Everyone is a servant. Paul said, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” We are all either servants of sin or obedience. To be a servant of sin is to be under the rule of the devil. In such a case, Satan is our master. The end of such servitude is death. To be a servant of obedience is to be under the rule of God. The end of being a servant of God is righteousness and life (Romans 6:23).
We all choose whose servant we want to be. The devil cannot make us his servant. If we serve him, it is because we allow him to reign over us. God could force us to be His servant if He wanted to, however, that is not what He wants. He, instead, created us as free moral agents and leaves it up to us to decide who we will serve. The choice does not seem that difficult. One master, that is, Satan, will abuse us and lead us to hell. The other, that is, God, will love us and lead us to heaven. God is obviously the right choice, but who are the servants of God?
In Character, They Are the Sanctified
To be a true servant of God one must live the proper kind of life, that is, the sanctified life. When one obeys the gospel, he is sanctified by the Spirit of God (1 Peter 1:2). To be sanctified is to be set apart from the world and devoted to God. The Spirit accomplishes this through the instrumentality of the Word. Jesus said, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17). The servant of God walks in harmony with the Word of God and, therefore, is purified. Peter said, “Seeing ye have PURIFIED your souls in OBEYING the truth through the SPIRIT…” (1 Peter 1:22).
In Work, They Are Occupied
One cannot accurately claim to be a servant of God and do no work. Servants serve. God has given us work to do, and we must do it. Jesus is our great example in this area. “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day…” (John 9:4). “I must work” should be the mentality of us all, especially if we view ourselves as servants of the Most High God.
We should realize that we cannot just do any work—we must do the work of God. A lot of work is done by people who think that they are serving God, but it is not God’s work at all because it has not been authorized by His Word (Colossians 3:17). Servants of God are occupied by doing His business, i.e., they are engaged in doing the good works revealed in the New Testament (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
In Life, They Are Exemplified
Because of the work servants of God perform, they stand out in society. Servants of God can hardly go unnoticed. Their lives shine forth as a beacon of light, teaching a dying world how they ought to live, and glorifying the God of heaven (Matthew 5:14-16). Paul once told the Corinthians that they were epistles of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:3). We also occupy such a position in the world today. People of the world are constantly reading us and getting some kind of message. If we are servants of God, they are getting the right message.
In Teaching, They Are Certified
Servants of God teach that which was delivered by the apostles. Paul said, “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11, 12). While we do not receive direct revelation as Paul did, we teach only that which has been revealed. Servants of God abide in the doctrine of Christ (2 John 1:9), contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), and are defenders of the gospel (Philippians 1:7, 17).
Make the right choice! Be a servant “of obedience unto righteousness.” Serve God with all your heart, and live, not just now, but throughout eternity.