Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
You are bought because Christ gave His own life and blood in sacrifice at Calvary to ransom you from sin and Satan's claim. The price paid for you is dear and great and infinite beyond human measure, giving every soul immense worth. Because you are God's property and not your own, you are to be His servant and do His will rather than become the servant of human beings, interests and demands. No person, council or institution has rightful ownership over you or authority to bind your conscience, thought, individuality and judgment under absolute human control. All that you are and have — body, soul, spirit, mind, powers, time, talents, means and property — is already His, to be consecrated daily to His glory, kept healthy for His service, and used for the good of others and the salvation of sinners.
Purchase Price and Ownership
The price is Christ's own precious blood and life, given in sacrifice at Calvary and the cross to ransom people. Those bought by Christ at the price of His life belong to Him, not to themselves or to human masters, creating obligation to give body, soul and spirit to God and to serve in advancing His cause. They cannot treat themselves as free to dispose of themselves as they please, for they cannot give Him more than already belongs to Him.
The price is dear and great, calling for self-denial and sacrifice for the truth, without which spirit no one can receive the immortal inheritance. It is infinite, the cost of the Son of God's suffering and agony, and beyond human measure, so that no person may claim authority to control Christ's missionaries or take charge of their souls. Every human soul, high and low, rich and poor, has been purchased by Christ giving His life, and the salvation of human beings cost too much to be passed over lightly and indifferently.
Those bought are God's property and are not their own to use as they please or dispose of as they choose. Their service and allegiance belong to the Lord, and all that they have and are, including every power of body and mind, is to be consecrated to the Savior and used to glorify God in body and spirit. This consecration is both a daily duty and a privilege, grounding faithful work done with all one's strength while trusting the Lord to provide ability, and grounding the choice to speak only the words God gives rather than act as one's own master or submit one's message to human control.
God's claim rests on both creation and redemption, for all that a person has and is has been bought by the life of Christ and belongs wholly to God by both creation and redemption. In body and soul and life, with time, strength, talents, money and property, God claims everything, sustaining life every moment, so no one has right to use time, strength or money for selfish gratification or personal inclination and pleasure, and to do so is robbery toward God. Believers belong to the Lord by creation and redemption, soul, body and spirit, mind, talents and intellect, with His stamp upon them, and their lives and every physical, mental and moral power are to be valued, preserved and used to honor and serve God. This claim upon each person is a claim of love as well as right, to be individually recognized as a great and solemn lesson, and children belong to God on this same ground, so parents must educate and train them for God's service in a Christlike manner with Bible discipline, love, tenderness, patience and self-control.
The purchase covers every person, high and low, rich and poor, of every position, race and caste. Standing in Christ is not determined by social rank or caste, for those converted from sin to holiness are members of God's royal family and heirs with Christ. This belonging applies equally to Black and white believers, who should be welcomed as members of the same church, and because they are His property and sons and daughters of God, their social rights and claims as Christians must be respected and they must be treated with refinement and care.
The purchase ransoms people from sin and from Satan's claim after Adam's transgression, so no one need remain enslaved by Satan. Adam's transgression placed the human family among Satan's subjects, and Christ, the sinless One counted among transgressors at Calvary, released people captive to sin and Satan's power by paying an immeasurable price. Christ is their divine example and all-powerful Helper, and the price is His life given to ransom them from Satan.
The price paid gives each soul immense value and reason to value oneself according to that price. Every human soul purchased by Christ giving His life is made wholly His, and belonging to Christ in this way means giving all that one has and is to the Saviour. Although all are bought at infinite cost, no one is compelled to be saved; each person's choices determine whether they belong to Satan's kingdom or God's kingdom and become an heir of God with Christ. Being bought means that people belong to Christ, not to another human being's claim or control.
Those who surrender themselves to Him need not despair of God's mercy. God has claims upon them because the price is Christ's life given for them, and the fitting response is to choose freely and give themselves wholly in allegiance to Him.
Freedom From Human Control
Ye are bought with a price, and therefore must not become servants of human beings, for service and allegiance belong to the Lord. Those who belong to God must not become bond-servants of human authority or follow a yoke made by people, but must carry out His will rather than serve human interests and demands. They are not to give themselves over to human masters, nor to become dependent on or controlled by other people in place of God, for each person is responsible to God for the gifts and trust placed in them, including talents and the work they produce, to be exercised under His direction. Baptismal vows pledge them to use money, words, and actions in service to God rather than selfishly, so they can give an account with a clear conscience before God and people.
No human being has the right to claim ownership of another person, for a slave is God's workmanship and God is the slave's rightful Master. Those bought by God belong to Him and are not to be treated as the property or servants of men, so laws requiring the return of a slave to a master must be refused even when refusal brings legal consequences. Being bought preserves the God-given rights of conscience, thought, individuality, and judgment, and no individual, council, society, or institution may restrict liberty in Christ or limit thought in ways that shut off further light God gives His children. No plan or method in any institution may bind mind or talent under human judgment and absolute human control, prescribe duty, or claim the service that belongs to God, for all are accountable to Him for time, influence, means, and other gifts.
Workers must look to God for wisdom and guidance and must not become dependent on other people for permission or direction in doing God's work, for human authority must not take God's place or bind workers in ways that weaken confidence in Him. No person may claim authority to control Christ's missionaries and workers or take charge of their souls, for Christ purchased them at a price beyond human measure and such control interferes with His purchased possession and denies His authority. To bring one man's mind under rule by another man's mind is not in God's order and is a great dishonor to God, even when the benefit is used for the cause. Making men slaves of men is Satan's method; it separates the controlled person from God and exposes him to temptation, and it brings confusion and distrust, jealousies and evil surmisings, and destroys and weakens faith in God and in the principles that purge guile and selfishness and hypocrisy.
Belonging to Christ is equal for all, for people of every position and race belong to Him because He bought them with a price. Standing in Christ is not determined by social rank or caste, for those converted from sin to holiness are members of God's royal family and heirs with Christ. Black and white believers alike are His property, must not be treated as possessions or servants of other people, and are to be welcomed as members of the same church. He bought them at the cost of His own life and blood to remove their sins, not to leave them in sin, and this belonging grounds that parents and children are not to treat one another as slaves.
Consecration and Stewardship Duty
Christ's blood has purchased human beings, so no one is his own, and everything a person has and is — body, soul, spirit, mind, every power of body and mind, time, strength, talents, influence, means, money, and property — is already God's and must be consecrated to the Saviour to glorify Him and to serve for the good of others. This consecration is both a daily duty and a privilege, for abilities, labor, and every moment of life are already His, and even the fullest effort a person can give is only a small expression of the obligation owed. Means are entrusted as stewards, not to be used selfishly, and abilities are sacred trusts made capable of new, transformed life by the sacrifice at Calvary, to be used to work with Christ to save the lost and draw others into His love.
Consecration is to be lived out daily and hourly, giving the heart to God each day, laying all plans at His feet, having no way of one's own, yielding time and the whole life for Him to take and use, and going out after Him constantly every moment for strength and grace. It means doing the will of the heavenly Father even when it leads where one does not wish to go, making no plans independently of His Spirit, and depending on Him for the message and strength to do His work. It embraces speech and hearing dedicated to Him, speaking no words that dishonor Christ and refusing to listen to gossip and fault-finding, while serving faithfully with entrusted powers and taking personal responsibility under the Holy Spirit and the love of Christ to help save others.
Being bought at the price of Christ's own precious life for ransom means belonging to God and glorifying Him in body and spirit rather than using oneself as one pleases or becoming servants of human beings. Soul, body, and spirit are to be consecrated rather than misused, with mental and physical powers kept healthy and strong and the organs of the body cared for to preserve the gift of life for useful service. Every physical, mental, and moral power is to be valued, preserved, and used to honor and serve God, who holds claim by both creation and redemption after ransoming people from Satan.
Stewardship under God's direction makes each person responsible to Him for gifts and trusts placed in them, including talents, time, influence, means, and the work produced. Body and soul and life, with time, strength, talents, money, and property, are wholly claimed by God, who sustains life every moment, and this claim is one of love as well as right to be individually recognized as a great and solemn lesson. Nothing is to be used for selfish gratification or to serve personal inclination, pleasure, advantage, or imaginary wants, and to do so is robbery toward God. That ownership therefore calls for transformation rather than living for self, with lessons learned in self-denial and economy, living within means, doing duty with strictest integrity, and ceasing to hide or excuse failings in the use of money.
Money, words, actions, and every ability are to be used in service to God rather than selfishly, under pledge to live so as to give an account with a clear conscience before God and people. Those bought by the price of His life are to give body, soul, and spirit to advance Christ's cause, support the work of God and its institutions, and open ways whereby many shall hear the truth. Every soul, high and low, rich and poor, has immense value from that purchase and is to become His instrument, yearning over sinners, longing to set means in operation for saving them, and offering self as a willing sacrifice lest one for whom Christ died should perish, because that salvation cost too much to be passed over lightly.
Remembering that those who serve Christ have been bought at a price and belong to Him calls them to serve others with humility rather than dignity or superiority. The great cost by which strength and time were bought calls for self-denial and sacrifice for the truth, and without that spirit no one can receive the immortal inheritance. Learning self-denial and making sacrifice causes those who profess the truth, especially young men, not to excuse themselves from burden and responsibility while leaving others burdened, but to esteem the truth more highly, with hearts affected and lives purified, holding the truth more dear and sacred.
Because people belong to Christ through purchase by His blood, their education and training should prepare them for immortal life. It must not teach them to serve wealth, seek human praise, or become subservient to the world.
Applications to Daily Life
Because they were bought with a price believers belong to God and must not become servants of human demands, and a wife must therefore honor God's claim on her whole being rather than yield to sexual excess that harms her health and life, for she is accountable to God and is to glorify Him in body and spirit. A wife belongs to Jesus Christ because He bought her at a price, so she is not her husband's possession to control or mistreat, and this grounds the husband's duty to love and cherish her as his own flesh, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. In marriage a disciple of Christ belongs to Him because she has been bought with a price, so she must keep Christ's claims supreme and not surrender her judgment and conscience to her husband, preserving body, soul, thoughts, and purposes pure and holy.
Children belong to God because He created and redeemed them and bought them with a price, so they should give their young hearts to Him, and parents have the duty to educate and train them for God's service and to treat them in a Christlike manner with Bible discipline, love, tenderness, patience, and self-control. This ownership at the cost of Christ's precious blood is reason to teach children from infancy to practice temperance and purity in thought, heart, and action, and, applied to appetite, calls for control by an intelligent, God-fearing mind rather than surrender to a slavery that destroys physical, mental, and moral worth, cultivating pure spiritual qualities instead of leaving people crippled and vulnerable to temptation. Because believers belong to the Lord, bought at the cost of the Son of God's suffering and agony, they must resist people who urge them into vice and folly rather than let others lead them away from God or ruin the abilities and noble qualities God entrusted to them.
Every believer is God's purchased possession and belongs to Him as sons and daughters of God, so no one is to weigh brethren and neighbors in finite human scales, study criticism as a fine art, pass personal opinions upon them, dictate harshly, or treat them as if they were not God's own and without refinement and care, for unity and order in respecting one another honors that purchase while dissension, disunion, and disorder dishonor it, and ministering angels watch every line of the work and carry a sad report to heaven when God's purchased people are so mistreated. Because Christ has purchased by an infinite price, none are at liberty to do as they please even with their own bodies and minds, but must be transformed and no longer live for themselves, learning lessons in self-denial and economy, giving up imaginary wants, living within means, doing duty with strictest integrity, and no longer hiding or excusing failings in the use of money. Because believers belong to the Lord, bought at the cost of Christ's life, they are to serve God rather than live for themselves or be ruled as servants of other people, and whatever task comes to hand is to be done with all one's strength while trusting the Lord to provide the ability needed. Those bought at a price belong to God and not to themselves and must not be ruled as servants by people, so they are to speak only the words God gives rather than act as their own master or submit their message to human control, giving Him whole lives, time, plans, and abilities in daily consecration and dependence for strength and grace, dedicating speech and hearing to Him by not speaking words that dishonor Christ and not listening to gossip and fault-finding.
You are bought because Christ gave His own life and blood in sacrifice at Calvary to ransom you from sin and Satan's claim. The price paid for you is dear and great and infinite beyond human measure, giving every soul immense worth. Because you are God's property and not your own, you are to be His servant and do His will rather than become the servant of human beings, interests and demands. No person, council or institution has rightful ownership over you or authority to bind your conscience, thought, individuality and judgment under absolute human control. All that you are and have — body, soul, spirit, mind, powers, time, talents, means and property — is already His, to be consecrated daily to His glory, kept healthy for His service, and used for the good of others and the salvation of sinners.
Purchase Price and Ownership
The price is Christ's own precious blood and life, given in sacrifice at Calvary and the cross to ransom people. Those bought by Christ at the price of His life belong to Him, not to themselves or to human masters, creating obligation to give body, soul and spirit to God and to serve in advancing His cause. They cannot treat themselves as free to dispose of themselves as they please, for they cannot give Him more than already belongs to Him.
The price is dear and great, calling for self-denial and sacrifice for the truth, without which spirit no one can receive the immortal inheritance. It is infinite, the cost of the Son of God's suffering and agony, and beyond human measure, so that no person may claim authority to control Christ's missionaries or take charge of their souls. Every human soul, high and low, rich and poor, has been purchased by Christ giving His life, and the salvation of human beings cost too much to be passed over lightly and indifferently.
Those bought are God's property and are not their own to use as they please or dispose of as they choose. Their service and allegiance belong to the Lord, and all that they have and are, including every power of body and mind, is to be consecrated to the Savior and used to glorify God in body and spirit. This consecration is both a daily duty and a privilege, grounding faithful work done with all one's strength while trusting the Lord to provide ability, and grounding the choice to speak only the words God gives rather than act as one's own master or submit one's message to human control.
God's claim rests on both creation and redemption, for all that a person has and is has been bought by the life of Christ and belongs wholly to God by both creation and redemption. In body and soul and life, with time, strength, talents, money and property, God claims everything, sustaining life every moment, so no one has right to use time, strength or money for selfish gratification or personal inclination and pleasure, and to do so is robbery toward God. Believers belong to the Lord by creation and redemption, soul, body and spirit, mind, talents and intellect, with His stamp upon them, and their lives and every physical, mental and moral power are to be valued, preserved and used to honor and serve God. This claim upon each person is a claim of love as well as right, to be individually recognized as a great and solemn lesson, and children belong to God on this same ground, so parents must educate and train them for God's service in a Christlike manner with Bible discipline, love, tenderness, patience and self-control.
The purchase covers every person, high and low, rich and poor, of every position, race and caste. Standing in Christ is not determined by social rank or caste, for those converted from sin to holiness are members of God's royal family and heirs with Christ. This belonging applies equally to Black and white believers, who should be welcomed as members of the same church, and because they are His property and sons and daughters of God, their social rights and claims as Christians must be respected and they must be treated with refinement and care.
The purchase ransoms people from sin and from Satan's claim after Adam's transgression, so no one need remain enslaved by Satan. Adam's transgression placed the human family among Satan's subjects, and Christ, the sinless One counted among transgressors at Calvary, released people captive to sin and Satan's power by paying an immeasurable price. Christ is their divine example and all-powerful Helper, and the price is His life given to ransom them from Satan.
The price paid gives each soul immense value and reason to value oneself according to that price. Every human soul purchased by Christ giving His life is made wholly His, and belonging to Christ in this way means giving all that one has and is to the Saviour. Although all are bought at infinite cost, no one is compelled to be saved; each person's choices determine whether they belong to Satan's kingdom or God's kingdom and become an heir of God with Christ. Being bought means that people belong to Christ, not to another human being's claim or control.
Those who surrender themselves to Him need not despair of God's mercy. God has claims upon them because the price is Christ's life given for them, and the fitting response is to choose freely and give themselves wholly in allegiance to Him.
Freedom From Human Control
Ye are bought with a price, and therefore must not become servants of human beings, for service and allegiance belong to the Lord. Those who belong to God must not become bond-servants of human authority or follow a yoke made by people, but must carry out His will rather than serve human interests and demands. They are not to give themselves over to human masters, nor to become dependent on or controlled by other people in place of God, for each person is responsible to God for the gifts and trust placed in them, including talents and the work they produce, to be exercised under His direction. Baptismal vows pledge them to use money, words, and actions in service to God rather than selfishly, so they can give an account with a clear conscience before God and people.
No human being has the right to claim ownership of another person, for a slave is God's workmanship and God is the slave's rightful Master. Those bought by God belong to Him and are not to be treated as the property or servants of men, so laws requiring the return of a slave to a master must be refused even when refusal brings legal consequences. Being bought preserves the God-given rights of conscience, thought, individuality, and judgment, and no individual, council, society, or institution may restrict liberty in Christ or limit thought in ways that shut off further light God gives His children. No plan or method in any institution may bind mind or talent under human judgment and absolute human control, prescribe duty, or claim the service that belongs to God, for all are accountable to Him for time, influence, means, and other gifts.
Workers must look to God for wisdom and guidance and must not become dependent on other people for permission or direction in doing God's work, for human authority must not take God's place or bind workers in ways that weaken confidence in Him. No person may claim authority to control Christ's missionaries and workers or take charge of their souls, for Christ purchased them at a price beyond human measure and such control interferes with His purchased possession and denies His authority. To bring one man's mind under rule by another man's mind is not in God's order and is a great dishonor to God, even when the benefit is used for the cause. Making men slaves of men is Satan's method; it separates the controlled person from God and exposes him to temptation, and it brings confusion and distrust, jealousies and evil surmisings, and destroys and weakens faith in God and in the principles that purge guile and selfishness and hypocrisy.
Belonging to Christ is equal for all, for people of every position and race belong to Him because He bought them with a price. Standing in Christ is not determined by social rank or caste, for those converted from sin to holiness are members of God's royal family and heirs with Christ. Black and white believers alike are His property, must not be treated as possessions or servants of other people, and are to be welcomed as members of the same church. He bought them at the cost of His own life and blood to remove their sins, not to leave them in sin, and this belonging grounds that parents and children are not to treat one another as slaves.
Consecration and Stewardship Duty
Christ's blood has purchased human beings, so no one is his own, and everything a person has and is — body, soul, spirit, mind, every power of body and mind, time, strength, talents, influence, means, money, and property — is already God's and must be consecrated to the Saviour to glorify Him and to serve for the good of others. This consecration is both a daily duty and a privilege, for abilities, labor, and every moment of life are already His, and even the fullest effort a person can give is only a small expression of the obligation owed. Means are entrusted as stewards, not to be used selfishly, and abilities are sacred trusts made capable of new, transformed life by the sacrifice at Calvary, to be used to work with Christ to save the lost and draw others into His love.
Consecration is to be lived out daily and hourly, giving the heart to God each day, laying all plans at His feet, having no way of one's own, yielding time and the whole life for Him to take and use, and going out after Him constantly every moment for strength and grace. It means doing the will of the heavenly Father even when it leads where one does not wish to go, making no plans independently of His Spirit, and depending on Him for the message and strength to do His work. It embraces speech and hearing dedicated to Him, speaking no words that dishonor Christ and refusing to listen to gossip and fault-finding, while serving faithfully with entrusted powers and taking personal responsibility under the Holy Spirit and the love of Christ to help save others.
Being bought at the price of Christ's own precious life for ransom means belonging to God and glorifying Him in body and spirit rather than using oneself as one pleases or becoming servants of human beings. Soul, body, and spirit are to be consecrated rather than misused, with mental and physical powers kept healthy and strong and the organs of the body cared for to preserve the gift of life for useful service. Every physical, mental, and moral power is to be valued, preserved, and used to honor and serve God, who holds claim by both creation and redemption after ransoming people from Satan.
Stewardship under God's direction makes each person responsible to Him for gifts and trusts placed in them, including talents, time, influence, means, and the work produced. Body and soul and life, with time, strength, talents, money, and property, are wholly claimed by God, who sustains life every moment, and this claim is one of love as well as right to be individually recognized as a great and solemn lesson. Nothing is to be used for selfish gratification or to serve personal inclination, pleasure, advantage, or imaginary wants, and to do so is robbery toward God. That ownership therefore calls for transformation rather than living for self, with lessons learned in self-denial and economy, living within means, doing duty with strictest integrity, and ceasing to hide or excuse failings in the use of money.
Money, words, actions, and every ability are to be used in service to God rather than selfishly, under pledge to live so as to give an account with a clear conscience before God and people. Those bought by the price of His life are to give body, soul, and spirit to advance Christ's cause, support the work of God and its institutions, and open ways whereby many shall hear the truth. Every soul, high and low, rich and poor, has immense value from that purchase and is to become His instrument, yearning over sinners, longing to set means in operation for saving them, and offering self as a willing sacrifice lest one for whom Christ died should perish, because that salvation cost too much to be passed over lightly.
Remembering that those who serve Christ have been bought at a price and belong to Him calls them to serve others with humility rather than dignity or superiority. The great cost by which strength and time were bought calls for self-denial and sacrifice for the truth, and without that spirit no one can receive the immortal inheritance. Learning self-denial and making sacrifice causes those who profess the truth, especially young men, not to excuse themselves from burden and responsibility while leaving others burdened, but to esteem the truth more highly, with hearts affected and lives purified, holding the truth more dear and sacred.
Because people belong to Christ through purchase by His blood, their education and training should prepare them for immortal life. It must not teach them to serve wealth, seek human praise, or become subservient to the world.
Applications to Daily Life
Because they were bought with a price believers belong to God and must not become servants of human demands, and a wife must therefore honor God's claim on her whole being rather than yield to sexual excess that harms her health and life, for she is accountable to God and is to glorify Him in body and spirit. A wife belongs to Jesus Christ because He bought her at a price, so she is not her husband's possession to control or mistreat, and this grounds the husband's duty to love and cherish her as his own flesh, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. In marriage a disciple of Christ belongs to Him because she has been bought with a price, so she must keep Christ's claims supreme and not surrender her judgment and conscience to her husband, preserving body, soul, thoughts, and purposes pure and holy.
Children belong to God because He created and redeemed them and bought them with a price, so they should give their young hearts to Him, and parents have the duty to educate and train them for God's service and to treat them in a Christlike manner with Bible discipline, love, tenderness, patience, and self-control. This ownership at the cost of Christ's precious blood is reason to teach children from infancy to practice temperance and purity in thought, heart, and action, and, applied to appetite, calls for control by an intelligent, God-fearing mind rather than surrender to a slavery that destroys physical, mental, and moral worth, cultivating pure spiritual qualities instead of leaving people crippled and vulnerable to temptation. Because believers belong to the Lord, bought at the cost of the Son of God's suffering and agony, they must resist people who urge them into vice and folly rather than let others lead them away from God or ruin the abilities and noble qualities God entrusted to them.
Every believer is God's purchased possession and belongs to Him as sons and daughters of God, so no one is to weigh brethren and neighbors in finite human scales, study criticism as a fine art, pass personal opinions upon them, dictate harshly, or treat them as if they were not God's own and without refinement and care, for unity and order in respecting one another honors that purchase while dissension, disunion, and disorder dishonor it, and ministering angels watch every line of the work and carry a sad report to heaven when God's purchased people are so mistreated. Because Christ has purchased by an infinite price, none are at liberty to do as they please even with their own bodies and minds, but must be transformed and no longer live for themselves, learning lessons in self-denial and economy, giving up imaginary wants, living within means, doing duty with strictest integrity, and no longer hiding or excusing failings in the use of money. Because believers belong to the Lord, bought at the cost of Christ's life, they are to serve God rather than live for themselves or be ruled as servants of other people, and whatever task comes to hand is to be done with all one's strength while trusting the Lord to provide the ability needed. Those bought at a price belong to God and not to themselves and must not be ruled as servants by people, so they are to speak only the words God gives rather than act as their own master or submit their message to human control, giving Him whole lives, time, plans, and abilities in daily consecration and dependence for strength and grace, dedicating speech and hearing to Him by not speaking words that dishonor Christ and not listening to gossip and fault-finding.