DIVINE SLAVERY

Doulos is the most misunderstood Greek word in the English speaking Bible, being mistranslated “servant” approximately one hundred and fifty times, counting root derivatives. Now we know a servant is a hired domestic, legally entitled to tell his employer to “take this job and shove it”, but a slave is owned, lock, stock and barrel, to quote Kipling, and has no legal rights, much like a chair or a mule. The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament states doulos is used exclusively to denote “slave” with a meaning so unequivocal and self-contained that etymology is superfluous. A slave is a possession totally subject to the will of his owner, bound to obey his will without hesitation or argument, having no freedom, autonomy  or rights, and is dependent upon his master for everything.

Whatever a person yields their Self to will enslave them (Rom. 6:13, 16), and whatever overcomes a person will enslave them (2 Peter 2:19). This is the crux of mankind’s dilemma: Without God, man yields to sin and is overcome by it and enslaved. Having neither the heart nor the will to say no to his self-serving nature, he steps into the trap of sin’s slavery, which was, as James stated, bated by his own desires. (James 1:14)

People are simply vessels in need of a master. Born in bondage to unrighteousness, we are born enslaved to sin. Our self-nature, Self, thinks it is in control of our vessel, but like marionettes in a cheap vaudeville side show, the strings are really pulled by the prince of darkness and his whoring hordes of fallen creatures who divert our time and energy from Kingdom life to Self life. Christ’s call to “Follow Me” is a call to depart from this slavery to our self-nature through its death, by willfully hanging it on the cross with Christ and reckoning it dead. In this way the enemy loses control of our vessel as we come under the lordship of God alone, by our submission to His indwelling Spirit-life. This is a change of ownership, a change of masters. Lordship is one side of the divine relational paradigm: Jesus wants to be our Lord and has purchased us out of the world’s slave market with His own blood, giving Him legal right of ownership. The other side, our response, is voluntary servitude: In submission to lordship we demonstrate the first and greatest commandment, becoming love-slaves of the Most High God. We had no choice in our bondage to sin, all are born in its clutches, but we do choose whether to stay in that slavery or to crucify our self-nature with Christ, finding freedom in His cross of death. (Rom. 6:1-23;1Cor. 5:14).

We were all homeless vagabonds adrift in the sewage of this world, with sin as our master and our future sealed in hell. Then Christ redeemed us, made us His slaves, befriended us, adopted us into His royal family, gave us an inheritance, and made us citizens of His Kingdom.  God graces us with the freedom to be all He wants us to be in this life, repairing our “Liker” so we like what He likes, and providing our necessities. The life He gives is eternally abundant Kingdom life, where “His slaves shall serve Him” forever. Divine Slavery is a choice; choose wisely and someday you will hear…

 “WELL DONE MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SLAVE”

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