Does the Bible Endorse Slavery?
 
1 Peter 2:18–20 (NKJV)
18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.
19 For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.
20 For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.
 
The word “servants” is also translated as “slaves” or as “bondservants”. Multiple places in the Bible will reference this topic. Note the following:
 
Ephesians 6:5–8 (NKJV)
5 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ;
6 not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
7 with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men,
8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
 
1 Timothy 6:1–2 (NKJV)
1 Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed.
2 And those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather serve them because those who are benefited are believers and beloved. Teach and exhort these things.
 
Colossians 3:22–23 (NKJV)
22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.
23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
 
In these verses, some will use the word “slave”. James refers to himself as a “bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1). The word "slave" in James (and in many instances of the New Testament) is "doulos" in the Greek, and it does mean servant or bondservant. It means someone who has placed their will under the will of another. When James is using the word, he is referring to the fact that he lives to fulfill God’s will, not his own.
 
You may have difficulty with the Bible’s use of the word “slave” because of how the evil industry of slavery was practiced and experienced in America’s history (and in other nations as well). You may read these verses and think the Bible is commending slavery, but you have to understand what the term meant back in the first century. We are reading a text from the first century with our 21st-century mind. This can cause confusion if you are not careful. One practice of good Biblical interpretation is to not confuse a modern word’s usage for how that word was used in Biblical times. You want to know what the word meant when it was written, not what the term means now.
 
The same word can have different meanings even in the same century. I remember watching a baking competition on TV with my family. This competition took place in England. The British speak with an accent, but they also use a few words differently than Americans. They talked about being in their “garden”, but Americans would call it their “yard”. We may wrongly interpret what they are trying to say if we don’t take the time to understand what they mean when they use this word. They talked about making a “biscuit”, but Americans would call it a “cookie”.
 
Because of streaming platforms, our family has been able to show some children’s British shows as our kids were young. I was surprised to hear one of my sons get upset one day and say he was “cross” (a British word meaning “upset”). Another time, one of my other sons said he was going to go on a “holiday” (a British word meaning “vacation”). I only use these examples to illustrate that words can mean different things, and good hermeneutics (the study of Bible interpretation) requires you to understand what a word meant to the original audience.
 
For instance, Acts 1:8 says, "But you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you'll be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, Judea, in Samaria, and even to the uttermost parts of the earth." The word “power” is the Greek word dunamis. I have heard preachers mistakenly say, “This word power in Acts 1:8 means dynamite.” The Holy Spirit does want to give “power”, but the word “dynamite” was coined by Alfred Nobel in 1867 to describe a stick of explosive material. You shouldn’t read an image from 1867 into a first-century word. The better approach is to let the Bible speak as it was written in the first-century and then apply it to today.
 
Another example is the word “wine”. I have written a book on this subject entitled “Don’t Drink Responsibly”, where I seek to bring clarity to what the Bible means when it uses words like “wine” or “strong drink”. I've heard people argue, "If the Bible were against wine and wanted us to drink grape juice instead, it would have specifically mentioned grape juice rather than using the word wine." Sometimes “wine” in the Bible referred to grape juice that was not fermented (or intoxicating) and sometimes it would refer to wine that was fermented. All of it would be referenced using the same word “wine”. The Bible student has to discover through the context what is intended.
 
I’ve heard people argue, "Well, Jesus turned water into wine (see John 2:1-11)," but really they're not seeing it through a first-century lens. They're imagining what is sold in stores today, referring back to what Jesus did, and then stating, "Well, the Bible must not condemn it." Take time to consider Proverbs 20:1, which says, "Wine is a mocker; strong drink is a brawler. Anyone who's seduced by it is not wise." Proverbs 23:29-35 explains when to avoid wine.  
 
Proverbs 23:29–35 (NKJV)
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
30 Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine.
31 Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it swirls around smoothly;
32 At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will utter perverse things.
34 Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying:
35 “They have struck me, but I was not hurt; They have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?”
 
Verses 30 and 31 are describing wine that is fermented or intoxicating. Therefore, note this Biblical line of reasoning:
 
1)     Jesus is the living Word, and He would not contradict the written Word.
2)     The Bible says to avoid fermented wine, which is intoxicating.
3)     Yes, Jesus turned water into wine, but it could not have been intoxicating.
 
The Bible would use the word “wine” the same way we today use the word “drink”. If an adult is attending a party where they are serving alcohol and asks for a “drink” the context would assume they are referencing something intoxicating. But if a child comes in on a hot summer day and asks for a “drink” the context would assume they are referencing something that is not intoxicating. Context helps you understand how the word is to be used. The same is true with the word “slaves”, “servants” or “bond-servants”.
 
Is the Bible promoting slavery?
 
1 Peter 2:18-19 says, “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable…” Definitions matter when reading the Bible. This is true with the word “slave” (“oiketai” – household slave) in 1 Peter 2:18. If we simply read the Bible with our modern concepts, we truly will misread the Scriptures.
 
Scott Bartchy, graduate of Harvard and professor of history at UCLA, has researched first-century slavery.[1] He states, ''Central features that distinguish 1st century slavery from that later practiced in the New World are the following: racial factors played no role; education was greatly encouraged (some slaves were better educated than their owners); many slaves carried out sensitive and highly responsible social functions; slaves could own property; their religious and cultural traditions were the same as those of freeborn and (perhaps above all) the majority of urban and domestic slaves could legitimately anticipate being emancipated by the age of 30.''[2]
 
Bartchy also writes, “In stark contrast to New World slavery in the 17th–19th centuries, Greco-Roman slavery functioned as a process rather than a permanent condition, as a temporary phase of life by means of which an outsider obtained ‘a place within a society …’” [3] He also explains how one would become a slave in the Roman Empire:
 
Kidnap or capture: Before the death of Caesar Augustus in ad 14 and during the time of Rome’s foreign expansion, many slaves were either captured in war or kidnapped by pirates and then sold at auction. Paul listed this kind of enslavement among other detestable practices, such as sexual immorality, homosexuality, and perjury, earlier in this letter to Timothy (1:10, where “kidnapper” translates andrapodistēs [405], or “man-stealer”; cf. Exod. 21:16).
 
Birth: By the time of Paul, birth had become the primary source of new slaves. According to Roman law, if you were born to a woman who was a slave, you were bound to her master as well.
 
Self-sale: An extremely common means of escaping the hardscrabble life of freeborn poverty was to sell oneself into slavery. Many non-Romans chose voluntary indenture as a way to gain work skills, climb socially, earn citizenship after release (known as manumission)—a reasonable expectation, according to Roman law—and even serve in public office. Many believe this had been the path chosen by Erastus (Rom. 16:23), the city manager of Corinth.
 
Abandonment or sale of children: A common method of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy was to bear the infant and then abandon him or her to the elements, a practice called “exposure.” Infants found alive were often raised as slaves. Extremely poor parents might elect to sell their child into slavery instead—not for the money, necessarily, but as a crude form of adoption.[4]
 
Charles Swindoll adds,
 
Roman law considered slaves to be property. A slave could be owned, traded, or sold like a beast of burden. A slave could not legally marry, bring a suit against someone in court, inherit property or money, or do anything without his or her master’s consent. While slaves received more severe punishment for crimes than their freed counterparts, they did enjoy some legal protection from excessive abuse, not unlike our laws against animal cruelty. Enforcement, however, was inconsistent.
 
On the bright side, slaves could own property, which they legally controlled without interference from their masters. Some even acquired their own slaves, whom they sold for a profit. Slaves also could accumulate wealth and then use it to purchase their freedom, a common method of wiping out debt and reentering free life with advanced social status. Legally, slaves occupied a decidedly subordinate status in Roman society; but socially, they often rose to relatively high ranks. In fact, few could distinguish slaves from freeborn workers-for-hire, who carried out the same kinds of duties.
 
In Greco-Roman households slaves served not only as cooks, cleaners, and personal attendants, but also as tutors of persons of all ages, physicians, nurses, close companions, and managers of the household. In the business world, slaves were not only janitors and delivery boys; they were managers of estates, shops, and ships, as well as salesmen and contracting agents. In the civil service slaves were not only used in street-paving and sewer-cleaning gangs, but also as administrators of funds and personnel and as executives with decision-making powers. Most slaves could expect to be freed by the age of thirty, or even sooner, as many owners set all their slaves free as a part of their final testaments.[5]
 
In Jesus Skeptic, John Dickerson writes, “Because of my American-centric education, I once had the impression that slavery was created and perpetrated only in the United States, from the 1600s until the Civil War. I have since learned how ignorant I was about the evils of slavery and its history in most major civilizations. While slavery is an ugly and heinous part of America’s history, the unpleasant reality is that it was a global norm among many civilizations, dating back thousands of years before the United States existed.”[6] “In her cross-cultural and historical research on comparative captivity, Catherine Cameron found that bondspeople composed 10 percent to 70 percent of the population of most societies, lending credence to Seymour Drescher’s assertion that ‘freedom, not slavery, was the peculiar institution.’”[7]
 
The Bible does not condone or commend slavery. Consider Deuteronomy 24:7, which says, "If a man is found kidnapping any of his brethren of the children of Israel and mistreats him or sells him, then that kidnapper shall die; you shall put away the evil from among you." This verse says capital punishment will be the penalty for taking a person against their will and selling them into slavery. In 1 Timothy 1:9-11, Paul lists commandments that help people know what is right and what is wrong. In the list, he says “men-stealers” or “kidnappers” is against God’s law. This is describing the practice of stealing and selling a person as a slave.
 
These comments may seem too detailed, but it is necessary to explain the context in which 1 Peter 2:18 (as well as other Biblical passages that express slavery imagery) is written. When Biblical and historical background is revealed, any honest assessment must conclude that there are similarities but there are also many differences. The Bible does not condone or condemn slavery.
 
In Jesus Skeptic, John Dickerson writes about the impact of William Wilberforce to abolish slavery. He states,
 
William Wilberforce was not a humanitarian. He was not a good person. He did not care about slaves. Then he became a Christian. As a Christian, he started to read the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament.
 
Wilberforce then wrote a book titled Real Christianity in which he wrote that God opened his eyes to realize the evil of slavery. He gave the rest of his life to end slavery in Britain. When Britain outlawed slavery, it controlled a sprawling empire around the world. Wilberforce’s work thus spread to the British territories. Wilberforce remains credited, more than any other individual, with ending the slave trade in the vast British Empire, including India—which had an estimated eight to nine million indigenous slaves in the Hindu caste system.[8]
 
Wilberforce’s argument in “Real Christianity” was if you are a Christian, you should be against slavery. He worked so hard to see it abolished, but thought he might be wasting his time. He considered doing something else. John Newton, the great writer of "Amazing Grace" said, “Stay where you are. God has placed you there. Don't give up what God has put on your heart to do.” Ultimately, Wilberforce did see the abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain.
 
The transformed heart of a Christian man helped to bring about transformation in society. God changes hearts and lives, and then it begins to influence society. Wayne Grudem, in Politics and the Bible, references the positive influence of Christianity on society. He writes,
 
“Historian Alvin Schmidt points out how the spread of Christianity and Christian influence on government was primarily responsible for outlawing infanticide, child abandonment, and abortion in the Roman Empire (in AD 374); outlawing the brutal battles-to-the-death in which thousands of gladiators had died (in 404); outlawing the cruel punishment of branding the faces of criminals (in 315); instituting prison reforms such as the segregating of male and female prisoners (by 361); stopping the practice of human sacrifice among the Irish, the Prussians, and the Lithuanians as well as among other nations; outlawing pedophilia; granting of property rights and other protections to women; banning polygamy (which is still practiced in some Muslim nations today); prohibiting the burning alive of widows in India (in 1829); outlawing the painful and crippling practice of binding young women’s feet in China (in 1912); persuading government officials to begin a system of public schools in Germany (in the sixteenth century); and advancing the idea of compulsory education of all children in a number of European countries.[9]
 
Our society continues to feel the effects of the Christians who have gone before us, and our Christian influence should draw people to Christ and influence society for the good. Peter says in 1 Peter 2:13–3:7 that our winsome witness should draw people to Christ in society, at work and in the home. God's people can transform society from the inside out, one heart at a time.
 
I remember walking on a long sidewalk as a child, and I saw different parts of the sidewalk bowed up right where a tree was. The cement was crooked, unleveled from block to block. I wondered as a child why anyone would lay cement down in such a way. Then I realized what occurred. They had originally laid the cement level and straight. But the little tree that was planted in the ground beside the sidewalk grew. As it grew bigger, so did its roots. Then the roots pushed the cement higher and higher until it looked like it did. No one really observes the roots until the cement begins to move. But the root-work under the surface is happening.
 
Society is like the cement sidewalk, and Christians are like those roots, ever growing under the surface. No one will notice the impact until the sidewalk begins to shift. Just patiently be the witness God wants you to be, and He will use you to transform society in a positive way. God can transform society, one heart at a time.
 
“Lord, thank You for Your Word that helps me see that every person is infinitely valuable to You. I do praise You that Your followers have been used throughout the history of the world to transform society for the better. I ask You to help me do my part today. I pray that I see people through Your eyes. I pray that I will appreciate the contribution of Christianity upon society. Lord, help me stand up for righteousness, even when it is unpopular. You are my King. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

*Picture credit: By Dennis G. Jarvis - Flickr: Tunisia-4718 - A Banquet, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22436409
[1] S. Scott Bartchy, “First Century Slavery and the Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 7:21,” (Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series, No. 11), Scholars’ Press, University of Montana, 1973. (Reprinted by Scholars’ Press, 1985, and by Wipf & Stock 2003).
[2] As quoted by Jeff Lynn, “Honoring God at Work”, sermon manuscript from 1 Peter 2:17-20, www.sermonsearch.com.
[3] S. Scott Bartchy, “Slavery: II. In the NT” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, rev. ed., ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1988), 4:544; quotation from T. Wiedemann, Greek and Roman Slavery (London: Routledge, 1981), 2.
[4] S. Scott Bartchy, “Slavery: II. In the NT” as quoted by Charles R. Swindoll, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, vol. 11, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2014), 127–128.
[5] Charles R. Swindoll, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus,  127–128.
[6] John Dickerson, Jesus Skeptic: A Journalist Explores the Credibility and Impact of Christianity (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing, 2019), 132.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid., 145-146.
[9] Alvin Schmidt, How Christianity Changed the World (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004; formerly published as Under the Influence, 2001), 51, 53, 59. And Wayne A. Grudem, Politics according to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 49–50.

Whose image do we bear? How should that impact our lives?

God said in Genesis 1:26 that He uniquely made men and women “in His image.” He didn’t say that about the plant life or the animal kingdom. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God,” and we reflect on the goodness of God when we look around and the splendor of His creation. However, men and women are uniquely made in God’s image. We will find our purpose as we celebrate the image of God in each person. We have seen how we are created in God's image in our design, our differences, and our discernment. Today, we will look at our dominion and our destiny. We will finish with our response to these truths.

Our Dominion
 
Fourth, we can see God’s image in our dominion. We are responsible beings, and we have been given the authority to rule the earth, the animals and the plants. God told mankind in Genesis 1:28 to “subdue the earth” and “have dominion.” Genesis 1:26 says, “Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every creeping thing.” John Macarthur explains, “Man’s very posture, standing upright, distinguishes him from four–footed beasts and creeping things. The animals’ natural posture directs their gaze downward, toward the earth. Man, on the other hand, is naturally positioned to look upward, toward the heavens, where he can contemplate the glory of God displayed there.”[1]
 
Genesis 2:15 describes how God gave Adam the job to “tend” and “keep” the Garden of Eden. Adam was also tasked with naming the animals in Genesis 2:19. When people move to a place that is desolate or underdeveloped, and they begin to cultivate the area, this is accomplishing our responsibility to “tend” and “keep” this world. Our dominion involves placing farms where there was once undeveloped land. “One young man complained to his pastor about the things going on in the world. ‘I could make a better world than this,’ claimed the young man. The pastor responded, ‘That’s just what God wants you to do.’ God has placed us in an unfinished world, a universe in the making. We are responsible to control, protect, and develop it.”[2]
 
It includes domesticating animals and training them for our benefit. Proverbs 12:10 (NLT) reads, “The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel.”  We should never be cruel to the animals under our care, but we should recognize them as gifts from God.
 
When Jesus walked this earth, He exercised dominion over the animals, which may give us some insight into how God originally intended man to demonstrate dominion in the Garden of Eden. In Mark 11:2, Jesus demonstrated dominion over a wild donkey, one that had never been ridden. He rode this untamed animal into Jerusalem. In Matthew 26:34, Jesus predicted Peter's denial three times before the rooster crowed, showing dominion over the actions of the birds. In Matthew 17:27, Jesus directed Peter to find a coin in a fish's mouth to pay their taxes, exercising dominion over the fish.
 
Sin distorted everything, including man’s original dominion over this earth. Martin Luther observed, “I am fully convinced that before Adam’s sin his eyes were so sharp and clear that they surpassed those of the lynx and eagle. He was stronger than the lions and the bears, whose strength is very great; and he handled them the way we handle puppies.” Luther states about Adam’s intellectual powers, “If … we are looking for an outstanding philosopher, let us not overlook our first parents while they were still free from sin.”[3] Our capacity may be different today, but the image of God is still seen in our dominion.
 
Our Destiny
 
Fifth, we can see God’s image in our destiny. We are eternal beings, just as God is an eternal Being. God has no beginning and no end. Mankind had a beginning but will have no end. Our eternal destiny is a fundamental part of being made in God's image. Hebrews 9:27 states, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Animals, as much as we may love them, do not have an eternal destiny. They have life, they have personality, but they do not have eternal spirits that will go out into eternity like humanity.
 
Our Response
 
Understanding the value of every human life should impact every person in life-altering ways. First, because all mankind is made in the image of God, both males and females have equal value and worth. Galatians 3:28 states, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
 
Second, each ethnicity has equal value and worth.  Acts 17:26 declares, “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth…” We often wonder what the answer can be to racial strife and division in our country and around the world. Paul states that Jesus is the answer:
 
Ephesians 2:13–15
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
 
When people give their lives to Jesus Christ, He not only tears down the wall of separation between holy God and sinful man but also between two people surrendered to Jesus as well. Our hearts toward our fellow man become right where we begin to see the value that God has placed in every life. We should see the value of other people and treat them with dignity, honor, and respect.
 
Third, because human life begins at conception, and those babies are made in the image of God, they should be given the same chance to live that each of us has had. Exodus 20:13 says plainly, “You shall not murder.” This means only God has the right to number our days.
 
We are infinitely valuable to God, not because of what we can do for society, but because of who we are. Notice how the Psalmist describes life in the womb:
 
Psalm 139:13–16 (NKJV)
13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
 
Luke’s Gospel describes the story of when Mary, who was carrying Jesus in her womb came to the home of Elizabeth, who was carrying John the Baptist in her womb. Luke 1:41 says, “And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” Elizabeth tells Mary “…the babe leaped in my womb for joy” in Luke 1:44.
 
These verses help me to see that it is right to protect the lives of the unborn. Christians should be unashamedly pro-life, from the womb to the end of life. Proverbs 31:8 says, “Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die.” Each is made in the image of God and infinitely valuable to God.
 
Lastly, because we bear God’s image, we belong to God. Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s” (Matthew 22:19-21). That answer was not just to pay your taxes. Included in that answer was the truth that you and I bear the image of God. Jesus said give your taxes to Caesar but give your heart to God. You belong to Him. You are made in his image.
 
“Dear God, thank You for creating me in Your image. I am infinitely valuable to You. I pray that I would see every human being in light of Your Word. Help me value every person the way You do. I also pray that I would see that I belong to You. I give myself to You. Thank You for loving me and saving me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
 
* This is part 3 in the series “We are Made in the Image of God”.


[1] John MacArthur, The Battle for the Beginning (Nashville, TN: W Pub. Group, 2001), 165–166.
[2] Brian L. Harbour, Notable Harbour Doctrine Collection, vol. 5 (WORDsearch, 2009).
[3] Martin Luther, Lectures on Genesis Chapters 1–5, vol. 1 of Luther’s Works, ed. Jaroslav Pelikan (St. Louis: Concordia, 1958), 62, 66.

God said in Genesis 1:26 that He uniquely made men and women “in His image.” He didn’t say that about the plant life or the animal kingdom. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God,” and we reflect on the goodness of God when we look around and the splendor of His creation. However, men and women are uniquely made in God’s image. We will find our purpose as we celebrate the image of God in each person. It's crucial to appreciate how we are created in God's image in our design, our differences, our discernment, our dominion, and our destiny.

Our Design
 
First, we can see God’s image in our design. John 4:24 states, “God is a Spirit and those who worship Him will worship him in spirit and in truth.” God is a spiritual being, and we are made in His image. We, too, are spiritual beings.
 
Notice the three-part nature of man in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, which says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” While Christians sometimes use the terms "spirit" and "soul" interchangeably, the Bible describes humans as three-part beings: spirit, soul, and body.
 
Hebrews 4:12 distinguishes between spirit and soul when it states, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Though some Christians and theologians would like to say the spirit and soul are the same, and though they are difficult to divide, the Bible says they can be divided.
 
The spirit and soul make up the inner part of who we are, the invisible but genuine aspects of our existence. Our spirits reflect God's image, as God Himself is a spirit, and it's this aspect that allows us to communicate with Him. The word “soul” in Greek is psuche, from which we get the word psychology. Our soul is the part that gives us our unique personality – it involves our mind, will, and emotions. This individuality distinguishes us from one another.
 
Take a look at a litter of kittens, and you can observe these personality differences. These kittens are raised in the same environment, but some of them are shy, some of them are aggressive, and some of them are tender. They just have different personalities. However, they do not possess a spirit. What distinguishes us from animals is our spirit, which allows us to communicate with God.
 
James Montgomery Boice once wrote, “One thing it means is that men and women possess the attributes of personality, as God himself does, but as the animals, plants, and matter do not. To have personality one must possess knowledge, feelings (including religious feelings), and a will. This God has, and so do we. We can say that animals possess a certain kind of personality. But an animal does not reason as men do; it only reacts to certain problems or stimuli. It does not create; it only conforms to certain behavior patterns, even in as elaborate a pattern as constructing a nest, hive, or dam. … It does not worship. Personality, in the sense we are speaking of it here, is something that links man to God but does not link either man or God to the rest of creation.”[1]
 
We are a spirit, we have a soul (a mind, a will, and emotions), and we live in a physical body. This body gives us the ability to walk, talk, work, and communicate. We can live in this world if our body is working the way it needs to work. As a person gets older, some may experience their body breaking down. Their mind may still be sharp, but their body is not functioning like it once did.
 
God warned the original couple in the Garden of Eden that if they chose to disobey God, they would surely die. However, the original Hebrew of Genesis 2:17 reads, “In dying you shall surely die.” It is plural. If they chose to sin against God, they would immediately die spiritually which would lead to eventually dying physically. We know that Adam and Eve didn’t immediately die physically, but they did experience spiritual death. In the end, spiritual death is separation from God (see Isaiah 59:1-2). We all experienced that separation from God, which is why Jesus Christ came. He died on the cross for our sins so we could experience new life spiritually. Now, though our bodies will still die, our spirits are alive with God and can be in a relationship with Him.
 
Romans 5:11, in the Living Bible, reads, “Now we rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done in dying for our sins—making us friends of God.“ Boice continues, “[M]an is made for communion with God, who is Spirit (John 4:24), and that this communion is intended to be eternal as God is eternal. Although man shares a body with such forms of life as plants or flowers and a soul with animals, only he possesses a spirit. It is on the level of the spirit that he is aware of God and communes with him.”[2]
 
God is eternal, with no beginning and no end. Mankind had a beginning but will have no end. When the body is dead, the spiritual part of man will live on throughout eternity. All of this distinguishes mankind from everything else in God’s creation. We are designed as spiritual beings who can commune with God and live with Him through eternity.
 
Our Differences
 
Second, we can see God’s image in our differences as men and women. God says in Genesis 1:27, “male and female He created them.” We, as human beings, are different from the animal kingdom, and not simply evolved animals.
 
We, as male or female, are different biologically from one another. The Bible portrays God in male imagery and terms, such as Father. Jesus, God’s Son (male), came to this earth as a man. However, this does not mean that we all, men and women alike, do not reflect the image of God as we live out who He created us to be. James Montgomery Boice wrote, “Men are not women. Women are not men. One of the saddest things in the universe is a man who tries to be a woman or a woman who tries to be a man. ‘But who is superior?’ someone asks. I answer: A man is absolutely superior to a woman—at being a man; a woman is absolutely superior to a man—at being a woman. But let a woman try to be a man or a man try to be a woman, and you have a monstrosity.”[3]
 
John Macarthur explains, “Genetic research has shown that one pair of human chromosomes, labeled X and Y, determine the gender of our offspring. All males have both X and Y chromosomes; all females have only a pair of X chromosomes. From a purely biological point of view, therefore, the Y chromosome is what determines maleness. If the offspring inherits an X chromosome from the father, it will be female. If the chromosome is Y, the offspring will be male. The father’s seed is the determining factor.”[4]
 
It is important that we believe and understand that there are God-given differences between men and women, but we should never argue that those differences create a rank in God’s system. After God said in Genesis 1:26 that He would give “them” (referring to both men and women) dominion, he refers to mankind as man in Genesis 1:27, which says, “So God created  man… male and female He created them.” Men and women are both equally made in the image of God. Every single person on planet Earth has the stamp of God on his or her life, male and female.
 
Our Discernment
 
Third, we can see God’s image in our discernment. We are moral beings, and we internally know right from wrong. This is another difference between humans and animals. Animals have instincts, but they do not know right from wrong.
 
Tom Holladay and Kay Warren write, “We know right from wrong. A dog doesn’t know right from wrong. You can train a dog to do what you tell it, but it has no moral conscience that causes it to think, “I shouldn’t be eating out of garbage cans, I need to get into a recovery program.” “Hi, my name is Spot and I eat garbage.” A mouse that invades your house doesn’t have a conscience. It doesn’t lay awake at night wondering if it was right to steal that piece of cheese, agonizing over its place in the world. When Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately felt shame. God created us to be moral beings. (Genesis 3:7; Acts 24:16).”[5]
 
A lion does not have the slightest guilt over chasing, killing, and devouring his prey, though he will usually catch of the weakest in the herd. He never thinks back, saying, “I’ve got to stop doing this. This is bad. I know right from wrong.”
 
John Phillips writes, “Man is in no way related to the beasts. What animal can transmit accumulated achievements from one generation to another? What animal experiences a true sense of guilt when it does wrong or has a developed consciousness of judgment to come? What animal shows any desire to worship? What animal has hope of immortality beyond the grave? What beast can exercise abstract moral judgment or show appreciation of the beauties of nature? (When did we ever see a dog admiring a sunset or a horse standing breathless before the rugged grandeur of a mountain range?) What animal ever learned to read and write, to act with deliberate purpose, and set goals and achieve long-range objectives? What animal ever learned to cook its food, to cut cloth and make clothes, or invent elaborate tools? What animal ever enjoyed a hearty laugh? What animal has the gift for speech? Even the most primitive human tribe possesses linguistics of a subtle, complex, and eloquent nature. Man stands alone. Physically, he alone of all the creatures on the globe, walks upright; mentally, he alone has the ability to communicate in a sophisticated manner; spiritually, he alone has the capacity to know the mind and will of God.”[6]
 
Mankind has been given these moral faculties by God. God has placed His law on our hearts so that we are without excuse. If you go to primitive cultures throughout history that are not as civilized, with courts or written laws, you will still find people who would have distinct codes of conduct.
 
Romans 2:14–15 (NLT)
14 Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.
15 They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.
 
Most of the 10 commandments, found in Exodus 20:1-17 can be seen in these contexts. Why? Because God has placed them on man’s heart. We are moral beings, as God’s image bearers, and distinct from the animal kingdom.

"Dear God, thank You that I am made in Your image. I can see it in my design. I can see it in the special differences between men and women. I can see it in my discernment. Lord, I pray that as I appreciate all of Your creation, I realize that my greatest fulfillment and purpose will only be found in a relationship with You. Thank You for showing me that from Your Word. I love You. In Jesus' name, amen."

*This is part 2 in a 3-part series on the subject of being made in the image of God.

[1] James Montgomery Boice, Genesis: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998), 90.
[2] Boice, 91.
[3] Boice, 96.
[4] John MacArthur, The Battle for the Beginning (Nashville, TN: W Pub. Group, 2001), 169.
[5] Holladay and Warren, Foundations church curriculum (Saddleback Resources, Lake Forest, CA), under “Creation”.
[6] John Phillips, Exploring Genesis: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Ge 1:26–31.

God said in Genesis 1:26 that He uniquely made men and women “in His image.” He didn’t say that about the plant life or the animal kingdom. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God,” and we reflect on the goodness of God when we look around and the splendor of His creation. However, men and women are uniquely made in God’s image. We will find our purpose as we celebrate the image of God in each person.
 
When we look at the world today, we often see people trying to understand their identity and express themselves in various ways. But we need to realize that God has intentionally created us in His image, setting us apart from the rest of creation.
 
Howard Hughes, a famous aviator, filmmaker, and business tycoon, flew a prototype aircraft called the Hughes XF-11 in 1946. He had received warnings from the aircraft's designer, Richard Palmer, who informed him that the aircraft wasn't built to withstand severe storms. However, Hughes ignored the warning, believing he could do as he pleased. In doing so, he put himself in danger and ultimately crashed the plane in a Beverly Hills neighborhood. Despite surviving, he suffered severe injuries.
 
Had Hughes heeded the designer's advice, he could have avoided the pain and damage he endured. Similarly, God looks at us and says, "I made you; I created you." He's not only aware of our being but has a purpose for our lives. He has revealed in His Word how we should live and relate to one another. It would be unwise for us to disregard His design and wisdom.
 
In a world that often seeks to redefine human identity and deviate from God's design, the message is clear: we must not just tolerate God's design but celebrate it. Understanding that we are created in God's image and that He has declared us "very good" (Genesis 1:31) allows us to live by His divine purpose. We should revel in the unique beauty and significance of every individual, recognizing that we are masterfully crafted by the Creator of all.
 
A generation ago, our children were being taught the idea that they originated from animals—this narrative went from "the goo to the zoo to me and you," emphasizing the evolutionary theory that all life came from animals and a primordial soup. This theory led to the belief that there's nothing truly unique about humanity; we're just slightly more evolved animals. The flaw in this philosophy lies in how it affects our children, making them believe they're nothing more than slightly evolved animals.
 
Adrian Rogers once said, “When you believe that men sprang from animals, it’s much easier to treat them like animals rather than people made in the image of God. Do you want me to tell you why we have so much difficulty with young people today and … [the] philosophy, ‘If it feels good, do it’? Because we’ve finally gotten across the idea that man is an animal, … [and] an animal lives for three things: self-preservation, self-propagation, and self-gratification. That’s … what we’ve taught our generation. They have been taught that they are not made in the image of God—that they just happened, that they’re an accident—out of spontaneous generation. God forbid.”[1]
 
Two decades ago, certain biological realities existed, and as adults, we didn't have to address some of the philosophies our children face today. The confusion surrounding gender is a prime example—there's a modern belief that gender is distinct from one's physical body and must be discovered. Just a few years ago, an ultrasound could confirm a baby's sex, but today there is considerable confusion. Why? It's because people are rejecting God's Word, thinking they can figure things out on their own. The Designer has spoken, but His guidance is being ignored.
 
A better approach is to return to Genesis, back to what God revealed. God made humanity differently from the rest of the animal kingdom and plant life. Even amid the chaos and confusion in the world, we can anchor our hope in God's infallible, unchanging Word.
 
Genesis 1:26-28 emphasizes the unique status of men and women, which stands in contrast to the secular humanism that is advocated today by those who seek to omit God from the narrative of creation.
 
Genesis 1:26–28
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
 
This passage challenges prevailing assumptions, particularly those ingrained in our educational system, attempting to segregate church and state, and religion from education. However, can we truly separate what God has joined together? When someone inquires about their origin, exploring various theories becomes challenging due to the education system’s reluctance to incorporate what the Bible teaches. The theory of evolution claims that mankind evolved over millions of years. Yet our education system seems content to present this theory as absolute fact, rejecting all other ideas.
 
Where the secularist sees chaos that has changed over time, the Christian sees order, complexity, and design which points toward an Intelligent Designer. Suggesting this Intelligent Design parallels the God described in the Bible is met with resistance from secularists, hindering the open exploration of an alternative theory.
 
Michael Behe, a former biochemistry professor at Rutgers University, wrote Darwin's Black Box. In essence, Behe challenges Darwin's assertion that anything irreducibly complex would undermine the theory of evolution. According to Darwin, for evolution to hold, all components must function simultaneously. However, Behe contends that if any aspect is truly irreducibly complex, the entire theory collapses, as evolution is based on the progression from simplicity to complexity and from chaos to order.
 
Behe uses the example of the cell to illustrate his point. He suggests that if Darwin had possessed knowledge of genetics and understood the intricacies of a human gene, he would not have formulated his theory of evolution. Behe argues that the human cell's complexity is so profound that it defies the possibility of a random assembly of atoms leading to its existence. The level of sophistication in genetics and cellular structures implies an intelligent design, a concept absent in Darwin's era. Even elements as seemingly simple and imperceptible as cells and genetics reveal an astonishing complexity, suggesting the involvement of an intelligent designer—illustrating, according to Behe, the actions of the God depicted in the Bible.
 
Young people will continue to grapple with misconceptions about their identity and value as they listen to secularists who explain humanity’s existence as a cosmic accident, unless we align with God's word, affirming our worth as unique creations. Romans 12:2 instructs us not to conform to the world but to be transformed by renewing our minds to understand the perfect will of God. It's crucial to appreciate how we are created in God's image in our design, our differences, our discernment, our dominion, and our destiny.

"Dear God, thank You for creating me in Your image. I pray that I would understand my uniqueness in light of Your Word. Help me to build my life on Your Word and discover Your plan for my life. In Jesus' Name, amen."

[This is the first in a series on this subject. Read future blogposts to see God's image in our design, our differences, our discernment, our dominion and our destiny.]

[1] Adrian Rogers, “The World in a Week,” in Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), Ge 1:1–5.

Just the word “submission” likely makes some of you reading this bristle. “I don’t want to hear about that,” may be a thought that is running through your mind. Don’t resist or reject what the Bible commands. 1 Peter 2:13 clearly commands “submit yourself to every ordinance of man, for the Lord’s sake.”
 
The word "submission" simply means "being under," or being willing to cooperate with another. It's a military term. Joel 2:7, in describing the people of God, says, "They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, and they do not break ranks." How do they maintain such order? Through submission to authority.
 
Our submission gets God’s attention. Luke 7:1-10 describes an instance where a Roman centurion’s understanding of submission and authority made Jesus marvel. The centurion asked Jesus to heal his dying servant. As Jesus approached, the centurion said, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed." He then explains, "For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes." The Bible says Jesus marveled at this man's faith, saying, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel."
 
This Gentile demonstrated remarkable faith because he understood God's structure of authority. He knew that Jesus' word carried power. Jesus was surprised, amazed, astonished by this man's faith, and this man’s faith was developed, in part, because he understood submission to authority.
 
Adrian Rogers once stated it this way: "We will never be over that which God has placed under us until we first are under that which God has placed over us." God has given us His Word, but He has also established institutions in our world for our good, for His glory, and to maintain order in society.
 
1 Peter 2:17 provides four ways to show submission in our lives. It reads, “Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”
 
"Honor all people" reflects humanity’s equality of worth before God, and it applies to everyone. This command isn't limited to Christians. In society, every single person on Earth is made in the image of God. Genesis 1:26 states, "Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'" Every single person bears God's image and is precious to Him. We are not to honor just some people; we are to honor all people.
 
It means recognizing the inherent value of every individual in God's eyes. This means they are more valuable than animals. Sometimes, in our society, we see the life of an animal valued more than the life of a child, a baby, or someone nearing the end of life. This is contrary to God's Word. Even if society trends this way, as Christians, we must affirm that humans, not animals, are made in God's image. Because of this, every person is worthy of honor.
 
Sometimes we hear, "The rich are valuable; the poor are not." James 2:1-9 directly addresses how believers are not to show favoritism and illustrates this with the example of showing preferential treatment to a rich person while disregarding a poor person. He calls this favoritism sin. Rich and poor alike are equally valuable to God. We are to honor all people. It doesn't matter about their background, status, or anything else.
 
"Love the brotherhood" refers to the church. Jesus said in John 13:35, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." How we treat one another matters. There should be an aura of respect, certainly, but also an aura of love—a familial love within the family of God. We are part of the same family, destined to spend eternity together, so we should embrace one another and show love to one another.
 
"Fear God” means reverence and respect for God. Proverbs 1:7 states, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." We can't truly know anything until we recognize God's rightful authority in our lives. We show reverence and respect for God by respecting His Word and acknowledging His supreme place in our lives. Jesus says in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." We should affirm that Jesus is the only way to heaven because that is what Jesus Himself declared. To reverence God is to acknowledge that He is in charge. You might ask God, "Why?" And God replies, "Because I said so." And our response should be, "Yes, sir." That is recognizing God's authority in your life.
 
“Honor the king” includes respect for government leaders. In a democracy where we can vote for our leaders, we should. However, no matter who is in office, we should honor them. We should also pray for our leaders, as instructed in 1 Timothy 2:1-2: "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." Our submission includes honoring the king.
 
When discussing submission, we must also state that there are exceptions. For instance, Acts 5:29 says, "We must obey God rather than man!" We sometimes cling to that phrase to justify all sorts of rebellion in our hearts. However, in this verse, Peter had been told not to preach in the name of Jesus, and he rightly refused to comply.
 
When something is immoral or sinful, we must obey God. I counseled a wife whose unbelieving husband asked her to do something immoral and sinful. She asked me what she should do. I told her, "Absolutely not. You tell him, 'I obey God, not man,'" because his request was sinful. She rightly refused to comply.
 
We see this in Exodus 1 when Pharaoh commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill any Hebrew baby boys. The midwives refused. When Pharaoh confronted them about the increasing number of Hebrew boys, the midwives lied and said the Hebrew women were so strong they gave birth before they could arrive! A blatant lie, but they did it because they feared God. And God honored them for protecting those Hebrew babies. They refused to comply.
 
So, there are times when we must disobey institutional authorities, specifically when we are asked to do something sinful or immoral. But we must not use this principle as a cloak for our own rebelliousness.
 
1 Peter 2:15 says, "For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people." "Put to silence" means to muzzle. When people criticize or slander you, your actions as a Christian will silence them.
 
If you demonstrate proper respect for the institutions God has established—whether it's your home, your workplace, the government, or the church—people will notice. They'll observe the order and respect, particularly in contrast to the prevailing rebellion and anarchy. They'll see that Christians are exemplary employees. Recruiters should be eager to hire Christians, recognizing their strong work ethic and commitment to authority. As Christians, we should be the best citizens, employees, employers, husbands, wives, and children, pointing others to Jesus.
 
“Lord, help me to understand the importance of submission in my life. Teach me to reflect my obedience to You through my attitude towards authority. May my actions be a testament to my faith and demonstrate the transformative power of the Gospel. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
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