Romans 1:1-4
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 according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,”
Many people refer to themselves as apostles today. It seems you only need a website or a business card to do so! But Paul was a legitimate apostle because he had seen Jesus and even experienced his tutelage in the Arabian desert. This gave Paul the authority to proclaim the Gospel which had been promised in the Old Testament through the prophets. Here we see a reference to the predestination that Paul talks about throughout Romans-The Gospel was predestined to come to the entire world, Jew and Gentile.
Importantly: The Gospel is about Jesus, a descendant of David. Jesus was not of the tribe of Levi, but of David’s tribe, Judah, a tribe that had never produced a High Priest under the Old Covenant (see Hebrews 7:4). Yet Jesus ushered in something better: The New Covenant. According to this covenant, He is a High Priest forever. This genealogy, along with the Holy Spirit’s resurrection of Jesus from the dead, affirms His authority as the savior of humanity.
