YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN

One guy talking about one verse...

ROMANS 1:1 ~ "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus,called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God"

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus…
This word for servant is the Greek word "doulos" and means slave or bond-servant. It has been described as the best name possible for the worst position available. It is defined as “One whose own will was swallowed up by the will of his master.” Paul well understood that he was a slave and recognized that he had always lived as a slave too. He discovered that when he was born he was a slave to sin and the flesh nature within him (Eph 2:1-2). At Paul's conversion, those chains of bondage to sin were broken. However he did not cease being a slave, he simply exchanged masters. Paul was now a slave to Christ. He was proud of this title, so much in fact that he places it before his other title of apostle.

Called…
When Paul refers to being “called” he means that God placed him in that position. God calling us, doing all the work, is more of a God-centered view than us simply responding to a need. It shows His sovereignty even over our choices. John 6:37 makes it sound like the decision is mostly ours in coming to Christ however a few verses later in 6:44 we learn that no one can come to Christ unless the Father calls him in the first place. Furthermore, if God is the one who calls us then wouldn't it be Him who keeps us? This goes back to John 6:37.

To be an Apostle…
Paul was not claiming here to be one of the 12 Apostles named by God. He was simply saying “one who is called to proclaim.” The word “ambassador” fits perfectly. The words means one who is a messenger (a messenger of what, we will see below).

Set apart…
This term in the Greek is in the perfect tense, which denotes past completed action with present results. It's a more colorful way of stating past tense then the ordinary aorist. Paul was set apart (by God) to preach the gospel, therefore this is why Paul was presently preaching the Gospel. Not only does the perfect tense imply preset results but also it was sort of understood that those present results would continue for Paul. Paul would be permanently set apart for this one task (Phil 3:13).

For the Gospel of God
The term 'gospel' literally means “good news." It’s good news that Jesus Christ died for our sin. That good news should be proclaimed to others.

Therefore... I think it is pretty clear that God does all the work here. He is our Master, We are His slaves, He calls us, He set’s us apart, He appoints us to proclaim His Gospel, etc. What re we to do then? We should respond (as Paul did) and fulfill that calling (Eph 2:10).