Paul's Description of Himself; Or, the Story of a Noble Life
C.H. Irwin Romans 1:1-7 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God,… An autobiography, the story of our own life, is a dangerous thing for a man to write. We are partisan judges of our own character. We conceal our own faults and exaggerate our own virtues. An autobiography, too, is often very dull and very dry. But the autobiography of St. Paul is at once interesting and truthful. As Paley, in his 'Horae Paulinae,' has so clearly shown, Paul's account of his own personal history, as given in his writings, is borne out in the fullest manner by the account given of him in the Acts of the Apostles, written by a different person and at a different time. The irresistible truthfulness of the story of Paul's conversion and apostleship is so strong, that the study of it led the celebrated Lord Lyttleton, who had been for many years a sceptic, to embrace the religion of Jesus Christ and become one of its ablest advocates. In these opening verses of the Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul gives us, in brief but weighty words, the story of his life. I. AN APOSTLE'S TITLE. "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ" (ver. 1). St. Paul's titles are not numerous or high-sounding. He gloried in the title of "servant" - a servant of Jesus Christ. Consider what it meant for Paul that he became and lived a servant of Jesus Christ. It meant to him loss of worldly prospects. "For whom I have suffered the loss of all things." It meant to him bodily suffering. "I bear about with me in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." It meant to him - a man of high mental endowments, a man of unblemished character - a life spent largely in the prison-cell, with the chains hound upon his wrists. It meant to him - and he knew it well - a life ended on the scaffold, or, like his Master's, on the cross. "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand." But he had counted the cost. Three things sustained him as he trod that lonely path of service and suffering. He looked back to the cross of Jesus. He had the love of Jesus and the spirit of Jesus in his heart. And he looked forward to the crown of glory that awaited him. Therefore he was able to say, "But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus." It means much the same to be a servant of Jesus Christ in our own day. You may not meet with bodily suffering as a consequence of your faithfulness to Jesus. But there arc other sufferings, perhaps just as bitter and as hard to bear, which must be endured by the faithful servant of Jesus Christ. Make up your mind to this - that you are not the servant of the world, and then what the world may say of you will affect you very little. A servant of Jesus Christ. St. Paul was what he professed to be. The world has confirmed the description. Could the same be said of us? Could we look up to God, or look into the faces of our fellow-men, and say, "Yes, I am a servant of Jesus Christ"? II. AN APOSTLE'S WORK, AND HOW HE DID IT. "Called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God" (ver. 1). The word "apostle" means a messenger, or one who is sent. This was Paul's work, to be an apostle or messenger of Jesus Christ. This was the form of service he rendered to his Master. His work, the great ambition of his life, was to win men to Christ. General Lew Wallace, in that beautiful story of his, 'Ben Hur; a Tale of the Christ,' speaks of Jesus Christ as "the one Man whom the world could not do without." That, too, was St. Paul's firm conviction. This was one of the things that carried him on in his work. He realized the power of the gospel. He felt that it was something more than human. Heart and conscience and intellect told him it was Divine. He, who was so well instructed in the Jewish Scriptures, knew that the prophets spoke of Christ. "Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy Scriptures" (ver. 2). He knew that Jesus had come. He knew that he had died upon the cross. Yes, and he knew that he had risen again. Look at the fourth verse: "Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Had he not seen him? Had he not heard his voice - that voice that spoke to him on the way to Damascus, and changed for ever the whole current of his life? Yes; Paul knew whom he had believed. He had no doubt about it. He knew what Christ had done for him. And he knew what Christ could (to for the world. He knew how much the world needed Christ. And so he went forth on those great missionary journeys of his, burning with the one overwhelming, overmastering desire, to preach Christ crucified, and to persuade men in Christ's stead to be reconciled to God. This is one of the great secrets of successful work for Christ still. We must have a personal knowledge of Jesus as our own Saviour. "An educated ministry is desirable," said the late Dr. Cooke, of Belfast, "but a converted ministry is indispensable." And we must then go forth in the conviction that men need Christ, and that he will save them if they come to him. "I love to tell the story, Because I know it's true; It satisfies my longings As nothing else can do. I love to tell the story, It did so much for me; And that is just the reason I tell it now to thee." Another great secret of Paul's success was this. He realized a Divine plan and purpose in his life. He felt that he was "separated unto the gospel of God" (ver. 1). Unknown to himself, the Divine hand had been moulding his character, drawing out and developing his gifts, from his childhood up. How the various circumstances of his life fitted him for his great life-work! Born and brought up in Tarsus, he there became a Roman citizen, thus receiving civil rights and privileges which were of great service to him afterwards in his mission. There also he came in contact with Greek civilization and culture - an acquaintance useful to him afterwards at Athens and at Corinth. Then, coming to Jerusalem, and brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, he there received a training and a position which were of immense advantage to him in dealing with the Jewish people, his kinsmen according to the flesh. All this process of training and development culminated when one day that Divine hand suddenly arrested his career on the way to Damascus. The light from heaven shone about him then, and shone into his heart. After those days of outward blindness, but inward questioning and growing spiritual vision, the scales fell from his eyes indeed. He saw it all then. Henceforth there was a new meaning and a new purpose in his life. He saw then that he was "called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God." He saw the unseen hand. He saw how it had led him. He saw that it was a hand of power - how foolish to resist it! He saw that it was a hand of love, moulding him for high and holy and eternal purposes. From that moment Paul was Christ's. Not as a slave, but as a devoted servant. Not in any sense as a mere machine, but Christ's with all the persuasion and conviction of his mind, with all the love of his heart - separated by his own voluntary act, as he had already been separated by God's purpose, unto the gospel of God. In the seventh verse we see what the message was which Paul took with him wherever he carried the gospel. It is the message which the gospel brings still wherever it finds an entrance. "Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." Grace - the favour or mercy of God. "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). And where the gospel comes with its message of mercy and of love, the result is peace - peace in the conscience, peace in the home, peace in the nation. Such was the character, such were the life and work of St. Paul. He was a servant of Jesus Christ. He went forth as a messenger for Christ, believing that he had been separated unto the gospel of God. And the message which he brought was the message of grace and peace. So may it be with every one of us, if we will only consecrate our lives to God. - C.H.I. Parallel Verses KJV: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, WEB: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God,