36 Bible Verses about Slavery, Spiritual

"We are descendants of Abraham," they answered, "and have never at any time been in slavery to any one. What do those words of yours mean, 'You shall become free'?" "In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that every one who commits sin is the slave of sin. Now a slave does not remain permanently in his master's house, but a son does.read more.
If then the Son shall make you free, you will be free indeed.

Let not Sin therefore reign as king in your mortal bodies, causing you to be in subjection to their cravings; and no longer lend your faculties as unrighteous weapons for Sin to use. On the contrary surrender your very selves to God as living men who have risen from the dead, and surrender your several faculties to God, to be used as weapons to maintain the right. For Sin shall not be lord over you, since you are subjects not of Law, but of grace.read more.
Are we therefore to sin because we are no longer under the authority of Law, but under grace? No, indeed! Do you not know that if you surrender yourselves as bondservants to obey any one, you become the bondservants of him whom you obey, whether the bondservants of Sin (with death as the result) But thanks be to God that though you were once in thraldom to Sin, you have now yielded a hearty obedience to that system of truth in which you have been instructed. You were set free from the tyranny of Sin, and became the bondservants of Righteousness--

What follows? Is the Law itself a sinful thing? No, indeed; on the contrary, unless I had been taught by the Law, I should have known nothing of sin as sin. For instance, I should not have known what covetousness is, if the Law had not repeatedly said, "Thou shalt not covet." Sin took advantage of this, and by means of the Commandment stirred up within me every kind of coveting; for apart from Law sin would be dead. Once, apart from Law, I was alive, but when the Commandment came, sin sprang into life, and I died;read more.
and, as it turned out, the very Commandment which was to bring me life, brought me death. For sin seized the advantage, and by means of the Commandment it completely deceived me, and also put me to death. So that the Law itself is holy, and the Commandment is holy, just and good. Did then a thing which is good become death to me? No, indeed, but sin did; so that through its bringing about death by means of what was good, it might be seen in its true light as sin, in order that by means of the Commandment the unspeakable sinfulness of sin might be plainly shown. For we know that the Law is a spiritual thing; but I am unspiritual--the slave, bought and sold, of sin. For what I do, I do not recognize as my own action. What I desire to do is not what I do, but what I am averse to is what I do. But if I do that which I do not desire to do, I admit the excellence of the Law, and now it is no longer I that do these things, but the sin which has its home within me does them. For I know that in me, that is, in my lower self, nothing good has its home; for while the will to do right is present with me, the power to carry it out is not. For what I do is not the good thing that I desire to do; but the evil thing that I desire not to do, is what I constantly do. But if I do that which I desire not to do, it can no longer be said that it is I who do it, but the sin which has its home within me does it. I find therefore the law of my nature to be that when I desire to do what is right, evil is lying in ambush for me. For in my inmost self all my sympathy is with the Law of God; but I discover within me a different Law at war with the Law of my understanding, and leading me captive to the Law which is everywhere at work in my body--the Law of sin. (Unhappy man that I am! who will rescue me from this death-burdened body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!)

For there was a time when we also were deficient in understanding, obstinate, deluded, the slaves of various cravings and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another.

And they promise them freedom, although they are themselves the slaves of what is corrupt. For a man is the slave of any one by whom he has been worsted in fight.

Christ having made us gloriously free--stand fast and do not again be hampered with the yoke of slavery.

Now I say that so long as an heir is a child, he in no respect differs from a slave, although he is the owner of everything, but he is under the control of guardians and trustees until the time his father has appointed. So we also, when spiritually we were children, were subject to the world's rudimentary notions, and were enslaved.read more.
But, when the time was fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born subject to Law, in order to purchase the freedom of all who were subject to Law, so that we might receive recognition as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of His Son to enter your hearts and cry "Abba! our Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir also through God's own act.

You have not for the second time acquired the consciousness of being--a consciousness which fills you with terror. But you have acquired a deep inward conviction of having been adopted as sons--a conviction which prompts us to cry aloud, "Abba! our Father!"

Since then the children referred to are all alike sharers in perishable human nature, He Himself also, in the same way, took on Him a share of it, in order that through death He might render powerless him who had authority over death, that is, the Devil, and might set at liberty all those who through fear of death had been subject to lifelong slavery.

Now just before the Feast of the Passover this incident took place. Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father; and having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. While supper was proceeding, the Devil having by this time suggested to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, the thought of betraying Him, Jesus, although He knew that the Father had put everything into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was now going to God,read more.
rose from the table, threw off His upper garments, and took a towel and tied it round Him. Then He poured water into a basin, and proceeded to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them with the towel which He had put round Him. When He came to Simon Peter, Peter objected. "Master," he said, "are *you* going to wash my feet?" "What I am doing," answered Jesus, "for the present you do not know, but afterwards you shall know." "Never, while the world lasts," said Peter, "shall you wash my feet." "If I do not wash you," replied Jesus, "you have no share with me." "Master," said Peter, "wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." "Any one who has lately bathed," said Jesus, "does not need to wash more than his feet, but is clean all over. And you my disciples are clean, and yet this is not true of all of you." For He knew who was betraying Him, and that was why He said, "You are not all of you clean." So after He had washed their feet, put on His garments again, and returned to the table, He said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me 'The Rabbi' and 'The Master,' and rightly so, for such I am. If I then, your Master and Rabbi, have washed your feet, it is also your duty to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example in order that you may do what I have done to you. In most solemn truth I tell you that a servant is not superior to his master, nor is a messenger superior to him who sent him. If you know all this, blessed are you if you act accordingly.

But Jesus called them to Him, and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. Not so shall it be among you; but whoever desires to be great among you shall be your servant, and whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant;read more.
just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as the redemption-price for many."

Jesus, however, called them to Him and said to them, "You are aware how those who are deemed rulers among the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men make them feel their authority; but it is not to be so among you. No, whoever desires to be great among you must be your servant; and whoever desires to be first among you must be the bondservant of all.read more.
For the Son of Man also did not come to be waited upon, but to wait on others, and to give His life as the redemption-price for a multitude of people."

Let the same disposition be in you which was in Christ Jesus. Although from the beginning He had the nature of God He did not reckon His equality with God a treasure to be tightly grasped. Nay, He stripped Himself of His glory, and took on Him the nature of a bondservant by becoming a man like other men.read more.
And being recognized as truly human, He humbled Himself and even stooped to die; yes, to die on a cross. It is in consequence of this that God has also so highly exalted Him, and has conferred on Him the Name which is supreme above every other, in order that in the Name of JESUS every knee should bow, of beings in Heaven, of those on the earth, and of those in the underworld, and that every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.

But now that you have been set free from the tyranny of Sin, and have become the bondservants of God, you have your reward in being made holy, and you have the Life of the Ages as the final result.

"No man can be the bondservant of two masters; for either he will dislike one and like the other, or he will attach himself to one and think slightingly of the other. You cannot be the bondservants both of God and of gold.

"No servant can be in bondage to two masters. For either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will cling fast to one and scorn the other. You cannot be bondservants both of God and of gold."

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, set apart to proclaim God's Good News,

Whatever you are doing, let your hearts be in your work, as a thing done for the Lord and not for men. For you know that it is from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. Christ is the Master whose bondservants you are.

James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: to the twelve tribes who are scattered over the world. All good wishes.

Be free men, and yet do not make your freedom an excuse for base conduct, but be God's bondservants.

Simon Peter, a bondservant and Apostle of Jesus Christ: To those to whom there has been allotted the same precious faith as that which is ours through the righteousness of our God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Therefore, brethren, it is not to our lower natures that we are under obligation that we should live by their rule. For if you so live, death is near; but if, through being under the sway of the spirit, you are putting your old bodily habits to death, you will live. For those who are led by God's Spirit are, all of them, God's sons.read more.
You have not for the second time acquired the consciousness of being--a consciousness which fills you with terror. But you have acquired a deep inward conviction of having been adopted as sons--a conviction which prompts us to cry aloud, "Abba! our Father!" The Spirit Himself bears witness, along with our own spirits, to the fact that we are children of God; and if children, then heirs too--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ; if indeed we are sharers in Christ's sufferings, in order that we may also be sharers in His glory.

No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you.

Was it, or was it not, because of his actions that he was declared to be righteous as the result of his having offered up his son Isaac upon the altar? You notice that his faith was co-operating with his actions, and that by his actions his faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and his faith was placed to his credit as righteousness," and he received the name of 'God's friend.'

Jesus therefore said to those of the Jews who had now believed in Him, "As for you, if you hold fast to my teaching, then you are truly my disciples; and you shall know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free." "We are descendants of Abraham," they answered, "and have never at any time been in slavery to any one. What do those words of yours mean, 'You shall become free'?"read more.
"In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that every one who commits sin is the slave of sin. Now a slave does not remain permanently in his master's house, but a son does. If then the Son shall make you free, you will be free indeed.

Tell me--you who want to continue to be subject to Law--will you not listen to the Law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl and one by the free woman. But we see that the child of the slave-girl was born in the common course of nature; but the child of the free woman in fulfilment of the promise.read more.
All this is allegorical; for the women represent two Covenants. One has its origin on Mount Sinai, and bears children destined for slavery. This is Hagar; for the name Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, which is in bondage together with her children. But the Jerusalem which is above is free, and *she* is *our* mother. For it is written, "Rejoice, thou barren woman that bearest not, break forth into a joyful cry, thou that dost not travail with child. For the desolate woman has many children--more indeed than she who has the husband." But you, brethren, like Isaac, are children born in fulfilment of a promise. Yet just as, at that time, the child born in the common course of nature persecuted the one whose birth was due to the power of the Spirit, so it is now. But what says the Scripture? "Send away the slave-girl and her son, for never shall the slave-girl's son share the inheritance with the son of the free woman." Therefore, brethren, since we are not the children of a slave-girl, but of the free woman--

Are we therefore to sin because we are no longer under the authority of Law, but under grace? No, indeed! Do you not know that if you surrender yourselves as bondservants to obey any one, you become the bondservants of him whom you obey, whether the bondservants of Sin (with death as the result) But thanks be to God that though you were once in thraldom to Sin, you have now yielded a hearty obedience to that system of truth in which you have been instructed.read more.
You were set free from the tyranny of Sin, and became the bondservants of Righteousness-- your human infirmity leads me to employ these familiar figures--and just as you once surrendered your faculties into bondage to Impurity and ever-increasing disregard of Law, so you must now surrender them into bondage to Righteousness ever advancing towards perfect holiness. For when you were the bondservants of sin, you were under no sort of subjection to Righteousness. At that time, then, what benefit did you get from conduct which you now regard with shame? Why, such things finally result in death. But now that you have been set free from the tyranny of Sin, and have become the bondservants of God, you have your reward in being made holy, and you have the Life of the Ages as the final result. For the wages paid by Sin are death; but God's free gift is the Life of the Ages bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Though free from all human control, I have made myself the slave of all in the hope of winning as many converts as possible.

(For we do not proclaim ourselves, but we proclaim Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bondservants for the sake of Jesus.)

You however, brethren, were called to freedom. Only do not turn your freedom into an excuse for giving way to your lower natures; but become bondservants to one another in a spirit of love.

"Who therefore is the loyal and intelligent servant to whom his master has entrusted the control of his household to give them their rations at the appointed time? Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes shall find so doing! In solemn truth I tell you that he will give him the management of all his wealth.read more.
But if the man, being a bad servant, should say in his heart, 'My master is a long time in coming,' and should begin to beat his fellow servants, while he eats and drinks with drunkards; the master of that servant will arrive on a day when he is not expecting him and at an hour of which he has not been informed; he will treat him with the utmost severity and assign him a place among the hypocrites: there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

"Who, then," replied the Lord, "is the faithful and intelligent steward whom his Master will put in charge of His household to serve out their rations at the proper times? Blessed is that servant whom his Master when He comes shall find so doing. I tell you truly that He will put him in authority over all His possessions.read more.
But if that servant should say in his heart, 'My Master is a long time in coming,' and should begin to beat the menservants and the maids, and to eat and drink, drinking even to excess; that servant's Master will come on a day when he is not expecting Him and at an hour that he knows not of, and will punish him severely, and make him share the lot of the unfaithful.

"Why, it is like a man who, when going on his travels, called his bondservants and entrusted his property to their care. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one--to each according to his individual capacity; and then started from home. Without delay the one who had received the five talents went and employed them in business, and gained five more.read more.
In the same way he who had the two gained two more. But the man who had received the one went and dug a hole and buried his master's money. "After a long lapse of time the master of those servants returned, and had a reckoning with them. The one who had received the five talents came and brought five more, and said, "'Sir, it was five talents that you entrusted to me: see, I have gained five more.'

So He said to them, "A man of noble family travelled to a distant country to obtain the rank of king, and to return. And he called ten of his servants and gave each of them a pound, instructing them to trade with the money during his absence. "Now his countrymen hated him, and sent a deputation after him to say, 'We are not willing that he should become our king.'read more.
And upon his return, after he had obtained the sovereignty, he ordered those servants to whom he had given the money to be summoned before him, that he might learn their success in trading. "So the first came and said, "'Sir, your pound has produced ten pounds more.' "'Well done, good servant,' he replied; 'because you have been faithful in a very small matter, be in authority over ten towns.'

But which of you who has a servant ploughing, or tending sheep, will say to him when he comes in from the farm, 'Come at once and take your place at table,' and will not rather say to him, 'Get my dinner ready, make yourself tidy, and wait upon me till I have finished my dinner, and then you shall have yours'? Does he thank the servant for obeying his orders?read more.
So you also, when you have obeyed all the orders given you, must say, "'There is no merit in our service: what we have done is only what we were in duty bound to do.'"

For all creation, gazing eagerly as if with outstretched neck, is waiting and longing to see the manifestation of the sons of God. For the Creation fell into subjection to failure and unreality (not of its own choice, but by the will of Him who so subjected it) Yet there was always the hope that at last the Creation itself would also be set free from the thraldom of decay so as to enjoy the liberty that will attend the glory of the children of God.read more.
For we know that the whole of Creation is groaning together in the pains of childbirth until this hour.