A Letter from Paul

In standard ancient letter-writing fashion, the epistle to the Romans begins not with a greeting to the recipients but with a self-disclosure of the sender. In this case, the writer identifies himself as Paul and goes on to say several things about himself.

Paul was a native of Tarsus (Acts 21:39), a city in modern Turkey. Although he was a Jew (Phil. 3:5), he also held Roman citizenship (Acts 22:28). He likely received an outstanding secular education in the university at Tarsus, but he later studied under the renowned Rabbi Gamaliel in Jerusalem (Acts 22:3). He was quite zealous for the traditions of his people, so much so that he persecuted those who had the audacity to claim that Jesus Christ was God’s Messiah. But in one searing moment, he was confronted by Jesus Christ Himself (Acts 9:1–9)—and his life was forever changed.

When Paul met Jesus, he became, as he first describes himself in Romans, “a bondservant of Jesus Christ.” The Reformation Study Bible defines a bondservant as “someone totally at the disposal of a master.” Dr. James M. Boice notes in his commentary that Paul “could have introduced himself by a long list of accomplishments.… [However,] Paul overlooks these achievements because what he is most concerned about simply overshadows them. Above all else, Paul saw himself as a servant of the Lord.” Calling himself a bondservant also may be a way of identifying with his readers, of saying he has been saved by the grace of God as they have. But Paul is also very different from the Romans, for he has been “called to be an apostle.” The apostles (“sent ones”) were men who had known Christ and been specially chosen by Him to bear witness to the resurrected Lord (Acts 1:22). Paul fits these criteria by virtue of his encounter with Jesus, so he writes to the Romans “as no mere ordinary man but rather as one who has been given a message that should be received by them as the very words of God,” Boice says. Finally, Paul describes himself as one “separated to the gospel of God.” He has gone from being a Pharisee (Phil. 3:5), or “separated one,” to being set apart for the “Good News” from God.

Paul, therefore, identifies himself as a slave of Christ charged with bearing God’s Good News. But what is the content of that news? We will begin to explore Paul’s answer to that question tomorrow.