| Bondslaves of Christ |
| There is a word the Bible uses to describe the true character of |
| one who serves God in the proper attitude of surrender. That |
| Greek words is "doulos." |
| Paul, a servant (doulos) of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, |
| separated unto the gospel of God, (Rom. 1:1) |
| The word translated "servant" in this verse is more properly |
| rendered "bondslave." This Greek word, "doulos," is the most |
| servile term in the New Testament. It speaks of one whose will is |
| swallowed up in the will of another. It is a slave who is bound to |
| his master unto death. He is one who has only the will of his |
| master in mind. A bondslave does not belong to himself. He has |
| no rights. |
| Paul, A Bondslave of Jesus Christ |
| "Doulos" is the term which Paul used to describe himself. So if |
| we take the word he used seriously, it means that Paul had no will |
| of his own. He served Christ unto death. In effect, Paul did not even |
| belong to himself. A "doulos" never belongs to himself. He |
| belongs only to his Master. |
| This was Paul, the great apostle. God used him to write fourteen |
| books of the New Testament. He had a revelation of Truth which |
| perhaps surpassed even some of the original apostles. He lived |
| for Christ, suffered for Christ, and died for Christ. Yet rather than |
| exalt himself, he referred to himself as a "bondslave of Christ." |
| This leaves us with a tremendous example of what it means to |
| be a bondslave of Christ. Presently, however, let us consider only |
| one aspect of what it means to be a bondslave: What it means with |
| regard to spiritual authority. |
| Authority to Edify |
| A "doulos" has NO authority. In fact, if there is one thing a |
| "doulos" does NOT have, it's any authority of his own. If you lined |
| all the social positions of that day, in rank of authority, the "doulos" |
| would be at the end of the line. In fact, we might say that the |
| "doulos" might not even be allowed to stand in the line in the first |
| place. |
| Now, this is especially interesting since Paul actually said he |
| HAD authority. Yep. Paul, the bondslave, claimed to have been |
| given authority from God. The question, therefore, is not WHETHER |
| Paul had authority. It is: WHAT authority did he have? |
| We begin to see the answer in three scriptures from II Corinthians: |
| For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which |
| the Lord has given us for EDIFICATION, and not for your |
| destruction. (II Cor. 10:8) |
| According to the power which the Lord has given me to |
| EDIFICATION, and not to destruction. (II Cor. 13:10) |
| Not that we have dominion over YOUR faith, but are helpers of |
| your joy, for by faith you stand. (II Cor. 1:24) |
| This is the authority Paul had: Authority to edify. But what is that? |
| What does it mean to edify? |
| "To edify" means to "build up." All God-given spiritual authority |
| will BUILD UP others in Jesus Christ. It will build up their faith in |
| Him. It will cause them to be "built out of" the "spiritual materials" |
| which are OF Christ: His faith, His character, and His vision. |
| But how does one do this? How does one actually edify others |
| in Jesus Christ? |
| Never by getting people's attention on the bondslave. You |
| edify others in Christ by getting them into business with Christ for |
| themselves. Then they will grow in Him. |
| The way in which a bondslave gets people into business with |
| Christ is by speaking the Truth in love. This always builds up. Truth |
| strengthens and stabilizes because it is eternal. It centers the |
| individual in Jesus Christ. |
| What is something else that "builds up faith?" Living the Truth. |
| Now, THAT really builds people in Christ. Why? Because it is |
| REAL. It is a witness unto Christ which people cannot escape. |
| Now it is here that we begin to touch on something quite deep. |
| The only way in which I can LIVE the Truth is if I give myself to |
| Christ. Right? Absolutely. I certainly can't live the Truth it if I refuse |
| to give myself to Him! But giving myself to Christ -- in the truest |
| sense of the word -- is what makes me a bondslave. So in effect, |
| a bondslave's authority to edify is a direct result of his relationship |
| with Christ. A bondslave has authority to edify BECAUSE he has |
| fully given himself to Jesus Christ. |
| Exousia |
| The fact that "to edify" requires authority given of God is also |
| verified if we examine the Greek Paul uses in the above passages. |
| The Greek word translated "authority" in II Cor. 10:8 and II Cor. 13:10 |
| is EXOUSIA. This word means "right." So when Paul talks about his |
| authority to edify, he is saying that he has the "right" or "license from |
| God" to edify. |
| That is not, however, all that Paul says in the verses. He not only |
| tells us what he has authority to do, but he tells us what he has NO |
| authority to do: Tear down the faith of others. This, Paul says, is |
| NOT a right given him of God. |
| Now it seems strange that Paul would tell us that he has no right |
| to tear down the faith of others. Why would he need to assure us of |
| that? |
| Paul is telling us something about leadership in the church which |
| has been distorted for two-thousand years. He is telling us that |
| even though he is an apostle, his rights are limited. Being a man of |
| God does NOT entitle him to submission without question from |
| those he teaches. No. It entitles him only to the right to tell people |
| the Truth about God. Outside of that, Paul has no rights. He has |
| no authority. And if he goes outside of that right, no one has to listen |
| to him. |
| So what Paul is doing in these two verses is saying, "I have the |
| right from God to edify you. I have the right to speak the Truth and |
| and therefore build up your faith in Christ. But the minute I stray |
| outside of that, and tear down your faith, I no longer have any |
| jurisdiction. In that case, don't listen to me." |
| Now notice: It is Paul's job to speak the Truth. But it is his |
| listener's job to take what he says before God. Only then can |
| those who hear Paul be edified. For taking what I hear before the |
| Lord, and allowing God to deal with me over it, is the real purpose |
| for edifying to begin with. Any bondslave of God who edifies |
| others in Christ will seek to get others into business with Christ for |
| themselves. |
| Now, some people in the Body of Christ today would reject this |
| as the Truth. But then we should ask, "Why would a leader |
| want people to submit to them if they were NOTspeaking the |
| Truth?" Paul certainly didn't want people submitting to him unless |
| what he spoke was the Truth. And he was an apostle. |
| Dominion Over Your Faith? |
| There is more. Not only did Paul talk about his "exousia" from |
| God in the two passages from II Corinthians, but he also said in |
| II Cor. 1:24 that he did not have "dominion over" the faith of the |
| Corinthians. What does that mean? |
| The word translated "dominion" means "to rule, to be lord of." |
| It is the Greek word KURIEUO, the root from which we get the word, |
| "Lord." It is used in the phrase "Jesus Christ is Lord." So here we |
| have Paul saying that he does not occupy the place of "lord" over |
| anyone's faith. He does not possess that "dominion." Or, to say |
| it another way, another person's faith is NOT his property. |
| This verse, II Cor. 1:24, is in the context of Paul explaining to the |
| Corinthians why he did not come to them to correct them for the |
| many sins and problems they had permitted in that church. He had |
| simply written them in his first letter about those things. Then he |
| says, "Not that WE have dominion over YOUR faith, but are helpers |
| of your joy, for by faith you stand. (II Cor. 1:24) In other words, Paul |
| wrote them the Truth, but not to control their personal faith. He wrote |
| them the Truth so that they, by personal choice, could see and |
| believe. He knew he could not force them to believe and obey! |
| Paul had authority to tell them the Truth. Indeed, he had a great |
| responsibility to do so. But he could not force them to obey. No. |
| That was THEIR responsibility. They were responsible for taking |
| what Paul wrote before the Lord with an open heart. THAT was not |
| Paul's dominion. No one can do that for another person. |
| This is verified in Romans. Pauls writes, " |
| Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that |
| condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that |
| doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for |
| whatsoever is not of faith is sin. (Rom. 14:22-23) |
| Note the key phrases, "Have you faith? Have it to thyself before |
| God.....for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Here we see that no |
| one can have dominion over the faith of another. Faith is a |
| PERSONAL responsibility. I can't believe for someone else. As |
| Paul says in II Cor. 1:24, "for by (your) faith YOU stand." |
| Now, this doesn't mean that people can be allowed to live in sin, |
| and there is nothing spiritual leadership can do about it. No. If I |
| personally choose to reject the Truth in a way that damages and |
| hurts others in the Body of Christ, then leadership does have the |
| right and responsibility to disfellowship me. Why? Because they |
| have authority to edify. And removing me will edify me -- even if I |
| don't like it. And it will edify others in the Body. Allowing me to |
| continue on in sin is destruction, not edification, and is the antithesis |
| of agape love. |
| A bondslave of Christ does not minister to others with his own |
| interests in mind. He has the interests of His Master in mind, unto |
| the good of those whom he edifies. This is a product of nothing sort |
| of the bondslave's own surrender and a bondslave's own |
| personal faith in Jesus Christ. |