1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God,
that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the Gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
But the Lord said to him, "Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel.
Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's chosen ones, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven't I seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Aren't you my work in the Lord?
For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Gospel of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers,
For this, I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
but having suffered before and been shamefully treated, as you know, at Philippi, we grew bold in our God to tell you the Gospel of God in much conflict.
according to the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. And I thank him who enabled me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he counted me faithful, appointing me to service;
to which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth in Christ, not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings.
This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John,
He said to me, "These words are faithful and true. The Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show to his bondservants the things which must happen soon."
For we don't preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake;
For I reckon that I am not at all behind the very best apostles.
Paul, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead),
For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn't be a servant of Christ. But I make known to you, brothers, concerning the Gospel which was preached by me, that it is not according to man. For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my way of living in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the assembly of God, and ravaged it. I advanced in the Jews' religion beyond many of my own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me through his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I didn't immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia. Then I returned to Damascus.
in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Gospel of your salvation,--in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
which in other generations was not made known to the children of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel, of which I was made a servant, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power.
Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ; To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers{The word translated "overseers" (episkopos) can also be translated superintendents, guardians, curators, or bishops.} and deacons{Or, servants}:
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was bestowed on me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
For if I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to boast about; for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me, if I don't preach the Gospel. For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That, when I preach the Gospel, I may present the Gospel of Christ without charge, so as not to abuse my authority in the Gospel.
But I have said to you, "You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am Yahweh your God, who has separated you from the peoples. "'You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean: and you shall not make yourselves abominable by animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean for you. You shall be holy to me: for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.
[seems it but] a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the tent of Yahweh, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? and seek you the priesthood also?
At that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, to stand before Yahweh to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day.
Listen, isles, to me; and listen, you peoples, from far: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name:
He said to them, "Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned.
If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I am, there will my servant also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither one who is sent greater than he who sent him.
As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them." Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia. From there they sailed to Cyprus.
But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fastened his eyes on him,
When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, beckoned with his hand to the people. When there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying,
came to me, and standing by me said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' In that very hour I looked up at him. He said, 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth. For you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard.
For those who are such don't serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.
I know that, when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ.
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.
through whom we received grace and apostleship, for obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake;
But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen, and of the things which I will reveal to you; delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
"He said to me, 'Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.'"
I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'
For such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might display all his patience, for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life.
But we are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth; to which he called you through our Gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Romans 1
Commentary on Romans 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 1
In this chapter we may observe,
Rom 1:1-7
In this paragraph we have,
Rom 1:8-15
We may here observe,
Rom 1:16-18
Paul here enters upon a large discourse of justification, in the latter part of this chapter laying down his thesis, and, in order to the proof of it, describing the deplorable condition of the Gentile world. His transition is very handsome, and like an orator: he was ready to preach the gospel at Rome, though a place where the gospel was run down by those that called themselves the wits; for, saith he, I am not ashamed of it, v. 16. There is a great deal in the gospel which such a man as Paul might be tempted to be ashamed of, especially that he whose gospel it is was a man hanged upon a tree, that the doctrine of it was plain, had little in it to set it off among scholars, the professors of it were mean and despised, and every where spoken against; yet Paul was not ashamed to own it. I reckon him a Christian indeed that is neither ashamed of the gospel nor a shame to it. The reason of this bold profession, taken from the nature and excellency of the gospel, introduces his dissertation.
Rom 1:19-32
In this last part of the chapter the apostle applies what he had said particularly to the Gentile world, in which we may observe,
Now lay all this together, and then say whether the Gentile world, lying under so much guilt and corruption, could be justified before God by any works of their own.