| Richard,
I may be reading more into the question than you intended but here goes
my reasoning.
When one receives Christ then he is made free from bondage to sin and
the kingdom of darkness. Galatians says that we are no longer servants
(bond-slaves) but heirs and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. However,
within the first few verses of the beginning of most of the epistles
where the author is identified you will see something along the lines
of, "I Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ," or "Peter, a servant of the
Most High," (I don't have my Bible handy so I can't give direct
quotes). Each one of these apostles, although no longer in bondage,
chose to place themselves in a position of servanthood under Jesus
Christ. A type of this might be the OT custom of the piercing of the
ear of the servant. When a slave was freed he/she had the option of
remaining as a household servant. If he/she chose to do so then the
right ear was pierced with an awl showing the decision that they had
made. At this point their status in the household also changed to one
more closely related to that of a father/son relationship with the
master of the house. In the Greek there are different words for son.
Among them, huios, teknon and paidion. Paidion can refer equally to a
child born of the fathers loins and to a servant in the fathers house.
In short, servitude refers to a service born of force or compulsion
whereas servanthood refers to a service born of love for the master.
In Him,
Kent
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