Paul: A Slave of Christ Jesus

In one paragraph

This was the opening sermon in a new series through the book of Romans. Rather than diving into the text itself, the message was spent making the case for why Romans matters and who Paul was before he wrote a single word of it. Pastor Carl began by walking the congregation through the ground First B has covered over the past three and a half years, from First Peter through Second Corinthians,...

Read together

1. Romans 1:1 the main text introduced for the sermon series, Paul identifying himself as a bond servant of Christ Jesus called to be an apostle
2. Romans 16:25-27 read as a benediction, describing the gospel mystery now made manifest to all nations
3. Acts 9:11 cited to establish that Paul was born in Tarsus
4. Acts 21:39 cited alongside Acts 9:11 as Paul stating he was born and raised in Tarsus, no mean city
5. Acts 9:17-22 cited to show Paul immediately began preaching after his conversion and his sight was restored
6. Acts 5 Gamaliel standing up and warning the council not to oppose the apostles, saying if their work is of God it cannot be stopped
7. Acts 4 Peter and John arrested, beaten and told never to preach in Jesus name again
8. Acts 11:25-26 Barnabas going to Tarsus to find Saul and bringing him to Antioch where disciples were first called Christians
9. Galatians 1:17-18 cited to establish Paul spent three years in Arabia after his conversion before returning to Jerusalem
10. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 Paul saying he became all things to all men to win some, making himself a slave to all for the sake of the gospel
11. Acts 22 Paul telling his own story of being educated at the feet of Gamaliel

Talk about it

1. Pastor Carl walked through the books we have studied together over the past few years and said that series preaching through a book was his 'lifeline to sanity.' What has your own experience been with reading or studying through a complete book of the Bible, and how has it been different from topical study?
2. Samuel Taylor Coleridge called Romans 'the most profound work in existence,' and Martin Luther said it was the profoundest book ever written. Before hearing any of this, what was your own sense of Romans? Does knowing its reputation change how you want to approach it?
3. Paul grew up in Tarsus, one of the greatest educational centers of the ancient world, studied under Gamaliel in Jerusalem, and was steeped in Greek philosophy and Jewish law. How do you think that background shaped the way he presented the gospel to different audiences, including the way he described himself in Romans 1:1?
4. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians that he became all things to all people so that he might by all means save some. Where have you seen that approach work well, and where have you seen it misused or misunderstood?
5. The sermon ended with the phrase 'the gospel of God,' and the point was made that philosophy and the law can only bring bad news, while the gospel is God's good news. What does it mean to you personally that it is God's gospel rather than simply a set of ideas Paul came up with?