lord emperor was not only revered as a human ruler but also worshipped as a god. When Paul wrote these words to the Christians in the imperial city, he must have been conscious of the imperialistic challenge of Christianity proclaiming a Saviour whose bondslave he was, and who some day would come to displace the imperialism of Rome. Paul was some day to stand before Nero, not as a bondslave of the lord emperor, but as a bondslave of the King of kings, the One who came from the royal line of David.