Romans 1:5-6 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
Jesus confronted Paul on the road to Damascus and called him to a new life and a new mission. Grace represents the new life and apostleship represents the new mission. The grace that Paul experienced brought a new outlook to him because it changed him at his core. No longer did he seek to please God by his efforts to be righteous according to the law. Now, he wanted to know Christ and the power of his resurrection (Philippians 3:4-11). Jesus also called Paul to a new mission of reaching the Gentile world with this message of transformation. Before Paul met Jesus, he was a persecutor and fervent follower of Judaism. After Damascus Paul had to re-evaluate his life’s purpose. His calling took him all over the Roman Empire. His message was the obedience of faith. Faith involves putting our trust in Jesus. This trust will change our perspective and how we live. Obedience is acting on this faith. Obedience is not slavishly following the law in order to please God but following the way of Jesus because his grace is at work within us. The readers of this letter were part of those who have responded to this message.
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