[Romans Study 3-1]
Paul And The Gospel [Romans 1:1-7]
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 6 And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. – Romans 1:1-7
According to the custom of the ancient-letter style, Paul opens his letter with an introduction. How does he describe himself?
PAUL: WHO & WHAT Am I?
I Am A ‘Servant’ Of ‘Christ Jesus’
First and foremost, Paul identifies himself a servant; a servant of Christ Jesus. The word that he chooses out of all the words available to him is that of “servant.” To him, there was nothing more important than to be a servant.
The correct translation of the word “servant” as used here is ‘slave (doulos)’, a ‘bond-slave’; ‘the bond- slave of Jesus Christ’. This is the self-attribution of the author.
And Paul dearly called Jesus LORD (kurios). In Greek the word kurios describes someone who has undisputed possession of a person or a thing. It means master or owner, in the most definite and absolute sense.
Paul thought of himself as the slave of Jesus Christ, his Master and his Lord. Jesus loved him and gave Himself up for him, and therefore Paul was sure that he no longer belonged to himself, but entirely to Jesus. In this way, this word slave describes the utter obligation of love.
Kurios and doulos, that is the LORD and me, says Paul.
I am His slave, he says, His willing slave. I do not want anybody else to be my Master. Jesus is my Lord. He had bought me out with his precious blood; He had loved me and given Himself for me. By this love I became who and what I am today. I am not my own. There is nothing in me that can be claimed as mine but my everything is because of my dear Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. Therefore, I no longer belong to myself, but entirely to Jesus. I have been completely captivated and carried away by Him.’
Paul was a doulos, not of men, but of Jesus Christ. He was a bond-man, and hence not free. He owned not himself, nor controlled his own acts. He was bound by the will of another. But this bondage did not degrade him, it ennobled. It is true that Paul was fettered, but he was fastened by the will of Christ, which paradoxically leads to the finest form of freedom, freedom to do right, freedom from sin, and freedom from the fear of death. Such bondage is not vassalage, but the very perfection of freedom.
Kurios and doulos, master and slave, that is the beautiful confession of Paul.
‘Jesus had given me the most priceless love and that was giving his life for me. Because of this love, I was transformed and became who I am. I do not want anything else. His love is sufficient for me.’
In the face of this great love, Paul, a zealous and rabid persecutor, breathing out murderous threats trying to exterminate the Christian church, broke down. All his pre-Christian passion and his past were completely emptied out after knowing His love.
Then he realized that he was just a slave, and that Paul was really such a small one. Paul is of Latin origin, and the meaning of which is ‘small.’ Paul is such a Gospel-centric name. He came to realize that when he is week, then he is strong (2 Corinthians 12:10). Now he knew that what mattered was not what he could do, but what God had done. It has been put this way, “The law lays down what a man must do; the gospel lays down what God has done.” Paul now saw that salvation depended not on what man’s effort can do, but on what God’s love has already done. Given to us is grace, free and undeserved. This is the core of faith that Paul wanted to testify.
To Paul, Jesus Christ is always in the forefront, in the center. He cannot begin writing without at once introducing us to Jesus Christ. To Paul, Christ was the beginning and the end, the all-in-all. He was nothing apart from Him. You will find that in this introduction the Apostle mentions Christ at least five times. It is remarkable that in the first fourteen verses of the Epistle to the Ephesians he mentions Christ no fewer than fifteen times.
Republished with permission from Dr. Christy Tran, the author of “The Epistle to the Romans: Paul’s Love Letter from God.”