Romans 1:1 – Slave of Christ Jesus

Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, severed for the evangel of God…

The first thing Paul says about his status is that he is “a slave of Christ Jesus”. No “servant” as many translations say, that’s something else. Because a servant is someone who has been hired for a certain employment. But a slave is a serf, someone who is owned 24/7 by another, his lord. In our ‘modern’ experience, the term ‘slave’ has a purely negative charge. But for Paul it was an honorary title to be a slave of Christ Jesus!

Those who are slaves are completely subordinate themselves. It is about your master on whose account you are, who takes care of you but who also determines what you have to do. That’s how it was for Paul. Christ Jesus had called him from heaven and ‘arrested’ him on the road to Damascus. Paul was made an ‘apostle’, meaning that he was delegated by proxy, most personally by Christ Jesus himself. All other ‘apostles’ were called and delegated before he did. Paul is the last in this company. The thirteenth apostle. He was set apart for a unique ministry: to herald the good news of God among the nations (: 5)!

Delen: