November 9, 2003

PAUL'S SALUTATION

Romans 1:1-17

   The opening section of Romans is in three parts: the salutation (v. 1-7), personal references (8-16), and the thesis for this letter (17).

   Paul's salutation of seven verses is much more doctrinal than in any other epistle. Brevity characterizes his opening address to the Galatians, the Corinthians, and even the Thessalonians. His self description is in three parts, a servant or bond-slave of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, and one separated unto the gospel of God.

   He presents the gospel in two parts showing first its relation to the Old Testament and then its relation to the Son of God. He refers to the Lord "according to the flesh," and then "according to the spirit."

   The "grace and apostleship" he received were "for the obedience of faith," including all nations, and were addressed to the "saints at Rome." All those at Rome were beloved of God and saints by His call.

   Paul's titles are particularly telling. First he was a "servant," a bond-slave. Whereas this lowly title may seen unduly humble, it was the same as that used of the Lord in His humiliation, when He "took on Him the form of a servant (bond-slave)" (Phil. 2:7). Just as "one loves much when much is forgiven, even so Paul's sense of owing all to Christ is evident from the beginning. Among his first words to the Lord on the Damascus Road were, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" The sense of his servitude to the Lord of glory never left him. As he mentioned grace and apostleship, he could not help but be over-come with the sense of grace that not only saved him, but "put him into the ministry" (1 Tim. 1:13). Paul was not his own but was bought with a price. To those aboard the ship in great peril and distress Paul brought good news from God and gladly confessed, "Whose I am, and Whom I serve" (Acts 27:23).

   He was an apostle by God's call just as those he addressed were "saints" by God's call. Hebrews 5:4 reads "no man takes this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God..." Paul was an apostle, "not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ..." (Gal. 1:1). He was "ordained a preacher, and an apostle...a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth" (1 Tim. 2:7), and also set apart unto the gospel!

Ivan L. Burgener