Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Romans 1:1, KJV)
Paul begins his letter to the Christians in Rome, “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated – set apart – to the Gospel of God, which He had promised in advance by His prophets in the Holy Scripture.” Romans 1:1-2.
Paul regards himself as a servant, a slave of Jesus Christ. He reminds us that he was ‘called to be an apostle’. It was a divine calling. He was not one of the original twelve disciples, and we need to look at the whole life and character of Paul, because he’s very unusual, absolutely unique – it’s amazing how God called and chose him! Scripture is right. Jesus said, “Many are called – but few are chosen!”
There is no question that in the days of the Bible, and in history and even today, that there are people who are ‘set apart’ by God, from birth, for a specific purpose. Look at Moses. At about the time Moses was born, Pharaoh had commanded all Hebrew baby boys be thrown into the Nile at birth, but Moses’ mother hid him for three months, and when she could no longer hide him, she devised a plan to save his life… She put him in a basket made of reeds, near where Pharaoh’s daughter bathed, and Moses’ sister waited nearby – and so his life was rescued, we know the story. So right from the moment of his birth there is an indication that there is a strong calling, some specific purpose that God was going to fulfil in the life of Moses. Of course, we know what that was!
I’m seeing that the same thing applies with Paul! And let’s get back to him. He’s a servant of Jesus Christ, separated for a purpose! Which was to proclaim the Gospel of God, which was in fact proclaimed in the Old Testament and promised in advance by the prophets concerning Jesus!
For me as an evangelist, to preach the Gospel is to preach salvation. But Paul is saying that the Gospel itself is something even deeper, it’s the revelation of the Old Testament prophecy that Jesus, who was born in the flesh, IS the Son of God! Who has come to save us! This ‘news’ is revealed by the Old testament prophets! But the amazing thing is that the Jews, who had the prophets, and studied the prophets to the exclusion of all else, and even today, the Orthodox Jews, who study the Scripture in exactly the same way, so much so, that they don’t work, they are supported by the State and even up until this point exempted from the compulsory National Service in the army – their whole lives are devoted to the study of Moses and the prophets – yet Paul says, ‘God has blinded their eyes’, so that although they have the Scripture, they have the prophecies – they still don’t see and don’t understand!
There is even a danger that many people who today might call themselves ‘Christians’, and who read the Bible, still even they are blinded and don’t understand the real Truth, that God is revealing through the Scriptures.
…Called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Romans 1:1, KJV)
But Paul was called and set apart to demonstrate and to prove to the world who Jesus is, that He is the Son of God and the only hope of salvation. Yes, Jesus was of the ‘seed of David’, of the royal line of Judah ‘according to the flesh’, but ‘declared to be the Son of God with Power, by the Spirit of Holiness, by the Resurrection from the dead’! Rms 1:3-4. The whole of the Old Testament is a prophetic declaration of the Son of God and that He would be demonstrated to the world by the Resurrection!
And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: (Romans 1:4, KJV)
Resurrection of the dead was a major argument between the Sadducees who didn’t believe in the Resurrection of the dead, and the Pharisees, who were looking for it. But there came a blindness when they couldn’t see the miracle of Christ’s birth and His Resurrection – foretold in the Old Testament – now come to life! This is the Gospel that has to be declared! And Paul was called and set apart for this specific purpose, to declare who Jesus really is! Born again Christians would recognise this, yet we also have to realise that this is something God is calling us to demonstrate to the world! This is not just a ‘religion’ – but the Power of God released through Jesus Christ! For this reason, Paul ‘received grace and apostleship, to promote obedience to the faith in His Name among ALL nations’! Verse 5.
We need to be obedient to this faith in the knowledge of who Jesus is. The whole of our salvation is centred on Christ alone! Outside Jesus Christ there is no salvation!
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; (Romans 1:9, KJV)
In vv9-12 Paul says, “God is my witness, that without ceasing I make mention of you in my prayers” – we need to pray one for another – “That I may be able to come to you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to establish you, so that TOGETHER we may be comforted by our mutual faith.” This has been one of the problems with the lockdowns, when we haven’t had the normal services – because the whole purpose of our faith and our meeting together is to strengthen one another. Not to criticise, not to condemn, but to come together to build ourselves up, to grow spiritually in the faith. Because when we first come to Christ, we are born as babies, we have to grow into spiritual maturity. Unfortunately there are too many who don’t grow in grace.
This reminds me of a story of a boy who kept falling out of bed. There would be a bump, and Mum or Dad would have to go up and put him back to bed. But the boy kept on doing it! One day his father asked him, “Why do you keep falling out of bed?” The little boy replied very factually, “It’s because I stay too near to the getting-in side!” This is a big spiritual lesson! The reason some people ‘fall out of the faith’, become weak in their faith, even lose their faith, is because they haven’t progressed. They’re staying too near to that first moment of salvation, yes, they’re ‘in bed’, but they keep ‘falling out’ because they don’t move on! I challenge you, move on in the faith, grow in grace and faith, in order that you may encourage others coming behind you, who have been in the faith for longer.
I’m not just talking about preachers, I’m talking about every single Christian – if you are in the faith, growing in the faith, you should be an encouragement to those who are coming on and are new in the faith. I had quite a difficult situation in my own church when I was still a pastor. We’d had a wonderful crusade, and many were added to the church. I was expecting all those old believers to help me to encourage and build up the new ones. But instead, those older ones were jealous of the attention I was giving to the new converts and began to find reason to criticise them, only because they weren’t acting like mature believers! It’s just as if mum and dad were to criticise their children because they’re children! No! You thank God they’ve been born, and you know, they will grow! That’s why Paul was concerned to impart something that the Christians in Rome might be ‘established’ – v11.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16, KJV)
Paul is talking to the Greek and the ‘barbarians’, non-Greek, v14. He’s not just speaking to Jewish converts, but to every culture, for, he says, “I’m not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ – for it is the Power of God to salvation to everyone that believes, to Jew and Gentile,” v16. I love this verse, because Paul says the Gospel is the Power of God – revealed! All the Power of God, as Paul wrote in vv3&4, is in Jesus Christ, declared to be the Son of God with POWER! All the Power of God is revealed in the Gospel we preach. We’re not just preaching forgiveness and salvation – we’re preaching the Glory and the Power that Jesus has and is and which we can receive from Him! People talk about miracles and healing, but I see more miracles of healing when I’m preaching the Gospel than when I’m preaching in a church…! I see them by the thousand. I don’t know any living man who has seen as many miracles of healing as I have. It’s quite normal for up to one third of the thousands, tens of thousands of people listening to me – to be miraculously healed. I preach the Gospel, then I call the people to repent, and then I say, “Now I will pray for the sick! And when I do, and a miracle happens, this is the demonstration and proof of the Gospel of the Power of God which I have just preached to you!” I say to them, “I’m not a healer, I’m not a healing evangelist, Jesus – HE is the healer!”