FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE
Romans 1:1-7
“Through him and for his name’s
sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the
Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.”
Thank God for giving us the great privilege to study the book of
Romans. What is the purpose of studying Romans? First, through the study of
Romans we want to learn the essence of the unchanging gospel so thoroughly that
it becomes a part of our lives. Second, we want to learn the gospel-centered
thinking and missionary vision of the Apostle Paul, so that we can lay the
foundation for a Bible-based society in America and reach out to all the world
with missionary concern. Today’s passage is the introduction of Romans. The
main theme of this letter is “the righteous will live by faith.” Paul was eager
to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with all believers in Rome. He maintained
his identity as a servant of Jesus Christ and encourages us to live for Jesus’
name’s sake. Paul asserts that we all received grace and apostleship through
Jesus. May God bless us to live for the glory of God. I pray that God may use
us as servants of Christ Jesus to proclaim the good news of Jesus’ salvation to
all college students and teenagers.
Part 1. Paul the servant of Jesus Christ (1-4)
Look at verse 1. “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.” This verse is Paul’s introduction of himself. Paul introduced himself as a servant of Christ Jesus. Probably Paul earned a doctor of law degree and many other degrees like history. Paul also had a prestigious religious resume according to Phil 3:5 which says, “..circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee.” So he should have introduced himself like this, “Paul, doctor of law and history, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, a proud faultless tribe of Benjamin, a number one pioneering missionary, and a great theologian.” But to our surprise, he called himself a servant of Jesus Christ. He was not ashamed to be called a servant of Jesus Christ. He said in Phil. 1:1, “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus.” These days nobody would like to introduce oneself as a slave of somebody. People like to add some titles to their names. One time a trash collector was asked about his job. He answered, “ I am a sanitary engineer.” A funeral undertaker is called as a condolence counselor. A tax driver is called as a transportation expediter. If we attend any commencement ceremony, we hear a long introduction of the commencement speaker with many achievements and all the degrees earned. One missionary was very upset when some new sheep called him brother. The Greek word for servant is ‘dulos’ which means ‘slave’. This means that Paul identified himself as a slave of Jesus. The Roman Empire maintained many slaves at that time. The POWs, those who could not pay off their debts, and those born from slave parents became slaves. Many slaves became gladiators who fought to their death to please the Roman Emperor and his citizens. Some gladiators became free men after winning many fights. Slaves did not have any own right but completely belonged to the owner. Their only value was a commercial one. They were sold at the owner’s will. That’s the reason why all slaves worked hard to gain their freedom. Judah Ben Hur in the movie “Ben Hur” was an ex-slave but he became a free man because he saved one Roman admiral from a sinking sheep. Nobody wanted to remain as a slave. Why did Paul describe himself as a slave of Jesus? Romans 6:16 says, “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or obedience, which leads to righteousness.” Paul believed that once he offered his life to obey Jesus, he belonged to Jesus. Paul believed that Jesus purchased his life with his precious blood when he was a slave to sin. Since then, his life was united with Christ. Here we see Paul’s sense of belonging. He was happy that he belonged to Jesus. He was willing to do anything for his master, Jesus Christ. He loved to be called as a servant of Jesus. His servantship was for life. Exodus 21 describes how to deal with Hebrew servants. Exodus 21:2 says, “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything.” Hebrew servants were freed after seven years of servitude. But Exodus 21:5-6 says, “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then the master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.” This is a special case. Maybe his master treated him very well like his own family. He tasted the grace of his master. He did not want to leave his master. Then he will be his servant for life. In the same way Paul loved Jesus and he wanted to be a servant of Jesus for life. Paul knew how wretched he was when he served sin as his master. He knew his master, Jesus, very well. It was not a burden to serve Jesus but a great honor and joy to him. He did not serve Jesus out of convenience but willingness and love. These days people have a negative connotation about the word “servant.” But we must maintain our identity as Bible teachers and servants of Jesus in this generation. Belonging to Jesus is not a burden but a great honor. If someone asks you, “What are you doing?”, we should answer confidently, “I am a Bible teacher, a servant of Jesus and I also work as a nurse for my living.” We need to have a clear sense of belonging as servants of Jesus Christ for campus students. There is no middle ground in our relationship with Jesus. If we do not belong to Jesus, we belong to the world.
Paul also believed that he was called to be an apostle. Paul’s life was in the eternal plan of God’s salvation. His calling was not accidental or a random chance. He had a high call from God for the gospel of Jesus. That calling made him a great servant of God. He did not give up his mission in spite of hardships and persecutions. He endured hardships like a solider of Christ. Nothing in the world stopped his mission. The call of God enabled him to endure all kinds of trials and preach the gospel to the Gentiles who were the objects of God’s wrath. Paul had a broken shepherd heart for those who are not saved yet. He gave his life to proclaim the gospel of Jesus. In the end he received the victor’s crown of life from Jesus. In the 20th century God called us for world campus mission. God set apart UBF for campus evangelism. So far he has done a marvelous work among many young campus students. Especially God set apart for pioneering 206 East Coast campus mission. Should we alter our special call when we confront many hardships? Though the work of God is slow, we must maintain our special call for campus mission. Do you believe that God called you for campus mission? If the answer is “yes”, you are chosen by God and your life will be very precious before God.
What is Jesus’ relationship to the gospel? Look at verses 2-4. “The gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by resurrection of the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.” The gospel is the story of Jesus and his salvation of all human beings. The gospel is the good news of the great joy that God sent his Son to save sinners from the condemnation and to give an eternal life to all who believe in Jesus. There are two main events in the gospel: First, Jesus died for our sins; second, Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day. The main content of the gospel is Jesus’ death for our sins and his resurrection for our eternal life. The gospel is related to man’s sin problem. It is a universal truth that men need salvation from their sins. The gospel started from Genesis 3:15 when Adam sinned against God by disobeying God’s word and was expelled from the garden of Eden. God made a plan to save fallen mankind through the seed of the woman. The main theme of the Old Testament is the prophecy related to Jesus. The gospel is God’s promise to all of us. God renewed his promise again and again through his prophets. Then he fulfilled his promise through his Son Jesus. We see the authenticity of the Bible.
It was believed among the Jews that the promised Messiah would be from the line of David. Indeed, Jesus was a descendant of David as to his human nature. This means that he came from the king’s line. Jesus is a good shepherd like King David. As to his divine nature, through the Spirit of holiness he was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus was proved to be the Son of God because he was born of the Holy Spirit. The power of his resurrection also proved Jesus to be the Son of God. The gospel revealed the faithfulness of God. God did not change his promise even though it was very costly. God kept his promise by sending his one and only Son to save us from the power of sin and death. He sacrificed his One and Only Son to fulfill his promise. President George Bush promised not to raise taxes by saying “read my lips.” But later he broke that promise for his political compromise. This cost his second term. Naturally men are unfaithful. They change their minds every moment. But God is faithful. He is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Heb 13:8) There is a story of one woman. She sacrificed her life to support her husband to make him a medical doctor. Her husband promised, “Honey, I will make you the happiest woman in the world.” As soon as he became a doctor, he divorced her and married another lady doctor. One student with an F-1 visa married an American woman with a promise, “I will make you my princess.” As soon as he received permanent resident status, he divorced her. No one can be trusted in this fallen world. More than half of married couples broke their vows of forever love promises. In Adam all men are not faithful. But God is faithful because he kept his promise at any cost. The author of the gospel is God himself. It is not a man-made story
Jesus is the focal point of the gospel. Let’s trust God and accept the gospel of Jesus in our hearts.
Part II. Grace and apostleship (5-7)
Look at verse 5. “Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.” This verse reflects Paul’s conversion story. Once Paul lived for his own name’s sake. His life motto was “I am my own boss.” He lived for his selfish ambition. His old name was Saul which means “great”. But he was changed to Paul which means ‘small.” When he lived for his own name, Saul was a violent man and persecuted the church of God with his own expenses. He joined the stoning of Stephen and volunteered to arrest all Christians. But on the way to Damascus he met the Risen Christ. He experienced a dramatic conversion. He should have been killed instantly because he was hurting the young church of God but Jesus saved him and called him to become an apostle for the Gentiles. He deserved death but received grace and mission. Acts 9:15 says, “But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.’” Paul received God’s grace and became an apostle for the Gentiles. Paul said, “We received grace and apostleship.” He did not say, “I received grace and apostleship.” Do all who receive the grace of forgiveness also receive the grace of mission? That is a good question. My answer is “yes.” All Christians received grace and apostleship. The Greek word for “and” is “kai” which has a meaning of “in another word.” That means grace and apostleship are interchangeable. Without thinking about the grace of God there was no apostleship. To Paul grace of Jesus had a very personal meaning. Paul knew well what kind of person he was before he met Jesus personally. He was a man of human ability. But he was a man of no peace. He thought he could do whatever he wanted because he was able. But he was miserable inside. He was a wretched sinner. He exclaimed in Romans 7:24, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” He felt wretchedness under the power of sin and death. When he met Jesus, suddenly his wretchedness was healed and peace of God came to his heart. The grace of God replaced his hatred. The love of God touched his heart and he became a new man. Then he was restored to his original mission to serve God. Here we can learn that grace and apostleship cannot be separated. They go hand in hand. It is like butter and bread. Some people say, “I like grace but I don’t like mission.” They are like people who say, “I like bread but I don’t like butter or I like babies but I don’t like baby-sitting.” Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them-yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” To Paul the work of God was not a forced labor but a great joy. Receiving the forgiveness of sin is the prerequisite to receive the apostleship. From the moment of receiving the grace of God Paul’s life goal was changed from selfish human ambition to God’s mission. He lived for Jesus’ name’s sake not for his worldly ambition. His mission was to call people and help them obey God by faith. From that time on he had an absolute attitude towards his mission. There was no turning back in him. Acts 20:24 says, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. He regarded his mission more than his life.
Let’s think about what does it mean to live for his name’s sake. God created man to live for his glory. But after the Fall, men began to live for their own name’s sake. People built the tower of Babel to make their own name after the Flood in Gen. 11:4. It is man’s selfish nature to live for his own name’s sake. Unlike animals, human beings look for their life purpose. Some people live for the sake of animal rights. Some people live for the sake of planet earth. Some people live for the sake of their children by saying, “I can sacrifice anything for my children.” Some people live for the sake of their career. I live for my boss. Some people live for the sake of scientific advancement. Some people live for the sake of human freedom. Some people live for the sake of American dream. But Jesus taught us a true purpose of life. He said in Luke 2:2, “He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.” To live for his name’s sake is to live for God’s name’s sake. It is to honor God as God. It is to live for the glory of God. It is to live for the sake of God’s kingdom. Nothing is more precious than to live for his name’s sake. Nothing is more precious than serving our King Jesus. How? We can live for the glory of God by calling our sheep to the obedience that comes from faith. It is to plant faith to obey God’s word among sheep. It is to expand the kingdom of God to many college students. The other day I had a chance to have dinner with M. Luke Kim’s mother. She said, “ I don’t understand why my son gave up all the riches of the world and struggles to live as a poor student missionary in America. But I am happy because he seems to be very happy with what he is doing. I am happier to see my grandson.” Truly the gospel of Jesus makes our life great and we can be happy to live as the servants of Jesus.
Look at verses 6-7. Paul called the believers in Rome as those who are loved by God and called to be saints. They were changed from the objects of God’s wrath to the objects of God’s love. Paul greeted them with grace and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. We see Paul’s deep love and prayers for all Christians in Rome. May God bless us to renew our calling and grace and apostleship through the study of Romans. Let’s read the key verse 5.