SERVANT                     


    The word servant has many meanings. I hope we can 
explore some of these meanings. As a guide I would like to 
use the opening of James for our study.


         "James,a servant of God and of the Lord
         Jesus Christ......     
                                 James 1:1


     The word used by James here is "doulos" . Doulos has 
several meanings and its use varies amoung these meanings
in scripture. What we will be doing here is trying to sort
out these different uses.              

    The first and general meaning of doulos is that of a          
slave. It is generally implied that a slave is one who by                
some means has had their will given over to another. In the
case of man's fall, this word was used to describe man's
condition, implying that he had lost his freedom and will
to the forces of sin and was totally dominated by these           
forces.

     It should be noted that Jesus, by His saving work and 
sacrifice rescued man form this enslavement. But the          
resulting sonship does not mean absolute autonomy, but one          
of a new relationship with God and the new service performed           
for Him            

     The phrase "doulos Christou" has a special meaning and 
position when used as a designation as in James. It denotes      
both an absolute freedom on one part and an absolute
commitment on the other. There can be no doubt of the 
absolute freedom, as it was stated by Jesus.

          "If the Son, therefore shall make you free
          you shall be free indeed."
                                     John 8:36

One the other half of the statement is one of commitment to       
Jesus as stated by Paul           

          "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
          the mercies of God, that ye present your
          bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
          unto God, which is your reasonable service."
                                   Rom 12:1

     We are now ready to consider the use of this word in         
James opening remarks to his Epistile. In choosing this                
word he sought to denote the commitment he held toward 
Jesus, to that of the lowest from of a slave. He had                
freedom beyond his wildest dreams yet he surrendered it to     
the one that set him free. The amount of this commitment,           
denoted by this word slave is what is important.

     When we think of an slave we think of a number of 
"absolutes" which govern a slaves very life and existence.
Let us list these and then consider them one at a time

               1. Absolute Obedience

               2. Absolute Humility

               3. Absolute Loyalty 

          
     The first was that of obedience. A slave knew no law     
but that of his master. More often than not, he knew no               
rights, and lastly he was not permitted to question his                  
master's decisions. Is this what James was implying??? 
Somewhat, but there is a difference. The normal slave did
these things out of a fear of punishment and mistreatment         
James gave absolute obedience,surrendered his rights and 
followed without question because of his love for the master     
He implied every one of these requirements, but to be done       
out of love, not out of an obligation of fear.

     The second was that of humility. A slave above all        
things had to keep his place. He was a slave and was requir-              
ed to act as one. The difference with James was that he lost            
himself in service to his master.  His only concern was to 
be faithful and pleasing to his master. His thoughts were 
not of his own position but only that of the one that his
master wanted for him                                    
                                                             

     The third was that of loyalty. A slave was required to       
hold or even swear an absolute Loyalty to his master. James           
was loyal to Jesus because of his love for his Lord and God.          
It was a uncomplaining loyalty that is derived from a heart                 
filled with love for the one to whom it is directed

We now can add one more absolute that applies to this type     
of slave of the Lord, which James was. Absolute Glory. James              
through his faith,obedience,humility,and Loyalty earned a                  
place beside the saints of old. Beside Abraham, Moses, and 
ect.
  
     What does our relationship with Jesus mean to us?.          
James is exhorting us to the very same, absolute obedience          
absolute humility, and absolute loyalty toward Jesus.         
Does God pat us on the back an say go, live like this? No!
He provides the Holy Scriptures for direction. He places 
the love of Jesus in our hearts, and He looks over us as a 
loving Father. We have been given a perfect example in our 
Lord Jesus Christ to follow. What is our position ?
One of surrender as James's or one of rebellion and 
disobedience. The choice is ours, but to call oneself a
Christian, without the traits that James has shown us, is        
to misrepresent ourselves both to the World and to our own 
selves.