“The Gospel According to Jesus: What is Authentic Faith?”

I have recently been reading a book by John Macarthur entitled, “The Gospel According to Jesus: What is Authentic Faith?” published by Zondervan in 1988. The following is a quote from p.35-36 of this book.

“The gospel according to Jesus calls sinners to give up their independence, deny themselves, submit to an alien will, and abandon all rights in order to be owned and controlled by the Lord. By confessing Jesus as Lord (Kurios), we automatically confess that we are His slaves (douloi).

"What does this mean in practical terms? To borrow the words of Edwin Yamauchi,

"It means that we have been captured, beaten, enslaved. We discover, however, that our captor is a Despot of love and mercy. Neither is there anything slavish or servile about our slavehood, for we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but the spirit of adoption (Romans 8:15). Nor has our reduction to slavery been a debasement or an abasement…We have been elevated to serve in a heavenly court and have been invested with a higher nature.

"…(It also) reminds us of our ransom from another master at an incredible price. It was not for the fabulous sums of all the royal estates we were bought, nor was it for handsome features or some prized skill we were purchased. But rather unlovely, without any merit, rebellious at heart, we were redeemed with the precious blood of the Master Himself.

"Having thus been bought by Christ we are entirely His. Yamauchi, “Slaves of God.” p.48-49.   There is no other possible way to view it.

"There is no legitimate way to adjust that message to make it sound appealing to people who admire Jesus but are not prepared to serve Him.”