Titus 1:1 Slaves to God Part 1

 

Titus 1:1

Read Romans 6

Paul starts the letter to Titus with a surprising amount of information packed into his greeting. The first few verses tell us quite a bit about who he is and why he is writing. He starts off with telling us that he is a slave of God. Our translation uses the word servant but the original word, doulos, actually means slave. This is significant because he’s inferring that although he used to be a slave to sin, he has been bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ and now is a slave of God. If we turn to the book of Romans, chapter six, Paul talks about what this means. He tells us, “For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” He goes on to say in Romans 6:16, 18, “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey Him as slaves, you are slaves to the one who you obey… You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” It is good to read the whole chapter of Romans 6 as Paul explains what this all means. As a slave to righteousness and to God, we are to serve Him and not ourselves. Our focus ought to be on what God has commanded us. We were bought with a price and now belong to God. In 2 Timothy 2:24 we read “And the Lord’s slave (again, the original word is doulos) must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.” These are just some of the things required of us as slaves to God. Paul describes himself as a slave to God because he was proud of this task that God appointed him to. As slaves to Christ, we are to do the good works which God has set forth for us and live as He commands. We are to be obedient, exclusively and completely subject and devoted to God’s will, and totally dependent on God for all things. By starting with this in his greeting Paul is telling the reader that he can only do what God has sent him to do – proclaim the true gospel. The reader would be assured by this greeting but also reminded that they too ought to be slaves to God. Like Paul, we should be proud to be a slave to God.

 

1.        What does it mean to be a slave to sin?

2.        What does it mean to be a slave to God?

3.        Why is it so important that Paul identified himself as a slave to God?

4.        What can we learn from Romans 6 about all this?


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