Romans 1

Wesley: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ—called to be an apostle, and made an apostle by that calling. While God calls, he makes what he calls. Separated by God, not only from other men and other teachers, to be a peculiar instrument in spreading the gospel.

Arminian interpreters hear vocation as God’s making, not Paul’s self-appointment. The office is gift; do not invent a Pelagian Paul who climbed into apostleship. “Called” here is commission to preach the gospel of God, so that the nations may hear and believe. Set apart is unto a public message, not a private honor.

Calvin: by saying servant of Christ, Paul named what he shared with other teachers; by claiming Apostle he put himself before others; yet no authority is due to one who willfully intrudes, so he reminds us he was appointed by God.

The gospel is God’s, and the messenger is God’s appointment. Set apart is not a human career. The same God who sends the apostle is the God who will love and call a people (v. 7). Apostleship is given; it is not seized.

The gospel is not Paul’s novelty. God promised it before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. Wesley’s Paul is servant of a message already written.

Moses and the prophets already announced the Christ who would be preached to the nations. The Scriptures are public; the promise is for hearers who will believe. This is holy writing God meant to be read and trusted, not a secret book for a hidden list.

Calvin’s Paul stands under the prophets. The gospel he is set apart for is the one God already promised. Scripture is the church’s given word, not an apostle’s experiment.

Promised beforehand means the very God who later calls and justifies has been speaking all along. The holy Scriptures bind the messenger. What God promised, He will perform for those He has loved.

The gospel concerns God’s Son, descended from David according to the flesh. The Messiah is truly human, of David’s line, as the promises required.

Arminian readers glory in the incarnation as sincerely for the world the Son came to save. David’s son is the Christ the nations may embrace (v. 5). Flesh here is not a lesser nature; it is the humanity in which He is kin to those He calls to believe.

The gospel concerns the Son—David’s descendant according to the flesh. Calvin’s Christ is true man of the promised line, so that the promises to David are not spiritualized away.

According to the flesh names His true humanity and royal descent. The same Son will be declared in power (v. 4). The gospel is about this person, not a method. Those the Father loves are called into belonging to this Christ.

He was declared Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection. Wesley’s gospel is this Jesus—David’s son and risen Lord.

Arminians hear the resurrection as public declaration: the same Jesus who may be believed among all nations is Lord. Power here is the Spirit’s, not our climb. Lordship is preached so that faith may obey (v. 5); it is not a private coronation.

Calvin’s Christ is openly marked as the Son—not made Son at Easter, but declared in power.

Jesus Christ our Lord is the risen one God has appointed. The Spirit of holiness attests Him. Those who will be called saints (v. 7) are called into this Lord’s belonging; the declaration is God’s act, and faith answers it.

Through Christ they received grace and apostleship. Wesley: the favour to be an apostle, and qualifications for it. For obedience to the faith in all nations—that is, that all nations may embrace the faith of Christ. The aim is the nations actually believing.

Listen here for a sincere wideness: apostleship exists so that all nations may embrace the faith. “Obedience of faith” is living trust that obeys the gospel’s call—not a wage, and not a hidden circle. Grace enables the embrace; it does not shrink “all the nations” into those already chosen. For the sake of his name: the honor of Christ among peoples who may yet believe.

Calvin: we have received a command to preach the gospel among all nations, and this gospel they obey by faith. The name of obedience is given to faith because the Lord calls us by his gospel; we respond to his call by faith.

The nations are the field of preaching; faith is the obedience that answers God’s call. The gospel is commanded to be preached widely; those who believe are those who respond because the Lord has called. Apostleship is grace received, not a human project. Faith is obedience to the call, not an independent lever that makes the call take.

Including you are also called to belong to Jesus Christ. The Roman believers sit inside the “all nations” of v. 5. Wesley’s “called” is by the word and the Spirit to believe (v. 7).

The verse presses “called” as the gospel’s serious summons: they were invited to belong, and by grace they believed. Belonging is through faith, not a prior secret membership merely announced. The “you” of Rome is proof that the nations are actually being gathered as they embrace the faith.

“Called to belong” is not a bare invitation left hanging. In Calvin’s reading, the call seals adoption. These Romans are addressed as those Christ has claimed.

Called here is the effectual naming of a people who belong to Jesus Christ. The God who appointed the apostle (v. 1) has called hearers into the Son’s possession. Do not flatten this into a mere external advertisement; belonging is God’s work in those He addresses as His.

To all in Rome loved by God, called to be saints. Wesley: beloved of God—and from his free love, not from any merit of yours, called by his word and his Spirit to believe in him, and now through faith holy as he is holy. Grace is the peculiar favour of God; peace, all manner of blessings.

Arminian readers refuse Pelagian merit here as firmly as any Calvinist: love is free, not from their worth. “Called” is by word and Spirit to believe; holiness is through faith. Loved and called are as wide as those who hear and believe in Rome—not a smaller circle inside the greeting. Saints are those made holy through believing. Do not flatten called into elect irrespective of faith; do not invent a greeting earned by prior goodness.

Calvin: Paul ascribes the praise of our salvation not to ourselves but to the fountain of God’s free and paternal love. He makes this the first thing—God loves us; and what is the cause of his love, except his own goodness alone? On this depends our calling, by which in his own time he seals his adoption to those whom he had before freely chosen.

Loved is first; the cause is God’s goodness alone. Calling is not the origin of the love; it seals adoption for those previously freely chosen. Do not flatten “called” into a mere invitation that creates the elect. Saints are those God loved and then called. Grace and peace flow from the Father and the Lord Jesus to this people.