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Romans 1:5-6
Paul connects the importance and reliance of Christ Jesus to his being an apostle, and uses the word “we” which indicates more than one person being involved with the apostleship (Romans 1:5, NKJV). There are several different views of interpreting this “we” that Paul refers to as being an apostle. It could be that there are others with him that were present with Christ Jesus during His physical ministry (which is the definition of an apostle), or that he is simply referring to the group of apostles as a whole in spreading the gospel and working together through God’s Holy Spirit even though they may be in different physical locations. But another possibility is that Paul is referring to himself in connection with Jesus through the Holy Spirit working in his life as he does not speak as of himself but of what God leads him to through divine inspiration. It is through this divine inspiration in which Paul states in Romans 1:6, “among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;”.
This is an example of how God works through His Holy Spirit to call us to Himself.
Paul wants the mostly Gentile church in Rome to be aware that the power in which the believers are experiencing is through the work of God’s Holy Spirit. This is how God “calls” us to Himself – through His Holy Spirit. We have already learned from Matthew 11:27-28 (ESV), as Jesus proclaims, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” When Jesus had finished His physical bodied work on the earth and ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9-11), He promised to send His Holy Spirit to be with all who believed in Him (John 14:15-18, 26-27). But you may say, “Wait a minute, Jesus said that He would send His Holy Spirit to dwell within/be with all who believe in Him, but we are talking about being called to Him before one believes in Him, so how can this be?” God works through His Holy Spirit through the spreading of the gospel message which is what we refer to as the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-47; John 20:21; and Acts 1:8). In sharing God’s word with others, and the knowledge of it in learning, Jesus calls us (through His Holy Spirit) to Himself through His word; just as we have learned from Matthew 11:28 as Jesus states, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Dear LORD,
We thank You for showing us through this Bible lesson of the importance and working through Your Holy Spirit by which You call us to Yourself to receive salvation in and through our Savior Jesus. We thank You for helping us to realize that it is through sharing Your word and the knowledge of it that You work through Your Holy Spirit to launch Your great power in our lives to salvation. In Jesus name I pray, amen.