Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus.
—Romans 1:1
For a Roman citizen—which Paul was—to identify himself as a slave would shock his proud Roman readers out of their sandals.
Nevertheless, the first word he used to describe himself when he wrote a letter to the Romans was “slave”—“Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus.”
The word “slave” (doulos), according to Strong’s Concordance, is “someone who belongs to another, a bond-slave, without any ownership rights of their own.”
Paul wanted his readers to know that he had forfeited his freedom, given ownership of himself to Christ and belonged to him lock, stock, and barrel.
Christ owns all of you; there are no other stockholders. Renounce all other claims on your life. Say, with Paul, “I am a slave of Christ Jesus.”
You are wholly owned by Christ.
There are no other stockholders.