LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
Welcome to the beginning of our in-depth study of the book of Romans! Romans 1:1-7 is a salutation and statement of theme. It reads as follows: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God, which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, through whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Christ; to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
If you are new to this study I highly recommend that you read previous posts; it will enable you to better understand the journey we are about to undertake. As we have learned, the great problem of man is his alienation from his Creator and God. No other problem in human life even comes close. What we do or refuse to do about this problem will determine our eternal destiny.
In Paul’s day as in ours, the ravages sin has wrought on the world are clearly seen. There is so much bad news. It is within the human heart to long for some truly good news; something that will make our hearts pound and our jaws drop in gleeful amazement. Good news so profoundly moving that it will leave us speechless with joy and astonishment. That is the good news that Paul brings! And it is as if he simply cannot wait to get to it. He begins to reveal the surprise in the first seven verses! MacArthur says it best:
“In Romans 1:1-7 Paul unfolds seven aspects of the good news of Jesus Christ. He first identifies himself as the preacher of the good news (v. 1)…then tells of the promise (v. 2), the proclamation (v. 5b), the purpose (v. 5c), and the privileges of the good news (vv. 6-7).” from John MacArthur’s commentary on Romans.
When Paul calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ in vs.1, the original Greek word is Doulos, and it means “to bind.” The best picture of what he means is found in Exodus 21:5-6, where a slave, who has the choice to be set free from his master, instead, because he loves his master, decides to stay with him voluntarily as his willing servant forever.
That is a beautiful picture of the commitment which Paul has made to his God. When we first comes to Christ, we are not only asking for salvation from the wrath to come, but we are turning our lives over to God. We are no longer in control, God is. This is what Paul meant.
There is, though, beauty and dignity in being even the least of God’s servants, as long as we remember that it is all by His grace, not our merit.
Next time we will continue looking at Paul’s calling and authority to speak to the Roman church. Until then, the Lord bless you all…Mike.
