Romans 1:1, "Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.
I couldn't even get past this verse in my devotion time today. It struck me so hard that Paul knew who he was. I've never read a scholar who thought Paul had a problem being confident.
There is tremendous confidence that can come from knowing who you are, and equally important, knowing who you are not. How many people today would say, "I know who I am" with no hesitation or question. If you can't, think about how inspiring it would be to know that answer.
If you know you are a football player and someone offered you ice skates you would know "that's not me". If you were a writer and someone gave you a paint brush you know "that's not me". If you are a photographer and someone gives you a camera you know exactly what you are doing and are greatly confident in using it.
So what was Paul?
1) He was Paul
2) He was a Bond-servant (Actually I think I talked about this already.)
3) "He was called as an apostle."
There is a little room there for ambiguity, one could read it Paul who is called an apostle. It would be something like Mike who is called a garbage man or Sarah who is called a waitress. This would mean that you are called thus because people choose to call you so. It is an external identifier placed on you by man
Paul does NOT understand it in that way.
Paul understands that he is called an Apostle by God, in fact he was called to be an apostle by God. The usage of the word κλητός (called) in the Greek means called to an office ie. apostle or even better to be "divinely selected and appointed". "Apostle" is a characteristic of Paul's very being. that comes from God selection and appointment.
We cannot allow the surface things or man made titles to dictate who we are. There is a divine calling each of us to be what God desires. While it might not be as earth shaking as Paul's calling turned out to be, it is as important to God. Your calling might not have as neat and tidy a title as Paul's but it was named by God before the foundation of the earth. Today, God does place the same expectation on me and you as he did on Paul, to be obedient.
What is the voice of God calling you as?
