“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
This is a pretty unpopular sentiment in America today. It is unpopular even among the western evangelicals who claim the Scriptures from which the statement comes.
We don’t like anything that places restrictions on our freedom. Giving consent to the idea that we have been bought with a price does exactly that. In 1 Corinthians 6 where this phrase is found, Paul is elaborating on the need to remain sexually pure. He goes on to express how men and women are to relate to each other in marriage through mutual submission to one another. The only way it works is through a voluntary self-sacrificing of individual freedom.
But, I would suggest that giving up some of your freedom for the sake of others is not only good, it is necessary for life to work as it is intended. The reality that I do not belong to myself but was bought for with a price works itself out in my life in at least three ways.
Since I was bought with a price it means I don’t get to decide what is fair.
It’s a difficult day when you first realize this life isn’t fair. The wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for it.
However, because I no longer belong to myself I am not in a position to determine what is fair and what isn’t. I have to trust in the one who purchased me. I would be terrified by this prospect except for what I know about my Master. The Scriptures remind me that he is a good Father (cue Chris Tomlin ?). He knows how to give good gifts to his children.
And perhaps most importantly, He knows what it means to have suffered unjustly himself. He entered an unfair world and died and unfair death so that I could be his own. So, in a sense, the only way I know to relate to him is when I too experience injustice.
Since I was bought with a price it means I am accountable to another
Because the Lord has purchased me with His death on the cross it means I am accountable to him. I am answerable to him for my words, thoughts, and deeds.
What this means is that there are no wasted minutes. Life is bursting with opportunity for meaningful action. If there are eternal consequences for how I use my time it is incumbent for me to make the most of them.
When viewed through this lens there are no small or insignificant moments. I am set free from the idea that only big moments matter. There is no need to have a large platform or a huge audience to influence. I am free to be faithful today in whatever way he directs me to serve.
Since I was bought with a price I have worth and value
Something is worth whatever another person is willing to pay for it. That is true whether we are discussing used cars or a person’s soul.
That Jesus would give his life for mine communicates the stunning value God would place on me. Talk about not being fair! Why would the sinless Son of God leave paradise to come here and die for a person as unlovely as me? The only answer is love.
And, because he has purchased me with his love I can rest in the knowledge that I have worth. That worth doesn’t come from my ability to perform well. He doesn’t love me more when I am faithful and less when I am disobedient. I have the full measure of his love right now.
God’s love for me doesn’t depend on my performance for him. He loves because he chose to. What a mystery! What mercy!
I will gladly give up my freedom for this kind of love. In truth, it is in laying down my personal freedom that I am set free. The fish may wish to be free of the confines of his lake, but in leaving the lake he forfeits his life.
That God has bought me with a price gives my life meaning and assigns me value beyond what I could dare dream to be possible!
