<p>1:1 <i>Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle- </i>Time and again Paul brings before us the fact he really is our example; thus he begins his Roman epistle with a description of himself as Paul... called to be an apostle, separated...&quot;, but soon goes on to point out that the Romans were &quot;<i>also</i>&nbsp;the called of Jesus Christ&quot; (Rom. 1:1,6).</p><p>Apostle literally means one who is sent, and is translated &ldquo;he that is sent&rdquo; in Jn. 13:16. It could be argued that all who have received the great preaching commission which is all of us have received in essence the same calling and apostleship which Paul did- and he therefore can hold himself up to us all as an example, seeing we have in principle received the same calling which he did. He uses the term &ldquo;apostle&rdquo; in Rom. 16:7 concerning brethren who were imprisoned with him who were clearly not amongst the apostles originally chosen by the Lord Jesus. He says in 1:5 that&nbsp;<i>we</i>&nbsp;have received apostleship because our Lord rose from the dead; because He rose, all in Him are sent to take that good news to others. And he uses the same word for &lsquo;calling&rsquo; in :6, suggesting his calling and apostleship are to be ours.</p><p><i>Set apart for the Gospel of God</i>- A reference to Acts 13:2 where Paul was separated to go on a missionary journey; although he felt he had been separated unto this from the womb (Gal. 1:15). God has likewise separated each of us unto certain callings, but only later in our lives is this made apparent to us.</p><p>Paul was called to be a preacher of the Gospel, and yet he speaks of his work as a preacher as if it were a Nazarite vow- which was a totally voluntary commitment. Consider not only the reference to him shaving his head because of his vow (Acts 18:18; 21:24 cp. Num. 6:9-18), but also the many descriptions of his preaching work in terms of Naziriteship: Separated unto the Gospel&rsquo;s work (Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:15; Acts 13:2); &ldquo;I am not yet consecrated / perfected&rdquo; (Phil. 3:12)- he&rsquo;d not yet finished his &lsquo;course&rsquo;, i.e. his preaching commission. He speaks of it here as if it were a Nazarite vow not yet ended. Note the reference to his &lsquo;consecration&rsquo; in Acts 20:24. &nbsp;His undertaking not to drink wine lest he offend others (Rom. 14:21) is framed in the very words of Num. 6:3 LXX about the Nazarite. &nbsp;Likewise his being &lsquo;joined unto the Lord&rsquo; (1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 14:6,8) is the language of Num. 6:6 about the Nazarite being separated unto the Lord. The reference to having power / authority on the head (1 Cor. 11:10) is definitely some reference back to the LXX of Num. 6:7 about the Nazarite. What are we to make of all this? The point is perhaps that commitment to active missionary work is indeed a voluntary matter, as was the Nazarite vow. And that even although Paul was called to this, yet he responded to it by voluntarily binding himself to &lsquo;get the job done&rsquo;. And the same is in essence true for us today in our various callings in the Lord&rsquo;s service.&nbsp;</p>