tend to be beneficial. One such would be a somewhat irrelevant, yet fascinating, account of John Huss’s life and martyrdom. My thanks to BookSneeze for this complimentary review copy of John MacArthur’s, “Slave.”