Romans 1:1-7 Loved by God and called to be Saints - by Ken Clezy
Romans 1:1-7 is Paul’s longest introduction to his longest letter by far; by the standards of the time it was exceptionally long, and was written to a church he hadn’t visited.
Why?
The Roman church was largely Gentile, because a few years earlier the emperor Claudius had kicked Jews out of Rome, including Jewish-background Christians. Nero allowed them back, but a few years’ domination of the Roman church by Gentiles allowed disagreements about law and grace to surface again, so Paul needed to deal with that (ch 1-8) and also to remind Gentile Christians that God hadn’t finished with the Jews (ch 9-11). Finally he has important chapters about Christian living. Also, he hoped to visit them and have them help him on his way to Spain.
Way back, why did Paul call himself Paul?
I think as the apostle to the Gentiles, he reckoned he should use a non-Jewish name. Saul is a diminutive of Samuel; Paul comes from the Latin word for short. Most translations of v1 have Paul calling himself a servant of Christ Jesus. The Greek word however means slave as my Arabic Bible makes clear.
In OT times slaves sometimes found they were better off staying with their masters than taking their freedom (Deut 15:17; Ps 40:6). That was Paul’s attitude to Jesus, even though slaves have precious little in the way of rights or possessions. They do what they’re told when they’re told.
Does that describe our relationship to our Saviour?
Paul said he was called to be an apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God. We read about that call in Acts 9, more dramatic than yours or mine, but Scripture makes it clear that none of us will come to God unless we’re called by the Holy Spirit (Rom 9; I Pet 1:1-2). Predestination is a difficult concept, and must be balanced against such verses as God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Eph 2:10 tells us that God planned things for us to do before we were born, which seems to support predestination.
The Gospel he proclaimed beforehand by his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son; the whole OT prepares for Jesus’ coming (see Luke 24:27, 44) He was a descendant of David, as genealogies in Matthew and Luke attest, but it was his resurrection that proved he was God. Jesus said so many times, but the disciples couldn’t believe it until they saw the risen Jesus. They (and the early church) were transformed by it. Likewise, it is the risen, eternally living Christ, seated at the right hand of God, whom we serve.
Paul was called to preach the Gospel to people from among the Gentiles: is this a hint of predestination again? To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints. There again is that word ‘called’. Whether or not that refers to predestination is unclear. And all believers are saints, pace Roman Catholic doctrine.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s hard to define grace; graceful is easier to understand. Think of Thai dancers, and the beauty of their movement. All our conduct must demonstrate a similar kind of beauty in a spiritual sense. We can’t show it by own strength; it’s a gift from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace too is a gift from God. Too many Christians don’t have it in full measure. Why not? First, because we can’t bring ourselves to believe he has forgiven us for absolutely everything. Second, we fail to do what we know he wants us to do, sins of omission, and third, deliberately sinning in thought or deed.
Paul rarely speaks of God as his or our father except in his introductions; elsewhere his preferred wording is the (God and) Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He always speaks of God the Father first, Jesus second. Likewise, he prays to God through Jesus Christ. This is his Jewish reverence for God coming out. This in no way diminishes his reverence for Jesus. As Gordon Fee points out, whenever Paul quotes from the OT he uses the Septuagint, its translation into Greek that Jewish scholars made long before his time. They believed God’s name was too holy to be pronounced, so used the Greek word kyrios instead. It means lord or master. Whenever we read Lord Jesus, Paul uses the same word.
Paul was undoubtedly a monotheist, yet he used the same word for Jesus that they used for God in the OT. This seems clear evidence that he understood Jesus to be God, about 300 years before the church finished arguing about it. Why doesn’t he say so, deliberately and emphatically? We will never know, but perhaps he thought it would cause more trouble between Jewish- and Gentile-background believers. Let’s face it, there was enough trouble already; see Acts 15, and Galatians. He often speaks of the man Christ Jesus, and calls him the Son of God, but that doesn’t necessarily imply divinity. Perhaps he was wise to leave it to God to reveal more about Jesus to his people in due course.