Over the next several weeks, I want to look at Paul's letter to the Romans. To start off, I want to start right where Paul starts with his statement "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus" (Rom 1:1). Now, in the NIV translation, we see the word servant, however, the Greek word doulos is better translated to mean slave or bondservant. This is important in my opinion for two reasons. First, the metaphor of a slave is used by Paul later in the letter and thus is important to be noticed now. Second, (and what we will talk about today) is the fact that Paul is calling himself a slave of Christ. Now, it should not be forgotten that in Christ, Christians are the children of God, we are heirs to God's inheritance of eternal life and good gifts, we are a friend of Jesus and we are truly loved and cherished by him. However, the image Paul is getting at here isn't saying we aren't any of those things, but rather, putting us humans and our purposes in life in perspective compared to Jesus, the Lord of everything. That said, I think having a similar attitude can be beneficial in our lives. I think it is very important to remember that we are in fact children of God, loved by God and a friend of God, but nonetheless, he is God, and we were made to serve him. So how then do we act as a "slave of Christ"? Well I think these first 7 verses can be summed up in one statement: "To be a slave of Christ means you obey his commands, and you are a part of his people".
"To be a slave of Christ"; verses 1-4.
In verse 1, Paul introduces himself as a "slave of Christ". So why should we think of ourselves this way? Well simply put, because Jesus is God and we are mere man. But Paul takes this a step further in the next three verses by saying three things about Jesus.
In verse 2 Paul says that the gospel regarding God's son (Jesus), was foretold by the prophets. The prophets in the Old Testament predicted that a Messiah would come to save the Israelites, and also the nations. What Paul is saying here is that first off, Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is the savior of the world and all of its people.
In verse 3 Paul says that Jesus was a descendant of King David, therefore in his earthly form, Jesus is royalty. Not only that but in verse 4 Paul calls Jesus "our Lord". Not only is Jesus our savior, but he is also our King.
Lastly, in Verse 4, Paul calls Jesus the son of God and explains that he has proven himself to be the son of God by raising from the dead. So Jesus then is savior, king and God. If that is not enough reason for us to serve him, I'm not sure what is. While Jesus is our friend, he is also our God, and because of this, he deserves our worship, our service and our lives, which he bought with his own blood on the cross.
"Means you obey his commands"; verse 5.
In verse 5, Paul writes that through Jesus, we have been called to call others to Christ. Paul continues to say that we do this because of "the obedience that comes from faith". I think both points are important. First off, we who have faith in Christ are to be obedient to him. This means we should obey his commands, two of which are to love God and love your neighbor. Another command of Christ is what Paul focuses on in this passage, sharing the gospel with other people from every nation. Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:18-20 are two times when Jesus gives this command.
So if we are to act as slaves of Jesus Christ, first we must follow his commands. This means that we must love God by obeying him. I think this not only means "being good" and staying away from sin as actions, but I also think we need to love God by having a growing relationship with him. He doesn't want us to simply follow rules, he wants us to literally love him, like a husband and wife love each other. He wants us to need him, to trust him and to choose him on a daily basis. We also should love others, including our enemies or those that are different than us. Last, I'll add that we should share the gospel; Paul notes it here and it is a command of Christ.
"and you are a part of his people"; verses 6-7.
As I stated earlier, while we should be serving God, we are part of his holy people. Verse 6 starts: "And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ." We belong to him, we are set apart by him, we are his. Verse 7 says that as Christians we are "loved by God" and that he gives us "grace and peace". When we follow Christ, we are set apart and we are part of his people, a chosen people whom he loves.
For Christians, Jesus is our savior, our king and our God, therefore he deserves our praise, our worship and our lives. Let us try to be like Paul in our giving over our lives to Jesus as a slave would give up his life. Let us act as slaves to Christ by obeying his commands and let us understand more and more what it means to be a part of God's chosen people.
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