Sermon Tone Analysis

MBC - 5~/23~/2004 - Pastor Doug Thompson

*/“From Saul to Paul”/*

Romans 1:1

 

ROM 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

ROM 1:2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,

ROM 1:3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,

ROM 1:4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,

ROM 1:5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake,

ROM 1:6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

ROM 1:7 ¶ to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The life-transforming gospel is the theme that permeates Romans.

And the reason this book impacts people so powerfully is that Paul’s own life was changed, dramatically, radically, through the gospel.

*/Paul’s new identity: “a bond-servant of Christ Jesus.”/*

Imagine that you are writing an important letter to a group of people whom you had never met.

You want to introduce yourself at the beginning of the letter, but how would you identify yourself?

Ø      “I hold a B.A. from such-and-such college, where I graduated with highest honors, I sit on several boards, my name is listed in the “Who’s Who of Hoosiers,” and my income is just unbelievable . .

.”

How did Paul identify himself to the Christians at Rome?

 

“Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus.”

I.e., “My name is Paul, but actually. . .

I’m just a slave, I belong to someone else--it’s my Master who is important--and that is Christ Jesus.”

That’s the way Paul identified himself because that is the way he /saw/ himself: just a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The most important thing about Paul was not /who/ he is, but /whose/ he was.

Ø      Paul used the word /doulos/, the most abject, lowly term used to denote a slave.

This would have struck the ears of those Christians because it was a derogatory term.

Slaves were the lowest level in the social order of that day when slaves made up more than half of the population in the Roman empire.

Ø      1CO 3:5 What then is Apollos?

And what is Paul?

Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.

Servants = /diakonos/ = table-waiters--busboys!

When Janice and I got married I was working my way through school with odd jobs and one of them was serving as a busboy, waiting on people in a little black bowtie.

It doesn’t exactly build self-esteem!

But Paul wasn’t concerned about his own significance or honor.

He had surrendered any self-esteem he might have had to the service of His Master.

Look at--

 

Ø      1CO 4:1 Let a man regard us in this manner, as /servants/ of Christ and /stewards /of the mysteries of God.

The term used here is /hupēretēs/ (“servants”) which literally means “underrowers,” referring to the lowest level of rowers in the large galley of a Roman ship.

This was perhaps the hardest, most dangerous, and most demeaning work a slave could do.

These slaves were the lowest of the low.

And the term “steward” means caretaker and it comes from the OE word “stywarden,” or pigkeeper.

Paul was adamant that he was nothing, Jesus Christ and the Gospel entrusted to him were everything.

And what is striking is that Paul could have identified himself to these Romans as a Roman citizen and had immediate status in their sight!

Paul did appeal to his Roman citizenship, in Acts 22, when he was about to be scourged--

 

Ø      ACT 22:25 . . .

Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a /Roman/ and uncondemned?"

Ø      ACT 22:26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, "What are you about to do?

For this man is a /Roman./"

Ø      ACT 22:27 The commander came and said to him, "Tell me, are you a /Roman/?"

And he said, "Yes."

Ø      ACT 22:28 The commander answered, "I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money."

And Paul said, "But I was actually born a citizen."

Ø      ACT 22:29 Therefore those who were about to examine him immediately let go of him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a /Roman/, and because he had put him in chains.

Paul doesn’t say a word about that here, just “I’m a slave of my Master, Jesus.”

Now think about this statement: Jesus had been crucified as a criminal by the Romans in Jerusalem about 25 years earlier.

Paul became one of the most vicious, bloodthirsty crusaders against His followers, and /now/, he is preaching to Jew and Gentile alike that God raised Him from the dead, that He is the Son of God, and that He is Paul’s master.

He says that the living Christ rules his life!

The only way to explain Paul and what happened to him is that he was right: Jesus Christ is alive and conquering human hearts.

For Paul, that meant that he was under new ownership.

He had literally been bought and paid for by Christ and he belonged to Him, body and soul-- 

 

Ø      1CO 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

And it freed him from the opinions and judgments of others--

 

Ø      GAL 1:10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God?

Or am I striving to please men?

If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

To Paul, to live meant what?

Christ?

Everything was Christ to Paul--what about you?

Is the way you would identify yourself, as a slave of Jesus Christ?

I want you to understand as we study this epistle that it is not about the man, Paul, and his genius, it is about a man and his Owner, his Ruler.

Second--

 

*Paul’s new authority: “called as an apostle.”*

Even though Paul saw himself as nothing but a slave of Jesus Christ, he also recognized that God had called him to be an apostle.

And there has never been any higher calling for a human being than that of being called as an apostle--

 

Ø      1CO 12:28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers . .

.

Ø      REV 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

[You say, “what about Paul--#13?

I’m sure God has something special for him in that holy city--maybe a bridge will be named after him or something. .

.]

Paul identifies himself here as one of these called apostles.

He didn’t boast about it but he never belittled that position or the authority that came with it.

Paul wouldn’t defend himself against personal attacks or criticism, but he would stand up to anyone who challenged his apostleship because it came from God. Look at the end of v. 4--

 

Ø      Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake.

Ø      ROM 11:13 But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles.

Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, [But he didn’t take this on himself:]

 

Ø      GAL 1:1 Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),

 

Ø      1TI 2:7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Ø      1CO 1:1 Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,

 

What we see when we read Paul’s letters is a man who was humble and self-deprecating about himself, but absolutely clear about his call to be an apostle--

 

Ø      1CO 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

Ø      2CO 12:11 I have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me.

Actually I should have been commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody.

Ø      2CO 12:12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.

[Paul was a miracle-worker]

 

*/What was an apostle?

/*

The word/ Apostolos/ means “sent one,” a messenger, a representative, an ambassador.

This is the word that that describes 13 men (the Twelve, minus Judas who was replaced by Matthias in Acts 1, and Paul) whom Jesus personally chose and commissioned.

These thirteen apostles were all eyewitnesses of His resurrection--Paul got his own special encounter with the risen Christ on the Damascus Road.

And what we need to understand is that Jesus personally chose and commissioned these men and passed on to them His own Word and His own authority to proclaim His gospel and lead His church.

/They represented Him./ Let’s look at--

 

Ø      JOH 14:26  "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

Ø      JOH 16:13  "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

Ø      JOH 16:14  "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.