In Romans 1:1 Paul referred to himself as a bond-servant and an apostle to the Lord Jesus Christ - is this a contradiction in terms?
No, the bible never contradicts itself, here is what I believe it means:
A bond-servant is one who has chosen to devote his/her life to their master, they have made a covenant to never leave. Servants were given the choice on the year of jubilee (7th year) to be set free but they could also choose to stay with their master. If they chose to stay with their master their ear was pierced with an awl on a door post - believed to signify them always be attentive to the voice of their master. This is like the covenant we make to Christ when we are born again; we are giving our life to Him and making Him the master of our lives. We were slaves to sin but Jesus paid the price for us to be set free from that and step out from the kingdom of darkness - sinfulness and into the kingdom of light - righteousness. When we take the step from sin to righteousness the next step should be complete submission to God; becoming a bond-servant to Him.
An apostle is one who is sent, however God will not send someone who has not first committed their life to Him and made a decision and a promise to make Him master of their life. God gave us a free will to choose whether we follow Him or not but once we make the decision to follow Him we are in essence His servants, He will send us where He wants us to go and appoint us to do what He wants us to do. However because He is a God of grace and mercy He does not punish us when we don't do things His way; there will be consequences in this world but God is not mad at us, He loves us so much that He allows us to make mistakes and will gently correct us and put us back on the right track if we allow Him too. God is not a forceful master, but He should be the master of our lives. We can do nothing of ourselves, without Him we are nothing; if we will truly be bond-servants to Him He will lead us in a life of victory, He will direct our every step, He will conduct our lives and be in control; but it will be a life far better than we could have in our own strength. Although slavery has the connotation of hardship, slavery to Christ is the complete opposite! It is not without suffering and persecution but He gives us the strength to endure all things and walk in victory; He will lead us in glorious triumph!
The question is do you want Him to be your master, will you make the decision and commitment to lay down your own life and follow Him, to be a servant to Him? Will you allow Him to send you out? Are you going out in your own strength and asking God to bless it? Or are you letting God send you out into the blessed life He has for you?
"...let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2
Jesus is our ultimate example of a bond-servant and we are to follow Him, it was His hands and feet that were nailed to the cross that He would do the will of the Father, He was in complete submission to the Father in heaven.
I was reading Romans 1:1 over and over yesterday, and I never realised the noteworthy combination of 'Jesus Christ's slave' and 'chosen by God to be an apostle' until I read your blog tonight. It's a really interesting point, and your thoughts on it are enlightening xxx
Posted by: Charlie | June 28, 2007 at 08:58 PM
Brilliant! Just what i needed to hear. Thanks sis. Your teching is exciting and it inspires me. See you soon.
Posted by: Big Bruv | July 07, 2007 at 10:03 AM