I noticed something troubling yesterday when I decided to read the entire book of James in the New testament. James referred to Himself in the very first verse (James 1:1 NLT) as a "slave" of God.
Doing a further Bible reference this morning, I was surprised to discover that in Titus 1:1 NLT, the apostle Paul also referred to himself as a slave. He equally did so in the NLT versions of the books of Romans, and Phillipians!
Peter and Jude also followed suit in this self description of slave.
Why would these revered figures in Christianity, who advocated the Salvation of Christ Jesus as a freedom from slavery to sin, then portray themselves as slaves of God?
Firstly, the few versions of the Bible which translate the word "doulos" as "slave" are just the New Living Translation (NLT) and perhaps 3 others. NLT is probably one of the most recent translations of the Bible widely available today.
According to Wikipedia, a person may be described as a slave if he or she is forced to work for another person without an ability on their part to unilaterally terminate the arrangement.
In other words the element of free will seems to be removed as regards slavery.
Why would such pioneers in the faith openly contradict their gospel of willing commitment to God, by essentially referring to themselves as unwilling, unpaid, properties of God?
I then began to do some research. I discovered that over 1100 times, the Greek word "doulos" is mentioned in the old testament, but is only translated "slave" once in most English translations of the Bible. Additionally, it is mentioned in Greek about 150 times in the New testament, but only translated "slave" a handful of times (mostly when referring to regular and acceptable forms of slavery at the time).
The Greek word "Doulos" has only one meaning. It is "slave".
Why was this deliberately hidden? Mostly because of the historical stigma that has always been associated with slavery.
Curiously, our faith is hinged on one basic premise. The "Lordship" of Jesus. The Greek word for "Lord" is "Kurios". Without a slave, there can be no Lord, and without a Lord, there can be no slave. So for Jesus to be our "Kurios", we are therefore his "douloi" (plural).
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
"Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body"
Which human, but a slave, is purchased as property?
We cannot serve two masters. A slave cannot be owned by two masters. A servant (hired hand) can serve as many masters as she likes. But a slave has no such luxury.
Jesus said in John 15:14-15 NLT
"You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me"
Jesus acknowledges that his disciples (and in extension all believers) are His slaves! He did not say "you are no longer slaves", he said "I NO LONGER CALL YOU slaves". In other words our role shouldn't be mixed up.
We are slaves of Christ because he purchased us with His blood from the slave-market of sin.
Luke 17:7-10 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
" “Which one of you having a slave tending sheep or plowing will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? Instead, will he not tell him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink’? Does he thank that slave because he did what was commanded? In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are good-for-nothing slaves; we’ve only done our duty.’”
Before today, I scoffed at people who referred to themselves as "slaves of God".
Today I realize that is exactly what I am. A slave of Christ!
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