You are called to belong to Jesus Christ. You are called to a life of obedience to God, to a life of serving the gospel of God. How will the call to belong to Jesus Christ affect your life? What will influence your service for the gospel when you experience the salvation that comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ? Many people have heard the gospel message, that God sent His Son Jesus into
the world to live among men, and that he died and was raised from the dead to show us that He is the Son of God. Through the gospel message, many have come to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and by believing they have received the forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life. Through the gospel message, those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God now belong to Christ, and are called to a life of obedience to God, to a life of serving the
gospel of God. How should the call to belong to Jesus Christ affect your life? What should influence your service for the gospel of God when you experience the salvation that comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ?
In verse 1 of the first chapter of Romans, Paul describes himself as a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God. By being set apart for the gospel, Paul does not mean that he is to be set apart from society and kept in isolation; indeed, while Paul preached the gospel, he still supported himself as a tent-maker, and he interacted freely with all levels of pagan society. Instead, Paul was set apart to a commitment of serving God as a preacher of the gospel to all people. Paul's work as a servant of Christ Jesus was often difficult. Paul describes his life as a servant of Christ in his Second Letter to the Corinthians. Paul had been imprisoned. He was beaten. He had been shipwrecked three times. He had gone hungry. He was under mental pressure as he bore the heavy responsibilities of the churches he was serving. But Paul remained committed to preaching the gospel even though he faced the kind of hardship that would make most people want
to quit.
Why was Paul willing to endure hardship as a servant of Jesus Christ? Wasn't it enough for Paul to accept Christ as his Savior and continue living quietly as a tent-maker? What would cause each of us to want to serve Christ even though we might have to endure hardship by serving Him? Paul was willing to be set apart for the gospel because Paul knew that he was made righteous by the same gospel message he was preaching to others. Turn to Phil. 3:4. Beginning in v. 4, Paul describes his life as an unbeliever, as a man who
thought he could not possibly need the grace of God for his salvation. (read Phil. 3:4-6) Before his conversion, Paul was self-sufficient; he had confidence in his own life because of his Jewish ancestry, and the privileges that came from being a Pharisee. Paul sought to get right with God by performing religious rituals, and by trying to live a good life according to Jewish custom. Upon his conversion on the road to Damascus, Paul discovered that the only way to become righteous with God was by believing in Jesus Christ. We read beginning in v. 8 that Paul gladly gave up his high position
as a Pharisee so that he could serve God fully. Paul was willing to give up the privileges of his former life because he recognized that it was God who made him righteous, and there was nothing that Paul could do to match the righteousness that God provides to those who put their faith in Jesus Christ.
Because Paul was set apart as a servant of the gospel of God, we read in the first chapter of Romans that Paul's authority as a servant of the gospel came from the grace that he received as a believer in Jesus Christ. (read vv. 2-5) Paul recognized that the power of the gospel message is found in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The good news that Paul was to give as a preacher of the gospel was that God has provided salvation though Christ, and that salvation and eternal life are given to those who believe in Christ.
Paul served as a preacher of the gospel of God because when he was called to belong to Jesus Christ, he was also called to a life of service to the gospel. Paul recognized that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, and that the gospel provides a righteousness from God that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul was willing to endure hardship as a servant of
the gospel because Paul knew that as a believer in Jesus Christ, his life made a difference for God. Paul experienced a righteousness that comes from God to those who believe in the gospel message, a righteousness that forgives our sins and gives us eternal life.
You also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. You are called to a life of serving the gospel of God. You are called to a life of service for the gospel of God because God has provided you with a righteousness that is revealed in the gospel through faith in Jesus Christ.
How should being set apart as a servant for the gospel of God affect your life? Isn't it enough just to be saved from our sins and to wait for the eternal life you will receive because we are made righteous through your faith in Christ? You are set apart for the gospel because your service for the gospel makes a difference in the lives of the people you come in contact with everyday because the message of the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of
everyone who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Your work as a servant of the gospel makes a difference in the lives of people who are trying to get right with God, because many people that you meet every day think that they can become right with God by belonging to a church, and by living acceptable lives.
Your service for the gospel of God makes a difference in the lives of those who are seeking God because the gospel message you serve reveals a righteousness from God that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Righteousness from God does not come from following the Old Testament laws. We are not made right with God by being baptized or by putting money in the offering plate each Sunday. There is no work that we can do to earn the righteousness that God offers to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. The good news that we are to share as servants of the gospel is that God has provided salvation through Christ, and that salvation from sin and eternal life
are given to those who believe in Christ. Paul was set apart as a servant of the gospel, and we read beginning in v. 8 that Paul's commitment to serving the gospel was a complete commitment. (read vv. 8-10) How was Paul able to have a whole-hearted commitment to serving God? Wasn't there anything in Paul's life that kept him from being fully committed to serving God? A consistent claim that Paul makes
about his service for God was that he served with a clear conscience. What gave Paul a clear conscience to be a fully committed to serving God?
Turn to 2 Cor. 1:12. In v. 12, Paul is addressing rumors that are going around in the Corinthian church about the sincerity of his commitment to those Christians. (read v. 12) In defense of his conduct, Paul wrote that he was commited to serving the Corinthians. His motive for service was not out of selfishness, but rather came from a love for others, and they sought what was in the best interests of the Corinthians. The conscience of Paul and the other disciples who were involved in the church at Corinth was clear because
they were made righteous by their faith in the gospel message. They had experienced the saving power of God through the gospel, and their ministry to the Corinthian church was also blessed by the grace of God. Paul served God with a whole heart because he knew that his life as a preacher of the gospel made a difference in the lives of the
Gentiles to whom he was called to preach the gospel. Paul recognized that the gospel message is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, for in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith in Jesus Christ. Paul knew that the gospel he preached had the power to change the lives of those who heard it and believe it. You also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. You are called to serve God
with your whole heart as a servant of the gospel of God. You are called to serve the gospel of God with your whole heart because God has made you righteous through your faith in Jesus Christ.
Why should you serve God with your whole heart? Because your service for the gospel makes a difference in the lives of people you come in contact with everyday. You might be thinking to yourself: "I can't preach, I can't teach Sunday School. I couldn't even lead someone to Christ, I wouldn't know what to say! How could my life make a difference for God?" Serving the gospel is not only being involved in these ministries; serving the gospel also includes being a witness to those people we come in contact with daily, people who are seeking to get right with God. You can serve God with your
whole heart by the testimony of the righteousness of God that you bring to those with whom you meet everyday. You can serve God as a daily witness of the righteousness of God through your conversations and actions. The gospel that you serve with your whole heart reveals a righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul served God with a whole heart, and was fully committed to serving God as a preacher of the gospel. We also read that Paul had an obligation to preach the gospel. (read vv. 14,15) Paul did not serve as a preacher because he drew the short straw. He was not stuck with the job because no one else wanted to preach. Paul's obligation to preach the gospel was based on a sense of duty. In the first letter to the Corinthians Paul writes that he was compelled to
preach. God had laid on Paul the necessity of preaching the gospel.
Since Paul was obligated to preach the gospel, wasn't preaching a burden? Wouldn't Paul have been more effective if he weren't obligated to preach? Paul's obligation to preach was not a burden; in v. 15 we read that Paul was eager to preach the gospel to all who would listen. Why wasn't serving God out of a sense of obligation a
burden to Paul? Paul remembered God's grace in his life, how God saved him from a life of unbelief and uncertainty about the future, and gave him a life with a sense of purpose and accomplished for God. Paul knew that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, and that the gospel reveals a righteousness that comes from God to all who have faith in Jesus Christ. To Paul, serving God as a preacher of the gospel was the most important work he could do. Paul's work as a preacher of the gospel was not a burden
because the gospel message he preached made a difference in the lives of those who heard the message and believed.
You also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. You are obligated to serve the gospel of God, because God made you righteous when you heard the gospel message and believed. You are obligated to serve the gospel because God provides you with a righteousness that comes only from him, a righteousness that gives us eternal life.
You also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. If you have answered the call, and now belong to Christ, have you also made a commitment to serve God? When you belong to Christ, your life is set apart for the gospel of God. You have been called to serve the gospel with your whole heart and with an eager attitude as you use the talents God has given you. Your service for the gospel makes a difference in the lives of those who experience it, because the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, for in the gospel a righteousness from God is
revealed, a righteousness that is by faith.
Maybe you're not completely sure you belong to Christ. Perhaps you have not yet experienced the righteousness that comes from God through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. You have been trying to become right in the eyes of God by living an acceptable life, or through religious rituals, but in your heart you know that you are missing something. You can become righteous with God today by giving your life to Jesus Christ. Would you make that
decision today? You also are among those who are called to belong to Christ Jesus.
