Paul -- A Model Christian

I want to start today by looking back at a few verses from the first eight chapters of Romans:
"Paul, a bond servant of Christ..." Romans 1:1
"I long to see you...that I may be encouraged together with you..." Romans 1:11, 12
"...I am not ashamed of the gospel..."Romans 1:16
"...Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all
under sin..." Romans 3:9
"...we exult in hope of the glory of God...we also exult in our tribulations..." Romans 5:2-3
"...we have been buried with him through baptism into death...so we too might walk in newness of
life..." Romans 6:4
"...I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin..." Romans 7:14
"...on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh
the law of sin." Romans 7:25
"...I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory
that is to be revealed to us." Romans 8:18
I've chosen these passages to illustrate some of Paul's attributes as a disciple: knowledge of
his fallen state outside of Christ; willingness to serve (as a slave, not an employee or relative);
unashamed of the Gospel; aware of the cost of discipleship and the value of sonship. My point, here, is
that Paul makes it clear that our relationship with God through Christ is not without cost -- it cost the
life of Jesus and it will cost us our lives as well. I want to highlight the word translated 'bond servant'
for a moment.
"...if the slave plainly says, I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,
then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his
master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently." Exodus 21:5, 6
The passage from Exodus demonstrates that the notion of being a bond slave goes back over
1000 years. It is clear that the slave, having been well treated by his master, considers the master
along with his own family and chooses to remain and serve the master. We never hear stories like
that. But imagine what it would be like -- being owned by someone who has taken such good care of
you that when given the choice of freedom, you choose rather to remain a slave...a willing slave; a
bond slave. That is the meaning translated 'bond servant' in Romans 1. Paul sees himself as a willing
slave to God in Christ. Paul understands his relationship to God. He understands that God is the
master and he (Paul) is the slave...in fact, he has chosen to remain a slave to Christ when he has been
set free.
Now, let's move on to Romans 9-12. In chapter 9, Paul demonstrates such a deep love for his
fellow Jews that he states that he wishes, for the sake of the Jews, that he might trade places with
them before God. Paul is willing to give up his salvation in order to save his people; that sounds
Christ-like to me. Can we say the same thing? We emphasize making disciples here at Freedom
Christian Church, but are we willing to go to the lost in order to make disciples? Would we trade our
salvation for the souls of the lost? Remember in the wilderness, when Abraham bargained with God
not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? What would you do in order to bring New Bloomfield to its
knees before God? Think about that for a while. Back to Paul, he recognized that the Jews were
zealous for God, but that their zeal manifested itself in works, not faith. How are we different? As I
have said before and you will hear me say often, our good works need to be the product of our love
for God, not our desire to get some sort of spiritual reward.
As a teacher and as a parent, I understand the benefits and limitations of extrinsic
motivators -- rewards. If my kids or my students only obey for a temporal reward, their obedience
will end when the rewards do. My goal as a parent is to prepare my kids for a lifetime of loving
service to God and a life of responsible service to society; if they think that everything they do is for
an allowance or a gift or even praise, their obedience will cease when the reward does. At some point,
everyone needs to be willing to invest time and effort for the sake of relationship and for no other
reason. Otherwise, we have missed the boat. Paul clearly understood this. He sums up a rather long
discussion of the situation of the Jews In Romans 11:36 where he states "For from Him and through
Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." It doesn't matter what our race or
ethnicity or religious background is, "the just shall live by faith." Sola fide -- faith alone.
Coming to Romans 12, we see that Paul returns his attention to the faithful in Rome. Chapter
12 consists of a challenge to the Christians in Rome to become true bond slaves themselves:
" ...I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:1, 2
" I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think
so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith." Romans 12:3
Beyond his challenge for the Christians in Rome to become a living sacrifice to God and not
to think too highly of themselves, Paul further then introduces a central concept of the New
Testament age -- the Church as the Body of Christ:
" ...just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so
we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another " Romans 12:4, 5
We have grown up in American culture, including the concept of independence. I think,
however, that we have drifted a long way from the independence of the founders of our nation. To
them, independence was corporate -- independence from an imperial power such as Great Britain or
France or Spain. For us, too often we consider independence to mean absence of all restraint..."you're
not the boss of me." Paul is very clear that followers of Jesus are not independent -- we belong to
Christ and we belong to His Church. The whole of the book of Acts demonstrates that the first century
Christians survived because they had each others backs. This is still the case in countries where
Christians are persecuted...and I mean REALLY persecuted. Paul does not shy away from the notion
that suffering is part of the Christian life. Sure, Christians in America sometimes deal with the
consequences of speaking out for the unborn or the traditional structure of the family, but we seldom
lose our property or freedom. Imagine going to jail or being kicked out of your home because you are
faithful to Jesus.
Paul finishes this chapter by telling his readers that serving Christ and serving the Church
isn't all there is to discipleship; we must also serve our enemies. This is perhaps the toughest thing of
all. But I want to take you back to the Old Testament and the book of Job. In Job 42:12, the writer
states:
" The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning "
God is faithful; anything that we give up out of our love for and obedience to Him, He will
replace. Like Paul, I want to encourage you to consider your level of faith in God by your willingness
to obey God when He calls you to lay down what you consider yours.
"The earth is the Lord's and all it contains; the world and all those who dwell in it." Psalm 24:1
I'm done.