Our identity as members of the Body of Christ begins where God began — with the apostle He sent to us.
Good morning. Today’s Bible verse is Romans 11:13:
“For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry…”
Truth to Consider
If our identity in Christ is complete — finished, supplied, secured — then we have to start with the apostle through whom Christ revealed this truth.
Identity isn’t something we discover by looking within ourselves.
Identity is something we receive by listening to the voice God appointed for us in this present dispensation of grace.
Romans 11:13 isn’t a casual remark.
It’s a declaration.
Paul speaks directly to us — Gentile believers — and says plainly that Christ Himself appointed him as our apostle. This isn’t about preference or tradition. It’s about revelation and obedience to the Word of God.
1 Timothy 2:7 presses the point even further.
Paul was appointed — placed by the risen Christ — as the apostle, preacher, and teacher of the Gentiles “in faith and truth.”
Through Paul, God made known the message that saves today, the gospel that justifies today, and the doctrine that shapes how believers grow today.
Only Paul’s gospel of grace provides the message of salvation in this dispensation.
Only the revelation given to Paul explains what God is doing in this present age.
Only Paul’s doctrine — the liberty we have from sin’s guilt and bondage — shows us how to grow and stand firm.
This isn’t arrogance.
This is Scripture.
This is stewardship.
This is the urgency of the age of grace.
Before Paul, no one spoke of the Body of Christ.
No one revealed the one new man.
No one taught that believers are seated with Christ in the heavenly places.
No one declared that we are complete in Him.
These truths belong to the revelation Christ gave to Paul for us.
Dear brothers and sisters, our completeness is in Christ by faith alone; the message Christ gave to the apostle Paul for us is the only message that brings liberty. So then, we understand that Paul magnifies his ministry because it magnifies the grace that made us whole.
His message isn’t optional, and it is not an extension of Old Testament Scripture.
It’s essential because it’s the only message that tells us who we are in Christ today.
So as we start this 20‑day journey, we begin where God began — with Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles. We begin with the revelation Christ gave through him, because that revelation defines our identity and anchors us in the completeness we already possess in Christ.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ro 11:13.
Meditation:
Take a moment and thank God for appointing Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles. Ask Him to help you receive the message given through Paul, and to rest in who you are in Christ because of it.
Reflection Question:
How does understanding God’s appointment of Paul to the Gentiles help you grow in the wisdom and grace of God today?