Title: Paul, Servant of Jesus Christ
Commentary 1) Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ
(Text: Romans 1:1-2)
The book of Romans is a Christian catechism that reveals the truth of all redemption in the New and Old Testaments. If this book of Romans had been omitted from the Bible, it would have been difficult for us to understand the correct principle of salvation from the Bible. Of course, the doctrine of salvation does not save people. Salvation comes only through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. However, the medium that conveys this faith to us is the Word of God. No one can believe in Jesus without the Word of God. The Christian Church has gone through many ups and downs up to today, but if there were no correct doctrine in our Christianity, Satan's work of heresy would have gained momentum and caused much confusion in God's work of salvation to save mankind. is.
1. Until Romans was written
As Paul himself said, Paul had never been to Rome. It is clear that either Peter or Paul were martyred in Rome, but none of them founded the Roman Church. It is likely that the Roman Church was founded by Jewish travelers who had come to Jerusalem at Pentecost and were converted and returned to their hometowns, and it is believed that some of them were probably religiously influenced by Paul. Since Paul had a great and holy ambition to evangelize the whole world, he must have always had the thought of making Rome the outpost for the gospel.
The city of Rome was the largest city in the world at that time. Rome was like a large lake, where all the waters of the world flowed to this place and flowed back to all parts of the world, and it was a huge world cultural and political center. It is an ambitious and wonderful idea that Paul tried to do his evangelistic ministry around the world, starting from the city of Rome, which is the most suitable city for preaching the Gospel.
However, when this plan was not carried out according to his plan and it was delayed, Paul decided that it would be good to introduce himself to the Church of Rome and write a letter explaining the new aspect of salvation by arranging the various revelations he had received. I wrote a letter and sent it to the Church of Rome. It is believed that this book of Romans was written by Paul in Corinth just before he left Greece and returned to Jerusalem with the relief offerings he had collected from the Gentile churches.
The exact year is not known, but a reasonable general opinion is that it was around AD 57 or 58 AD. Paul arrived in Rome three years after sending this letter, and Paul's status at that time did not go as a dignified figure like a triumphal general, but as a prisoner. All of this was accomplished by the wonderful providence of God who intended to write this great book of Romans.
2. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ
(1) Paul called himself a servant of Jesus Christ. The word "paper" is not originally called a good word. The word 'servant' is 'dulos', which is derived from the word 'to hold', to bind, to bind, which means slave. Slaves are people who are bought and sold like objects, and all human freedoms are reserved because they are bound by others.
(2) Why did Paul glorify himself even though he called himself a servant? The reason that Paul came to call himself a servant of Jesus Christ was based on the principle of the word servant. It says, “You are not yours, but you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). We are servants of Christ because Christ paid the price and bought it as His own. Humans are born with the destiny of a species from the time they were originally born into this world. “You were originally slaves of sin… "(Romans 6:17). Then why are we born with the fate of slaves? For because of one man's trespass and death reigned through him..." (Romans 5:37) ). Because of this one man, we received the inheritance of sin, and from the moment we were born into this world, we were born destined to be slaves of sin. In this way, we became sinners because of this one man, Adam, and we became slaves to sin.
(3) In order to make us (God's chosen people) servants from the slaves of sin, He paid the price of His Son's blood as a ransom for us. In the first place, we can think of God as selling us because we belonged to God. “… To which lender did I sell you, but you were sold for your transgressions… ” (Isaiah 50:1). We are people who have gone after our sins and sold ourselves without the permission of the God who possesses us. He fell into Satan's temptation and gave his entire life to sin without any cost. That is why God paid an amazing price to save us who have become so miserable from the slavery of sin and make them His children. Christ offered His body as a ransom to set us free from the bondage of sin (Revelation 1:5; 1 Timothy 2:6).
3. Attitude of the servant
(1) We must examine the three relationships between God and me. One is God as Creator. He is the Creator who created us and the God who made us. We deserve to give glory to God as our Creator. Then God is God as our Father. God is a merciful Father who loved us and sent even his only begotten Son. He is a Father who is merciful to us. Next we need to know that God is God as our master. We have been moved from the place of slavery of sin to the place of servants of God through the blood of his Son, which God paid for. You are now a servant of God. A servant's job is to be faithful to death for his master. This is because a slave must always obey his master's will and obey his commands.
(2) A servant is a status that should only please his master. “Therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, acceptable to God” (Romans 2:1). This is not to live a life that pleases ourselves with our bodies, but rather to please God, our master. He told us to try something that would please the Lord. All of these words refer to our status in which God paid us and made us His servants.
(3) A servant must serve his master faithfully. A servant's job is to serve his master. He said, “Do not be lazy in diligence, but be zealous and serve the Lord” (Romans 12:11). You should know that the heavenly reward can be obtained by keeping this servant well positioned.
Conclusion: We hear the word circumcised ears in the Bible. He said, “To whom shall I speak rebuke to whom to hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they do not hear” (Jeremiah 6:10). So, what kind of ear is a circumcised ear? Here's how to get your ears circumcised. “If a servant thinks it is good to live with you because he loves you and your house, and says to you, ‘I will not leave my master,’ take an awl, put his ear to the door and pierce it, and he will be your servant forever” (Deuteronomy 15). :16-17). But the free slave does not need to be circumcised. Because he listens to what he likes, he cannot serve one master and is sold around. As a faithful servant before God, Paul introduced himself as a servant of Jesus Christ. We too must become servants of Jesus Christ with the heart of Paul.