ROMANS 1: 1-7
"A CALL, A GOSPEL, AND A TASK"
In the preface to his commentary on Paul’s letter to the Romans, Martin Luther wrote: "This letter is truly the most important piece in the New Testament. It is purest Gospel. It is well worth a Christian’s while not only to memorize it word for word but also to occupy himself with it daily, as though it were the daily bread of the soul. It is impossible to read or to meditate on this letter too much or too well. The more one deals with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes."
The book of Romans is placed first in front of all the other letters of Paul because it is considered the most important. Not only is this his longest letter, it contains his longest greeting. Paul’s letter was to be received by a church which was situated in the greatest city in the greatest empire in the world. He was writing to a church who did not know him personally. Thus in his initial address in the letter he seeks to establish who he is and what he is about. He is God’s man and everything he is and does revolves around God (CIM).
The letter’s recipients will affirm who he is if they are those whom he addresses as; called of Jesus Christ, beloved of God, called Saints. What he is about is to bring men to obedience to the Good News through faith in Jesus Christ.
I. Set Apart By the Good News, 1:1.
II. The Meaning of the Good News ,1: 2-4.
III. The Reason for the Good News, 1: 5-7.
First, let’s look at verse one where Paul states that he is called by God and set apart for the Gospel. As is the custom in a scroll type letter the Apostle begins with a declaration of his name and office. It was his office of apostleship that gave him the right and responsibility to address every Christian every where with authority.
He announces that he is "Paul." Paul is a Roman name. He is the only one of the biblical writers who uses his gentle name instead of his Hebrew name. Paul ( ), means little. His Hebrew name, Saul, of King Saul fame, means demanded (Acts 13:9).
He announces that he is "a bond-slave of Christ Jesus," This word for slave ( ) is the most lowly humble term in the Greek language to denote a slave. It means one owned by another, one who has been purchased. It indicates a slave who will always be one.
Paul calls himself this kind of bond-slave of Jesus Christ (genitive of possession). He belongs to Jesus Christ. He even puts the designation that he is a slave of the King of kings ahead of his office of Apostleship.
Paul was born a slave of sin at his physical birth and became a bond slave of Christ through his regenerative second birth. The cords that bound him to his old master, Satan, were rent asunder by his taking Christ’s death on the cross for his own. And now Paul’s will, which was once dominated by Satan, is swallowed up in the cleansing will of Christ, and nothing will ever break that bond.
For a Roman citizen such as Paul, to choose to be a servant was unthinkable. Yet Paul chose to be completely dependent on and obedient to his beloved Master. What is you attitude toward Christ your Master? Our willingness to serve and obey Jesus enables us to be useful and usable servants to do work for Him, which is work that has eternal significance.
"Paul, a bond-slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle." An apostle ( ) is one sent out on a commission, an official representative sent for a purpose [Moulton & Milligan]. Paul is designating himself as a divinely summoned ambassador. [His credentials were his miracles.]
He was called to assume that office. Paul was called in the sense that God summoned him to that position and placed him in it. The office conferred upon him responsibility and the authority to carry it out.
"Paul, a bond slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God." Paul defines his apostleship by the words separate unto the Gospel of God. [Apo "out from" & hoizo - "to mark off by boundaries, to limit, separate, appoint area or service."] This compound word means "to mark off from others with boundaries, to set apart and place within limits."
The limits of his Apostleship were the "Gospel of God." The word "gospel" is good news. The good news that Paul is set apart with is the good news which is of and from God. Paul was Christ’s chosen vessel set apart for God’s Good News.
Graffiti from the 1800s was recently discovered by workers renovating the WASHINGTON MONUMENT. The inscription reads: "Whoever is the human instrument under God in the conversion of one soul, erects a monument to his own memory more lofty and enduring than this."
There is no greater glory than a single soul won for the Lord. And there is no greater example of missionary soulwinning than the Apostle Paul. A large portion of the New Testament is a
monument to his passion for the lost. He was an interesting mix of profound theologian and tent-revival evangelist. But no matter where he went, who he encountered, or what subject he tackled, he never lost his passion for the individual soul.
Today, we face many of the same issues Paul addressed in his letters - doctrinal hair-splitting, church conflict, Christian liberties. Yet in all of this, we must remain undeterred from the goal of evangelism. The greatest monument that could ever be constructed is the eternal monument of one converted soul.
["To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. - Ephesians 3:8]
First, Set Apart By The Good News
Second, THE MEANING OF THE GOOD NEWS, 1:2-4
Verse 2 informs us that even before the incarnation of Christ the Gospel had been promised by God in His Holy Word. "Which He promised beforehand through His prophets in Holy Scriptures"
The Apostle starts to define what is meant by God’s Good News. The Gospel is not a new thing. God promised the Gospel long ago through (by means of intermediate agencies which are) the writers of the Old Testament. The Gospel is the fulfillment of promises which God Himself inspired (Gen 12:3; Ps. 16:10l ; 40:6-10; 118:22; Isa. 11:1ff; Zech. 9:9-11; 12:10; Malachi 4:1-6). It is not some new thing but the fulfillment of the Old Covenant.
The Gospel which Paul was sent to preach was the same system of faith and truth which from the beginning had been predicted and partially unfolded in the writings of the Old Testament.
Paul definitely finds God’s Gospel in the Sacred writings. One of the strongest proofs of the divine origin of the gospel is found in the prophecies of the Old Testament. The Old by the New is explained, the New is contained in the Old.
Verse 3 begins to explore the content of the Gospel. "Concerning His Son, Who was born (made, became) of (out of) a descendants (seed) of David according to the flesh,"
The Gospel is centered in God’s Son. He is its great subject. He is the great object of the promises. By calling Jesus God’s Son, the historical person is designated as divine, the promised Messiah.
God’s Son was revealed in two stages or us known in two time periods: according to the flesh He was born of Davidic descent, according to the Spirit (v. 4) He was declared the Son of God with power. The eternal Son entered into a new condition or form by assuming a human body and putting Himself under human limitations. The word flesh here refers to His physical body which is from a seed of the ancestry of David- meaning that so far as His human ancestry is concerned He comes from the line of David.
The Christ’s real deity and real humanity are stated with respect to His human nature. He was a descendent of David but by His divine nature (His Spirit of holiness) is of God, as is clearly proven by His resurrection from the dead as is indicated in verse 4.
"The one having been declared the Son of God with (in) power according to (the) Spirit of holiness out of (the) resurrection of the dead ones, of Jesus Christ our Lord."
This individual whose personage was made up of two natures, deity and humanity, of flesh and of Spirit, is declared to be the Son of God. He was not just declared to be the son of God but declared so with power by virtue of the resurrection out of the dead ones.
The resurrection power functioned in Christ’s case because of the holiness of Christ. Jesus was so holy, so absolutely free of sin that death could not hold Him (Acts 2:24). [As God is spirit the divine nature of Christ is spirit whose chief characteristic quality is holiness.] As the resurrection power functioned according to the holiness of Christ so it will function for those who have received Him and His Holy Spirit.
It was the "resurrection out of the dead" that definitely marked Jesus as God’s Son and "our Lord." This event of power gave Him God’s seal of approval and acceptance. The resurrection of Christ is the miracle of miracles. The resurrection declared Jesus to be who He truly is, the Lord of Life.
1st - Set apart by the Good News.
2nd - The meaning of the Good News
Last- THE REASON FOR THE GOOD NEWS (1: 5-7)
The apostle returns to the responsibility of sharing the Gospel in verse 5. "Through Whom we received grace and apostleship for into obedience of faith among all the nations, on behalf of (for the sake of) His name."
As it was of the utmost importance that Paul’s authority as an Apostle should be acknowledged in the church, he here repeats the assertion that he received his office immediately from Jesus Christ whose exalted character and accomplishment as the Son of God has just been stated in the previous verse.
Grace is focused in and channeled "through" the person of Jesus. Grace is seen in the astounding fact that God loves the world in spite of its rebellion and sin. It is the enacting of God’s love, the wonderful and amazing surprise that though we deserve nothing from God, we can hope for everything from Him. Grace is the intersection where God’s love meets human unworthiness.
The initial reception of grace by Paul was in the form of salvation which God bestowed upon him in response to his faith. As a saved man he was appointed by grace to serve as an Apostle (Acts 9: 1-15-19; 18: 9-10; 22: 6-21;26: 12-18; Romans 15: 15-16).
The purpose for which Paul was appointed was to lead people to the obedience that comes by faith. Such obedience is based on faith and springs from faith. In fact, so very closely are faith and obedience connected that they may be compared to inseparable identical twins. When you see the one you see the other. A person cannot have genuine faith without obedience. Genuine faith gives birth to obedience, and genuine obedience springs from faith. [Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "Cost of Discipleship," p. 69]
Name is used in the sense of Christ’s character or reputation. His name represents His majesty, glory, holiness, sovereignty, righteousness, love, grace, mercy, etc. This indicates that this was a work of love eliciting from one beginning to recognize all that Jesus is. All that we do in Christian service should be for Christ’s glory.
The great object of Paul’s Apostolic office was to bring people of all nations to believe the truth in regard to this glorious person, Jesus Christ, and yield to Him the obedience due to that Name above every name.
In verses 6 & 7a Paul describes the recipients of the letter as (1) called of Jesus Christ, (2) beloved ones of God, (3) and called to be saints. "Among whom you also are called (ones) of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints."
These are the responsively called, all those who answer with obedience to the call of Christ as opposed to those who hear and disregard the outward call. Three descriptions of these disciples or Christians is given.
First, we are called to belong to Jesus Christ (or "called to be Jesus Christ’s"- predicate genitive) as another translation reads. And everyone does belong to Christ when they respond in obedience to the Gospel call. Along with every Christian’s call to salvation is their call to obedient service. You do not receive one without receiving the other (Eph. 2: 8-10). Our faith response to the divine call to salvation confers on us a spiritual endowment and responsibility.
Paul’s second description of the recipients of this letter is "beloved ones of God." This is the great distinction and blessedness of believers or disciples. They are the beloved of God. They are the objects of so great a love that God would even die for their sins and carry those sins away to be remembered no more!
Those that received this letter originally were "the beloved of God." Let us praise His dear name that not only were those originally the obedient of the gospel faith beloved of God, but all the obedient to Christ today also are beloved of God.
The recipients of this letter are also called "saints." People today have the idea that a saint is only someone who lived a holy life while being unreservedly devoted to the work of the church. That is not the scriptural definition of a saint.
Saints are those who have responded to the call of God. The word saint comes from the word holy, meaning to set apart. A saint is a sinner who in answer to his faith in the Lord Jesus has been set apart by the Holy Spirit for God. She or he is set apart from sin to holiness, from Satan to God, from the flesh to the spirit. God designates every born again believer a saint. We are so cleansed and set apart by the death and resurrection of Christ that we are holy ones, or, saints.
Paul then invokes on the saints a benediction or a blessing of a heavenly and spiritual nature in the later part of verse 7. "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
The Apostle pronounces on his readers the blessing of a deepening spiritual relationship with God. Grace, the unmerited kindness of God, comes before peace. We can never know the peace that God is able to give until we experience the grace that God is eager to bestow. The grace, Paul prays will be theirs, is grace for daily living. The peace is peace of heart, a state of Christian tranquility.
The formula from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ equates God the Father and Christ the Lord. God is our Father not only because He is the Author of all existence and the source of every blessing but especially because we have come into His eternal family by reconciliation through Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ is our Lord, our supreme ruler under whose care and protection we are placed and through whom all blessings actually come.
CONCLUSION
If a letter addressed to: the called of Jesus Christ, the beloved of God, called saints, were found in the street by one of your neighbors, do you think any body would bring it to you? Would they bring it to our Church? Or would our neighbors laugh and wonder who on this block or in this community is a saint?
The world has laughed often at our hypocritical lives. But seeing that saints are what our God calls us, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness and by the grace and peace of God become who we have been called! How? By the power that raised Christ from the dead - it can also raise us out of our vain manner of living.. .
