Pastor David Jang
A single sentence Luther encountered in Romans opened a crack in the towering walls of faith built on human merit. The gospel of justification by faith brings the heart that strives to prove itself into the presence of grace. In his sermon, Pastor David Jang, founder of Olivet University in the United States, invites us to read Romans 1:1 anew at the threshold of this transformation. Paul's opening greeting holds an answer to the questions of whom the redeemed belong to and what they live for.
The Heart of the Gospel Beats Between the Lines of a Letter
Some people open Romans expecting, above all, difficult doctrine. Weighed down by its arguments about sin and righteousness, law and salvation, they hesitate before they have even turned the first page. Yet the starting point this sermon recommends is not a less demanding theology, but a closer encounter with the heart of the man who communicates it. Romans is, first and foremost, a letter in which Paul shared his faith and earnest longing with the believers in Rome.
While staying in Corinth, Paul looked toward Rome, hoping to carry the gospel beyond it to Spain. First, however, he had to deliver to Jerusalem the offering gathered by the Gentile churches, and threats from those who opposed him awaited him along the way. Drawing attention to these circumstances, the sermon reads Romans as a letter suffused with the urgency of a final testament. Even if Paul himself could not reach them, he longed for the gospel to reach their lives in all its fullness.
The sentences transcribed by Tertius carry not only arguments but also groans and praise, along with the wonder of a heart overwhelmed by grace. This is why Pastor David Jang emphasizes that Romans must not be confined to the accumulation of knowledge. Being able to explain the gospel is not the same as entrusting one's life to it. Biblical meditation that follows the letter between its lines does more than help readers understand Paul's theology; it brings them before the very grace to which he clung.
Yet feeling the passion of the letter does not mean diminishing the weight of its doctrine. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ portrayed in the Gospels, together with the unfolding witness recorded in Acts, find their meaning explored in depth in Romans. We move from knowing what happened to understanding what those events mean for us as sinners. Paul's wonder and his theological reasoning do not compete with one another; together, they illuminate the same message of salvation.
A Calling of Grace Dwells in the Lowliest Name
In Romans 1:1, before presenting his accomplishments, Paul introduces himself as "a servant of Jesus Christ." Here, the word servant is not a rhetorical ornament meant to suggest humility. It is a confession of whom he belongs to. Placing himself in the position of a servant whose very life and death rest in his master's hands, Paul declares that he is no longer the master of his own life. What changed through his encounter with the gospel was not the magnitude of his achievements, but his answer to the question of who ruled his life.
Behind this confession stands the calling of a man who had persecuted the church. In Acts 9, Paul's self-assurance collapsed as he traveled toward Damascus. He passed through a period of blindness and, in repentance, embarked on a new path. The man Ananias saw as a fearsome persecutor was the very one the Lord called his chosen instrument. What fills this scene is not a reward granted only after human worthiness has been established, but the love of God that embraces even someone who had been his enemy.
The words "called to be an apostle," therefore, speak first of wonder, not superiority. Paul was not someone who had completed his own preparation and thereby secured the office of an apostle. He was a man living by the grace that had called him from a place of unworthiness. This is why the confession of being a lowly servant and the calling of an apostle entrusted with the gospel meet within a single sentence.
Grace transforms those who strive to prove themselves into people who belong to the Lord and proclaim the gospel.
This dual identity allows humility and boldness to safeguard one another. To humble oneself before the Lord does not mean bowing without question before the sin and injustice of the world. Nor does the authority of being sent give anyone permission to lord it over others. Boldness that never loses the heart of a servant, and humility that does not shrink from its entrusted mission, stand side by side in Paul's opening greeting.
Faith Grows Where Self-Righteousness Is Laid Down
Pastor David Jang's exposition connects Paul's self-introduction with the righteousness of God that runs throughout Romans. The way of faith set forth in Romans 1:17 differs from the path on which people seek to establish their own righteousness through works. Just as the grace that called Paul, once a persecutor of the church, to be an apostle did not originate in his merit, so being counted righteous before God is not a reward obtained by presenting our achievements. This theological insight invites us to examine what our faith rests upon.
Even as religious zeal deepens, self-congratulation can grow alongside it. Paul possessed knowledge and zeal, yet these alone did not enable him to recognize the way of Christ. Repentance, therefore, reaches beyond reflecting on wrongful actions; it also involves relinquishing a way of life built on the certainty that we are right. To rely on grace is to stop gathering evidence that we are good enough and instead receive the love of the Lord who has forgiven us as the foundation of our lives.
This does not mean, however, that the gospel removes our responsibility for how we live. Both legalism, which seeks righteousness through works, and license, which uses freedom as an excuse to remain in sin, depart from the gospel Paul proclaims. The cross and resurrection of Christ announce victory over sin and death. Those who receive this news are called to live in holiness and love rather than surrender themselves once more to sin. Obedience is not a demonstration of worthiness that takes the place of grace; it is the direction in which a life transformed by grace moves.
This grace is not an exceptional gift needed by Paul alone. The fact that both Jews and Greeks need a way of salvation shows that this letter reaches beyond the story of one man's conversion. When people of different backgrounds and traditions form a single community, they cannot overcome conflict by making their respective grounds for boasting the ultimate standard. Before the declaration that no one attains righteousness by personal merit, hearts accustomed to judging others are prompted to reconsider the very grace on which they themselves depend.
This is also why the teaching of Romans leads to brotherly love, the blessing of enemies, and a communal life marked by mutual respect. Faith does not remain in the mind as the confirmation of correct answers; it reveals itself in the way we treat those beside us. The gospel takes concrete shape when we restrain our freedom for love's sake and willingly bear loss to build up another person's faith. The depth of grace becomes clearer not in a heightened estimation of ourselves, but in the lowly place of service.
The Gospel Entrusted to Us Follows the Humble Way of Love
Paul's opening greeting does not linger over explaining who he is. With the words "for the gospel of God," its gaze shifts from the person called to the One who called him and the message entrusted to him. The gospel is neither an idea Paul invented nor an asset he can possess to expand his own influence. He is not the owner of the gospel, but a man entrusted with proclaiming it.
Pastor David Jang emphasizes that this distinction must remain clear in the church today. When the gospel is bound to the authority of a particular leader or used as a means of showcasing a community's accomplishments, its messenger can obscure the very One he is meant to proclaim. An office in the church is not a warrant for controlling others, but a responsibility to serve the will of the One who sends, with the posture of a servant.
Those who remember that the gospel belongs to God humble themselves even as they proclaim it.
Along this path, humility must never become an indirect route to a higher position. The self-denial described in the sermon means laying down our desire for personal honor and power for the good of the gospel and the church. Even the same position of service takes on a different character depending on whether the abilities and authority entrusted to us are used to elevate ourselves or to build up another person's faith. If the purpose of our calling is God's gospel, then when the work is done, what remains should be the good news we have shared rather than the messenger's name.
Nor should being set apart for the gospel be reduced to retreating from the world for the sake of our own preservation. Those set apart from sin and the world's values are instead sent into that very world to embody holiness and love. Our homes, workplaces, schools, and local communities are not places where we wait for a separate stage on which to fulfill our calling. They are the places where we must respond through the lives already entrusted to us. What is needed there is not language that makes us appear important, but responsibility faithfully carried out with the heart of a humble servant.
Unable to guarantee what tomorrow would bring, Paul nevertheless asked the believers in Rome to pray for him. Those entrusted with the gospel do not have to conceal their weakness and stand alone; within the community, believers care for one another's needs and walk the road together in prayer. Even after we close this letter and return to everyday life, Paul's opening greeting quietly remains with us. What name am I trying to preserve today—a name exalted by my own merit, or the name of a servant who belongs to the One who called me by grace and lives to serve another?
Dr. David Jang has proclaimed the gospel in various regions of the world through field missions and digital media ministry, and as the fruit of that ministry, many people devoted to the Great Commission have been raised up. Based on this missionary vision, Olivet first began as a small church school for missionary training. Later, in order to provide more systematic theological education and cultivate missionary leaders, Olivet Theological College and Seminary was established in Los Angeles and Seoul in 2000.
As the school grew, Dr. Jang officially founded Olivet University in San Francisco in 2004. In the diverse and dynamic environment of San Francisco, Olivet expanded its educational fields beyond theology to include music, journalism, art and design, and technology. The university also strengthened its educational capacity by recruiting faculty members, including Dr. William Wagner, and in 2005 moved to the former UC Berkeley Downtown Extension campus, further solidifying its foundation as a university.
In 2006, Dr. Jang transferred the presidency to Dr. David James Randolph in order to focus more fully on missionary work, while continuing to lead global missions as International President. Olivet University later received institutional accreditation in 2009, added a language education college and a business college, and continued to grow as a Christian educational institution for world missions by expanding its degree programs and international partnerships.
David Jang Official Website: www.davidjang.org
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