Introduction
“From Paul, a bondservant of Christ Jesus called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” Romans 1:1, NET. Being a bondservant of Jesus does not connote drudgery but honor and privilege. To be dead to self so that Christ can live in us is the greatest service to God, who restored us to him while we were still his enemies. To be true followers of Christ, a total surrender of self to Christ is required. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26 – 27, NET. Whether one likes the above or not, it is exactly what it is in the original writing. The above figurative statements operate on a relative scale. We are to love Jesus Christ and God more than family or self. If our priority is not allegiance to Jesus, we will abandon him in the face of rejection by family and friends.
Paul’s letter to the Church in Rome is the most systematic and comprehensive presentation of the gospel, the good news, in the entire Bible. Paul addresses all the essential concepts and terms in Christian theology in his letter to the Romans. Because he did not establish the church in Rome, Paul presented to the believers there the message God called him to proclaim to the non-Jewish peoples. Even though Paul proclaimed the gospel primarily to the non-Jewish people, his concern for the Jews is evident in his letter to the Romans. Accordingly, Paul proclaimed the gospel as the good news of salvation and righteousness from God, Jesus Christ. The righteousness from God is not only for the Jews but for the entire humankind.
Paul introduces himself as “dulos,” the bond-slave, or bondservant, of Christ Jesus, and set aside and irrevocably dedicated to proclaiming the good news of what God accomplished for the whole of humankind, in Jesus Christ on the cross at Golgotha. In Greek, the “dulos” refers to persons who voluntarily submit themselves to serve their master for life. Such a commitment was irrevocable. A bondslave was under total control by the master. Likewise, a yielded believer is a bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ. A yielded believer has died to himself and lives only for Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ lives in him. A bondservant of Jesus Christ has willingly surrendered everything associated with himself and has dedicated himself to proclaiming the good news about the Master – the Lord Jesus Christ.
