PAUL’S CALLING CARD
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Opening Prayer
Lord God, help me to come into your presence today and appreciate in new ways your power to save.
Read ROMANS 1:1—7
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Romans 1
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 earthly life was a descendant of David,
4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.
6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflect
In what ways do you see diversity as beneficial to a Christian community?
How do you introduce yourself when you meet people for the first time? Do you ever mention your faith? Many of us talk about what we do—I’m a teacher/parent/student/retired, and so on. It’s a statement of our identity. In seven of his letters (Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Timothy), Paul introduces himself as an apostle and, in six of those, ‘through the will’ or ‘command’ of God. Uniquely in Romans, however, he says he was ‘set apart for the gospel of God’ (v. 1).
Paul could have continued straight from verse 1 to verse 7. It would have made perfect sense—‘set apart for the gospel of God. To all in Rome who … .’ Instead, he first introduces the focus of his letter and calling. So, how would you describe or explain the gospel? Here are some of Paul’s main points. It had been promised through the prophets (v. 2); it was about Jesus, who descended from David and is God’s Son (vv. 3, 4); he was empowered by the Spirit for holy living and raised from death, demonstrating the truth of his Sonship of God (v. 4). Paul had been called to minister this good news to gentiles—on God’s grace (v. 5).
Now, Paul gets to his intended readers. Scattered through different parts of Rome, living alongside gentiles in multi-ethnic and multicultural communities, they are also ‘called’ to key roles: they belong to Jesus; they are to be ‘his [God’s] holy people’ (vv. 6, 7). In this letter, in preparing them for God’s work, Paul knows he has difficult things to teach them, so he prefaces his words with prayer for them: ‘Grace and peace to you’ (v.7). Let’s hold on to this prayer as we go deeper into Paul’s letter.
Apply
How might you demonstrate godly, holy, and grace-filled living in communities where you and your church are called to be?
Closing prayer
Thank you, Lord, for the call you have given me. Help me to be faithful and live up to it today.
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