PAUL: Paulos: (Acts 13:9; 22:7; 26:1,14) (Click for every mention of "Paul" in NT) (Click or here for tabular timelines of Paul's life)

Related Resources: Paul • Paul, The Apostle, 1 • Paul, The Apostle, 2 • Paul, The Apostle, 3 • Paul, The Apostle, 4 • Paul, The Apostle, 5 • Paul, The Apostle, 6 • Paul, Voyage And Shipwreck Of • Pauline Theology

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Paul (Latin = paulus or paullus) (Click for brief summary of Paul's life) means small or little whereas Saul means asked for.  Some Others find in the name an expression of humility, according to Paul’s declaration that he was “the least of the apostles” (1Co 15:9) while others feel it alludes to his diminutive stature, but this is speculation at best.

Paul was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, born in the Greek city of Tarsus in Cilicia and was a Roman citizenship (Acts 22:28, 29). Paul was well acquainted with the three great nationalities of the Roman Empire and was providentially prepared for his apostolic mission among the Jews, the Greeks, and the non–Greeks, also called barbarians. Under the instruction of Gamaliel, a distinguished rabbi at Jerusalem (Acts 5:34), Paul became a master of the Jewish law (Ac 22:3; Gal 1:14). Paul was also a tentmaker, a trade that he performed so that he could support himself (Ac 18:3; 1 Co 4:12; 9:18).

A BOND-SERVANT OF CHRIST JESUS:  Paulos doulos Christou Iesou: (Ro 1:9; 15:16; 16:18; Jn 12:26; 13:14-16; 15:15, 20, Ac 27:23; 2Co 4:5; Gal 1:10; Php 1:1; Titus 1:1; James 1:1; 2Pe 1:1; Jude 1; Rev 1:1; 22:6 ,9) 

Bondservant (1401) (doulos from root deo = "to bind") in its primary meaning describes one who is bound to another. Paul was "a servant (bound to) of Jesus Christ"; no longer a servant (bound to) of sin, nor of Satan, nor of man, nor of Moses and his Law, nor of the traditions of men.

Doulos was used of a select group of OT believers who were bondservants of Jehovah including Abraham (Ps 105:6, 42), Moses (2Ki 21:8, Mal 4:4), Joshua [Josh 24:29], Caleb [Nu 14:24], Job [Job 1:8], David (2Sa 7:5, 8) the prophets (Am 3:7; Zec 1:6), and the Servant of servants Messiah [Is 42:1,53:11]

Click both of the following links for in depth word studies on doulos (1) or doulos (2).

In Greek culture doulos conveyed the basic idea of subservience and had a wide range of connotations. It was sometimes used of a person who voluntarily served others, but most commonly it referred to those who were in unwilling and permanent bondage, from which often there was no release but death. The Hebrew equivalent (ebed - 05650) is used hundreds of times in the Old Testament and carries the same wide range of connotations. The Mosaic law provided for an indentured servant to voluntarily become a permanent bond-slave of a master he loved and respected.

“If a slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’ then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently” (Ex. 21:5,6).

Paul used doulos in this latter sense to describe a servant who willingly committed himself to serve a master he loved and respected (Dt 15:12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 Ex 21:5, 6) He had come to understand the liberating truth that true freedom is found in bondage to Jesus Christ, his Master.
 

Marvin Vincent says that a doulos
 

"involves the ideas of belonging to a master, and of service as a slave. The former is emphasized in Paul’s use of the term, since Christian service, in his view, has no element of servility, but is the expression of love and of free choice. From this stand-point the idea of service coheres with those of freedom and of sonship. Compare 1Co 7:22; Gal 4:7; Ep 6:6-note; Philemon 1:16. On the other hand, believers belong to Christ by purchase (1Co 6:20; notes on 1Peter 1:18-note; Eph 1:7-note), and own Him as absolute Master." (Vincent, M. R.  Word studies in the New Testament. Vol. 3, Page 1-2)

John MacArthur writes that
 

In New Testament times there were millions of slaves in the Roman Empire, the vast majority of whom were forced into slavery and kept there by law. Some of the more educated and skilled slaves held significant positions in a household or business and were treated with considerable respect. But most slaves were treated much like any other personal property of the owner and were considered little better than work animals. They had virtually no rights under the law and could even be killed with impunity by their masters. (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press or Logos)

Harry Ironside illustrates the idea of bondslave:
 

"He (PAUL) does not mean however that his was a service of bondage. Rather he served in the whole-hearted obedience of one who realized that he had "been bought with a price:" (1Co 6:20) even the precious blood of Christ (1Pe 1:18-note; 1Pe 1:19-note). There is a story told of an African slave whose master was about to slay him with a spear when a chivalrous British traveler thrust out his arm to ward off the blow, and it was pierced by the cruel weapon. As the blood spurted out he demanded the person of the slave, saying he had bought him by his suffering. To this the former master ruefully agreed. As the latter walked away, the slave threw himself at the feet of his deliverer exclaiming, "The blood-bought is now the slave of the son of pity. He will serve him faithfully." And he insisted on accompanying his generous deliverer, and took delight in waiting upon him in every possible way. Thus had Paul, thus has each redeemed one, become the bondman of Jesus Christ. We have been set free to serve, and may well exclaim with the Psalmist (Ps 116:16 O LORD, surely I am Your servant, [Lxx = doulos] I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid, You have loosed my bonds.).

Paul most likely wrote Romans from Corinth, as inferred from the references to Phoebe (Romans 16:1-notes, Cenchrea was Corinth's port), Gaius (Ro 16:23-note), and Erastus, each of these individuals known to be associated with Corinth.

The apostle wrote Romans toward the close of his 3rd missionary journey (around 56AD), as he prepared to leave for Palestine with an offering for the poor believers in the Jerusalem church (Ro 15:25-note). Phoebe was apparently given the great responsibility of delivering this letter to the Roman believers (Ro 16:1-note).

CALLED AS AN APOSTLE: kletos apostolos: (Ro 1:5; 11:13; Ac 9:15; 22:14, 15,21; 26:16;17,18 1Cor 1:1; 9:1,16-18; 15:8-10; 2Cor 1:1; 11:5; 12:11; Gal 1:1,11-17; Ep 1:1; 3:5-7; 4:11; Col 1:1,25; 1Ti 1:1,11,12; 2:7; 2Ti 1:11; Titus 1:1; Heb 5:4)

Paul is an apostle not by his design but God's grand design, "by the will of God" a point he repeatedly emphasizes (cp 1Cor 1:1, 2Cor 1:1, Gal 1:1, Eph 1:1, Col 1:1, 1Ti 1:11, 2Ti 1:1).

Paul was called specifically to be an apostle to the Gentiles (Ro 11:13-note; cp Acts 9:15, 22:21, 26:17) explains later in this epistle that he

received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for His name's sake (see note Romans 1:5 - see discussion of the phrase "obedience of faith")

Called (2822) (kletos click here)  from kaléo = call) (click study or click here) means invited or welcomed and was originally used to designate those invited to a banquet. In the NT kletos is generally used of one who has accepted a calling or an invitation to become a guest or member of a select group. We have been invited by God in the proclamation of the Gospel to obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom through Christ.  The verbal adjective kletos with this ending usually has a passive sense ("be called"). 

An apostle (652) (apostolos from kaléo = call) (click study or click here) means literally “one who is sent” and from the context Paul did not thrust himself into this office or take this honor to himself, of which he always judged himself unworthy, (1Cor 15:9,10, cf Gal 1:1) but was "called" to the office according to the will and by the grace of God. Paul was invited by God to be His man to the Gentiles (2 Ti 4:17-note).

Paul is an apostle by calling, a divinely initiated calling, not an apostle by human seeking. The New English Bible's rendering "apostle by God's call," does a good job of catching the force of the Greek. The apostle was a man who had seen the risen Messiah (Acts 9:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22) and had been appointed by Him to plant the flag of faith in every community to which His master led him. He was His emissary, God's ambassador (Eph 6:20-note cf the role of saints today 2Co 5:20) and he spoke with God's authority. Thus, in Paul's words there is the implicit claim that he is the authoritative representative of Jesus Christ, divinely called to his task. Paul's call, as Abraham's (Ge 12:1, Heb 11:8-note), was an invitation that came from heaven.

While there are no apostles today, it is certainly to be expected that believers, regardless of the precise spiritual gift they possess, minister their gift with the same sense of divine calling to it. There is abundant evidence that there are many attempting to minister in the name of Jesus Christ who have never been called by Him to the task. It could be said of them, as Jehovah said of the false prophets in Jeremiah's day,

I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied (Jer 23:21).

One is reminded of the story of the old preacher who had a good grasp of these fundamental principles and even more so a grasp of and relationship with the Lord Himself. On one occasion he had to listen to a brash young preacher, very sure of himself, who displayed little evidence of the life and power of God in his preaching. When the message was over, he went over to the confident youth and said, "WAS YOU SENT, or DID YOU JUST WENT?"

SET APART FOR (unto): aphorismenos (RPPMSN) eis: (Lev 20:24, 25, 26; Nu 16:9,10; Dt 10:8; 1Chr 23:13; Is 49:1; Jer 1:5; Ac 13:2, 3, 4; Gal 1:15; 1Ti 1:15,16; Heb 7:26) 

Paul was saying, “I’ve got a hedge about me-I’m not free to go off and do just anything. I have one thing I am set apart for, one thing God has called me for-and that is the gospel of God.”

Note that this threefold description given by the apostle of himself rings one resounding note: The initiative for genuine ministry comes from God (cf. Heb 5:4).

Set apart (873) (aphorizo from apó = off from, apart + horízo = mark out the limit) means to mark off the boundaries, to appoint, set one apart for some purpose. It is used of the final separation of the righteous from the wicked (Mt 13:49; 25:32); of the separation of the disciples from the world (Lk 6:22); and of the setting apart of apostles to special functions (Acts 13:2).

Aphorizo is used 10 times in the NT: (2x Mt; 1x Lk; 2x Ac; 1x Ro; 1x 2Co; 2x Gal) (Mt. 13:49; 25:32; Lk. 6:22; Acts 13:2; 19:9; Ro 1:1; 2Co. 6:17; Gal. 1:15; 2:12) and in the NAS is translated: hold...aloof, 1; ostracize, 1; separate, 2; separates, 1; set apart, 2; set...apart, 1; take, 1; took away, 1.

Set apart is in the perfect tense which speaks of a past completed action having present results, thus Wuest says that Paul was "permanently separated to God's good news." Are you? Am I? Good questions to ponder beloved.

Aphorizo is used 63 times in the Septuagint (Lxx = Greek translation of Hebrew OT) Throughout the OT, God provided for the setting apart of His chosen people. To the entire nation He declared,

Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart (Lxx = aphorizo) from the peoples to be Mine." (Lev 20:26).

In the OT aphorizo (and the related word group) is used of setting apart to God the firstborn, of offering to God first fruits, of consecrating to God the Levites, and of separating Israel to God from other peoples. The basic instruction was that there was to be no intermingling of the chosen people with the Gentile nations or of the sacred with the profane and ordinary.

Luke uses this verb in the sense of excommunication (synagogue, etc) quoting Jesus Who declared

Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize (exclude, ban) you, and cast insults at you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man." (Lk 6:22)

The Aramaic term Pharisee may share a common root with aphorizo and carries the same idea of separation. The Pharisees, however, were not set apart by God or according to God’s standards but had rather set themselves apart according to the standards of their own traditions (cf. Mt 23:1, 2).

Paul by his own testimony was as to the Law a Pharisee (notes Philippians 3:5), "one separated" to the law, but after the dramatic Damascus Road encounter he became eternally separated unto the Gospel of His Lord. In the past, God

had set (Paul) apart (aphorizo), even from (his) mother's womb (before he was born) and called (him) through His grace (Gal 1:15)

Paul once the most ardent of the self-appointed Pharisees, was now set apart divinely, not humanly. God revealed to him that he had been set apart by God’s grace even from his mother’s womb.

As A T Robertson put it
 

The Pharisees were the separatists who held themselves off from others. Paul conceives himself as a spiritual Pharisee “separated unto the gospel of God ” (Word Pictures in the New Testament)

When God "was pleased to reveal His Son in" Paul, he was forever dedicated fully to the ministry of God's gospel (1Cor 9:23).

Shortly thereafter while the leaders of the church at Antioch "were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
 

Set apart (aphorizo) for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them" (Acts 13:2)

This setting apart by the Holy Spirit's declaration resulted in Paul's "First Missionary Journey.

In sum, setting apart indicates the separating of an individual for specific service.

Paul admonishes the Corinthians to

COME OUT (aorist imperative) FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE (aphorizo - aorist imperative)," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH (present imperative - with a negative = stop touching what is unclean) WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you." (2Co 6:17)

C. I. Scofield summarizes this idea of being set apart by God writing that

Separation...is...from whatever is contrary to the mind of God and unto God Himself. The underlying principle is that in a moral universe it is impossible for God fully to bless and use His children who are in compromise or complicity with evil. Separation from evil implies separation in desire, motive, and act, from the world...Separation is not from contact with evil... but from complicity with and conformity to it. And the reward of separation is the full manifestation of the divine fatherhood (2Cor 6:17 18) unhindered communion and worship and fruitful service (2 Timothy 2:21-note) as world conformity involves the loss of these, though not of salvation. Christ is the model. He was "holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners" (Hebrews 7:28-note), and yet He was in such contact with them for their salvation that the Pharisees, who illustrate the mechanical and ascetic conception of separation judged Him as having lost His Nazirite character (Lk 7:39)
 

The apostle Paul reminds us of the sign on the back of a u haul type truck...

This motto was certainly true of Paul and should be true of all who claim the Name of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. None of us will ever achieve perfection in this area but with God's grace can redeem every breath of life God graciously gives us that we might see His kingdom enlarged and His Name glorified "any place, any time."

THE  GOSPEL OF GOD: euaggelion theou: (Ro 1:9,16; 15:16, 29; 16:25; Mark 16:15,16; Lk 2:10,11; Acts 20:24; Eph 1:13; 1Th 2:2; 2Th 2:13; 14, 1Ti 1:11)  ( See Torrey's Topic Gospel)  

Gospel (2098) (euaggelion) (Click word study - 9x in Romans) literally means good news. The noun euaggelion and the verb euaggelizomai  are derived from eu meaning  “well” and aggello which meant “to bear a message, bring tidings or news, proclaim.”  Thus euaggelizomai  means “to bring a message of good news” and the noun euaggelion “is the good news that was proclaimed.

Wuest says that the word “gospel” comes from the Saxon word gode-spell, the word gode meaning good, and “spell” meaning a story, a tale.

Euaggelion was in just as common use in the first century as our words good news. “Have you any good news (euaggelion) for me today?” must have been a common question. Our word gospel today has a definite religious connotation. In the ordinary conversation of the first century, it did not have such a meaning. However, gospel was taken over into the Cult of the Caesar where it acquired a religious significance. The Cult of the Caesar was the state religion of the Roman empire, in which the emperor was worshipped as a god. When the announcement of the emperor’s birthday was made, or the accession of a new Caesar (gives rise to our English Kaiser & Czar!) proclaimed, the account of either event was designated by the word euaggelion. And so euaggelion  is found in an inscription of 9BC with reference to the birthday of the Emperor Augustus, “but the birthday of the god (the Emperor) was for the world the beginning of tidings of joy on his account”.

Euaggelion was used for the proclamation of good news of victory in battle with announcement of the death and/or capture of the enemy. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the Paul appropriated euaggelion, taking it from its well known secular use and speaking of the message of salvation as good news. Paul’s good news was not from or about the emperor but was "of God", belonging to God, originating with God, and committed to men by God, Who qualified them for preaching and gives them effects related to their preaching of the gospel. God alone receives the glory in the gospel.

In addition to the "definition" in (Ro1:16ff) Paul gives an excellent definition of the "gospel" to the Corinthians reminding them that it was

"the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you (holding fast proves one has had genuine rebirth and is not a work one does to merit salvation which is by grace alone), unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve..." (See notes 1Corinthians 15:1; 15:2; 15:3; 15:4; 15:5