THE GOSPEL THAT BROKE THE CHAINS (Or, “Doesn’t the Bible Condone Slavery?”)
Few accusations are more serious than the claim that the Bible condones slavery. This is a familiar talking point, but it often reveals more about the one speaking than the message of the word of God itself. To say that slavery comes from the Bible, or that God condones mistreating anyone—much less enslaving them—is to misunderstand what the Bible teaches. The Word of God has stood the test of time; our opinions have not. Let the untested, untried “commentator” on Scripture sit quietly, while the book that has redeemed a fallen world continues its unbroken march through history.
Some claim that because God gave laws about servants in the Old Testament, He must have approved of bondage. But that is a misunderstanding of both the Bible and the heart of God. The Bible does not promote slavery. It reveals a holy God entering a sinful world to lift it out of its cruelty and corruption. When God gave rules concerning slavery, He was not creating an institution of oppression. He was restraining one that already existed because of human sin.
Sin created slavery. The Bible records it, but never celebrates it. From the moment sin entered the human heart, man began to dominate man. Egypt enslaved Israel, and that alone tells us what God thinks of oppression. The cry of His people reached His ears, and He said, “I have seen their affliction and have come down to deliver them” (Ex. 3.7–8). The heart of the Lord is always on the side of the oppressed. The God who heard the groaning of His people and broke their chains in Egypt is the same God who sent His Son to proclaim liberty to the captives (Lk. 4.18).
When Christ came, He did not raise an army to overthrow Rome or legislate social reform. He planted something far greater — the seed of the gospel. The gospel carries within it the divine power to undo every form of tyranny. When Jesus stooped to wash the feet of His disciples, He shattered the world’s definition of greatness. When He said, “Whatever you want others to do to you, do that to them,” He struck the deathblow to slavery (Mt. 7.12).
Paul’s writings have often been misused by critics who do not understand the gospel’s wisdom. When Paul said, “Slaves, obey your masters,” he was not approving the system. He was telling believers how to live righteously within the broken structures of their time (Eph. 6.5). The gospel was never about rebellion by force, but transformation by love. Paul also said that masters must treat their servants with fairness, knowing that they too have a Master in heaven (Col. 4.1). He told Philemon to receive Onesimus “no longer as a slave but as a beloved brother” (Phm. 16). That one verse contains the seed that would, in time, destroy the entire system.
It was not Pharaoh who freed the slaves — it was the Lord. And it was not the laws of men that ended slavery in the modern world, but the principles of the gospel that awakened the conscience of nations. Men like William Wilberforce, John Newton, and countless others were driven by the conviction that every human being bears the image of God (Genesis 1:27). When light entered their hearts, darkness fled from society. The cross of Christ declared the worth of every soul and revealed that in Him there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female, for all are one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28).
The Bible does not bind men — it frees them. Wherever the gospel has gone, slavery has fallen. It may not have come with swords, but it came with truth, and truth makes men free (John 8:32). The chains that man forged through sin can only be broken by grace. The heart that once ruled others with cruelty can only be changed by the indwelling Christ.
Let us never forget that the God of the Bible is a Redeemer. From Egypt to Calvary, His story is one of deliverance. The blood on the doorposts and the blood on the cross both speak of freedom. The Passover became the prophecy of the cross, and the cross became the victory of love over every kind of bondage (1 Peter 1:18–19).
Today, though many kinds of slavery still exist — greed, lust, addiction, fear — the message is still the same: Christ sets the captives free. The One who said, “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed,” has not changed (John 8:36). His gospel is not a chain, but a key.
So when the world accuses the Bible of condoning slavery, let us answer with truth and tears. The Bible never enslaved anyone. It was the voice of God in Scripture that stirred the hearts of men to cry, “Let the oppressed go free” (Isaiah 58:6). Every law God gave was mercy restraining sin. Every command of Christ is liberty born of love. The gospel does not hold men down — it lifts them up to walk in the light of heaven.
Christ is still the Deliverer. And the heart of His gospel beats with one rhythm: freedom for the captives, sight for the blind, and life for the brokenhearted.
Bryan Dewayne Dunaway
