I order some of my shirts online. I’d rather shop locally, but can rarely find what I want, and if I do find it, the sizing is wrong or the pricing is outrageous.
The one company delivers via the postal service, and I’m expecting a delivery, so I have been thinking about the mail recently.
I do miss getting regular mail delivered to our door. Now we have a community mailbox, and 95% or more of what we get are flyers and the occasional bill. I’m old enough to remember when the post was the most common way of getting news and keeping in touch. Long-distance calls were made after 6 PM or on weekends and were still expensive, so you rarely phoned, sending a letter instead.
The Apostle Paul was a prolific letter writer. He didn’t have the phone or the internet. Depending on which scholars you believe, Paul wrote between seven and thirteen of the New Testament epistles. I’m sure that he wrote many more that never made it into the canon of Scripture.
Every one of his letters contains a corrective of some kind to the church. I’m certain that receiving his letters was a mixed blessing.
This morning, I was reading and praying through his missive to the church in Rome. There is some powerful stuff in his epistle, starting from the opening lines.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 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, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:1-7
He opens by identifying himself. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.. Our culture is very sensitive about certain topics. The word servant here is doulos in the Greek, and it is sometimes translated as bondservant. What it really means is slave.
Paul understood that he owed everything to Christ, and his life was dedicated to the Lord’s service. How many professing Christians today understand that truth?
His task was “to bring about the obedience of faith.” That’s interesting wording and a mind-blowing concept.
Coming to faith in Jesus is an act of obedience to God’s calling on our lives. We can debate the mechanics of how that occurs, but to reject God’s call is an act of willful rebellion, an act of incredible sin.
Even our ability to move in that obedience is up to Him. The faith to respond is a gift.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
The Lord created us. He died in our stead. He calls us. He empowers us with the faith we need. All that we are and will be is because of His great love for us.
He did all that despite our broken and sinful nature, wandering hearts, and tendency to wander. What an incredible set of gifts He has given us.
In reading his letters, we can see that Paul understood all that. By God’s grace, Paul was transformed from a hater of Jesus to a willing slave. How can we not follow his example to love and serve the one who has done it all?
Take some time today to offer praise and thanksgiving.
Kevin
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