I must always understand what really happened at Calvary and not entertain merely a flimsy estimate. When Christ died He freed me from the guilt of my sins, but He did not free me from obligation. He brought me out from the authority of Satan, but He did not set me free to choose for myself. My ownership was only transferred at Calvary, not terminated. I am now just as liable to the authority of my new Master as I had been to the old. I am to become subject to Him and Him alone. I am no longer obligated to serve the kingdom of darkness, but neither am I free to decide what I shall do, eat, or what I shall wear. I may not go where I want, say what I want, or even think what I want. The fact that I so often please myself does not mean that I have the right to do so.
However, there is a difference between my present obligation to Jesus and my former obligation to Satan. When I served Satan I had no choice, I “walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). Even so, I was content that way because I knew no better. I was natural, uninhibited, and selfish, and I did not try to buck the stream. So there was no conflict, just natural existence.
But now under Jesus, even though He has all rights to me, He lets me choose to serve Him: “I beg you, therefore, brothers … present your bodies a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1, Berkeley). That is amazing! He owns me, and yet He begs me: He bought me completely and yet He waits upon my decision. Why? It must be because He wants no legal love, no rubber stamp obedience. He wants me to want Him for Himself not because I have no other choice. Thus, our relationship is a love relationship, the kind Satan could never offer and the natural man could never produce.
“So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Ro- mans 8:12–13).
Daily with the King 