Bible Study Romans Part 5-Aphorizo

Welcome to the program Study in the Chapel.

God's Word is supreme at Chapel Ministries.

We consider it absolutely essential to a proper relationship with God.

We study it, we love it, we rely on it every minute of every day.

The following program is an edited recording of the regular Bible studies we hold, and we decided to share these with you in the hope that you too will be able to find inspiration, encouragement, and ultimately salvation through discovering Christ in Scripture.

Our intention is to travel all the way through the Bible.

It will be a challenging journey, but one that will undoubtedly bring you to a decision.

Through this study, you will be faced with either believing or rejecting what God has said to us.

It is our intention to provide you with enough knowledge to make an informed decision about God and his word.

We strongly encourage you to listen intently and diligently, because though at the moment you may not realize it, these things are truly a matter of life and death.

In fact, these are matters of eternal life and eternal death.

Never treat what God has said lightly.

There is truly nothing more important to you.

Now join us as we seek God's will through his inspired word.

We didn't start out doing two Bible studies a week, but I thought that maybe it was the right thing to do in order that the message of the gospel stays at the forefront.

It's important for us to study the Old Testament, and the gospel is there.

But part of the problem we sometimes encounter is that the Old Testament is only inferring the gospel, and we are always in need of it being at the forefront of our minds.

And so I thought we should move our efforts towards doing both, attacking from both sides, as I said when we started this.

We are in the book of Romans, as I said.

We're just getting started.

We are in the first chapter, we are in the first verse.

It's taking us some time to get through all of that.

So here we go.

We're still actually talking about Paul's credentials.

Actually, Paul is still talking about Paul's credentials.

Romans 1:1.

Romans 1:1

Paul, he's introducing himself.

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.

That's what Paul wrote.

He was introducing himself.

He was telling those people in Rome who was writing to them.

He opened his letter to the Romans by introducing himself.

And he starts out by saying that he is a slave.

Not a great start, Paul, but he said, I'm the slave of Jesus Christ, which, as we sent, as we said, meant that he was under the authority and the will of a very important man, a king, as a matter of fact.

That is an essential aspect of this whole thing.

You and I must understand, we must completely understand.

And this is why we took so much time talking about the difference between being a servant and being a slave.

Paul said he was a slave, and we must not make the mistake of thinking he is a servant.

And this is why.

A slave has no freedom whatsoever.

As bad as things got for servants in Georgian England, for example, as indentured as that class of people were, they were never completely subject to the whims of someone else.

It may have felt like it, it may have even looked like it.

But even the most oppressed servant under that social class obsessed society still had some freedom.

If the valet of Flitwick Manor in Bedfordshire didn't want to put up with his lordship's abuse anymore, he could simply resign.

Now that decision may have had some difficult personal ramifications, but it was still within his rights to do so.

No one could take that limited right from him.

In stark contrast, and this is the point I'm trying to make when I say being a servant and being a slave are two different things.

In stark contrast, a slave has no rights.

A slave has no freedom.

And that in the Roman Empire was actually the law.

In those days, if a slave became fed up with the poor working conditions, he had absolutely no recourse.

This is what the word invokes in the minds of those who heard it.

The word do loss, I'm speaking of.

Any benefit would be accidental.

If the living property, that's what a slave is, living property of the local miller was unhappy about repeatedly injuring himself on substandard equipment.

He couldn't just sit down at a papyrus adapted typewriter and bang out his letter of resignation.

If he didn't like the quality of the millstone or the speed at which it turned or any other aspect of the operation, well, too bad.

Your opinion is of no import, no more import than the cat that keeps the mice and rats away from the grain.

And let me say that it doesn't matter if you're a voluntary slave or not.

Yes, as we said last time, Paul, all of us Christians, we choose to be slaves, but that makes no difference in what we can expect as slaves.

The only difference is how you entered slavery.

My daughter entered the Air Force from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, but her husband went in through Knoxville, Tennessee.

But they're both subject to the same uniform code of military justice.

The method or location of entry has no bearing on your treatment.

Once you're in, the expectations are the same.

A slave is a slave, no matter how you became one.

Captured in a war and made a slave, still a slave.

Sold by your family to so that they could get enough food to eat, still a slave.

Volunteered to be a slave because you love your master and want to contribute to the furtherance of his purposes, still a slave.

And all slaves have one thing in common.

They have no will of their own.

In fact, someone once said it perfectly: the will of the slave is lost in the will of another.

And that right there, believe it or not, thrilled Paul.

His entire being was surrendered, surrendered to his master Jesus, and that brought him great joy.

But you know, that really isn't why he tells us about his personal slavery.

We can learn those lessons, of course.

It's important for him to encourage us to follow in his footsteps, his leg-ironed footsteps.

He wants us to seek to have that same level of relationship to Jesus as he has.

But listen to me, that's not why he identified himself as such.

His introduction to the congregation at Rome as the slave of Jesus Christ has a much more down-to-earth purpose.

Paul introduces himself as the doolos, as a doolos of Jesus Christ, so that he can let those Roman Christians know on whose authority he's operating.

You know, you and I don't think of a slave as someone who has much status and standing in society, but that wasn't the case in Paul's day.

Slaves very often, not always of course, but very often, were attached to the household of very prominent people, and it was quite common for those slaves to handle highly important matters on behalf of and with the authority of their masters.

Now, this would be how those Romans saw Paul's position once they were convinced of it.

As the slave of the king, his voice mattered.

Now, of course, this is a bit of a review, which is unusual for us, but it's a long discussion, and I don't want to lose anyone.

So Paul was the slave of the king as well as a called apostle.

He wasn't called to be an apostle, as it says in the King James.

He was a called apostle.

Again, this is related to the slave business.

All of these things are working together so that those Romans could know who it was that was writing to them.

And it was important that they knew that, so that they could know that the contents of this letter were important.

He was a called apostle, not called to be an apostle.

He was a called apostle, not the King James way.

Paul said originally that he was a called apostle because the call was a vital part of being an apostle.

There's no such thing as an apostle who wasn't called.

I know that you like me have heard of in our day apostle such and such at the first church of the corner, or apostle what's his name at Emmanuel Holy Cathedral of East Hooterville.

And I'll repeat what I said last time.

They can call themselves whatever they want to, but regardless of this personally chosen title, they are not a called apostle.

Not in a biblical way.

Being called is essential to the position of an apostle.

Without the call, you aren't an apostle.

And that matters because if you're not an apostle during the first century church, then you're just like anyone else.

And your writings may not get the attention you'd hope for.

And that is why Paul is settling these facts at the outset.

He's a slave and he's a called apostle.

So listen up.

Now this next part is going to sound a little mystical and spooky, but it's nothing but truth.

If we go back to the letter to the Galatians, we see that there Paul introduces himself just like he does in the letter to the Romans.

In fact, he's done that in every one of his letters.

He introduces himself.

And that, by the way, is one of the reasons why people don't believe that he wrote the letter to the Hebrews because there's no introduction, among other reasons, but because there was no introduction at the beginning.

That's why some believe it must have been someone else, perhaps a student of Paul's.

Regardless, in Galatians, Paul introduces himself.

As you know, we've been going on about that.

After he dispenses with the typical greeting, you know, hi everyone, this is Apostle Paul and the others that are with me.

Grace and peace to you, all from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We all praise them and give them glory, etc.

Now, I'm not making light of those things, nor am I mocking them.

I'm just trying to get to my point.

Then Paul says, after that greeting, Paul says something amazing.

John, why are we talking?

Why do we continue to talk about the letter to the Galatians if we're studying the letter to the Romans?

Well, first of all, the Bible is a unified whole, and it's impossible to talk about one section without at least occasionally referring to another.

And that is especially true in the Gospels and the New Testament, because all of that is built upon foundations of other scripture.

And let me tell you, if you're being taught scripture and never being referenced in other scripture, you might as well pick up the newspaper because you're not helping yourself.

Scripture must prove and highlight other scripture.

And what Paul is about to say to the Galatians, this is why we're talking about the letter to the Galatians.

What he's about to say to them is vital to our understanding of why he can claim such an important authority in the letter to the Romans.

And we cannot miss this.

Paul establishes why those Galatians, as well as the Romans and everyone else, should respect his teaching.

Paul says, now this is absolutely mind-blowing, and I have a feeling none of you've noticed it before, and I'm sure nearly none of you have been taught it.

Here is why we should all feel in awe of the fact that Paul is our preacher.

Galatians chapter 1, verse 11.

Galatians 1:11

But I certify you, brethren, listen closely to this.

Listen, scooch up to your speaker, and listen closely.

But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

Now, when they first read that, they must be, what does he mean by that?

So he continues, for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it.

Well, then how did you learn it, Paul?

But by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

What?

But Jesus was dead by the time Paul became a minister of the gospel.

Sometime after the resurrection, when Peter and the ten remaining apostles were looking for a replacement for Judas, who, as you know, betrayed the Lord and then subsequently committed suicide.

When the eleven sought to bring their number back up to 12, Paul laid out some of the qualifications for the candidate.

Now, I'm not going to be long here, but this is important to our point about the apostleship of Paul, and it's actually pretty cool too.

One of the conditions mentioned by Peter that must be met in order to be one of the twelve is that the potential replacement must have been present with Jesus throughout his entire ministry.

In other words, the one who would fill the vacancy had to have been taught directly by the Lord himself.

That I believe is a Holy Spirit-inspired requirement.

I believe that the Holy Spirit told Peter to make that a condition for the position of the 12th apostle.

Now, let me quickly say, I believe the Holy Spirit already knew who that 12th apostle was going to be.

Why he chose to go about identifying him in the way that he did, I have no idea.

But whatever the reason, it was perfect.

Anyhow, let's read it.

I'm going to quote from the new King James.

This is the Acts of the Apostles.

I'm going to quote from the new King James Acts of the Apostles, since it's a little easier to understand.

The new King James is sometimes a little bit easier to understand than the old King James or just the King James.

This is chapter one of Acts, starting at verse 21.

Therefore, of these men who have an have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when he was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.

In other words, Peter is saying this is what it's going to be take to be chosen an apostle.

Now, I'm going to repeat what I said to you before.

People don't choose that.

Now, you will tell me, and we're not going to go too deeply into this because we're going to cover it when we get to it, but people are going to tell me that when those apostles and disciples threw lots to figure out who was going to be that 12th apostle, using all of the criteria Peter just came up with, when they threw lots to determine that 12th apostle, someone's going to tell me God was in that.

You can say that if you want to.

That's fine.

Again, let me say we're not going to go into this too deeply, but I will tell you, I believe Peter chose the wrong man.

I believe those men and Peter chose the wrong man.

They chose Matthias, who I am sure was a good Christian, a good disciple, a very respectable leader of the church.

But Matthias was no Paul, nor was Matthias God's choice.

And I'm sure someone's going to lay a comment on our YouTube channel arguing with me on that.

By the way, I don't argue.

If you're going to leave me a comment, don't expect me to argue.

The same thing happened this week.

I'm not going to get into arguments with people.

My response to most commenters is go back and listen to the program and you'll have your answers answered, your questions answered.

By the way, I'm not insulting Matthias, and I'm not insulting those who chose him.

Paul was Saul then, and he wouldn't be ready for some years.

I believe Paul was God's choice to be the 12th, and we are given this account in Acts to spell out for us why he was the 12th apostle.

This passage at the end of the first chapter of Acts was not to tell us about Matthias, though that is there, but it is, in my opinion, incidental.

The passage in Acts is here to tell us why Paul would eventually qualify as one of our Lord's 12.

The Holy Spirit, in my opinion, told Peter to verbalize the requirement that the replacement, 12th apostle, had to have been taught by Jesus himself.

I believe the Holy Spirit inspired that requirement.

Now, with that in mind, let's go back to Galatians.

Let me read what we already read, plus a little.

Again, verse 11 of Galatians 1.

But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Skipping down a couple, verse 15.

But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal his son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.

You can hear what Paul is saying here.

Paul is saying this was a divine appointment.

God had appointed him.

Christ himself appointed him an apostle.

God knew that Paul was going to be his man to the, to the, he said, heathen to the Gentiles from his very birth.

Verse 17.

Listen to this.

Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus.

Now, as I said before, we're not going to analyze this now because we will when we get there.

But let me summarize and apply it to today's lesson.

This you're going to find hard to believe.

Paul is telling us that no ordinary man was responsible for his knowledge of the gospel.

By inference, he is telling us that he didn't receive this instruction, the instruction on the gospel from any of the 12 or any of the experts or any of the ones who knew Jesus personally.

Paul tells us that he was taken into Arabia.

Some think this means he was taken into the desert of Arabia, and there he was taught by none other than Jesus himself.

That is what Paul is telling us.

Peter endorsed Paul.

Later on in Acts, Peter tells people that what Paul says is equal to the scriptures, when the people he was saying that to knew what Peter meant.

Peter said that what Paul said was the gospel.

Now, let me return one second to Peter's statement in the Acts of the Apostles.

Peter said in order to qualify to be the 12th apostle, it was necessary for the candidate to have been under the tutelage of Jesus for his entire ministry.

He puts it like this.

I know I'm repeating myself, but you have to get this.

Quote, therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when he was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.

One of these will be the apostle.

From the baptism to the resurrection.

That's what Peter said.

Now, let me ask, does anyone know how long that was?

How long was it from the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among them, beginning from the baptism of John?

Meaning the day John baptized from that day, because that was the day his ministry began, from that day until he was taken up with them.

How long was that time period?

Anyone know?

I'll tell you, it was three years.

Okay, now back to Galatians.

We'll read what we read before.

But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Skipping those same couple of verses as before, going down to verse 15.

But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace, Paul is saying it was his choice, his grace.

It was his unearned favor.

The unearned favor Paul received from God, from his mother's womb.

Verse 16, to reveal his son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen.

Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus.

This is the point I want you to listen to.

Verse 18.

Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him 15 days.

Paul, according to his account, was in training for three years.

The exact same number of years each of the other apostles received, by the way, including Judas.

And again, according to his account, those three years of training did not come by flesh and blood, but by revelation of Jesus Christ.

Paul was taught for three years by Jesus.

These facts mean one thing.

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.

There can be no doubt who our Lord chose to be his twelfth apostle.

Now, some of you may stay still be wondering, what about Matthias?

Why wasn't Matthias the 12th?

All I can say is that he wasn't.

I'm not trying to be elusive.

I just don't want to spend any more time here.

We will cover all of that when we get to the book of Acts someday.

But I have to say, I won't have a lot to add even then because there isn't much more.

But we will get there eventually and focus a bit more on it when we do.

Let's get back to Romans chapter 1, verse 1.

Romans 1:1

Yes, we're still there.

And we will be there for a while.

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle.

Nope.

A called apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.

When Paul says he was separated unto the gospel of God, he was saying something very important.

Of course, he was repeating that fact that he was called.

Hey, Tomasi, come and dig this trench over here.

My military training instructor called me out of the ranks to do a certain job, a very particular job.

It's the same here.

As he said in Galatians, Jesus and the Father called him out.

And here in Romans, he sets out the boundary.

That's actually what the Greek word means.

Separated.

When he used the word separated, it was actually the Greek word aphariso, which means to set a boundary, to set a limit, an exclusion.

Listen, Paul wasn't separated to feed the poor in Jerusalem.

He helped with that.

He wasn't separated to administer the affairs of the church.

He helped with that.

But the gospel was his offeriso, the thing he was separated unto, his boundary, his appointed duty station.

If Paul failed in help in helping to feed the poor, well, that wouldn't be good news.

But as long as he was still focused on spreading the gospel and having success there, well, he was true to the called part of his called apostleship.

If he was mistaken about some matter related to fundraising for new facilities in Asia Minor, okay, sorry about that.

But if it was because he was taken up with the business of the gospel, then he was doing what he was supposed to be doing.

Asked me if I'd be interested in filling the vacancy her husband's retirement created.

There have been a few other similar requests, just as a side note, I hate to say it, but there are too many open pulpits in America.

But having said that, I'm not your man.

I told my friend that that wasn't what I was called to do.

Some people may get a kick out of my Bible teaching, but pastoring is not the same.

Biblically, that's true, and common sense should also be your guide on that one.

I would not be a good pastor, and as a matter of fact, if I were to take on such a role, my calling as a teacher would suffer.

And that would be a shame and frankly a sin for me.

I always tell people if you want a Bible teacher, then well, I'm open to helping, but there is a boundary, there's a limit, there's a hedge line, an aferiso from me.

I must stay true to what God separated me unto.

Paul has an unending loyalty to what God has called him for, and he doesn't mind expressing it to whoever will listen.

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, separated, afriso, bounded, limited by the gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures or the holy writings.

Now, to me, this is one of the most significant statements in all of the Bible.

We will be spending time here.

We have said repeatedly in this ministry that once you discover what the true theme of the Bible actually is, the whole thing comes alive.

So much of what we're told is so mysterious about scripture becomes clear the moment that we see that the entire book is the gospel of God, which he had promised before by his prophets in the holy scriptures, the holy writings.

Once you see that, you can't unsee it.

It's everywhere in the Bible.

Obviously, that is the work of the Holy Spirit.

He puts that knowledge in you.

You become aware of the fact that Jesus is everywhere.

I tell you that all the time, but you'll never get it from me if you understand it.

It's the Holy Spirit that has to make that come alive for you.

It's something I pray for.

Now, let me quickly correct the King James here.

It isn't the Holy Scriptures, the holy writings.

It's just holy writings.

The definite article is not in the original.

Now, I've not seen a good reason why the translators added the definite article, the word the is a definite article.

I haven't seen why they added that, nor can I find out why Paul left it out.

As you already know, these things intrigue me.

Now you can mock me if you want to, but I very often find the most revealing truths, the most illuminating facts when I dive into the anomalies.

Yeah, but not this time.

There's that's not to say there aren't any explanations.

There are, but I don't find any of them all that satisfying.

A few scholars have spoken on the topic, but their reasons seem to be rather convoluted.

I think it's best for me, and I've done this before, to just say that I don't know and then move on.

Both of those things seem odd.

The fact that there is an article in the King James and there isn't one in the original, both of those things seem odd.

But I'll just I'll just have to add that to the list of things to ask in heaven.

That's a sum list.

Romans 1:1, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be a call, called to be, not called to be, a called apostle.

Romans 1:1

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets in holy scriptures or holy writings.

As I said, we're going to camp here for a bit.

I know I make that sound as if we haven't already been camping all over the place, but we are going to linger here for a while longer.

What do you mean?

We're going to talk a lot about this mentioned afore in holy scriptures.

We're going to talk a lot about that because that is the foundation.

That is the reason why we study the entire Bible.

That's why I tell you, don't go to a church or a Bible study that only talks about the New Testament.

Don't accept a Bible that is New Testament only.

When I was in the military, one of the things they gave us at the entry station was a by what they said was a Bible is just the New Testament.

And I accepted it gladly, believe me.

But as I grew in my knowledge of the Bible, I realized that's just half a book.

What's good as reading just half a book?

War and peace.

Just read about the war, just about the peace, not the whole book.

The whole book is important, and we're going to talk about that.

And I'm going to do my best to show that to you because here's an opportunity for me to do that.

Paul is telling you the very same thing that the gospel of God was mentioned afore by the prophets and holy scriptures.

And I'm going to do my best to show that to you.

It is in Holy Scripture that God put the story, the good story, the good news, his good news, his gospel.

He promised these good tidings to us, and knowing that is the very bedrock of our faith.

You cannot have Christianity.

You can't be a Christian without first knowing what was promised afore.

You can't say you believe in Christ without knowing the gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets in holy scriptures.

It's not that people don't say they believe, it's just that they're confused about what they believe.

I mean, some people think that Christianity is an attitude or a way of life or an outlook.

You know, you love everybody.

That's what a Christian is.

That's what Christianity is.

You love everyone.

You're considerate.

You like going to church, you volunteer a lot.

That's what people say is Christianity.

Well, those things are nice, but none of them are Christianity.

In fact, Christianity isn't a thing or a set of things or even a systems, a system of beliefs, if I'm being honest.

Christianity is a person.

Now that person will affect your attitude, your way of life, your outlook, and even your actions.

But none of those things have any power in themselves to make a difference in your eternity.

Only the one who is Christianity can do that.

In fact, none of those things are actually unique or new to Christianity.

You can have all of that and not know a thing about Christ.

Now is not the most politically correct time for me to say this, but some of the nicest, most grounded, most positive people I have ever met are Muslim.

Do you know any Muslims?

I mean, real Islam practicing Muslims.

I've not met one that I didn't find to be among the kindest, most courteous, helpful people on earth.

And yet they know nothing of Christ.

They know nothing.

Well, they know almost nothing about what was promised aforetime.

We have this Bible to clear all that up.

We have this Bible so that we can meet Christianity, the person that is Christianity.

And we all need to know that.

We all need to know that he's in there.

We all need to know that's where we meet him and where we discover why he's Christianity and why we need to know his story before we can call ourselves Christians.

The Romans Paul wrote to needed to know that.

Those converted Jews in Rome needed to know that.

We all need to know that what we believe in now has been talked about since literally the beginning.

And when we do, when we come to that conclusion, when we make that discovery, it solidifies our faith like nothing else can.

Now we're just scratching the surface.

We're just getting started.

But let's stop there now and pick it up at this point next time.

See you then.

We hope this study has blessed you.

God's word is a great treasure, and it's our belief that a thorough, purposeful study of it will bring all of God's children to an understanding of his eternal plan of redemption.

It is our prayer that this will be so for all of our listeners.

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