Doulos

Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth with accords with godliness... Titus 1:1

In a quick study of Scripture we see that Paul describes himself this way repeatedly, as does Peter (2 Peter 1:1), James (James 1:1) as well as Jude (Jude 1:1). What is this title that they all use to describe themselves? In the New King James Version we have it brought across as "bondservant of God" but could just as well be brought across with the word "slave." When we think of slavery we think of the tragedy that occurred in our own country (and much of the rest of the world) that reached it's peak in the American Civil War. This however was not the context of slavery that Paul and the other New Testament writers lived in.

While many important observations could be made about the system of slavery in Rome, and the systems that occurred throughout the ancient world, I believe their is something directly from scripture that each of these men were thinking of when they described themselves as "slaves of God." Exodus 21:5-6 give us the most beautiful picture of slavery I know: "But if the servant plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' then his master shall rbing him to the judges. He shall aslo bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever."

In this Old Testament picture we see a slave who is scheduled to be free (a clear difference between the slavery that we know about and the biblical system of slavery) but he loves his master, he loves the care that he has received, and he wants to be BONDED to that master for the rest of his life. This process was painful (the ear of the servant was pierced with an awl into the doorpost of the house) and the result was that person was forever bound to that household. This, I believe is the picture that Paul and the others had in their mind when they proclaimed themselves bondslaves of God.