Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
The opening words stand at the head of the first chapter of Romans, which is to be read as a whole, weighed, marked, and grasped in its particular meaning and pressed in its full force upon fathers, mothers, families, ministers, and churches. That chapter sets forth a true experience and sounds a solemn warning to families who profess to be sons and daughters of God, with special urgency to fathers and mothers. It lays bare the holding of the truth in unrighteousness, the denying in works of the practical truth that would sanctify the heart, above all the neglect of the sanctifying grace of God in the home. It calls every family to conversion and every minister who preaches the Word to sanctification through belief of the truth. It charges families to meet their accountability to God as faithful, exemplary believers laboring together with God, to awake to responsibilities strangely left out of home life, to obey the truth in righteousness through the sanctifying grace of God in the home, and to be cleansed from every species of iniquity rather than holding the truth as mere supposed belief while denying it in works.
The self-designation as servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, is regarded as a sacred and important turning point in life, marking appointment and dedication to the gospel of God. That appointment and separation unto the gospel is also a new and important turning point. The calling is divine, for the one so described was specially chosen by the Holy Spirit and commissioned by God for the special work of teaching and preaching the gospel among the Gentiles. The designation as servant of Christ and apostle belongs to that special mission to carry the gospel to the Gentiles.
The divine commission came before the ceremony of the church at Antioch by prayer and the laying on of hands, which added no grace or qualification and gave no new qualification in itself. That ordination publicly recognized the divine mission already given, designated those called to a particular ministry, and authorized it with acknowledged authority. The same public recognition and authorization belongs to the appointment to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. The beginning of apostleship in the Christian church is dated to that formal ordination, when the setting apart for the gospel took place before the first missionary journey.
The opening words stand at the head of the first chapter of Romans, which is to be read as a whole, weighed, marked, and grasped in its particular meaning and pressed in its full force upon fathers, mothers, families, ministers, and churches. That chapter sets forth a true experience and sounds a solemn warning to families who profess to be sons and daughters of God, with special urgency to fathers and mothers. It lays bare the holding of the truth in unrighteousness, the denying in works of the practical truth that would sanctify the heart, above all the neglect of the sanctifying grace of God in the home. It calls every family to conversion and every minister who preaches the Word to sanctification through belief of the truth. It charges families to meet their accountability to God as faithful, exemplary believers laboring together with God, to awake to responsibilities strangely left out of home life, to obey the truth in righteousness through the sanctifying grace of God in the home, and to be cleansed from every species of iniquity rather than holding the truth as mere supposed belief while denying it in works.
The self-designation as servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, is regarded as a sacred and important turning point in life, marking appointment and dedication to the gospel of God. That appointment and separation unto the gospel is also a new and important turning point. The calling is divine, for the one so described was specially chosen by the Holy Spirit and commissioned by God for the special work of teaching and preaching the gospel among the Gentiles. The designation as servant of Christ and apostle belongs to that special mission to carry the gospel to the Gentiles.
The divine commission came before the ceremony of the church at Antioch by prayer and the laying on of hands, which added no grace or qualification and gave no new qualification in itself. That ordination publicly recognized the divine mission already given, designated those called to a particular ministry, and authorized it with acknowledged authority. The same public recognition and authorization belongs to the appointment to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. The beginning of apostleship in the Christian church is dated to that formal ordination, when the setting apart for the gospel took place before the first missionary journey.