If you are a believer in Jesus Christ are you a servant of God or a son of God? The answer is that you are both.
The parable of the prodigal son is a well-known story. The son ran away from home with his father’s money. But after the money ran out, he decided that going home would be the best idea.
But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.’” And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate (Luke 15:17-24).
The prodigal’s plan was to become a hired servant, a day-labourer, just so that he would have something to eat. But the father did not even listen to this idea. He said, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again.” The point of the story is that those who return to God from their life of sin do not become God’s hired servants or day labourers. We become God’s sons.
The difference between the hired servant and the son is enormous. The hired servant works for wages. The relationship between the hired servant and the master is not intimate or even lasting. It is merely a day to day relationship. The relationship is only contractual. The master agrees to pay wages and the servant agrees to a certain amount of work. But the son is the owner of everything that belongs to the father (Gal 4:1). And that is what we are if we are united to Christ. We have been given the privileges of adult sons (Gal 4:5). God has given his sons all things (1 Cor 3:21; Rom 8:32). We are the heirs of the kingdom, joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17). We have gone from being nobody to being sons of the living God (Rom 9:26). God has given his sons his very presence in the Holy Spirit, who dwells within his people (Rom 8:14). Sons of God call him “Abba, Father” (Gal 4:6). Sonship is an immense privilege because of the profoundly intimate relationship that sons of God have with the Father, through Jesus Christ, in the Spirit.
But we must not be confused as if being a son of God implies that believers are not servants of God. Over and over the writers of the New Testament call themselves servants or bond-slaves of God and the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 1:1; 2 Cor 4:5; Phil 1:1; 4:12; 2 Tim 2:24; Tit 1:1; James 1:1; 2 Pet 1:1; Jude 1:1; Rev 1:1). These people saw themselves as those who were slaves of God because of his grace.
You can be a servant without being a son. The Bible gives us a number of examples of people who are God’s servants, but who are not part of the people of God. Pharaoh was raised up by God for the purpose of demonstrating the power of God (Exod 9:16; Rom 9:17), but he most certainly was not a son of God. Nebuchadnezzar was called a servant of God (Jer 25:9), used to take Israel into exile. However, he was not part of God’s people. Persian king Cyrus was called God’s anointed (Isa 45:1) so that he would send the exiles home to rebuild the temple (2 Chron 36:22-23), but he was a heathen. Even the demons are subject to God’s commands (Mark 1:23-26), but they are certainly not privileged to be called sons of God. It is possible to serve God without being a son.
But you cannot be a son without also being a servant of God. Those who are not sons may serve God unwillingly, but those who are sons of God serve him with willing hearts. Jesus is the Son of God and he has been so for eternity. He serves the Father with absolute devotion. His service was not given in order to win a place in the heart of God, since he already possessed that place. His service was given as an outflow of his Sonship. This is the difference between those who are merely servants of God and those who are sons. The sons serve God because they love him and are loved by him. Those who are only servants do so because they must.
“Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever” (John 8:35). Let us not be confused about the difference between servants and sons. You can spend your whole life trying to please God from the standpoint of a servant and never receive the inheritance that he desires to give you. This standpoint is the one from which people try to please God by their works. This is impossible. On the other hand, you can come to God through Jesus Christ, receive his grace and become a son of God. Then you will spend the rest of your life serving God in absolute obedience out of gratitude for his immense grace. It is a privilege to be called God’s slave when you come to this position by first becoming a son.