"But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life" (Rom. 6:22).
The English word “church” is derived from various forms. In Scotland the word for church is “kirk.” In Holland, the word is translated from “kerk.” Each of these words for church comes from the word kurios, which is the Greek word for “Lord.” Kurios is used in different ways in the New Testament. It is a polite form of address, and it is also an imperial form. When people applied this term to Jesus, it was considered a threat to the power of Caesar because Caesar himself was called kurios. His Roman subjects were supposed to say, “Caesar is Lord.” But the Christians would not say “Caesar is Lord,” believing that only God was worthy of such a designation, and were persecuted as a result. The Romans did not care so much that the Christians called Jesus “Lord,” only that they refused to address Caesar in the same manner.
Kurios was also applied to slave owners in the Greek world. The kurios would own the slaves, and, as such, the latter were identified according to their lord, their kurios. This is the derivation of the church. Those who comprise the church are people who are owned by the Kurios, just as slaves were owned by masters in the ancient world. Christians, therefore, are owned and possessed by their Lord.
Paul spoke at length in Galatians showing that believers are sons, not slaves, of God. So, when Paul called himself a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ, he spoke metaphorically as one who had been purchased. He applied these terms to himself and to other believers, saying that they were not their own, but had been brought with a price. The church is made up of those who have been purchased by Christ. We are His possession—a theme that is deeply rooted in the New Testament. The church is the company of those who have been redeemed by the great “Kinsman Redeemer.” In Israel, those who had been enslaved because of debt could be freed if another member of their family paid their debt. The payment given by their kinsman redeemer purchased their redemption. Christ, of course, is our Redeemer, and having purchased our redemption, He now possesses us. As His possession, we do His will, we obey His commands, we follow His ways without objection. As members of the church, we are slaves to righteousness, subject to the Kurios.
What does it mean to be a slave to God? How does the complete allegiance of a godly slave to a godly master instruct us in our relationship with God? Can a Christian see himself as a slave (Rom. 6) to God and a son of God at the same time (Gal. 3–4)? Pray today that you will be a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.
