The believers serve and worship God in their spirit in the gospel of God’s Son. Paul says, “God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son” (Rom. 1:9a). The Greek word translated “serve” here means to serve in worship of God, as used in Matthew 4:10; 2 Timothy 1:3; Philippians 3:3; and Luke 2:37.
If we would serve God and worship Him, we must do this in our spirit for the preaching of the gospel. The New Testament service and worship are carried out in the preaching of the gospel. This gospel is not concerned with anything other than God’s Son. The gospel of God’s Son refers to the all-inclusive Christ. Therefore, to serve God in the gospel is to serve Him in the all-inclusive Christ. In the New Testament the gospel is simply Christ Himself. This is the reason Acts 5:42 says that the apostles were “bringing the good news of Jesus as the Christ.”
In Romans 1:9a Paul said that he served God in his spirit. This indicates that in order to preach the gospel of God’s Son, we must be in our spirit. Preaching the gospel depends on our spirit. Whenever we preach the gospel, we should exercise our spirit.
Only in the book of Romans does Paul say that he serves God in his spirit. The reason is that in Romans Paul is arguing with religious people who invariably are in something other than the spirit-in letters, forms, or doctrines. In Romans Paul indicates that whatever we do toward God must be done in our spirit, that whatever we are must be in spirit, and that whatever we have must be in spirit. In 2:29 he says that the genuine people of God must be in spirit, that true circumcision is not outward in the flesh but in the spirit. Then in 7:6 he says that we should serve God in newness of spirit. Finally, in 12:11 Paul says that we must be burning in spirit. Preaching the gospel of God is absolutely a matter of our spirit.
The gospel of God in which we serve God in our spirit is actually the subject of the book of Romans. In the very first verse of this book Paul says that as a slave of Christ and a called apostle he was “separated to the gospel of God.” This indicates that Paul’s intention in Romans is to write concerning the gospel. The entire book unfolds the gospel, the glad tidings of God, in its fullest way.
Paul refers to his Epistle to the Romans as a gospel. In 2:16 he says, “God shall judge the secrets of men according to my gospel by Jesus Christ.” Paul also believed that God would establish the saints according to his gospel: “Now to Him who is of power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ” (16:25). Therefore, the book of Romans may be regarded as the fifth gospel.
The gospel in the first four books of the New Testament-Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John-concerns Christ in the flesh as He lived among His disciples before His death and resurrection. The gospel in Romans concerns Christ as the Spirit, not Christ in the flesh. In Romans 8 we see that the Spirit of life who indwells us is simply Christ Himself. Christ is in us. The Christ in the four Gospels was among the disciples; the Christ in Romans is within us. The Christ in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is the Christ after incarnation and before death and resurrection. As such, He is a Christ outside of us. The Christ in Romans is the Christ after His resurrection. As such, He is the Christ within us. Hence, the gospel in Romans concerns Christ as the Spirit in us after His resurrection. This Christ is deeper and more subjective than the Christ in the four Gospels.
If we have only the gospel concerning Christ as revealed in the first four books of the New Testament, our gospel is too objective. We need the fifth gospel, the book of Romans, to reveal the subjective gospel of Christ. Our Christ is not merely the Christ in the flesh after incarnation and before resurrection, the Christ who was among His disciples. Our Christ is deeper and more subjective. He is the Spirit of life within us. Although John 14 and 15 reveal that Christ will be in His disciples, that was not fulfilled before His resurrection. The book of Romans is the gospel of Christ after His resurrection, revealing that He is now the subjective Savior in His believers. Therefore, this gospel is deeper and more subjective.
The gospel of God concerns God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Of course, the gospel includes forgiveness and salvation, but they are not the central point. The central point of the gospel is the very person of Christ, the Son of God. The gospel is not a doctrine nor a teaching nor a religion-it is a wonderful person, Jesus Christ, the Son of God with His divinity and His humanity.
The central message of the book of Romans is that sinful, fleshly people can be made sons of God and conformed to the image of the Son of God. In this way Christ becomes the Firstborn among many brothers (8:29). Thus, the central point of the gospel is not forgiveness of sins. It is the producing of the sons of God, many brothers of the Son of God. God desires to transform sinners in the flesh into sons of God in the spirit. If we would serve God in the gospel, we all should make this same matter our goal. We preach the gospel not simply that people may be saved or be forgiven of their sins or become spiritual, but that they may become sons of God. This is our aim. In Romans 15:16 Paul says, “That I should be a minister of Christ Jesus to the nations, ministering as a priest the gospel of God.” For Paul, the preaching of the gospel, the serving of God in the gospel of His Son, was a priestly ministry, a priestly service. As believers, we all should serve God in such a priestly way in the gospel of His Son.
If we would serve God in the proper way, we need to serve Him in the gospel. To do this, we first need to know what the gospel is, and then we need to experience all that the gospel includes. We also need to learn how to minister the gospel to others, that is, how to function as priests in ministering the gospel of God. Whenever we contact anyone, whether a believer or an unbeliever, we need to know his need as far as the gospel is concerned. If a person is not clear about salvation, we should help him to be clear and even joyful in God’s salvation. We need to serve him with the gospel. Others may be clear about salvation but not about other aspects of the gospel. Thus, we must minister something to meet their needs.
The crucial point in serving God in our spirit in the gospel of His Son is that we minister Christ to others in the gospel. For this, we need to learn the elements and details of the gospel, we need to experience the full content of the gospel, and we need to exercise our spirit. This is to serve God in our spirit in the gospel of God’s Son.
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