Romans 1:1
“Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,” (Rom 1:1)
We looked at what it means to be a slave of Christ, in an earlier study. Now it’s time to look at the words “called” and “set apart”.
| Paul | a servant | of Christ | Jesus | a called | apostle | having been set apart | for | [the] gospel | of God |
| Παῦλος, | δοῦλος | Χριστοῦ | Ἰησοῦ, | κλητὸς | ἀπόστολος | ἀφωρισμένος | εἰς | εὐαγγέλιον | Θεοῦ, |
| Paulos | doulos | Christou | Iēsou | klētos | apostolos | aphōrismenos | eis | euangelion | Theou |
| Word | Original Word | Part of Speech | Transliteration | Phonetic Spelling | Definition | Usage |
| klétos: | κλητός, ή, ό | Adjective | klétos | (klay-tos’) | Called | called, invited, summoned by God to an office or to salvation. |
| aphorizó: | ἀφορίζω | Verb | aphorizó | (af-or-id’-zo) | to mark off by boundaries from, set apart | I rail off, separate, place apart. |
The word “klētos” has been used numerous times (in its various forms such as “klētoi”, “klētois”, etc.) throughout the gospels and the apostolic epistles and it always meant “called”, “invited”, or “appointed”.
The context in which it is used determines which meaning the word is conveying (Called, invited, summoned, appointed). In the current context, it carries the meaning of being summoned or appointed. So, Paul is saying that he was appointed to be an apostle.
The word “aphōrismenos” used in this verse (having been set apart), comes from the word “aphorizó” which means to separate, or literally, “to mark off by boundaries”. So, Paul is stating that God separated him from those around him and singled him out for the sake of His Gospel.
The big question is, how did Paul know that? How can Paul be certain that God appointed him to be an apostle and dedicated him to the work of gospel proclamation?
It’s simple! Paul knew that because God told him so (both directly and indirectly)!
After God intercepted and saved Paul on the Damascus road, we read in Acts chapter 9 that he was blinded for a while. At the same time, God spoke to Ananias saying, “Go, for he (Paul) is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:15-16). No doubt, Ananias must have shared that with Paul when he met Paul.
God later conveyed the same intention in Acts 13:2 by asking the church at Antioch to set apart Paul and Barnabas for the work of evangelism.
Furthermore, to add to the direct statements of God, Paul passed all the tests of being an apostle and had performed the signs of an apostle (see the notes on apostle for a detailed discussion on who is an apostle).
So, Paul knew of his calling and mission clearly and so he was able to confidently say of himself, “called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God”.
The second question to ask is, Does God “call” and/or “set apart” every Christian for a particular task like he did with Paul?
While God “calls” all Christians without any exceptions, to be saints (Romans 1:7), to be disciple-makers (Matthew 28: 19-20) etc., and sets us apart to be his salt and light in this world, God does not “call” every Christian to unique tasks like he called Paul, and the other apostles. This is not to say that God doesn’t have pre-determined plans to use us to accomplish purposes and particular tasks. What I am saying is that God does not “call” us in the same way he called Paul. God is not in the business of giving out personal revelations or prophesies today. God today speaks to us through his word – The Bible. So, if we want to know what God is calling us to, the only way to find out is to carefully study the word of God.
Once you start studying the Bible, you will soon realise that it only talks about the general calling of God to all Christians and does not give any information on individual callings for today. It does not tell you directly, “Mr XYZ, I am calling you to be a pastor” or “I am calling you to be a missionary in Antarctica”. However, the word of God gives us enough principles to understand and make an informed decision on what God wants us to do, or what God is “calling” us to. For example, you may feel strongly “called” by God to be a pastor but if you are a female, you can be certain that God is NOT calling you to be a pastor of a church. You may feel that God is calling you to be an elder of a church, but if you are a recent convert, you can be sure that God is NOT calling you to be an elder at that stage.