Untitled Sermon

ROMANS CHAPTER 1

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. ()

CALLED

The word that for called is the adjective klētos and it means to be summoned or to have your official presence requested. Understanding what is being said requires that we understand the context.

For example, in () Paul says that he doesn't deserve to be called an Apostle. The language is clear that what Paul is saying is that in title he is not worthy to be called an Apostle because of his previous persecution of the Church.

However, here Paul uses the word in the same way that Abraham was called () and Moses () and Isaiah () . This doesn’t belong to title but commissioning ( and and ).

This call has nothing to do with salvation, or being called a name; what Paul is wanting the Roman believers to understand is that he was commissioned By Jesus to the service of Apostleship.

One commentator stated that The “called” are those who have not only heard but have obeyed the divine call.1

Another important fact about Paul identifying himself as being called is that he is stressing divine calling over man’s choosing.

TO BE AN APOSTLE

The term Apostolos means “called out and set apart person.” To understand the concept of the word we look to the Jewish concept of the shaliah who was a legal agent of the one who sent him for the purpose of undertaking some task.

The key thing about the Shaliah is that the agent was imbued with the power and authority of the sender.1

This is also why we see Paul consider himself to be an ambassador of Christ (). Ambassadors were living on foreign land, under another lands authority, entrusted to speak as the authority in which they came. Paul concluded the idea of being an Ambassador when he said his citizenship is in Heaven ().

But Paul’s Apostleship is being stressed as divine and not man’s choosing.

We see what happens when men choose (), we never hear or read of him again.

But Paul was not appointed by Men he was appointed directly by Jesus Christ ( and ).

In some place Paul defends his Apostleship like in Galatians and that is because theologians believe that teaches of the requirement to be consider among the 12 Apostles who Paul places himself among.

That requirement is considered to be seeing the risen Jesus Christ ().

Paul’s call to Apostleship is not some statement of calling, but one of sure evidence and power. Paul does not simply claim a gifting, but he is able to clearly explain a calling.

What are you called to? Can you explain it. If you do not have a clear story of calling, then you might not be called in that area.

1) Paul saw the Risen Lord ( and ) .

2) Paul recieved direct revelation from Jesus ( and and )

You see Acts Jesus tells Paul he will be a servant and a witness to both things already revealed and things yet to be revealed.

Paul’s Apostleship was unique in that he would testify to not of new thing, but the manifestation of the plan () and and ).

3) Paul recieved a commission ( and ) similarly to how the original Apostles recieved a commission ( and ).

Paul’s Purpose was to be and Apostle

Set Apart (apart of him, even when he didn’t know it)

Paul saying that he was set apart is an interesting understanding and to get a full picture of what Paul means and when his purpose was established we have to look at a few letters of Paul.

The word for set apart is Aphorizo ἀφορίζω and it means to be selected or assigned.

It holds two meanings such as in () where it was men to set them apart, but it also speaks to God being the one who already previously set them apart.

In short it would be Men setting people apart for the work in which God already set them apart for.

Paul understood that his “setting apart” was not as some may argue, at the point when Jesus approached him on the Damascus road. Therefore, Paul uses the perfect tense emphasizing the continuing effect of the action. Paul had been set apart from birth for his ministry among the Gentiles ().1

Paul understood that who he was created be and called to be was who he was always.

Interesting enough Paul viewed his calling as such even though he was a persecutor of the Church who violently tried to destroy it ().

What this shows is that, you have a purpose and just because you may not know it, or be operating in it, you were made to be something.

Paul understood that everything has its time and when it was God’s plan to reveal who he was he did so ().

Jesus understood this about himself ().

We get frustrated and I do not say this to teach complacency but God your purpose will not pass you by, but do not waste this time of discovery because it prepares you.

For the Gospel of God

Paul says that the assignment he was set apart for was to proclaim the Gospel of God.

The word Gospel is Euangelion and it means to proclaim good news.

Remember the Bible doesn’t have a patent on words and so gospel was used by all people. In the emperor cult it was used to refer to important announcements.1

Therefore, Paul makes sure that people know what good news he is proclaiming. He is adds the object to distinguish it from all other uses of the term gospel.

This is why it is important for us to remember that we need to be clear of who we are and what we mean.

It is also important to know not just that your called, but the direction and expression of your call.

Interesting enough Paul says something different than we typically say. We say the Gospel of Christ and certainly Paul and other biblical authors use that language as well ( and ).

To understand we have to remember the cultrual context of the letter. They are having conflict between Jews and Greek and Paul appears to teach hard sayings to a Jewish audience ().

But Paul wants both Jew and Greek culture that the gospel in which he was called to proclaim was not a new gospel, he was a new a fuller revelation but a new revelation.

He does so by hinges the gospel he preaches to the good news that comes from God.

Look at what he says:

Promised Beforehand

What Paul is preaching was an Old Proclamation with a full Revelation and hinges it on the Old Testament.

What is the Gospel of God is salvation and redemption. However, he always was inclusive of all ethnic groups, I do not care what the corner screamers say.

Abraham was promised that he descendants would be blessed (ethnic Jews) and all the nation would be blessed through them ().

Paul giving the fuller understanding explain that to mean non ethnic Jews would be blessed as well ()

The blessing was not simply material but salvation according to Peter ()

We also see this twofold understanding prophized in () where God is calling back the falling away Israel, but then Paul teaches that the fuller meaning of the passage was to include non-ethnic Jews when he quotes it in ().

And we can look at even look the salvation of Israel and the purpose of Christ being to redeem Israel but also the nations in ().

This is why Paul says the gospel preached before hand....

Through the prophets in the Holy Scriptures

Do you see how important the word of God is? Paul is hinging his argument not on his own revelation but the witness of the word of God.

Here is why this is important. The gospel of God was understood to be a time when Israel would be redeemed, but the prophets didn't truly understand the dual nature of the promise and of even the prophecies they spoke.

Paul was so certain that the gospel of God was for the Jew first and then the Gentiles () because Jesus had revealed to him the fuller things ().

But notice that he didn’t say here, according to the revelation given to me. He said spoken through the prophets in the Scriptures.

What this means is that he wasnt given a new revelation, he was given the full interpretation of what was already revealed in the scripture.

In other words, what was revealed was tested and proven to be true (as Paul affirms it) through the word.

The reason i know this also is because Paul had previously knew the scriptures and yet persecuted the Church based on the partial understanding.

Listen this is the problem that we see to often anymore. People do not believe in the power of the word of God. People do not believe that your witness must come from the word. Everybody has a revelation, but how do we know if it is from God? The Scriptures.

Listen this isn’t the first time Paul has done this, even when he spoke of Jesus’ resurrection, before he got to human witnesses he said the scriptures spoke of it ().

Concerning the his son

So now we get into some theology. Paul says the gospel of God, that was spoken before hand and recorded in the scriptures all concerns Jesus Christ.

The gospel is “centered in God’s Son” (Goodspeed ). In him are brought into focus all the hopes of God’s people in the Old Testament (v. 3). God’s Son is the Father’s “game plan” for the reconciliation of lost humanity.1

We are going to learn something about Christ.

We learn that he is both human and divine.

Paul affirms what is theologically is taught as the Godman...that is that Jesus Christ is both human and divine.

What we call this is the hypostatic Union (Click to open)

The Bible affirms repeatedly that Christ is fully God ( , , , , )

The Bible affirms repeatedly that Christ is fully man (

1 Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 60–61.

1 Colin G. Kruse, Paul’s Letter to the Romans, ed. D. A. Carson, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Cambridge, U.K.; Nottingham England; Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos, 2012), 40.

1 Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995).

1 Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 31.

1 Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1988), 38.