Sermon Tone Analysis

Romans 1:1-6

The Heart of Apostolic Faith

 

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.[1]

| O |

f course, there was no observance of Easter among the Apostolic churches.

Certainly, there was no holiday such as our modern observance.

The early believers did, however, celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on an ongoing basis.

Each Lord’s Day service was a celebration of the victory of Christ the Lord over death, hell and the grave.

The practise of having a particular season set apart for commemoration of the resurrection would have seemed foreign and utterly unnecessary to those first Christians.

The formality of this Easter season would have seemed contrived to the first saints since they worshipped the Living Son of God always.

I am not suggesting that it is wrong for us to celebrate Easter, but I do note that if all we observe is an annual memorial of the Resurrection of Christ our Lord, then we are at best sub-Christian in comparison to the New Testament saints.

What we should endeavour to recapture is the heart of Apostolic Faith.

When we expose what lay at the core of faith in the days of the first blush of the Faith, we will discover that the Resurrection was central to faith and practise.

In order to explore this vibrant first faith, join me in reviewing the initial verses of Paul’s letter to the Roman saints.

Paul Believed God was Personal and Knowable — Note the intimacy intimated and openly expressed in these opening words.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God…  Indeed, Paul considered himself to be a servant of Christ Jesus.

It is regrettable that we are so sensitive in our modern age.

The translation in my Bible, as is true of most modern translations, softens the Greek term δοῦλος to read servant instead of slave, which is closer to the usage of the word in New Testament days.

“We have here an emphasis on serving as a slave.

In this word we have a service which is not a matter of choice for the one who renders it, which he has to perform whether he likes or not, because he is subject as a slave to an alien will, to the will of his owner.”[2]

At this point, you may question how I can speak of intimacy when Paul is using such strong language concerning his service to God.

The answer to the question lies in two lines of thought.

First, Jesus emphasises the role of His people as slaves to God.

What may best be described as a synonym of this Greek term is another Greek word διάκονος, which we usually translate into English as servant or sometimes as deacon.

The difference between the two concepts is that in the verbal forms, δουλεύω stresses subjection, whereas “διακονέω has the special quality of indicating very personally the service rendered to another.”[3]

Jesus uses the two terms essentially interchangeably when speaking of the Christian.

He came to serve.

He was a servant.

Those who will be first in the Kingdom of Heaven must be servant to all.

Therefore, when Paul speaks of himself as a slave of God, he is not negative, as we might think.

Again, Paul says he is “called an apostle” (lit.

translation of κλητὸς ἀπόστολος).

It is true that he is called to be an apostle, but he is emphasising the action of God in setting him apart to this particular service.

He makes much of the fact that God has personally intervened in his life as he writes in his various letters.

Consider a few of the instances where the Apostle speaks of God’s appointment.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus *by the will of God* according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus [*2 Timothy 1:1*]…  Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus *by command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope* [*1 Timothy 1:1*].

Paul, an apostle—*not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father*, who raised him from the dead [*Galatians 1:1*]…

At issue is the fact that God is not a distant God who serves as sort of an absentee caretaker of the world following creation.

Rather, the True and Living God longs for fellowship with His creation and actively involves Himself in directing the affairs of those who have yielded their lives to Him.

Therefore, the Apostle could write at a later time, I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.

But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus [*1 Timothy 1:12-14*].

Why does God’s personal involvement matter for us?

That God can be known should encourage each one who is yet outside the grace of God.

Since He is knowable, we can have a personal relationship with the Living God.

This is not an invitation to mere religion consisting of rote exercises, it is an invitation to an experiential faith in which the God of all creation seeks to make Himself known to each individual.

You need not guess whether God accepts you, but rather you can know that He accepts you, just as Jesus has said.

Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light [*Matthew 11:28-30*].

How powerful is the invitation that God issues through Isaiah.

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

[*Isaiah 1:18*]

 

To each Christian, there is great comfort in this because we know that we are not simply wandering souls hoping that somehow we can please God.

He knows me and He calls me by name.

He directs my steps and watches over me as His beloved child.

Paul Believed God Gave the Word — Unquestionably, the prophets and evangelists who wrote the Word of God were assured that the words they penned was God speaking through them.

Listen to the Apostle.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures [*Romans 1:1, 2*].

The Bible is not simply a collection of ancient writings, but it is the very Word of the True and Living God.

God promised a Saviour.

He announced from the Fall of our first parents a Deliverer.

This is the Gospel, the Good News of God.

Even as God pronounced judgement on the deceiver of our first parents, He promised a deliverer.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.

[*Genesis 3:15*]

 

In this protoevangelium, God promised that /the seed of the woman/ (lit.

to translate the intent of the Hebrew phrase וּבֵין זַרְעָהּ הוּא).

Her seed would crush the head of the serpent.

What is so amazing is that Hebrew people counted seed as being from males, but a woman would produce a seed—a child—that would crush the serpent’s head.

Down through the ages, repeatedly God promises One who will set His people free from sin and deliver them into the glorious light of God’s goodness and grace.

Through a wayward prophet for hire the Living God prophesied a star … out of Jacob and a sceptre … out of Israel [*Numbers 24:17*].

In this, that wicked prophet spoke of the coming Saviour who would crush sin.

Isaiah penned a prophecy that reads more like history than it does prophetic words.

Isaiah’s words written 750 years before the Advent of Christ still thrill our souls.

Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned every one to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered