Called To Be An Apostle

Romans 1:1b

1Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God

(Verse 1) - Called to be an apostle - This word “called” means here not merely to be invited, but has the sense of being appointed. The primary authority and responsibility for choosing those for office lies with the One Who has authority over that office, not with the one who fills the office.  The authority and power of those who stand in places of authority is a derived or assumed authority in that they represent another and act in His authority.

Called indicates that he had not assumed the office himself, but that he was set apart to it by the authority of Christ himself. It was important for Paul to state this,

(1)  Because the other apostles had been called or chosen to this work (John 15:16, 19; Matt. 10:1; Luke 6:13).  It was important that Paul be seen and perceived to be one of that selected and authoritative group.

(2)  Because Paul was not one of those originally appointed. He was not one of the original disciples, nor was he chosen by any consensus of that group.  It was important that Paul be seen, in spite of that, to be a part of those whom God had called to the high office of apostle.

It was of consequence for him therefore, to affirm that he had not taken this high office to himself, but that he had been called to it by the authority of Jesus Christ. His appointment to this office he not infrequently takes occasion to vindicate; (1 Cor. 9:1, etc.: Gal. 1:12-24; 2 Cor. 12:12; 1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11; Rom. 11:13).

An apostle - One sent to execute a commission. It is applied because the apostles were sent out by Jesus Christ to preach his gospel, and to establish his church; (Matt. 10:2; Luke 6:13). The word comes from two Greek words meaning stand or sent forth or away from.  The idea is that of the emissary or messenger sent out of the presence of some great authority who has been charged to deliver a message of some import.  That messenger carries with him the authority vested in him by way of his call, as well as by way of the message he bears.

Perhaps a better rendering would be “a called apostle,” which more clearly points up the fact that his position as an apostle was not of his own doing. He did not volunteer for that office, nor was he elected by fellow believers. He was divinely called by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

While Paul, then called Saul, was still blinded from his miraculous encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road, the Lord said to Ananias about Paul: “He is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel” (Acts 9:15). In relaying the message to Paul, Ananias said, “The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear an utterance from His mouth. For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard” (Acts 22:14-15). Paul later gave the additional revelation that Christ already had given that message directly to him, saying:

Arise, and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; delivering you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me. (Acts 26:16-18)

Paul told the Corinthian believers, “I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16). God had given him a task he had never dreamed of and had never asked for, and he knew he would be in serious trouble if he was not obedient to his divine commission.

Paul was “an apostle (not sent from men, nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead)” (Gal. 1:1). He went on to declare, “Am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ” (v. 10).

As we noted, Apostle has the basic meaning of a person who is sent. It referred to someone who was officially commissioned to a position or task, such as an envoy or ambassador. Cargo ships were sometimes called apostolic, because they were dispatched with a specific shipment for a specific destination.

The term apostle appears some seventy-nine times in the New Testament and is used in a few instances in a general, non-technical sense (see Rom. 16:7; Acts 14:14). In its broadest sense, apostle can refer to all believers, because every believer is sent into the world as a witness for Christ. But the term is primarily used as a specific and unique title for the thirteen men (the Twelve, with Matthias replacing Judas, and Paul) whom Christ personally chose and commissioned to authoritatively proclaim the gospel and lead the early church.

The thirteen apostles not only were all called directly by Jesus but all were witnesses of His resurrection, Paul having encountered Him on the Damascus Road after His ascension. Those thirteen apostles were given direct revelation of God’s Word to proclaim authoritatively, the gift of healing, and the power to cast out demons (Matt. 10:1). By these signs their teaching authority was verified (cf. 2 Cor. 12:12). Their teachings became the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20), and their authority extended beyond local bodies of believers to the entire believing world.

Although the apostles were “the sent-ones” in a unique way, every person who speaks for God must be called and sent by Him. There are many people preaching, teaching, and presuming to prophesy in Christ’s name whom Christ has clearly not sent. They obviously have no anointing of God because their teachings and living do not square with God’s Word.

False prophets have always plagued God’s people. They corrupted ancient Israel, they have corrupted the church through all the centuries of its existence, and they continue to corrupt the church today. Through Jeremiah the Lord said of such impostors, “I did not send these prophets, but they ran. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied” (Jer. 23:21).

Some religious leaders not only give no evidence of being called by God to preach and teach in His name but even give little evidence of salvation. In his book The Reformed Pastor, seventeenth-century Puritan pastor Richard Baxter devotes a hundred pages to warning preachers of the gospel to be sure first of all that they are truly redeemed and second that they have been called by God to His ministry.

As the previous phrase describes generally Paul’s relation to Christ, this expression indicates it specifically. “Called to be an apostle” signifies called to the office of an apostle. The Greek indicates that the writer was actually in the apostolate—a called apostle.  Paul was called to service above and beyond that call to salvation.  This call is, then, distinct and different than the call to become a Christian.  The call to service is generally viewed as subsequent to the call to salvation.  It is a call that goes forth only to believers and goes forth to all believers indiscriminately.  However, the call that is in view here is a more specific form of that call.  Paul called, not just to Christian service, but the specific Christian service of the Apostolate.  Not only was he called to serve, but he was called to the specific service of being Apostle of God, something to which not all men, by a long stretch, are called.

Paul carried with Him the authority of God.  In his words and in his writings he spoke for the One True and Living God.  I need to recognize that and submit to it.