Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ [Hardcover]

John MacArthur (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2010

A COVER-UP OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS…

Centuries ago, English translators perpetrated a fraud in the New Testament, and it's been purposely hidden and covered up ever since. Your own Bible is probably included in the cover-up!

In this book, John MacArthur unveils the essential and clarifying revelation that may be keeping you from a fulfilling-and correct-relationship with God. It's powerful. It's controversial. And with new eyes you'll see the riches of your salvation in a radically new way.

What does it mean to be a Christian the way Jesus defined it? MacArthur says it all boils down to one word:

 SLAVE

"We have been bought with a price. We belong to Christ. We are His own possession."

Endorsements:

"Dr. John MacArthur is never afraid to tell the truth and in this book he does just that. The Christian's great privilege is to be the slave of Christ. Dr. MacArthur makes it clear that this is one of the Bible's most succinct ways of describing our discipleship. This is a powerful exposition of Scripture, a convincing corrective to shallow Christianity, a masterful work of pastoral encouragement...a devotional classic."  - Dr. R. Albert Mohler, President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"John MacArthur expertly and lucidly explains that Jesus frees us from bondage into a royal slavery that we might be His possession. Those who would be His children must, paradoxically, be willing to be His slaves."  - Dr. R.C. Sproul

"Dr. John MacArthur's teaching on 'slavery' resonates in the deepest recesses of my 'inner-man.' As an African-American pastor, I have been there. That is why the thought of someone writing about slavery as being a 'God-send' was the most ludicrous, unconscionable thing that I could have ever imagined...until I read this book. Now I see that becoming a slave is a biblical command, completely redefining the idea of freedom in Christ. I don't want to simply be a 'follower' or even just a 'servant'...but a 'slave'."  - The Rev. Dr. Dallas H. Wilson,  Jr., Vicar, St. John's Episcopal Chapel, Charleston, SC

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (December 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400202078
• ISBN-13: 978-1400202072
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (175 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Widely known for his thorough, candid approach to teaching God's Word, John MacArthur is a popular author and conference speaker and has served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since 1969. John and his wife, Patricia, have four grown children and fourteen grandchildren.
John's pulpit ministry has been extended around the globe through his media ministry, Grace to You, and its satellite offices in seven countries. In addition to producing daily radio programs for nearly 2,000 English and Spanish radio outlets worldwide, Grace to You distributes books, software, audiotapes, and CDs by John MacArthur.
John is president of The Master's College and Seminary and has written hundreds of books and study guides, each one biblical and practical. Best-selling titles include The Gospel According to Jesus, Truth War, The Murder of Jesus, Twelve Ordinary Men, Twelve Extraordinary Women, and The MacArthur Study Bible, a 1998 ECPA Gold Medallion recipient.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Slave - John MacArthur, December 15, 2010

By 

Sheldon (Rome, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ (Hardcover)

MacArthurs's latest book, Slave, begins with the question "What does it mean to be a Christian?" MacArthur contends that some of the confusion over what an authentic Christian is stems from an unfortunate mistranslation of the Greek word doulos. Doulos always means slave in the Greek, yet it is often translated servant in our English translations. MacArthur gives 2 reason why he believes this mistranslation has occurred:

1) Given the stigmas attached to slavery in Western society, translators have understandably wanted to avoid any association between biblical teaching and the slave trade of the British Empire and the American Colonial era.

2) From a historical perspective, in late-medieval times it was common to translate doulos with the Latin word servus. Some of the earliest English translations, influenced by the Latin version of the Bible, translated doulos as servant because it was the more natural rendering of servus.

The main thrust of the book is two fold. The first is to demonstrated why slave is the proper translation of doulos and second to examine the implications of viewing ourselves as slaves of Christ. I thought the book handled both of these issues with thoughtfulness and especially appreciated the connection between being slaves of Christ to being sons of God.

As with all MacArthur's writings, scripture was found abundantly throughout. I especially enjoyed the chapters detailing the life of John Newton and the chapters detailing the doctrines of salvation. I think this book is a great addition to anyone's library and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

73 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Tad Overstated, December 29, 2010

By 

Michael Leake "Borrowed Light" (Huntingburg, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ (Hardcover)

Did you know that the Bible you own is more than likely involved in a cover-up of biblical proportions? According to John MacArthur "centuries ago, English translators perpetrated a fraud in the New Testament, and it's been purposely hidden and covered up ever since. Your own Bible is probably included in the cover-up!"

What is that cover up? The use of the word servant instead of slave. The slave/master relationship is the key to understanding a right relationship with God. In fact, MacArthur believes that if this is understood many of his earlier works would have been moot (2). Through thirteen chapters MacArthur explores the theme of the slave/master relationship in the hopes that our relationship with the Lord would be more fulfilling and correct.

I am conflicted at how to review this book. I have learned a ton from John MacArthur. He certainly loves the Lord and has an enduring ministry that is passionate about proclaiming the truth of God's Word. At times his tone will put many people off. This same conflict is present in this book. In my opinion, MacArthur is a very faithful expositor, but is often given to overstatement and his tone can be quite off-putting.

Take this as an example. On the back cover it refers to this idea of being a slave as an "essential and clarifying revelation that may be keeping you from a fulfilling--and correct--relationship with God." Fair enough. But check out what MacArthur says on page 1. Referring to this concept of slave/master relationship he says it, "escaped me and almost everyone else". So, are we to conclude from this that until 2007 (when he discovered this) that his relationship with the Lord was incorrect and unfulfilling?

Now granted, these are probably just sensationalistic comments on the back cover to try to sell a book. MacArthur tends to tone down the "cover-up" language even in the beginning. But these overstatements, in my opinion, make the book almost non-credible. Honestly, if I had not been given this book for free from Thomas Nelson in exchange for a review, I would not have purchased this book because of this sensationalism.

However, once I was able to get past the ridiculous overstatements on the back cover and beginning of the book it was actually pretty good. The first couple of chapters may be worth the cost of the book. What MacArthur says here is indeed true, the image of the believer as a slave is missing from much of our Christianity.

I hope that this book gets the ball rolling on that discussion. I hope that others pick up this work by MacArthur and add to it. There is much that is commendable in this work but also a decent amount that is missing. I was really intrigued in the beginning of the book and longing to see some application of what this looks like in the Christian life. But honestly, it seems that the discussion only touched on the typical MacArthur polemics. I'm convinced that MacArthur is right about the importance of this topic--and it's more important than just serving as a polemic against those MacArthur disagrees with.

This book is certainly worthy of buying. In fact I hope many of you do buy this book so that you can read it, interact with it, and move this conversation along. MacArthur's name tagged onto this book will cause people to begin looking at and discussing this biblical metaphor. This is a good place to start but it certainly is not the place you want to end.

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Slave, December 15, 2010

By 

Outsider (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ (Hardcover)

In his book "slave" John MacArthur uses a plethora of scripture to expose a "cover up" in the modern translations of the scripture. Retuning to the original languages and writing MacArthur shows how often the word slave is replaced by softer more autonomous phrases such as servant. While servant is a good word in does not convey the original message that scripture intended. To be a servant allows you to maintain a certain amount of uniqueness that allows me to be myself while still serving God. When I become a slave suddenly I am nothing but what my master wants me to be and that is all. This is a candid unapologetic look at our Identity in Christ and how we have allowed culture to dictate how nonchalantly we approach our life in Christ. This is a challenging book that is packed with scripture so the point has to be considered carefully. MacArthur asks you to view your life in Christ differently and transition from willing servant to sold out slave.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson as part of the BookSneeze program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."