Lessons #03 and 04

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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +

+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +

+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +

+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +

+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +

+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +

+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +

+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +

+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +

+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +

+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +

+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +

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Paul – Agent of the gospel (Rom 1:1)

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

The words of this first verse of the epistle to Romans are intended to introduce the human author of the epistle, Apostle Paul. The verse in a sense conveys that Paul considered himself a slave of Jesus Christ and an apostle responsible for preaching the gospel. So, before we examine the verse, let me state that a message we believe the Holy Spirit wants you, the believer in Christ, to get out of the apostle’s introduction of the author of this epistle is this You should consider yourself a slave of Jesus Christ who is obligated to be a witness for Him. This message will become evident as we consider the words of the verse before us.

The very first word of the verse we are considering is Paul. Who is Paul? The personal name Paul is the Roman name given to an Israelite with the name Saul that was born a Roman citizen in Tarsus of Cilicia but who grew up in Jerusalem in the sense that he received his education in that city, according to Acts 22:2–3:

² When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said: ³ “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.

This passage does not explicitly state Paul was a Roman citizen but implied. Nonetheless, we have a direct assertion of the Roman citizenship of Paul in Acts 22:27–28:

²⁷ The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I am,” he answered. ²⁸ Then the commander said, “I had to pay a big price for my citizenship.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.

You see, there were two ways to be a Roman citizen: by birth and being naturalized based on criteria that included military service. Thus, to me, it is unconscionable that a person who has served in the military of this country would be deported. I think that many times people forget that human law is not the same as God’s law. Furthermore, God demands us to show mercy in the face of the law. Anyway, it is not difficult to understand how a Jew was a Roman citizen when we realize today that in many countries, once a child is born there that child is automatically a citizen of that country regardless of the parent’s nationality. It was certainly a high privilege in the ancient world to be a Roman citizen just as it is today with United States citizenship. This explains why some women from many parts of the world would spend substantial amount to come to this country to give birth in order that their children will become US citizens. That aside, Paul was educated in Jerusalem as indicated by the fact he studied under the famous Jewish Rabbi Gamaliel. His education, although not directly stated, included acquiring the skill of tent making, since that was his occupation, as stated in Acts 18:1–3:

¹After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ² There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, ³ and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.

We know nothing about the birth of Paul or his childhood. Our first introduction to him using his Jewish name of “Saul” was with respect to the death of Stephen recorded in the seventh chapter of Acts, specifically in Acts 7:58:

dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

He was originally a persecutor of believers, as indicated in Acts 8:1–3:

¹ And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. ² Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. ³ But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

His persecution of the church was intense that he pursued believers who lived outside Jerusalem, to bring them to Jerusalem to be punished as implied in Acts 9:1–2:

¹ Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

It was on his way to Damascus to persecute believers in Christ that he was converted when the Lord Jesus appeared to him, as recorded in Acts 9:3–6:

³ As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” ⁵ “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. ⁶ “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

His conversion was such that within a short period of time, he was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, as implied in Acts 9:19–20:

¹⁹ and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. ²⁰ At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.

The Jews in Damascus, based on his activity, tried to kill him but he escaped back to Jerusalem where the early church was reluctant to accept him until Barnabas introduced him to them but his stay in Jerusalem was not for extended time because of the plot to kill him, as recorded in Acts 9:24–30:

²⁴ but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. ²⁵ But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. ²⁶ When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. ²⁷ But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. ²⁸ So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him. ³⁰ When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

By the way, the narrative in Acts gives the impression that Paul immediately began to preach following his conversion but that does not seem to be the case. This is because it seems that it is sometime between Paul’s conversion and his preaching in Damascus that he went to Arabia, as he stated in Galatians 1:15–17:

¹⁵ But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, ¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.

Anyway, Paul made his way back to Tarsus and eventually made his way to Antioch, as indicated in Acts 11:25–26:

²⁵ Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶ and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

It was from Antioch that Paul launched his missionary work to Gentiles, first in company of Barnabas, as they were sent out for this work by the church in Antioch as directed by the Holy Spirit, according to Acts 13:2–3:

² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

Then after his split with Barnabas, because he did not want to take John Mark with him since he abandoned them in their first missionary trip, he continued his second missionary journey in the company of Silas, as stated in Acts 15:39–40:

³⁹ They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, ⁴⁰ but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.

We should note that in the early part of the history of Paul as a convert, he was identified with his Jewish name Saul but only during his first missionary Journey that Luke first introduced Saul with the name Paul in Acts 13:9:

Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said,

The introduction of the name Paul during his first missionary journey was quit fitting since he traveled in a world under the Roman Empire, so it was better for him to be identified with his Roman name.

Paul, although carried out missionary trips to Gentile nations, he suffered for preaching the gospel. His life of suffering after his conversion was in keeping with the spiritual law of sowing and reaping. He persecuted Christians and so he himself was persecuted in keeping with the declaration of the Lord Jesus Christ to Ananias in Acts 9:15–16:

¹⁵ But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. ¹⁶ I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

In keeping with the declaration of our Lord and the spiritual law of sowing and reaping, Paul suffered for the gospel. During his first missionary journey, he was stoned to the point he was thought to be dead until God miraculously revived him, as we read in Acts 14:19–20:

¹⁹ Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. ²⁰ But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

Later, Paul was beaten and put in jail in Philippi because he drove out evil spirits from a slave girl, as described in Acts 16:17–24:

¹⁷ This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” ¹⁸ She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. ¹⁹ When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ²⁰ They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar ²¹ by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” ²² The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. ²³ After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴ Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

He was probably beaten badly and nearly killed in Jerusalem until he was rescued by Roman soldiers, as described in Acts 21:27–34:

²⁷ When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, ²⁸ shouting, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place.” ²⁹ (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.) ³⁰ The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. ³¹ While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³² He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.

Beside these examples, Paul suffered tremendously for the gospel of Jesus Christ, as he recorded in 2 Corinthians 11:25–27:

²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶ I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. ²⁷ I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.

At any rate, our concern at this point is with the identity of the human author of the epistle we are considering. He had identified himself as Paul. The name Paul is usually a Roman surname, that is, a name that is borne in common by members of a family, so it is necessary for the author of the epistle to ensure that there was no confusion as to his identity, so he provided additional descriptions of himself in the rest of Romans 1:1.

The first way Paul described himself is in his relationship with Jesus Christ as in the phrase of Romans 1:1 a servant of Christ Jesus or literally a slave of Christ Jesus. This is because the word “servant” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (doulos) that means “a slave.” According to the standard Greek English Lexicon (BDAG) the Greek word is always translated “slave” and it was not until the “American times” was the word translated “servant” in place of the word “slave.” Kittle’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) indicates that although there is a Greek synonym (diakonos) to our word but that is distinct from our word because the primary emphasis in the Greek word (doulos) used in our passage is that of serving as a slave. I think that the translation “servant” diminishes what the Apostle Paul is communicating by his choice of this word. The stress on this word is the total dependence of a slave on his master. I will demonstrate by ensuing discussions that there is no question that the Greek word (doulos) used unquestionably has the meaning of a “slave.”

My first argument is with reference to the Greeks. To the Greeks, personal freedom was highly prized and that is why the Greeks fought to maintain their freedom. To them true freedom means to be independent of others in the sense of being able to manage one’s life and to live as one chooses. But a slave by nature belongs not to himself, but to someone else. The Greeks were very conscious of any service that resembles that of a slave. It does not mean that they did not serve their government, but a Greek found repulsive any service that is after the manner of a slave. For one thing, a slave does not have the possibility of evading the tasks laid upon him since he has no choice but to do what another person’s will imposes on him. A free man may refuse a task with little or no consequence. It is this particular element that the Greeks found very offensive that they were careful not to perform any form of service that will indicate that they are slaves. Therefore, any service that has the slightest sense of dependence and subordination was very debasing and contemptible.

My second argument is based on the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The Hebrew word (‘ebed) that is translated a slave is nearly in all cases translated in the Septuagint (LXX) by the Greek word (doulos) the apostle used. When the meaning of the Hebrew word (‘ebed) is used to mean “servant of God” as used mostly in the latter half of the book of Prophet Isaiah such as in Isaiah 52:13:

See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

The Greek word used in LXX is a different Greek word (pais) than used in our passage of study. It is clear that the Jews were conscious of their slavery experiences and that is the reason there are elaborate rules Yahweh gave to Israel governing how to treat slaves to avoid abuses. For example, whenever an evil intent could be proved (Exodus 21:14) or the slave died (Exodus 21:20), the master was to be punished. So, for them to use the Hebrew word (‘ebed) for such passages dealing with serving others is significant. It is true that later in the land of Palestine, people became sensitive to the word that indicates slavery as were the Greeks. The point remains that the Greek word (doulos) was used to translate the Hebrew word (‘ebed) that means “a slave.”

My final argument is based on the fact that when the Greek word (doulos) is used in certain passages in the NT, the idea of complete obedience is involved. An example will suffice. We read in Matthew 8:9:

For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant (doulos), ‘Do this,’ and he does it.

The implication is that a doulos does not have a choice, he simply does what he is told. He is in the position of absolute obedience to his master.

We may ask: Why did the translators choose the word “servant” instead of “slave?” The answer lies with the concept attached to slavery. Even in Judaism, in the time of Jesus, as for the Greek world, a slave was on a lower level of humanity. By law, the slave was classed with immobile goods without any rights of the law and could not own property. In religious life, he had a limited obligation similar to the wife of his master. A slave being considered a property was treated by his master any way he chose. The view of a slave was such that according to the Rabbis the worst insult a man could hurl to another was to call him “a slave.” As I indicated previously, the Jewish laws provided some form of protection for slaves but the laws for Israelites who are slaves are different. An Israelite, who is a slave, must be freed during the jubilee or after serving for six years. Of course, if he does not want to be freed, the instruction is for his ears to be pierced to mark him as a slave for life (Exodus 21:6). At any rate, based on the unpleasantness associated with being a slave, you can understand the reason the translators, in my opinion, chose to translate our Greek word (doulos) as “servant” instead of “slave.”

The NT, however, has given a higher meaning to the Greek word doulos. We begin with the way our Lord used it in some of His teachings and parables. He used the verb form (douleuō) to mention slaves in His teaching in Matthew 6:24:

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Before commenting on this verse, the translation “money” is not really a bad one, but a fuller rendering of the Greek word may be “wealth” because wealth includes not just money but also property. Also, the word translated “hate,” means here to “prefer.” In this verse, our Lord is dealing with the possibility that a slave may have two masters but if that is the case, his total commitment to both becomes almost impossible. For one thing, both may require from him conflicting functions which will create problems. For example, both may require him to do two different things at a given time. Who should he obey? If he obeys one, then he is not a true slave to the other. There is another aspect to this teaching, if one master sets him free but the other refuses, then the slave is half free and half slave which still means he is a slave. This teaching means the overthrow of slavery in terms of total commitment. Remember what our Lord is really teaching is the question of commitment. The believer cannot be controlled by wealth and truly serve God. I want to be clear because people often take this type of passage to preach that wealth is wrong. No, what our Lord is teaching is in terms of control. You cannot be controlled by wealth and be committed to your service to the Lord. How can one tell if this is the case? There is really one simply test. If wealth is the top priority of your life, you are controlled by it. Furthermore, if you desire to be wealthy at all costs or by doing things that you know to be doctrinally incorrect, you are controlled by it.

Another use of the Greek word (doulos) by our Lord is in Matthew 24:45:

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant (doulos), whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?

Here our Lord has indicated that a slave can be put in a high position of responsibility. He is just not subhuman, without intellect or initiative. This statement of our Lord, no doubt, has the effect of seeing slaves in a different light, that is, our Lord did not endorse the contemporary verdict on slaves as a contemptible lower class.

The way the Greek word (doulos) is used in the NT to show that all men are under a different kind of slavery adds to a new view of this word. Our Lord puts it this way in John 8:34:

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave [(doulos)] to sin.

And Apostle Paul puts it this way in Romans 6:16:

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

What is clear is that a person who is outside Christ is a slave either of sin or of the Law (Romans 7:6, 25). This person is under the slavery of fear of death (Hebrews 2:15) and under his lusts. The application of the Greek word (doulos) to Apostle Paul as in our passage Romans 1:1 and to his fellow workers (Colossians 4:7) help to change how our Greek word is viewed. Above all, the greatest dignity to this word comes from its application to our Lord Jesus Christ in Philippians 2:7:

but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Here it is said that Jesus Christ took upon Himself the “form of a servant (doulos).”

We have seen the progress and the development of the Greek word (doulos), so we ask, what does Paul mean when he applies this title to himself? There are several things that Paul communicates when he calls himself “a slave of Christ Jesus.” First, he draws attention to the fact that his master is no other than the God of the universe. Slavery is very terrible because it involves the imposition of one’s will over another. But when the master is the Lord Jesus Christ, it is a welcomed condition because He is God and as such being sovereign, His will must be submitted to at all times. Furthermore, whatever He desires of His servants are the things that will bring glory to Himself and there can be no injustice on His part. He is a loving savior and so what could be better than to be a slave of Jesus Christ. It is the highest form of honor that one can be considered a slave of Jesus Christ. Remember that a slave is always purchased at a price. For Christ to purchase us from the slave market of sin, to free us from the repression of the devil, is the highest privilege of this life. The second thing Paul wants to communicate with this phrase a slave of Christ Jesus is that he is not the one setting the agenda for what he does. He follows the task that has been laid for him. A slave does not question his master. The apostle is saying something like “I do not always understand what the master asks of me, but I trust him completely. I do not have to question Him, He knows all the facts, He has the plan, all I can do is to follow.” The third thing implied by Paul in the literal phrase slave of Christ Jesus is that he gives unqualified obedience to whatever instruction he receives from Christ. The fourth thing is that Paul knows that a just slave master provides for the welfare of his slave, therefore, it is not for him to worry in this life, since he has someone who is always looking out for him, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the One that provides the means by which to fulfill His purpose and plan. You should apply these facts to yourself to recognize it is important that you see yourself as a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Be that as it may, the apostle indicated that he is not a slave to any human but to God as that is implied in the literal phrase slave of Christ Jesus. The phrase indicates that the apostle belongs to Christ Jesus who is his master. Anyway, it is interesting to observe that the apostle did not say Jesus Christ but Christ Jesus. In other words, he reversed the order that is found in most of the NT passages. In fact, Apostle Paul is the only writer of the epistles to the churches of Christ that reversed the order that is found in the NT, that is, Jesus Christ. Of the 90 occurrences of the phrase Christ Jesus in the NT, the apostle used it 89 times. The only other usage of the phrase is when Luke describes Paul preaching before Governor Felix as we read in Acts 24:24:

Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus.

Thus, we are correct to assert that the apostle is the only writer of the epistles to use this order of Christ Jesus. There may not be much difference in either using the phrase “Jesus Christ” or “Christ Jesus”. If there is any difference between Jesus Christ and Christ Jesus, it is that the apostle did not prefix the word “Lord” to Christ in the phrase Christ Jesus in contrast to the phrase Jesus Christ where the apostle severally preceded the phrase with the word “Lord” although he used the word “Lord” after the phrase Christ Jesus only twice in his epistles. He did so in Romans 8:39:

neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Likewise, the apostle used the word “Lord” after the phrase Christ Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15:31:

I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This notwithstanding, it appears that when the apostle uses the phrase Christ Jesus that his intent is to focus on the dignity of the title Christ perhaps as a way to focus on the deity of Jesus. This aside, the first description of Paul of himself is that he is the slave of Christ Jesus. Considering all I have said, can you honestly describe yourself as a slave of Christ Jesus? A good way to test of whether you consider yourself a slave of Jesus Christ is whether you worry about your needs or not. If you consider yourself a slave of Jesus Christ then you will not worry, knowing that He will prove all your needs since He is your master.

The second way Paul described himself is as an invited or summoned apostle. It is this description that is given in Romans 1:1 called to be an apostle. The expression to be is not in the Greek since literally the Greek reads called apostle. The word “called” is translated from a Greek adjective (klētos) that pertains to being invited so means “called, invited.” It is an adjective used predominantly by Apostle Paul in that of the ten occurrences of the word in the Greek NT, it is used seven times in his epistles to the Romans and Corinthians. That the word is an adjective is evident in the use of the word in description of those associated with the Lamb as He defeats the “beast” and the “ten kings” who will attack Him as stated in Revelation 17:14:

They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

Here the words “called,” “chosen”, “faithful” are adjectives so it is clear that our word is an adjective. The word may be used to describe being called or appointed to an office. In our passage, the word has the sense of “summoned,” that is, “denoting someone whose participation has been officially requested for which refusal is not an option.” Consequently, Paul from the start wants the recipients of this epistle to know that he was an apostle because he was invited or called and so it is not a matter of his desire or preference but of God who called him. In effect, Paul in using the Greek word translated “called” in the NIV wanted probably to do two things. Firstly, he wanted to further explain that he was a slave because he had no option but to function as an apostle. Secondly, he wanted to convey that the title “apostle” appended to him is because he has been called to the office of an apostle.

The word “apostle” is translated from a Greek word (apostolos) that basically means “a messenger” or “one sent.” In the Greek world, the word refers to a messenger with or without extraordinary status. The sense of the word as a messenger without extraordinary status appears in the NT in Jesus’ declaration in John 13:16:

I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

Here in John 13:16, the Greek word translated “apostle” in Romans 1:1 is translated “messenger.” The word is also used in the sense of an extraordinary messenger of God. Thus, it is in this sense that Jesus Christ is called an apostle in Hebrews 3:1:

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

Jesus is an apostle in the sense that the Father sent Him not only to testify to the truth but with the mission of making atonement for our sins. This usage of Greek word to describe Jesus Christ as an apostle notwithstanding, the predominant usage of the Greek word in the NT is for a group of highly honored believers with a special function as God’s envoys. Even in this usage, the word “apostle” is indeed used both in restricted and general senses. In a restricted sense, the word is used to refer to the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ whom He chose from among His disciples and designated them with that title, as we read in Luke 6:13:

When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:

The Holy Spirit through Apostle Peter indicates that for an apostle to be considered a member of the Twelve, the individual should meet two qualifications. He must have been with Jesus during His earthly ministry and must have also witnessed His bodily resurrection, as stated in Acts 1:21-22:

²¹ Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²² beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection."

Paul did not meet both qualifications for being a member of the Twelve so that he was not among the Twelve technically as that position was occupied by Matthias who, no doubt, was among the Twelve, as implied in the declaration given in Acts 6:2:

So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.

The Twelve here would have included Matthias since he was, from the time of his selection, regarded as one who replaced Judas Iscariot. In any event, the point is that the word “apostles” in the NT is used in an exclusive sense to refer to the Twelve.

The Twelve, however, are not the only ones described with the word “apostle” in the NT. There were others mentioned as apostles. Barnabas was described with this title in Acts 14:14:

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:

Another individual that was recognized as an apostle was James, the half-brother of Jesus. Paul included him among the other apostles in Galatians 1:19:

I saw none of the other apostles — only James, the Lord's brother.

James was not the only one that was mentioned as an apostle by Paul but also Andronicus and Junias in Romans 16:7:

Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

The sentence They are outstanding among the apostles is taken by some to mean the apostles knew them well. However, the most likely interpretation is that these men were counted as apostles and were well known. This is in keeping with the fact that there were others described as apostles outside of the Twelve. Paul was certainly an apostle of Jesus Christ in a class by himself because of his call directly by Jesus Christ after His resurrection although he grouped himself with the others that he called apostles in 1 Thessalonians 2:6:

We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you,

The phrase apostles of Christ here refers to Paul and Silas. How do we know? It is because both came to Thessalonica to preach the gospel, as evident from Acts 16:40-17:1:

Acts 16:40:

After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.

Acts 17:1:

When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

When Paul used the phrase apostles of Christ in 1 Thessalonians 2:6 in describing himself and Silas, he had in mind that Silas was sent by Christ as his special envoy as he was. Of course, it is possible that Silas was also an original disciple of Jesus as one who witnessed His bodily resurrection since he was one of the leaders in the early church, according to Acts 15:22:

Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers.

At any rate, the word “apostle” as Paul used it in Romans 1:1 is not only to describe himself as a messenger of God with an extraordinary status and function but also to describe his office of apostleship. In any event, Paul described himself as an invited or summoned apostle of Christ.

The third way Paul described himself is as one selected and assigned to a specific purpose that is the gospel of God as we read in Romans 1:1 set apart for the gospel of God. The expression “set apart” is translated from a Greek word (aphorizō) that may mean “to separate,” that is, “to remove one party from other parties so as to discourage or eliminate contact” as the word is used in the quotation from the OT Scripture that is intended to communicate to believers that they are to remove themselves from the activities of this world that would contaminate their souls as implied in 2 Corinthians 6:17:

“Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

The word may mean “to set apart,” that is, “to select one person out of a group for a purpose” as Apostle Paul used it to indicate that God had set him apart from birth for the work of the ministry as recorded in Galatians 1:15:

But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased.

In our passage of Romans 1:1, the word has the sense of “to be selected and assigned for a specific purpose.” The specific purpose the apostle was selected is given in the phrase of Romans 1:1 the gospel of God.

The word “gospel” is translated from a Greek word (euangelion) that may mean “details relating to the life and ministry of Jesus,” hence means “good news of Jesus” as the word is used in the introduction of the book of Mark in Mark 1:1:

The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The phrase beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ is more literally beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ. The Greek word may mean “good news as a proclamation” and so means “gospel” as the word is by Apostle Paul to describe the message he preached to Gentiles, as recorded in Galatians 2:2:

I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.

In our passage of Romans 1:1, the apostle used it in the sense of “good news,” that is, “positive information about recent and important events regarded as worthy of celebration.” The good news, the apostle indicated is from God and about God since that is how to understand the phrase gospel of God. The apostle was immediately carried away with the mention of the phrase, so he elaborated on it. It is with this elaboration that we begin our study next week. However, let me end by reminding you that You should consider yourself a slave of Jesus Christ who is obligated to be a witness for Him. This means that you should be involved in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ by personally witnessing to others about Him.

04/12/24