7998. 'And every man's slave' means the natural man up to now. This is clear from the meaning of 'slave' or 'servant' as the natural, dealt with in 3019, 3020, 3191, 3192, 3204, 3206, 3209, 5305, and so the natural man. The reason why the natural man is called 'a slave' is that it was made to minister to the spiritual, and also to obey it, as a slave obeys his master.