Romans 1:3

Romans 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;


In Romans 1:1 we are introduced to Paul and the fact that he was separated unto the Gospel of God.  Verse 3 is the explanation of what the Gospel of God concerned.  The Gospel of God concerns Jesus Christ being the Son of God, and the fact that He was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.  Verse 4 gives us some more information on the Gospel of God, but we will talk about that when we get there.  


As I stated earlier, many struggle with this verse but it is very simple.  Where many get tripped up is the fact that we know Paul preaches an unprophesied message, but here we read he is separated unto something preached before.  What we need to know and understand is that Paul was given a message that was unprophesied, something which was kept hid in God from before the foundation of the world, and we need to know that the Gospel of God was not part of the mystery.  The Gospel of God is a foundational truth we must all know and understand.  Is it necessary to know Christ was the Son of God?  Yes.  Is it necessary to know Christ was made of the seed of David according to the flesh?  Yes.  


We should not get tripped up on the fact that Paul preaches the Gospel of God and then later preaches another Gospel.  Many say that Paul curses himself by doing so and they quote Galatians.  The issue we need to consider is the truth of progressive revelation.


Did Paul receive everything about the Dispensation of the Grace of God at once?  No.  In fact, he says that he will come to visions and revelations of the Lord in II Corinthians 12:1.  He knew there was more information to come.  From the time he is struck down on the road to Damascus until his death, Paul received many visions and revelations of the Lord.  The new Gospel he was to preach was not taught in seminaries, much like today.  Paul learned this new message from the mouth of the risen Christ Jesus.  He was not taught it by man, but by Jesus Christ Himself.


This is why we must study God's word in context.  All to often, men pluck a verse out of the Bible and interpret it based upon their theological upbringing.  We are not to handle God's word so deceitfully.  Does Paul condemn himself by preaching another gospel?  No.  The Gospel of God is something everyone should know as a basis to move on to deeper concepts.


Greg Resor
Complete in Him

Romans 1:2

Romans 1:2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)

This verse is a parenthetical verse to Romans 1:1, so please read the One Verse at a Time Post for Romans 1:3 for the continuation of Romans 1:1.  Then return to understand Romans 1:2.

In Romans 1:1 we are introduced to the Apostle Paul, his work, and his apostleship.  We are also introduced to the title of the Gospel of God, which we consider in the Romans 1:3 post.  However, this verse tells us something about the timing of the Gospel of God.  The Gospel of God is not something new, in fact Paul tells us that it is something God had promised before by His prophets in the holy scriptures.  I am going to assume you have read the Romans 1:3 post before reading this post, so you should have a basis of understanding before you begin to read this post.

Let us begin with the fact that the Gospel of God is concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  The Gospel of God was promised before by His prophets in the holy scriptures.  Many have issue with this because Paul preached an unprophesied gospel which was never heard, preached, thought of, nor revealed by or to anyone in scripture.  How can Paul preach an unprophesied gospel, when he was separated unto the Gospel of God which had been promised before by His prophets in the holy scriptures?  Simple.  The Gospel of God is concerning his Son Jesus Christ. 

Was Jesus Christ prophesied about by prophets in the holy scriptures?  Yes.
Was Jesus Christ the seed of David according to prophets in the holy scriptures?  Yes.
Was Jesus Christ prophecied to be the Son of God with power by prophets in the holy scriptures?  Yes.
Was Jesus Christ prophecied to be raised from the dead by prophets in the holy scriptures?  Yes.

Now, the idea we need to grasp here is; Does Paul say that he preaced the Gospel of God as the mystery?  No.  Or simply that he was separated unto the Gospel of God?  Yes.  What normally trips up the grace believer is that Paul preaches a gospel here that was promised before by the prophets in the holy scriptures and they struggle to mesh that with the gospel Paul preaches which is a mystery.  They become flustered to the point of not reconciling the two gospels he preaches.  Is the gospel of God different from that mystery gospel revealed to Paul from Christ?  Yes.

Many have struggled with the truth of progressive revelation.  We will deal with issue at length.

Introduction and Purpose

Within the pages of the Bible we have many wonderful stories of faith, virtue, sin, and redemption.  God has given unto us the very thoughts and intents of His heart along with a guide for our eveyday life which is found in the pages of His Holy Word.  Therefore, we desire to look at "one verse at a time" to gleen knowledge and information to live a life pleasing to Him.  This blog is dedicated to studying God's word, one verse at a time.  Now, with that being said, we will have to study many verses that will help illuminate the particular verse we are interested in.  Therefore, you must be prepared to do some work.  Happy studying.

Romans 1:1

Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

Paul introduces the epistle written to the Romans much in a similar fashion as he does all of his epistles, that is his name.  You may ask, why is that important to note?  The reason that is important to note is because Paul writes or dictates 13 epistles found in the so-called "New Testament" and he begins each of them with his name.  (cf. Romans 1:1, I Corinthians 1:1, II Corinthians 1:1, Galatians 1:1, Ephesians 1:1, Phillipians 1:1, Colossians 1:1, I Thessalonians 1:1, II Thessalonians 1:1, I Timothy 1:1, II Timothy 1:1, Titus 1:1, Philemon 1:1)  There are many today who affirm that Paul wrote the book of Hebrews, yet that book does not bare his name. (cf. Hebrews ?:?)  There is great controversy to who penned the book of Hebrews, but this author is wholly convinced that Paul is not the author for various reasons, this being one of them.  This is a rudimentary reason, but a good one nonetheless.  There are many wonderful differences between the 13 epistles attributed to Paul and the book of Hebrews, of which, we shall see some of them as we move forward. 

Paul goes on to tell us a little about himself.  Namely, that he is a servant of Jesus Christ and that he is called to be an apostle.  Let us first take a look at what it means to be a servant of Jesus Christ.  Then we will look at his calling to be an apostle.

A Servant of Jesus Christ

A servant is one who works for, is useful or of service to, helps, renders active service to, or renders obedience or homage to someone in authority.  This tells us a lot about Paul and even more about Jesus Christ.  If Paul is a servant of Jesus Christ, then Jesus Christ must have authority in the life of the Apostle Paul.  A servant is usually someone who chooses to be of service to someone else; therefore, because of the authority Jesus Christ has, Paul chose to be a servant of Jesus Christ.  Paul is willing to work for and be obedient to Jesus Christ.  Today, we must stop to see who we are serving.  I would almost promise that many today are not choosing to be servants of Jesus Christ, but rather their own pre-conceived notions. 

How many people are taking up a cause for preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ?

On the other hand,

How many are taking up a cause for water baptism? 

How many are taking up a cause for lent?

How many are taking up a cause for speaking in tongues?

How many are taking up a cause for handling serpents?

How many are taking up a cause for prosperity?

How many are taking up a cause for healing?
How many are taking up a cause for positive thinking?

The Calling to Be an Apostle

This is one of the most contested issues concerning the Apostle Paul.  Not so much his apostleship, but his true place within the pages of scripture and God's plan. 

Paul spent most of his life defending his apostleship and today we defend his unique apostleship.  His apostleship was unique from that of the 12 Apostles chosen by Christ and the 13th apostle, Matthias, who replaced Judas after the resurrection of Christ.  How was his apostleship unique from theirs?  Simple, he had a different gospel, he was sent to a different group of people, and he presented to the world God's wonderful mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.  Paul was given a message which was never preached before. 

What does it mean to be called to be an apostle?  It means he was separated unto the gospel of God. 

The Gospel of God
This has been a bone of contention among many Biblical scholars; however, if we allow God's word to speak for itself then we will be able to understand the verse more clearly.  We should note the verse ends with a comma, which means we are about to receive some more information and clarity to what the Gospel of God is about.  Therefore, we will leave this to our next verse.

Greg Resor
Complete in Him