The Servant of God For Today
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
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"Paul, a servant of
God..." (Titus 1:1).
It's interesting that Paul would call himself a "servant of
God," for that exact phrase is only used four times earlier in the
Bible, and each time it was used of Moses (I Chron. 6:49; 24:9; Neh.
10:29; Dan. 9:11). So while all believers should try to serve God, in using
that exact phrase, Paul was saying that he was the servant of God for us
Gentiles (Rom. 11:13), just as Moses was the servant of God to the
people of Israel.
When I was young man, the CBS affiliate in Chicago promoted
itself as "the ten o'clock news." Of course, those who
preferred to watch the news on other channels would have disputed that claim!
But when Miriam disputed Moses' claim to being the servant of God
to the Jews, insisting that she had as much authority in Israel as he had, she
was stricken with leprosy (Num. 12:2-10). In light of the severity of that
judgment, anyone today claiming to be a servant of God on a level with the
apostle Paul should be thankful we live in the dispensation of grace! This
would include any man who calls himself a prophet, for prophets in the
Bible were men who could "prophesy" and speak the very Word of God
(cf. Ezek. 37:4).
But while most Christians know better than to think that they
are as important as Paul, most of them believe that the other apostles
in the Bible were of equal importance with him. After all, James also calls
himself a "servant of God" (James 1:1a). But, like Moses, James was
the servant of God to the twelve tribes of Israel (James 1:1b), while
Paul was sent to us Gentiles (Acts 22:21; 26:17,18; Gal. 1:16; 2:2,7; Eph. 3:8;
I Tim. 2:7; II Tim. 1:11).
And that word "Gentiles" includes everyone living in
"the dispensation of the grace of God" (Eph. 3:2), for now that
Israel has lost her favored nation status with God, she is just another one
of the nations. That means "the apostle of the Gentiles" (Rom.
11:13) is the apostle of the Jews as well, and that makes Paul more important
to people living today than Moses or James or any of the other New Testament
writers.
We might compare how each of the 50 governors in the United
States is of equal authority in our country, but you must look to the governor
of your state to learn the rules and regulations that have a direct
bearing on your life. In the same way, all of the Bible writers are of
equal authority in Scripture, but as Gentiles living in "the dispensation
of the grace of God" we must all look to the writings of the man who was
appointed to be "the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles" (Rom.
15:16) to learn the things that have a direct bearing on our lives, the
Apostle Paul.
Les Feldick Ministries
30706 W. Lona Valley Rd.
Kinta, OK 74552
Posted By Cecil and Connie Spivey
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