Whereunto I am appointed a preacher,.... Both from eternity, in the counsel and purpose of God, Ac 9:15 and in time, by the church at Antioch, and the prophets in it, according to the express order of the Holy Ghost, Ac 13:2.
And if ever there was a preacher of the Gospel, Paul was one; he preached purely, powerfully, publicly, constantly, boldly, and with all faithfulness and integrity:and an apostle; that is, of the Gentiles, as follows, and as he elsewhere styles himself, Ro 11:13 for it does not run so smooth and easy to connect this with the word Gospel.
In 2Ti 1:1, he is called the apostle of Jesus Christ, because he was sent by him; and here the apostle of the Gentiles, because, he was sent to them; and this by the same appointment, by which he became a preacher:and a teacher of the Gentiles; though all the apostles, by their commission, were sent to teach all nations, or the Gentiles in the several parts of the world, as well as Jews; yet the apostle was eminently a teacher of them; his work chiefly lay among them; the Gospel of the uncircumcision, or the ministration of the Gospel to the uncircumcised Gentiles, was committed to him; and he was a teacher of them in faith and verity, as in 1Ti 2:7.