"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God" Titus1:1
Twice in the Holy Bible the apostle Paul begins his epistle with the statement, "Paul, a servant . . ." one of which is the text above. Paul was to the Gentile world what Jesus Christ was to the world itself; an example of the life we are to live here on this earth. A living, breathing, representation of our great God and only Savior, the express image, if you will, of Jesus Christ. Paul exhorted Titus to teach all that looked for "that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13) to deny "ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" (Titus 2:12).
To be a servant is to be in submission to someone as supreme, or if you prefer as head. Paul was not a servant of Satan, nor of the world, nay rather, he (along with the rest of the apostles: James and Peter expressly) was in submission and servitude to the Lord Jesus Christ. Not yielding their "members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin" (Romans 6:13), but as instruments "of obedience unto righteousness" (Romans 6:16).
God himself dealt with the subject of yielding to a master's demands; he proclaimed boldly that "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other" (Matt. 6:24). It is indeed impossible for us to serve two masters, we cannot serve Satan and still be the Sons of God. Neither can we serve God and be the sons of the evil one. God demands a distinction between His seed and the seed of the serpent. Within this, the garden of God, is all the fullness of the mystery of the Lord of Life, "which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). God within us proclaiming, professing, and producing the outward appearance of the inward man. In short, to live a life sanctified and holy before the Lamb of God. For as it is written "that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Rom. 6:16).
"Choose you this day whom ye will serve." (Josh. 24:15) |
