Eternity Daily Bible Study - No. 490 Series: Romans 1-8 "A Righteousness That Is By Faith" Verses: Romans 1:1 Topic: Separated To The Gospel Date: 27th July 2005 Romans 1:1 - Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God Paul "didn't have a choice" - he was a enslaved to Christ, called and commanded to be an apostle and set apart from others, for the service of the gospel. Most of us in ministry feel like this also. My wife certainly recognizes it in me and scratches her head! Minda knows I am "something other", set apart, somehow not of the normal run of humanity and without the normal concerns about money and advancement but with a huge passion for God. I tell her "God has messed with my brain and I can do nothing else". Now I know that the clergy-laity distinction is often unhealthy, but it does exist. There are those called to ministry, separated to the gospel, whose whole life involves doing what God has called them to do. This does not mean that they should be controlling, or should be the total center of all attention. The urge to have every-member ministry is a good thing, and the emphasis on clergy equipping laity is excellent. And yes we are all equal before God. However some of us are wired differently. Some of us are obsessed, captivated and enslaved by Christian work and we have to do it, even if it costs our families and us a great deal. Paul was called to Christ and to ministry at the same time - on the Damascus Road and while it took many years for Paul's call to mature (some exegetes such as F.F. Bruce claim Paul spent 13 years in Arabia thinking through his ministry) the call won out and his apostleship gradually emerged. God's gifts and callings are irrevocable (Romans 11:29) and once someone is called to full-time service there is no turning back. It is almost as if their inmost DNA has been changed, and the person is rewired, a new outlook has taken over and they cannot go back to their old trade even if they may use it from time to time to support their ministry. I am aware of the argument that any Christian in a job such as teaching, nursing, law etc is in "full-time ministry" and it can certainly do great good and bring great glory to God, but it is NOT the same as a calling like Paul's. No-one works as a nurse for free, or as a teacher without pay, but Paul's call drove him to travel around Europe, to suffer persecution, and enabled him to live at a very simple level. A true call is compelling, and makes a person a "bondslave of Christ". They are caught up in the work, and enslaved to the needs of the Kingdom of Christ. Just as the priests ad Levites were separated, so are those who are called to minister the gospel. They are set apart, by God, to focus entirely on His work. Now let me quickly add that they are not 'superior' or more holy or more favored by God but their lives are on a different track and they hear a different drummer. Gray Friesen wrote a book called "Decision-Making In The Will of God" which denied the existence of a ministry call. This book became very popular in some circles. However it is totally out-of-sync with the experience of Paul and of many who are in the ministry today. Many Christian workers can attest to a life-changing moment, or series of moments when they knew that God had laid His hand upon them for life. This is especially true of missionaries and of those whose ministries involve suffering hardship and privation. I think it is almost impossible to endure for long in such ministries without a deep sense of calling from God. Now I am not saying that such a call is compulsory for all, I am simply saying that it does exist, is powerful and it directs the whole of that person's life from that point onward. I have such a call and I know many who also have such a calling on them. You cannot "get a call" - at least to my knowledge, it simply comes unbidden by the hand of God. God chooses whom He will, and He often chooses quite unlikely folk. Neither can you impose a call on others (goodness knows how I have tried!) and no amount of reasoning or emotional manipulation will make a missionary out of even the most promising bible college student. It is simply something God does. Some folk think they are called after hearing a great preacher expound on missions. This rarely lasts, and a call that does not last in not a call from God. Neither is the need the same as the call. Need-orientation more often leads to burnout than to successful ministry. You do not preach the gospel because others need you (they don't) but because you need to! Woe unto me if I do not preach the gospel! You can know if you are called if you see things differently from others, if you march to the beat of a different drummer, and if your priorities are just not the same as those of all your friends. A call is not the same as the ability to do the job. Calling often needs polishing, including training such as bible college and wisdom from older hands in the same line of ministry. Calling also does not guarantee holiness or good judgment. These still need to be acquired. The call puts your feet on a different road to everyone else, but how you walk on that road is largely up to you. God's calling is God's enabling. You are not adequate, neither am I, neither was Paul, God is our adequacy. The calling is the promise of God's help to do God's work in God's way. 2 Corinthians 3:2-6 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men, (3) it having been made plain that you are the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, not having been written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not on tablets of stone, but in fleshly tablets of the heart. (4) And we have such trust through Christ toward God, (5) not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God; (6) who also has made us able ministers of the new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit makes alive. Blessings In Christ, John Edmiston (johned@aibi.ph) __________________________________________________________________ REFER OTHERS: If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or family member that would like to start receiving this daily bible study. 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