The Calling. Romans 1:1 On being a Servant: captured by love Paul had no question about where his obligation lay and what he was called to do. He was privileged to be a bond-servant of the One he had persecuted in the past. A servant's work is always to be ready to do the bidding of the One we serve. The Savior told Paul the areas of service in which he was to be employed. He was to take the good news of redemption to the Gentiles. These people were included in God's plans to gather people for His name. He was going to make them a kingdom of priests.
Old Testament servants of God were high officials like Moses, Samuel, and David. It was a high honor for a Jew to be a servant (bond slave) of God. To a Roman citizen in the days of the apostle Paul, a citizen of Rome would not want to be a servant because that indicated a demeaning position. To Paul, there was no higher honor than to be a servant of Jesus Christ. That same blessed privilege is available to us today when we submit ourselves willingly to the blessed servitude of our Lord and Savior. Glad obedience to our Master opens up life to be what God intends for us, and we find that life of service more meaningful and fulfilling than we could have imagined.
Allegiance to our Master begins when we renounce all other masters by confessing with our mouth “Jesus as Lord, and believing in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead.” We serve a living Savior who commissions us to know and do His will. We have been sealed as belonging to Him, are known by name to Him, may be rewarded by Him, and love to worship Him. In the book of Revelation, we read about servants fourteen times. Eleven of those times, those servants serve God or Jesus Christ.
On being an Apostle: Called by grace An apostle was a person who had seen the risen Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ commissioned apostles to do specified work. There were signs of their apostleship as the church's foundation was laid, and we have been built upon that foundation. Apostles received their knowledge and authority by divine revelation. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, they had the highest authority given to men in relaying doctrine, policy, and practice in our personal life as well as our church life.
The work of a commissioned apostle was foundational in the spread of the Gospel and the foundation of the Church. Apostles were messengers of God to us. They were like ambassadors in the sense of being a proxy who had been given full authority to speak for another person in business or legal matters. Paul, an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, set everything else aside as he was separated unto the Gospel of God. The "Gospel of God" reveals who the Author of the Gospel was. This was no idea of a man or a group of people. God Himself is the Source of the Gospel message.
On being separated: Commissioned by Sovereign Authority