SERVANT

The word servant has many meanings. I hope we can

explore some of these meanings. As a guide I would like to

use the opening of James for our study.

"James,a servant of God and of the Lord

Jesus Christ......

James 1:1

The word used by James here is "doulos" . Doulos has

several meanings and its use varies amoung these meanings

in scripture. What we will be doing here is trying to sort

out these different uses.

The first and general meaning of doulos is that of a

slave. It is generally implied that a slave is one who by

some means has had their will given over to another. In the

case of man's fall, this word was used to describe man's

condition, implying that he had lost his freedom and will

to the forces of sin and was totally dominated by these

forces.

It should be noted that Jesus, by His saving work and

sacrifice rescued man form this enslavement. But the

resulting sonship does not mean absolute autonomy, but one

of a new relationship with God and the new service performed

for Him

The phrase "doulos Christou" has a special meaning and

position when used as a designation as in James. It denotes

both an absolute freedom on one part and an absolute

commitment on the other. There can be no doubt of the

absolute freedom, as it was stated by Jesus.

"If the Son, therefore shall make you free

you shall be free indeed."

John 8:36

One the other half of the statement is one of commitment to

Jesus as stated by Paul

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by

the mercies of God, that ye present your

bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable

unto God, which is your reasonable service."

Rom 12:1

We are now ready to consider the use of this word in

James opening remarks to his Epistile. In choosing this

word he sought to denote the commitment he held toward

Jesus, to that of the lowest from of a slave. He had

freedom beyond his wildest dreams yet he surrendered it to

the one that set him free. The amount of this commitment,

denoted by this word slave is what is important.

When we think of an slave we think of a number of

"absolutes" which govern a slaves very life and existence.

Let us list these and then consider them one at a time

1. Absolute Obedience

2. Absolute Humility

3. Absolute Loyalty

The first was that of obedience. A slave knew no law

but that of his master. More often than not, he knew no

rights, and lastly he was not permitted to question his

master's decisions. Is this what James was implying???

Somewhat, but there is a difference. The normal slave did

these things out of a fear of punishment and mistreatment

James gave absolute obedience,surrendered his rights and

followed without question because of his love for the master

He implied every one of these requirements, but to be done

out of love, not out of an obligation of fear.

The second was that of humility. A slave above all

things had to keep his place. He was a slave and was requir-

ed to act as one. The difference with James was that he lost

himself in service to his master. His only concern was to

be faithful and pleasing to his master. His thoughts were

not of his own position but only that of the one that his

master wanted for him

The third was that of loyalty. A slave was required to

hold or even swear an absolute Loyalty to his master. James

was loyal to Jesus because of his love for his Lord and God.

It was a uncomplaining loyalty that is derived from a heart

filled with love for the one to whom it is directed

We now can add one more absolute that applies to this type

of slave of the Lord, which James was. Absolute Glory. James

through his faith,obedience,humility,and Loyalty earned a

place beside the saints of old. Beside Abraham, Moses, and

ect.

What does our relationship with Jesus mean to us?.

James is exhorting us to the very same, absolute obedience

absolute humility, and absolute loyalty toward Jesus.

Does God pat us on the back an say go, live like this? No!

He provides the Holy Scriptures for direction. He places

the love of Jesus in our hearts, and He looks over us as a

loving Father. We have been given a perfect example in our

Lord Jesus Christ to follow. What is our position ?

One of surrender as James's or one of rebellion and

disobedience. The choice is ours, but to call oneself a

Christian, without the traits that James has shown us, is

to misrepresent ourselves both to the World and to our own

selves.