¹Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, ²in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago …

Introductions by the apostle Paul are not superfluous but are packed with truth. What he writes here is an example of what he instructed the Roman believers: “I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3). Paul never forgot that he was simply a bondservant of God (although he usually referred to himself as a bondservant of Christ). But he was not arrogant in identifying himself also as an apostle. The two went hand in hand. A servant must know his role, and for Paul, he served as an apostle.

We must be careful of ecclesiastical embellishments of this idea of servanthood, where in some settings it has become an elevated position of glory. In Paul’s mind, the title was anything but glorious. It was merely a statement of fact. He did not ambitiously seek that role, nor take it on himself. God appointed him (2 Tim. 1:11), and Paul saw himself as unworthy (1 Tim. 1:15–16). We do well to follow his example: unworthy as we are, each of us has been appointed by God to be His servant, and to use the gifting and calling to which He has called us. False humility has no place, for that is not sober thinking. We need to acknowledge our gifting and then exercise it according to the faith God has given us (see Rom. 12:6–8). It is supreme humbleness for a mere human to do what God has called him or her to do. Anything else is sheer arrogance.

Paul elaborates his calling, to build up the faith of “those chosen of God” and to propagate the truth; remember how he commanded Timothy to “[p]reach the Word” (2 Tim. 4:2). But the truth is not to be divorced from godly living. Knowledge must always lead to behavioral change; it is not enough to enjoy learning about God and His ways. We must act on what we know.

What motivates the Christian? Paul lays it out clearly and distinctly: we have the hope of eternal life. Our hope is not uncertainty or wishful thinking but the confidence or expectation about the future. God’s promise of complete restoration rings through all of Scripture: He will bring all things together for His glory, the sin problem will finally be done away with, and His redeemed people will enter into eternity with Him.

Lord, my heart confidently looks forward to being united with You for eternity, and therefore I want to be about doing good now in view of that anticipation.