Gospel-Centered Worldview: January 2006 Archives

I’m having my Principles of Bible Study class study Romans 1:1-4 over the weekend. For years I saw verse one as merely an introductory verse. Its true significance had sadly escaped me. In an age where believers are tempted to locate their identity in all the wrong places, verse one speaks volumes of gospel-transforming truth.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, [2] which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, [3] concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh [4] and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 1:1-4).

At first look, it appears that Paul is primarily concerned with introducing himself in verse one. But at a closer second look, we’ll notice that Paul is not so much concerned with introducing himself to the Romans, though he is introducing himself, as he is concerned with introducing a radically different, counter-cultural view of the world, a gospel-centered view of the world—of its history, its present, and its future. Paul begins his epistle to the Romans by looking at the world through the transforming lens of the gospel.

First, notice that Paul identifies himself as a slave, which given his historical context meant that he was identifying himself a social outsider among those of social standing within the Roman Empire. The world of Paul’s day, the world of the Roman church, was passionate about image. What mattered most to the citizens of Rome was attaining a social classification that would provide one with the rights, possessions, and property necessary to secure a prosperous future (cf. Matthew 20:20-28). But here we find Paul introducing himself to people who live in the very heart of the Roman Empire as one who is himself without social standing, as one who, according to the imperial worldview, had no social classification of any value whatsoever. Yet, though he identifies himself as a slave, Paul will not allow his identity as a slave to be defined by the prevailing worldview. Rather, he defines his servitude in terms of who Jesus is, namely, the Messiah. He is “a slave of the Messiah, Jesus,” the one in whom God would rule all the kingdoms of the earth establishing His justice and shalom. The one before whom Paul stands as a slave is none other than God’s Messiah who said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). What we have in this first clause of introduction is a gospel-centered view of the world; and it is this worldview that ultimately defined who Paul was.

Second, Paul then adds that he was “called to be an apostle” and “set apart for the gospel of God.” These second and third parts of Paul’s “introductory comments” are parallel with each other. When Paul was called to be an apostle, he was also set apart for the gospel, which, as the text indicates, finds its origin in God himself (“the gospel of God”). So the entirety of Paul’s life—his worldview, his identity, his vocation, his mission—was centered upon and defined by God’s gospel. Blessed be the God of the gospel for his unspeakable grace to us.