IN the study of the book of Romans, as in the study of all portions of the sacred Scriptures, the fact should be kept before the mind all the time that the very words of the Lord are to be carefully considered and closely scrutinized if we are to receive the desired benefit. The divinely inspired instruction on this point is, "Consider what I say; for the Lord shall give thee understanding in all things." 2 Tim. 2: 7.
It is with the firm conviction that the only profitable Bible study consists of considering just what the Lord Himself says that we enter upon these lessons from the book of Romans.
The book of Romans opens with the salutation:
"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God, which He promised afore thru His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; even Jesus Christ our Lord, thru whom we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations, for His name's sake; among whom are ye also, called to be Jesus Christ's; to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 1: 1-7.
Paul announces himself as a "servant of Jesus Christ." He gave himself to Christ, holding nothing in reserve. In another scripture the apostle states the complete method on which he gave himself to the service of his Master. He says: "One thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Phil. 3: 13, 14. His was a complete surrender. His was an undivided service.
Paul was "called to be an apostle." An apostle of God is one sent on a special mission for God. And so we find that when the Lord was telling His prophet Ananias about the conversion of Paul, He said to him, "He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel; for I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake." Acts 9: 15, 16.
Paul was "separated unto the Gospel of God." And God's Gospel was "promised afore thru His prophets in the Holy Scriptures." Hence Paul must be a masterly student of the word of God, for it is this word that reveals the very Gospel that He is commissioned to preach.
And it should be observed that this Gospel that Paul is separated unto God to teach reveals Him who is "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Christ is revealed thru the prophets in the Scriptures. The Gospel of Christ is revealed thru the prophets in the Scriptures. There is where Paul tells us that he finds the evidence for his faith in the Christ and the Gospel that he is so unreservedly commissioned to teach. And he devoted this study to the Scripture notwithstanding the fact that Paul himself was taken into prophetic visions and permitted to receive direct revelations from the Lord.
In going to the Scriptures of the prophets to find the things he was commissioned to teach concerning the Son of God, Paul was following the example of the Master Himself. For soon after His resurrection He joined two of His disciples in their journeying to Emmaus, and when they expressed to Him their perplexities in regard to the things that the Son of God had just suffered, "beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." Luke 24: 27. And as the Master thus opened the Scriptures to the minds of His perplexed disciples, they said, "Was not our heart burning within us, while He spake to us in the way, while He opened to us the Scriptures?" Luke 24: 32.
The mighty power of the Master's teaching was in the simplicity with which He gave to the people His own words, drawing His great lessons of truth from the teachings of the prophets thru whom He had spoken in the centuries before. And likewise Paul, whom we must recognize as one of the most devoted and one of the Master's greatest followers, found his power and his success in winning souls to Christ thru the simple teaching of the sacred word. In one of his other letters Paul says, "For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." 1 Cor. 2: 2-5.
Continuing his letter to the Romans, the apostle says:
"First, I thank my God thru Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Gospel of His Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if by any means now at length I may be prospered by the will of God to come unto you. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; that is, that I with you may be comforted in you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine. And I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you (and was hindered hitherto), that I might have some fruit in you also, even as in the rest of the Gentiles. I am debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you also that are in Rome." Verses 8-15.
In the foregoing verses the apostle shows the burden of constant care that he bestowed upon the converts that he had been instrumental in bringing to the knowledge of the Gospel. "I make mention of you, always in my prayers," are the words he writes to the church at Rome. He desired to be prospered by the will of God so that he could come to them to impart some spiritual gift, to the end that they might be established. Writing to the Corinthian church, he says concerning the care he felt for those that had been converted to the Gospel, "Besides5those things that are without, there is that which presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is caused to stumble, and I burn not?" 2 Cor. 11: 28, 29.
How remarkably complete is the devotion that the apostle manifests. Surely he was indeed "a servant of Jesus Christ." But note the still further evidence of his devotion. In verses 14 and 15 he says, "I am debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you also that are in Rome." No matter what the nationality, no matter what the intellectual attainments of the people within his reach, all that was in him was devoted to the one great work to which he was called.
The labors of the apostle Paul left their effects in all parts of the world in his day. And all parts of the world from that day to this have been affected by the uplifting power of his teaching. Is it any wonder that his Lord said of him at his conversion, "He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel"?
Paul's complete and absolute devotion to the service of Christ has placed him in the very front rank of the men whose lives and work have molded and influenced the world. This same apostle tells us farther on in his letter to the Romans that "there is no respect of persons with God." God asks for the same devoted service to-day, so that He may carry on the work that Paul assisted so devotedly in establishing.
A person that has devoted himself so completely to the Gospel will certainly give us some wonderful gems of truth in his inspired utterances. May we not look forward with the anticipation of deriving much profit from the consideration of what is said in the book of Romans?