Paul’s Example

In his letters to the church, the Apostle Paul repeatedly encourages his readers to follow his example.

Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. —1 Corinthians 4:16

As I began reading his letter to the Romans recently, it occurred to me that it would be useful, then, to take note of his example, as laid out for us in Scripture. This will be the first of an undetermined number of posts on the character and example of Paul.

1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; —Romans 1:1–6

In this passage, we see more than one important characteristic of Paul; but we need read only three words to find the first, and most important: he considered himself to be a slave of Jesus Christ.

Of all the Bible translations on my shelf, not one renders this phrase as it should, with the word slave. The NASB, quoted here, comes closest, yet still softens the word to “bond-servant.” But the word used here (δουλος, for those who care) is correctly translated as slave.

Paul did not think of himself as possessing any independence. There was no sense of self-ownership. He was owned by the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore had no rights to anything that the Lord himself did not grant him — and he was even willing to yield those rights, if doing so would enable better service to his master (2 Thessalonians 3). He was completely yielded to serving God in the calling he had been given. All of his own needs and desires were entirely subservient to his assigned task: preaching “the gospel of God.”

Are you and I yielded to God as slaves? Do we think of ourselves as his property, serving him because he owns us, or is our service to him something that is ours to give to him? Paul said “I am the property of the Lord Jesus Christ,” and lived accordingly. Let us do the same.

Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. —1 Corinthians 4:16

This is part of an open-ended series on Paul’s example to us.

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, 10 always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. —Romans 1:8–15

Paul was personally invested in the spiritual growth of those whom God had placed under his care.

• He was thankful for those who would read his letter, that their faith was proclaimed, that they, like him, were “not ashamed of the gospel” (v. 8).
• He prayed for them “unceasingly” (v. 9–10).
• He desired to be with them (v. 10–12)—
  • to encourage them in the faith,
  • and to be encouraged by them. Paul, though an apostle, was humble, recognizing his need for fellowship with the saints. Though he was their ecclesiastical superior, he knew he was also their equal in Christ.
• He was “eager to preach the gospel” to them (v. 15).

We see that Paul’s desire for the saints in Rome makes a full circle: he is thankful for their faith; he desires to encourage that faith; and he wants to bring them back to the object of their faith, i.e., the gospel. The gospel is central to his every thought concerning them.

Should not the gospel be central to our desires for and interactions with those whose welfare God has entrusted to us?