After listening to the very first sermon in this series, I am realizing how in depth it is going to be. 40 minutes on 1 verse! It's so easy to read a verse like Romans 1:1 and brush over it, wanting to get into the 'meat' of the book, chapter or whatever. What is amazing to me is that there IS 'meat' in this introductory verse.
As much as this verse seems as though it's about Paul and his identity, it isn't! Who does Paul belong to? Who called Paul to be an apostle? Who set him apart for the gospel?
God.
Saul was on mission to persecute the saints when Jesus appeared to him on Damascus road. He was looking to imprison and kill Jesus' followers, not become one. Paul's pointing out here in 1:1 that it's all about God. God bought him, called him and set him apart. None of it was his own doing. God made the difference in Paul's life.
I agree with Piper (and Paul) that the big question in life isn't "who am I?" Rather, it's "whose am I?"
To hear the sermon:
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/the-author-of-the-greatest-letter-ever-written
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