My high school English teacher would have given Paul poor grades for what she called run-on sentences. The first words of Romans go on and on in one complete sentence. Verses 2-4 serve like a parenthesis.
Today, we will pick up our study with verses 5-6.
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, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ (Romans 1.4c-6).
Once again, there are words that convey particular meanings that Paul wants us to know. So, we’ll study those for a few moments.
(1) Grace – “Grace” encompasses several dimensions.
(a) The definition of grace that we are most familiar with is the idea of unmerited favor and kindness that God shows towards humans. In Ephesians 2.8-9, Paul talks about salvation by grace through faith.
(b) Grace is also used to describe God’s power, which allows believers to live out their faith. You may recall Paul’s words when God says to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
(c) Paul encourages us to extend grace to other people. This involves being humble, loving, forgiving, generous, and mutually supportive.
(2) Apostleship – The grace of God saved Paul from himself. As a preacher rightly observed, “Before his conversion, Paul had a head full of knowledge and a heart full of hate.”
God softened Paul’s heart, and his grace made him an apostle to the Gentiles. Not only was he given the responsibility of representing God to other people, but we have that role also.
So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5.20).
(3) The Obedience of Faith – This phrase likely means “obedience that consists of, or originates from faith.”
True faith is a response to the reality of Christ’s work and person. This relationship is not something humans create but something we enter into as a response to what God has done for us in Christ.
Faith is both a divine gift and a human act.
We must receive the faith that God gives us and we can’t make it happen through human effort. On the other hand, faith transforms us. The human act is revealed by our obedience or response to our faith in God.
(4) The Called – The Hebrew people knew they were God’s special people because He had called them to Himself. God formed a covenant with them where He said that He would be their God, and they would be His people.
He gave them the Ten Commandments to know how to relate to Him and to one another. This calling set them apart to be His people as a witness to His reality in the world.
When Paul wrote to the Romans, he was telling them and us that as Christians, we are God’s called people. As such, we have our identity through Jesus Christ.
Like the Israelites, we are to be witnesses to the character and nature of our loving God.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 