Whose Slave Are You?
You are a slave?
Don’t get mad or feel discriminated against. Please keep reading.
I sign my correspondence, “Saved to Serve.” It was time for me to research the word servant in the Bible. I desire to be a servant of God so I desired to know exactly what the word means.
I carefully read and reread the online concordance. “Does the word servant really mean slave?” I whispered to myself in disbelief.I checked many verses and found they translated the original word slave to servant.
What I found made my skin crawl and the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. “How can this be Lord?” Thoughts of the horrific treatment of slaves in America and elsewhere ran through my mind. As I continued my study, God showed me the true meaning of Biblical Slavery.
This post only touches on some basic points. Please do a more in-depth study on your own. You will be blessed.
Servant
Old Testament- “ebed” Slave/servant
New Testament- “doulos” Slave
The Greek word “doulos” is used many times in the New Testament. It is never interchangeable with the word servant in the original text.
There are about 5 other words in the bible that mean servant and doulos is not one of them.
SLAVES IN BIBLICAL TIMES
Slaves were common during Old Testament and New Testament times. There were laws concerning the treatment of slaves.
Leviticus 25:43 “You shall not rule over him ruthlessly but shall fear your God.”
Deuteronomy 15:12-14 “If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. “
In the New Testament, Jesus did not free the slaves. He gave instructions.
“Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. ” 1 Corinthians 7:20-24
“Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.” God is over the master and he will deal with them if they are abusive.” 1 Peter 2:18
JESUS THE ULTIMATE SERVANT
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant (doulos), and being made in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:5-7
Romans 6:16-18 “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”
Are you a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness? No matter what, you are a slave.
As a follower of Jesus we no longer need to be slaves to sin. God gives us the power to overcome temptation.
Whose slave are you? Join the conversation.
