Romans 1:1 - Set Apart

Paul’s introduction to his letters follow the standard form of letters in those days, with the name of the writer, and the recipients being mentioned. They also mentioned the purpose of the letter and include a blessing, in the pagan world this would typically be a blessing in the name of some idol or other. Naturally, Paul’s letters were a Christianised version! The introduction to Romans is longer than that to his other letters. Paul knew that this was going to be a very weighty epistle, outlining the great themes of the gospel.

First of all Paul outlines who he is. He is a servant or slave of Christ Jesus, an apostle, and one set apart for the gospel. Let’s look at each of these.

Servant or slave requires some explanation and is much richer in meaning than we commonly imagine. When we hear the word slave we tend to think of the slave trade and someone who had lost all rights. Now a slave did have to do as they were told, but slavery was different in the 1st century and was very varied. Some slaves had more power than aristocrats in Rome, and some aristocratic women even married into slavery to improve their status! There is also an additional aspect of slavery that might have been in Paul’s thinking. A slave could buy their freedom, and when they did they would become the “slave” of a god or idol. Now of course the idol was a nothing, so this “slavery” meant they were free and someone would boast of being a slave of Apollo, or whatever “god” they had sold themselves to in order to earn their freedom. So being “a slave of Christ Jesus” could also have been a declaration of Paul’s freedom.

Apostle also has a range of meanings. In general it means one who was sent, and Paul was sent by Christ to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Then there is the specific meaning that applies to the eleven disciples, they had to have been with Jesus and to be witnesses to the resurrection. Paul falls into this category as well, though he had not been a disciple. He had met Jesus on the Damascus road, and refers to himself as one “abnormally born” (1 Cor 15:8), acknowledging the difference between himself and the others. It these apostles who set up the church, and on which the church is built (Eph 20:20). The term apostle is also used to apply more widely in the New Testament as well.

So a question that arises is “are there apostles today?”. In the sense of the twelve foundational apostles the answer is a definite no. In the more general sense, I would say yes.  In the New Testament an apostle was someone who was completely sold out for the gospel, who did signs and wonders, who proclaimed the gospel and suffered for the gospel and for Christ. If someone does this then I have no objection to that person being called an apostle. However, the term apostle is bandied about much too freely in some circles and is used as a badge of honour. Rather than arguing about whether someone can be called an apostle or not, we would be better on focusing on increasing our devotion to Christ and living for Him.