Slaves for Christ.

I was going to do this myself, but I came across this and thought it did a far better job than I would have, so here it is! (from http://newleaven.com/2008/04/04/why-doulos-wasnt-given-a-fair-treatment/ )

For cultural reasons most translations have opted for either “servant” or “bondservant” for the Greek doulos. When one chairman of a major translation was asked about the choice of “servant” instead of “slave” for doulos, he said that it was shameful and difficult became of dark history of slavery in America.

What about slavery in the New Testament world? A rabbi would pray, “Thank you Lord that you didn’t make me a slave.” The stigma was there too, yet the Spirit breathed out doulos for the believer’s relationship to Messiah, Jesus Christ.

So these translations translated doulos “slave” when it is obviously referring to the New Testament world of slavery (Eph 6:5). But those same translations equivocated and choked when it came to the Spirit’s use of the kyrios/doulos relation to refer to the Lord’s relationship to those he has redeemed with his blood—kyrios/douloi—He is our Lord and we are His slaves.

A kyrios purchased a doulos from the slave market and made that doulos his. This concept is at the heart of the New Testament. Jesus our kyrios has purchased us believers and made us his (1 Cor 6:19, 20; 1 Pet 1:18, 19).

Only the HCSB has faithfully and consistently translated doulos and its cognates as “slave and so on.”

Favourite books of the Bible.

So, I was at the computer, and I was thinking about what my favourite books of the Bible are and why.


So I've named my top three books (in no particular order) and why they are my favourite books.

First, there is Revelation. Now, there would be people that say "Revelation? Why that book? It's all gloom and doom". To that I say "You obviously haven't read the ending then". This book, above almost, if not, all books of the Bible, magnifies the risen Christ, showing Him claiming back the earth to redeem it. When I was a new believer, I read this book with such rapture (not the doctrine!) that I haven't experienced since, the glory of being with the Lamb for all eternity!

Secondly, there is the Song of Solomon.
Now, if people thought I was weird liking Revelation the most, they're probably even more shocked that this follows as my second favourite. You see, Scripture always has to be interpreted literally, it cannot be spiritualised, allegorised or be interpreted in any way other than literally. If we didn't interpret the Bible literally, then there would be no point having a Bible, as we could just find any psychology textbook and 'spiritualise' that. There are of course figures of speech, but they still point to a literal truth.

Now I say all this to relate it to the Song of Solomon. Perhaps no other book in the entire Bible has been questioned as to how it is to be understood. The best way, it seems, would be to interpret the book literally, and yet pointing to a greater truth, that is, the love between Christ and His church.

Christ sees us (i.e. the church) as having no blemishes, as being without spot in His sight. Now, we are by no means sinless, and we have not been made righteous, but rather we are legally declared to be righteous, that is, we are treated as though we had done every righteous deed that Christ had done, and Christ was treated on the cross as though He has done every wicked thing that we had done.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Book of Psalms. This book is just incredible! Whenever I feel like I cannot pray, I go and see what was said before by the Psalmist. It declares the majesty of God and the heart of God. It also speaks of the Messiah who was to come, who suffered the wrath of God and became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13).

My favourite chapter of the Bible

My absolute favourite chapter of the Bible is most definitely Isaiah 53. Generally when I come before Scripture I see it more so as a nice book than as the Word of God. However, whenever I come to this chapter, I stop for a little, and cannot view it as common or set my thoughts on something else, but am filled with awe at the glory of Christ. I will never comprehend this chapter, even after all of eternity (so to speak).

My favourite verse of the Bible
  
My favourite verse in the Bible... Now that's a tough one. A real tough one.
I will have to pick my favourite few verses rather than any particular one.


Matthew 27:45-46 -- 'Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”'

To think, that Jesus was forsaken by the Father, and yet that the unity within the Godhead was not severed is just incredible and beyond all comprehension for our finite minds, as God is infinite.

Romans 8:32 -- 'He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?'

Oh, God is so faithful and will provide for His children! He loves us so much that He gave us His Son, and yet we doubt that He is loving enough to help us through life.

1 John 4:14 -- 'And we have seen and testified that the Father has sent the Son as Saviour of the world.'


How great is His love which burned within Him for us to be reconciled to Him, that He sent the One He loved more than anything, His Son!

What is the Gospel?

Man was created so that we could know God. However, all have sinned and fall short of God's perfect standard to get into Heaven. To get into Heaven, the Bible says that you have to be perfectly righteous, holy, never sin, be morally perfect like God ALL THE TIME etc, which none of us have fulfilled.

However, Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, lived and died the perfect life so that He could fulfill the righteous requirements that God has made. He was nailed to a cross and bore the wrath of God His Father (was crushed by Him in spirit - Isaiah 53), to pay for our sins, to pay the price of the justice of God that must be satisfied.

Three days after Jesus was nailed to the cross and died, He rose from the dead as a testimony that God accepted His sacrifice, and then forty days later He ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of His Father.

The Father gave up Jesus out of love. The Bible says "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

So in order to be saved from the power of sin and the judgment of God (where those who have not had their sins paid for will be thrown into hell for eternity, due to God being just and good), we must place our faith unto repentance (turning from your sin, seeing it as God does and subjecting yourself to Him) in Jesus Christ and in His atoning work.

Being saved (a believer in Christ) does not mean that all your problems go away or that you will have a good life. In fact, the Christian life is one of persecution and "the one who seeks to save his life must lose it for [His] sake" (Matthew 16:25).



To summarize, the gospel of Christ reveals that:

1. All are sinners and cannot do anything to save themselves. (Romans 3:23)

2. Jesus Christ, God's Son, is a perfect Savior for sinners, even the worst. (John 6:37-44; Hebrews 7:25)

3. Jesus Christ died for sinners, was buried, and rose again on the third day. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

4. It is the power of God for salvation to all who believe. (Romans 1:16)

5. Salvation comes only through Jesus. (Acts 4:12)

6. Salvation is the gift of God by His grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and not by any works you do. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7)

7. Salvation comes through the blood of Christ, which makes the sinner righteous before God and brings reconciliation with Him. (Romans 3:25, 5:9)

8. Salvation comes at the moment the sinner believes the gospel. (Romans 10:9-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)

9. Salvation is granted by God and secured by God. (John 10:27-30)

10. Jesus perfectly accomplished and completed all the works necessary to save sinners. (John 19:30)

11. Salvation is completely of God and not of man in any way, and it is to the glory of God alone. (Romans 8:28-30; Romans 9; Ephesians 1)



If you want to know more, let me know and I'd be glad to discuss it further with you.