In one signature run-on sentence, we have all we need to know about the gospel of God. It’s Paul’s preamble to his magnificent letter to his beloved saints in Rome. These were the “called of Jesus Christ.”

Nothing here indicates initiative on anyone else’s part but God, as Paul was himself dramatically “called as an apostle,” as a “chosen instrument of God,” (Acts 9:15) from then on enslaved to the good news first delivered and recorded in scripture by the prophets, about a man born like all of us, who would descend genealogically from King David, and ultimately rise to his throne by conquering death by virtue of his holiness, thereby validating his diety and God’s power.

To Paul’s message, the Romans were obedient. It is interesting that this word—obedience—is used juxtaposed to faith. Our faith is exhibited by our obedience, pulled off only by God’s grace. As a result, we get peace from him. Moreover, the world sees Christ modeled in us in real time.