Romans Chapter 15

ONENESS

 

Have you ever been involved in a church split? It can be a pretty ugly thing as church members take sides against each other over some matter. Often it is not a matter of essential doctrine, such as the inerrancy of the Word of God or salvation through Jesus Christ, but it is a lesser matter, such as like or dislike of the pastor, or over policies of some sort. Yet the fighting can get very bitter. It can cause people to leave the church and never to go to another one. It causes outsiders to say things like, “that’s why I don’t go to church. They can never get along among themselves.” Finally the group divides into two congregations and they go on, but the history of the split and the bitterness surrounding it is never totally forgotten, at least by some people.

Or perhaps you have heard people of one denomination criticize and condemn members of another denomination over differences in minor doctrines or differences in worship styles. Non-Christians observe this kind of criticism and intolerance and ask where the so-called love is among Christians. And you have to acknowledge that they have a point. Maybe you and I feel uncomfortable in a congregation where the style is very different from ours, but that does not make the other style wrong and ours right, or vice versa. It merely means, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:5 NLT:

There are different kinds of service in the church, but it is the same Lord we are serving.

As we continue our study in the book of Romans we will discover Paul’s take on that kind of behavior as well as his remedy for it.

We now begin chapter 15 in our study of the epistle of Romans. Let us begin by reading those verses and then taking a closer look at how we can make them come alive in the church. And let us back up a few verses and include Romans 14:19-23, because they provide the lead in to chapter 15.  Romans 14:19-15:7 NLT:

19 So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.
20 Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, there is nothing wrong with these things in themselves. But it is wrong to eat anything if it makes another person stumble.
21 Don’t eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another Christian to stumble.
22 You may have the faith to believe that there is nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who do not condemn themselves by doing something they know is all right.
23 But if people have doubts about whether they should eat something, they shouldn’t eat it. They would be condemned for not acting in faith before God. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.
1 We may know that these things make no difference, but we cannot just go ahead and do them to please ourselves. We must be considerate of the doubts and fears of those who think these things are wrong.
2 We should please others. If we do what helps them, we will build them up in the Lord.
3 For even Christ did not please himself. As the Scriptures say, “Those who insult you are also insulting me.”
4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. They give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises.
5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other—each with the attitude of Christ Jesus toward the other.
6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 So accept each other just as Christ has accepted you; then God will be glorified.

We have already learned that loving harmony and unity in the church are of grave concern to God. David wrote about this in Psalm 133:1 NLT:

1  How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live together in harmony!

To God, unity is a beautiful thing. Let us also look at Jeremiah 32:39 NLT:

39 I will give them one heart and mind to worship Me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants.

Just one more Old Testament text we would like us to read regarding this subject is in Ezekiel 37. If you have read Ezekiel you may remember that chapter 37 begins with the vision of the valley of dry bones, a picture of the nation of Israel being restored by God in final salvation in the end times. As God looks ahead to the future glory of a redeemed Israel, the Word of the Lord comes to the prophet and says this, Ezekiel 37:16,17 NLT:

16 “Son of man, take a stick and carve on it these words: ‘This stick represents Judah and its allied tribes.’ Then take another stick and carve these words on it: ‘This stick represents the northern tribes of Israel.’
17 Now hold them together in your hand as one stick.

Ezekiel carried out a lot of object lessons in his ministry and this is a very unique one. God says to take one stick and identify it as Judah, the southern kingdom. Then take another stick and identify it as Israel, the northern kingdom, also called Ephraim for the son of Joseph who became the leader of the nations in the northern kingdom. Those two sticks represent the divided kingdom which was divided under Jeroboam. God tells Ezekiel to take these two sticks and make them one stick in his hand because that is the way it will be one day. Some day God is going to take the divided kingdom of His people Israel and join them back together in final glory. God is also looking forward to the salvation of His nation Israel in Zephaniah 3:9 (NRSV):

9 At that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord.

If we turn to Zechariah 14:9 NLT, we read:

9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one Lord—his name alone will be worshiped.

All the inhabitants of the earth will worship the one true God. In these prophecies we see that God has intended through the new covenant and ultimately through His design for the nation of Israel to bring them together as one people. It is the same for the church. Just as in the future of the nation of Israel, all the rebels will be purged out and there will be a wonderful oneness among those redeemed peoples, so it is in the church. John 10:14-17 NLT:

14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold (that is they are not Jews but Gentiles who were also saved)[fn]; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
17 “The Father loves me because I lay down my life.”

Just looking over these Scriptures briefly we know that the desire of God, whether they be His chosen people the Jews or the New Covenant people of believers in the Church, it is God’s desire that His people be one people with one heart and one voice and one acknowledgment to the true God. We are reminded of this in Revelation 21 about a new Heaven and a new earth. Revelation 21:1-4 NKJV:

1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

There in that eternal glory all people are brought together under the kingship of God for ever and ever. We know that at any given point in redemptive history it is God’s desire that His people be one.

The unity of the church is not only the desire of God, but is also the desire of God the Son. John 17:1 NKJV:

11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.

Now go over to verses 20-23 NKJV:

20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:

It is clear here that the concern of God the Father that we be one and it is the concern of God the Son that we be one, and it is the concern of God the Holy Spirit that we be one. The unity of the church is the concern of the Holy Spirit. Where you have the filling of the Holy Spirit you have the response of oneness, one mindedness, one heart.

In reading over these verses several times something jumped out at us from verse 21. Not only does God want unity in His church and that all believers live as one, but we are told here that believers can also be one with the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We are not little gods, but we are clothed with the Trinity. We live in God and God lives in us and we have all the power of God available to us because we are one. If that does not knock you right out of your shoes, I do not know what will.

It is the desire of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit that we be one. Not only one in terms of union with the living God, that is in terms of a redeemed nature, but the obvious implication that we be one in life, and one in sharing whatever fellowship allows us to share. To see this clearly, turn to Ephesians 4:1-3 NLT:

One of the tasks of the church is to maintain unity. That unity is reinforced by the Trinity. Verses 4-6:

In other words, since there is one God, and there is one Lord, and there is one Spirit, and the desire of all of them is that we maintain the unity of the Spirit, we ought to do just that. This is the will of God. We find this a constant emphasis in the New Testament. 1 Corinthians 1:10 NLT:

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NLT:
1 Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to mature Christians. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life.
2 I had to feed you with milk and not with solid food, because you couldn’t handle anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready,
3 for you are still controlled by your own sinful desires. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your own desires? You are acting like people who don’t belong to the Lord.

Paul’s concern was unity rather than disunity. 1 Corinthians 12:12,13 NLT:

12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So it is with the body of Christ.

Again the emphasis is on the unity of God’s redeemed people. In Galatians 3:26-28 NLT:

26 So you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have been made like him.

In Philippians 2:2 NLT:
2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose.

Paul says you are to be likeminded, having the same love, and being of one mind. In Colossians 3:11-15 NLT, Paul writes:

12 Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
13 You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
14 And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony.
15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

Paul and the other apostles were united in teaching this theme. Peter makes the same emphasis in 1 Peter 3:8 NLT:

8 Finally, all of you should be of one mind, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds.

So also does John in 3 John:2-4 NLT:

2 Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is.
3 Some of the brothers recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living in the truth.
4 I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children live in the truth.

What John wants to hear is that there is unity in the church, that there is common love and unity. He wants us walking together in the truth. We have listed all these passages so that you will understand the need for unity in the church. So understanding that, let us go back to Romans 15. Paul realizes that one of the great dangers to unity in the church is the potential for disagreement between strong and weak Christians. This is of considerable concern to Paul because unity is of such concern to him. Now we should understand why. It is the passionate desire of the heart of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit that there be unity in the Church. And since this unity is so essential to God, Paul finds it essential to teach the matter of unity as well. That is why Paul devotes Romans 14:1-15:13 to the subject of strong and weak Christians.

The first seven verses of Romans 15 speak of the importance to please one another with Christ as our example. It is necessary in the church to be concerned about pleasing others and not ourselves in order to make this unity a reality. If everyone is designing their life, attitudes, actions, and responses only to please themselves there will be no unity. So it is necessary for the strong believer to adjust to the weak believer so that he or she will please him or her.

Now it is important here to make a distinction between what Paul is asking of strong Christians and the kind of people-pleasing that is a hallmark of that syndrome referred to as “codependency.” There is a huge difference between the two although on the surface they may look similar. Sometimes important Christian doctrines and practices have been misunderstood and twisted so that they contribute to psychological pathology. This matter of people-pleasing is one of those times. Again I will say, there is a huge difference between what Scripture teaches about pleasing others and what is codependent. The codependent gives in to everyone else and is always trying to please them for several unhealthy reasons: one is to feel some degree of self esteem, another is to make people love them; for underneath this drive to please others is the sense that one is very unlovable and that the only way to achieve love is to do everything everyone else wants. The codependent then loses himself/herself in the process. The codependent is insecure in their own identity. The codependent has not fully embraced the love Christ has for them and is not aware of their identity in Christ or of their spiritual gifts. The codependent therefore pleases other people out of a drive, out of a sense that they have to do that in order to be loved or to be considered a good person. And there is the essential difference between codependency and healthy spirituality. The mature, the strong Christian knows they have a right to do what they want; they have the freedom to do so. Yet, even though they have that freedom, they make a free choice to set aside that freedom and do what will please someone else in order that it might benefit that other person. So you see there are huge differences between the motives and the sense of choice.

Living in order to please others instead of ourselves requires very high spiritual motives. See if you have these. If you do not, you will not be able to succeed at this. And if you do not succeed at this you will very likely be one of the reasons that God’s desire for unity in His church is not fulfilled. With these motives there will be unity between the strong and the weak.

1) Consideration of others
Seek to serve others with love rather than attacking them with criticism. This is something that seems very obvious, and it is. It is not something we do not know, but it is something we do not always apply. Let us look at Romans 15:1 NLT:

1 We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves.

This statement is being directed at those who are strong. Paul sums up in this verse everything that he said in chapter 14. We need to be patient with weak believers until they are able to climb the rungs of the spiritual ladder and better understand their freedom in Christ. This is the attitude of consideration for others and it is the first attitude we must have if we are going to please someone else. We choose to consider them before ourselves. When someone struggles with something you are doing that you feel is right and they think it is wrong, unless they are wrong in a biblical sense and need direct instruction, be patient with them so that they might grow and not be offended. Listen to what Paul said in1 Corinthians 9:19-22 NLT:

19  I have become a servant of everyone so that I can bring them to Christ.
20 When I am with the Jews, I become one of them so that I can bring them to Christ. When I am with those who follow the Jewish laws, I do the same, even though I am not subject to the law, so that I can bring them to Christ.
21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not have the Jewish law, I fit in with them as much as I can. In this way, I gain their confidence and bring them to Christ. But I do not discard the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.
22 When I am with those who are oppressed, I share their oppression so that I might bring them to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ.

It is kind of like Romans 13:8, the debt of love is never paid. The second motive we need to have is:

2) Disregard for Self
The last part of verse 1 tells us we are “not to please ourselves.” We do not just do exactly as we want to do.

You do not seek to please yourself if it causes another person to be offended. Romans 15:2 NLT says:

2 We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord.

3) Conformity to Christ
This involves one seeking to be like Christ rather than seeking others to be like you. Romans 15:3 NLT says:

3 For even Christ did not please himself. As the Scriptures say, “Those who insult you are also insulting me.”

Christ did not please Himself and He is our example. If He wanted to please Himself He would have stayed in Heaven and never shown up down here. But Christ came to do what God sent Him to do (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38). The last part of verse 3 comes from Psalm 69:9. In pleasing the Father, Christ receives abuse and insults. Because people hated God, they hated the one who revealed God. Christ was willing to bear all of these things for the sake of doing God’s will. We are to follow Jesus’ example. We are not to do what pleases us, we are to do what pleases others. If you claim to be a Christian you ought to have the same attitude Christ had (Philippians 2:5).

4) Submission to Scripture

Romans 15:4 NLT:
4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago (a reference to the Old Testament)[fn] to teach us. They give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises.

We are to seek our fulfillment in the Word of God rather than in our personal desires. We are to get our behavior in line with what the Word of God teaches. Paul says here that whatever was written in the Old Testament was written for our learning. Old Testament scripture was written for New Testament people. 1 Corinthians 10:6 and 11 tell us that the things in the Old Testament are to provide examples for us. It teaches us that through endurance and encouragement in the scriptures we might have hope. The goal of the scripture is to give hope for the future, hope for eternal life, hope for forgiveness of sin, and to give meaning to life (Jeremiah 14:8; Psalm 119; Psalm 130:5; Ephesians 4). Scripture tells us we can make it through any trial (James 5:7-11; 1 Corinthians 10:13). Scripture tells us we are secure and have the power to endure, and it tells us why we are to endure. We are to endure in order to be strengthened and develop patience, so that patience as James 1:4 and Romans 5:3-5 say, can have a perfecting work which will allow us to be more useful to God and more effective in winning others. The point here is simply that we need to learn from the scriptures.[fn]

5) Dependence on Divine Power

Romans 15:5 NLT:
5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other—each with the attitude of Christ Jesus toward the other.

Paul’s asking that God would grant them this because they cannot do it on their own. We must seek the strength of God through prayer rather than depending on human resources. We are to be concerned about one another and this will bring unity. When did you last pray for the unity of the church?

6) Glory to God

We should be controlled by a consuming desire that God be glorified; to seek the glory of God rather than self-glory. Romans 15:6 NLT:

6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Why did Christ redeem us? Because He knew when He did so it would be to the glory of God. And just as He received us, we are to receive one another for the glory of God. So if the strong and the weak are to please each other, what are the necessary attitudes that must be developed? Consideration of others, disregard for self, conformity to Christ, submission to scripture, dependence on divine power, and a consuming desire to glorify God and not ourselves.

 

Living For The Glory of God
Romans 15:7-13

What is the most important way we can glorify God? Is it by building  multi-million dollar churches to His name? Is it by raising our hands in worship? Is it by singing lustily to Him? Is it by putting bumper stickers on our cars? Or by wearing lapel pins of a cross or a fish?

Paul has been pointing out in chapters 12 through 15 of Romans the most significant ways we can and should glorify God. And in Romans 15:8-13 he comes to a conclusion (Romans 15 through the end of the book are similar to a postscript, containing some notes and greetings). We think this would be a good time to go back and just surf over the highlights of this great book.

From Romans 1:1 to Romans 1:17, Paul gave us a preview of what he was going to talk about. He tells us right away in verse 1 NLT:

1 This letter is from Paul, Jesus Christ’s slave, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News.

Paul is going to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News. The Gospel which was promised and which concerned God’s Son, Jesus Christ. The Gospel which Paul had received (Romans 1:5) and the Gospel to which we are called (Romans 1:6,7); the Gospel that he (Paul) is a debtor to preach (verse 14); the gospel that he is ready to preach (verse 15); the Gospel of which he is not ashamed (verse 16), and the Gospel which states that “the just shall live by faith” (verse 17).

The unfolding of that Gospel begins in Romans 1:18 and continues through Romans 3:20, and that section discusses sin. The first thing Paul says relating to the Gospel is found in Romans 1:18 NKJV:

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

Then from Romans 3:21 through Romans 11:36, Paul talks about salvation from sin and all that is related to that salvation. Then beginning in Romans 12:1 and continuing to Romans 15:13, Paul talks about how we need to express that inward salvation in the way we live our lives. So we are now in and will be concluding  that section regarding practical Christian living. Now in this section we have talked about the practical aspects of the Christian’s relationship with the Lord in Romans 12:1,2. In chapter 12:3-8, we learned how Christians should relate to other believers in terms of using our spiritual gifts. In chapter 12:9-21, we learned about how we should relate to everybody. In chapter 13:1-7, Paul spoke of what our relationship should be with the government. In chapter 13:8-10, we learned of the primacy of love. And in Romans 13:11-14, the importance of time.[fn]

Then in Romans 14:1 and continuing all the way through Romans 15:13, Paul discusses the relationship between strong and weak Christians. Here Paul sums up his discussion of salvation and all of the things connected with that salvation. Now in this same section Paul gives four principles to govern relationships between strong and weak Christians:

We now come to the fourth principle. It is God’s plan that the strong and the weak accept each other as Christians. We are not to struggle and argue among ourselves, but we are to accept each other, rejoice together over all that God has done, and live in peace and hope. As Christians we should be thankful that His plan includes us. Romans 15:7-13 emphasizes what the church is supposed to be: a community of believers all living together and loving one another as if we were one body. All of us are to be one in Jesus Christ, whether we are weak or strong, Jew or Gentile, black or white, male or female, natural born Americans or immigrants from other countries. We are all to be loved and accepted as one in Christ. Let us read Romans 15:7-13 NLT:

7 So accept each other just as Christ has accepted you; then God will be glorified.

9 And he came so the Gentiles might also give glory to God for His mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote: “I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to your name.”
10 And in another place it is written, “Rejoice, O you Gentiles, along with His people, the Jews.”
11 And yet again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; praise Him, all you people of the earth.”
12 And the prophet Isaiah said, “The heir to David’s throne will come, and he will rule over the Gentiles. They will place their hopes on Him.”
13 So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in Him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

This call for rejoicing together because of the blending together of Jew and Gentile sums up Paul’s argument regarding the weak and the strong. We are called in this passage to recognize and rejoice that God in His saving plan has brought all of us together, Jew and Gentile, weak and strong, and made us one body in Christ. In order to have unity in the Church we have to avoid certain things. We have to make certain we do not cause someone to stumble, to be grieved, to be led into sin, to be discouraged, or distressed, or go against their conscience and therefore feel guilt. We are called to a positive attitude of rejoicing and that attitude is essential. Sometimes when there is conflict, arguing, and bitterness in the Church, the key to overcoming that is to cultivate an attitude of rejoicing, joy, and praise. Each of these believers were to patiently and lovingly bring one another along in unity. Let us look at the basic instruction which is found in Romans 15:7 NLT:

Now if we back up a couple of verses we also see the purpose of the church, Romans 15:5,6 NLT:

5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other—each with the attitude of Christ Jesus toward the other.
6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Since God wants us to be one and that is the eternal design of the church, we have to accept one another. That does not mean just accepting them as members of the church and putting their name on a list. It means accepting them with affection and fellowship. This is a call to mutual love. And we see in verse 7 that Jesus is the example of what it means to accept others. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 10:40-42 NLT:

40 “Anyone who welcomes you is welcoming Me, and anyone who welcomes Me is welcoming the Father who sent me.
41 If you welcome a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will receive the same reward a prophet gets. And if you welcome good and godly people because of their godliness, you will be given a reward like theirs.

When you receive another believer you receive Christ. When you receive Christ you receive God the Father. So receiving your brother or sister in Christ, though they differ from you in lifestyle, though they may not understand the same freedoms that you enjoy, though they may be different in some of the things they believe, and this does not apply to basic biblical doctrine but to certain practices that they are having difficulty letting go of, receive them genuinely with love. This was not an easy thing for the believers in Rome to do. Jews and Gentiles did not exactly see eye to eye. Their past lifestyles were totally different. People needed to accept each other as they were.

One of the problems that occurs in the church is when people set up standards by which they will accept or receive one another. If others do not meet those requirements, they shut them out. They want nothing to do with them. We need to get the meaning of this whole passage and be able to accept one another just as Christ received or accepted us. Christ is our pattern, our model. Look at what is written in Ephesians 4:31-5:2 NLT:

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior.
32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
1 Follow God’s example in everything you do, because you are his dear children.
2 Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, because that sacrifice was like sweet perfume to him.

If you are a believer, Christ accepts you. Were you worthy of Christ’s acceptance? Do you think he looked down upon the earth and said, “Ron Teed, you’re irresistible? I just want to bring you into my kingdom because you’re so perfect?” Even if you are not a believer, Christ would accept you if you asked Him. I know many of you know the passage in Luke 15, but I want us to read it again in light of what we have been discussing about receiving and acceptance, Luke 15:1-7 NLT:

1 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.
2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that He was associating with such despicable people—even eating with them!
3 So Jesus used this illustration:
4 “If you had one hundred sheep, and one of them strayed away and was lost in the wilderness, wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until you found it?
5 And then you would joyfully carry it home on your shoulders.
6 When you arrived, you would call together your friends and neighbors to rejoice with you because your lost sheep was found.
7 In the same way, heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!

If Christ has received those who are sinners; if He has received those who hated Him, should we not forgive and accept the same kind of people? When a Christian refuses to accept another Christian, he or she is saying in effect that they know Christ receives the worst of sinners, but they require something better. They have a higher standard than Christ. Are you holier than Christ? Can He accept people that are not worthy of your acceptance? When a Christian refuses to open their heart in love to another Christian it is the same as saying, “I know that Christ does that but He just isn’t capable of understanding my standards.” Not one of us can come close to knowing what Christ sacrificed in order to accept sinners. As He received those who were unworthy so must we receive those who are unworthy according to our standards. Your failure to accept another believer because you resent something about them is an affront to Christ who accepted you. 

Romans 15:7 also gives us the reason Jesus accepted us. He did it for the glory of God, and that is the same reason we are to accept one another. We do it because it reflects the love of Christ in us. We do it because it is God’s will that we do it. It brings Him praise. Our prayer for the Church should be that we all know and practice this kind of attitude. We should make it one of our first orders of business not to argue or show resentment or dislike toward one another. If a problem develops, discuss it privately in love with the other person and resolve the issue in that same spirit of love. We must understand that there will be differences in our understanding of Christian freedom, but that is not a cause for division.

Now you may find it worthwhile to consider the question, How does Christ accept sinners? First of all He accepts them gladly. He does not receive them with reluctance, but gladly. We saw that earlier in the passage from Luke 15. When Jesus receives a sinner he or she is received gladly. We do not have to beg Jesus to receive us. He does it gladly. John 6:37 NLT:

37 However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.

I heard a story that was supposedly true. I do not know its original source, but even if it never actually occurred the message is still appropriate to our discussion. There was a pastor in a southern town who was white and he opened his heart to teach the Bible to a black man. There was a sign out in front of the church that read: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” This black man was troubled and needed help, and this white pastor began to disciple the man. The church elders came to the pastor and told him to stop because he was creating a racial problem. The pastor, however, did what he knew was right and continued to teach the black man.

Soon the pastor could not buy gas at the gas station or groceries in the grocery store; his insurance was cancelled, and his children were stalked and harassed. This is at a church that has a sign out in front that says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Finally the pastor had a nervous breakdown and was sent to the hospital. A church can have a theology and they can present it as the identifying mark of their fellowship, but in their hearts be living out something that is the exact opposite. We are to receive one another, not reluctantly, but with gladness.

Now secondly, Christ not only accepted sinners with gladness, but He accepted sinners in spite of their sin. They do not have to clean up their act first. Jesus does not say, “If you get your act cleaned up I’ll let you in.” There is nothing you can do in the line of good works that will make you acceptable to Christ. The only thing you can do is to believe in what He did for you. He receives sinners in spite of their sins and that is the beauty of grace, and that is the reason He came. When people come they are accepted. Listen to what Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:12-17 NLT:

12 How thankful I am to Christ Jesus our Lord for considering me trustworthy and appointing me to serve Him,
13 even though I used to scoff at the name of Christ. I hunted down His people, harming them in every way I could. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief.
14 Oh, how kind and gracious the Lord was! He filled me completely with faith and the love of Christ Jesus.
15 This is a true saying, and everyone should believe it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—and I was the worst of them all.
16 But that is why God had mercy on me, so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in Him and receive eternal life.
17 Glory and honor to God forever and ever. He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; He alone is God. Amen.

Thirdly, Jesus receives sinners impartially. The Bible tells us in Acts 10:34 and Romans 2:11 that God accepts all kinds of people. It does not matter what your background might be. James 2:1-9 NLT:

1 My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim that you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people more than others?
2 For instance, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in shabby clothes.
3 If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well,
4 doesn’t this discrimination show that you are guided by wrong motives?
5 Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the kingdom God promised to those who love him?
6 And yet, you insult the poor man! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
7 Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?

So we see that Christ receives sinners gladly, He receives them in spite of their sin, He receives them impartially, and finally He receives them for the highest reason. The reason as we have already seen is for the glory of God. Christ accepts sinners so that God will be glorified. God is glorified when a sinner is saved. Now you should have a thorough understanding of the basic instruction from verse 7.

We think you are going to find what follows in this chapter to be most interesting. The “wherefore” in verse 7 serves as a “therefore.” And I am sure you have heard pastors before say when you see a “therefore” stop and see what it is there for.

Paul feels very strongly about the points he has been making in chapters 12-15. Yet those points go against the grain of many of his Jewish readers, so now Paul is going to make his final argument to convince them of the importance of what he has been saying. They may choose to ignore Paul’s words but no good Jew would blow off prophecies from the Old Testament.

After pointing out that we are to accept one another because Christ has accepted us, Paul gives two more reasons, in verses 8 and 9, why Christ became a servant to the Jewish people.

1)   The first reason concerns the Jews. Christ came to confirm the promises made by God to their forefathers, or their ancestors. Paul is reminding the Jews that God always keeps His promises, and that God had promised to send them a Savior, a Messiah.

2)   The second reason concerns the Gentiles. Another reason Christ came was so that the Gentiles could glorify God for salvation also.[fn]

Knowing that this latter reason could well ruffle some feathers among Jewish believers, Paul hurries on to cite in quick succession, not just one, not just two, not just three, but four Old Testament Scriptures that verify what he has just said.

These verses should soften Jewish prejudice and cause the Jews to rejoice over the salvation of Gentiles as a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy rather than allow Gentile salvation to create division and dissension. We see both Jew and Gentile in sin in the book of Romans and we see both Jew and Gentile saved in Christ. Romans is a declaration of the sovereign act of God to save both Jew and Gentile. In Romans 15:8-12 we find proof of Gentile equality in salvation. Romans 15:8,9 NLT:

8 Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises He made to their ancestors.
9 And He came so the Gentiles might also give glory to God for His mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote: “I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to your name.”

Jesus comes as a Jew to Jews; initially as a servant sent to the Jews to fulfill prophecy, that is what had been foretold in the Old Testament. The ancestors in verse 8 being Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God gives them the promise, beginning in Genesis 11, that a great deliverer will one day come. Christ came to fulfill the promises that were made by God to the fathers. Jesus came to verify the promises that God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He came to verify that God speaks the truth. That is to the glory of God. But look at the Gentiles in verse 9. They can also glorify God for His mercy, for they have been given salvation as well as the Jews who were from the beginning God’s chosen people.

In verse 9, Paul quotes Psalm 18:49. The psalmist here is David, writing a thousand years before Christ came, and he is saying he will declare God’s name among the nations, that is the Gentiles. David is singing the praise of God among the nations. This is a foretelling of Gentile salvation. In Romans 15:10, Paul quotes Deuteronomy 32:43:

10 And in another place it is written, “Rejoice, O you Gentiles, along with His people, the Jews.”  (NLT)

So all the way back in the time of Moses, almost 1500 years before Christ, Moses wrote about the Gentiles rejoicing along with the Jews. Then verse 11 is taken out of Psalm 117:1. Romans 15:11 NLT:

11 And yet again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; praise Him, all you people of the earth.”

Then in verse 12, Romans 15:12, we read:

12 And the prophet Isaiah said, “The heir to David’s throne will come, and He will rule over the Gentiles. They will place their hopes on Him.” (NLT)

This is taken right out of Isaiah 11:1 and 10, written 700 years before Christ. The Messiah, Jesus, was to be a direct descendent through David’s line, which He was. Again a promise of salvation for the Gentiles, and salvation is hope. All are loved by God.

Paul closes with a benediction, Romans 15:13 NLT:

13 So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is a prayer. Paul asks that the God of eternal hope, the source of eternal life, the source of eternal salvation will fill us up, leaving nothing out. It means literally that we might overflow with joy and peace that comes from believing in the atoning death of Jesus Christ. It is just another way of saying, “May you get all there is to get. May you be totally spiritually satisfied.” It is a prayer for a satisfied and peaceful soul. May Paul’s prayer be answered in your life and in ours.

 

Paul, An Apostle For Christ, Teaches Boldly To

A Church Filled with Knowledge, Goodness, And Purity
(Romans 15:14-17)

A famous Methodist evangelist named Peter Cartwright was known for his uncompromising preaching. However, one day when the President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, "Old rough and ready," came to Cartwright’s church, the elders warned the Pastor not to offend the President. In those days, the President had great power to influence a denomination for good or bad. Content that their Pastor would not say anything to discredit their church, the elders retired to the back of the sanctuary.

When Cartwright got up to speak, the first words out of his mouth were, "I understand that President Andrew Jackson is here this morning. I have been requested to be very guarded in my remarks. Let me say this: Andrew Jackson will go to hell if he doesn’t repent of his sin!" The entire congregation gasped with shock at Cartwright’s boldness. How could this young preacher dare to offend the tough old general in public, they wondered.

After the service, everyone wondered how the President would respond to Cartwright. When Andrew Jackson met the preacher at the door he looked at him in the eye and said, "Sir, if I had a regiment of men like you, I could conquer the world!" [fn]

We will now move on to the passage in Romans 15:14-21, and there is a key word in this passage that we need to take note of, and that word is, “boldly,” found in verse 15. These verses are written to defend Paul’s boldness. This whole section is written to defend the way he has spoken to the Romans. Paul had never been to that church, he did not found that church, and yet he had spoken to them with boldness. Throughout this epistle Paul had confronted them on a number of important issues. This kind of boldness from someone they had never met was somewhat unusual and the reason for Paul‘s boldness is something we need to explain in order to get a better understanding of the passage. In fact, this passage of Scripture gives us an understanding of the need for boldness within a believer when he/she is speaking about their almighty God,

Paul defends that kind of boldness in this passage. The word boldness means “Not hesitating in the face of danger.” The word boldness suggests courage and daring, which would be an accurate description of the apostle, Paul. Paul was clearly courageous, daring, and bold. In Acts 9:27 it says that he preached boldly at Damascus. In Acts 13:46 it says that both Paul and Barnabas grew bold in speaking the Word of God. Then in Acts 14:2-3 NLT, Luke writes:

2 The Jews who spurned God’s message stirred up distrust among the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas, saying all sorts of evil things about them.
3 The apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. The Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders.

Acts 19:8 NLT:
8 Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God.

The testimony of the Holy Spirit in these passages is that Paul spoke with courage and boldness, gaining a hearing for the Word of the living God. If when E. F. Hutton speaks everyone listens, ought they not listen even more intently when the eternal God of the universe speaks? This is what Paul is defending then in this part of the epistle to the Romans. Let us now read Romans 15:14-21 NLT:

14 I am fully convinced, dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well that you are able to teach others all about them.
15 Even so, I have been  bold enough to emphasize some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder from me. For I am, by God’s grace,
16 a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News and offer you up as a fragrant sacrifice to God so that you might be pure and pleasing to him by the Holy Spirit.
17 So it is right for me to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God.
18 I dare not boast of anything else. I have brought the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I lived before them.
19 I have won them over by the miracles done through me as signs from God—all by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ all the way from Jerusalem clear over into Illyricum.

21 I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says, “Those who have never been told about him will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand.”

If we go back and look at Romans chapter six for a moment, verses 12-14 indicate something of Paul’s boldness as he speaks to these Christians at Rome:

13 Do not let any part of your body become a tool of wickedness, to be used for sinning. Instead, give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.
14 Sin is no longer your master, for you are no longer subject to the law, which enslaves you to sin. Instead, you are free by God’s grace.   (NLT)

Then in the rest of chapter six Paul tells them that since they have been set free from sin in terms of its control over them, they ought to submit themselves as servants to righteousness (verse 16). This is bold preaching. We see Paul using it again in Romans 8:9-11 NLT:

Paul makes the bold statement here that if they do not possess the Spirit of Christ they do not belong to God. Then going down to verse 13:

13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die.

Again Paul is being direct, honest, and bold. Beginning in Romans 11:17 and continuing through verse 26, Paul is speaking of how the Gentiles were included in the grace of God. Paul warns them not to get swelled heads about it. Blindness in part has only happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Paul is telling the Gentiles not to get proud because Israel’s been put out and they have been brought into covenant blessing. God is going to one day bring the Jews back in, and if the Gentiles who were not the natural branches were put in when the Jews were broken off, do not be arrogant thinking that you are secure, for you too could be cut off by God’s justice in the future.

In Romans 12:3, Paul tells them not to think more highly of themselves than they ought to think. In chapter 13 Paul begins to talk about the government and says the rulers are not frightening to those who do good works but to those who do evil. “If you are doing good, you need not fear the government. If you are doing evil, you should fear the government.” In verse 7 Paul commands them to pay their taxes and pay everyone to whom they have a debt. In verse 8 he tells them they are to owe no one anything but love. That being the one debt that is never paid. In verses 11-14, Paul tells them to get busy walking honestly and not to be involved in wild parties and drunkenness and immorality.

Now some people in the Roman church were certain to raise the question, “Where does this guy get this authority? How is it that he can speak to us in this manner? Where does he get this boldness?” Well in this concluding section beginning in Romans 15:14, having given them his theology, Paul now gives them his heart. First he tells them the reason for his boldness in verses 14-21. Next he tells them his plans for the future in verses 22-33. Then some personal greetings in chapter 16, and finally a benediction. This is very personal stuff that Paul concludes with. We shall begin in Romans 15:14 and see how Paul defends his boldness:

14 And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.  (NAS)

That is a very conciliating statement. He begins by saying that he himself, in spite of all that he has written, in spite of calling for obedience and holiness and the doing away with sin, in spite of commanding the pursuit of righteousness and commitment to Christ and the use of their spiritual gifts, and being marked by humility and love without vengeance and retaliation, in spite of calling for submission and the love of the weaker brother and care for each other; in spite of all that, it is Paul’s personal opinion that they are good people. In effect Paul is telling them that he knows they will take what he has given them and apply it for the glory of God.[fn] So Paul did not have a  low opinion of the church at Rome, but a high opinion. This is an example of Christ’s words recorded in Matthew 13:11 and 12a, NLT:

In spite of all his warnings, Paul knew they would be obedient to the things he told them. Paul had indicated this right at the beginning of his letter to the Romans in Romans 1:8:

8 Let me say first of all that your faith in God is becoming known throughout the world. How I thank God through Jesus Christ for each one of you.

Paul was complimenting them from the start and now compliments them again as he finishes his letter. Paul has a strong conviction that there are three things true about the people in the Roman church. In going through the whole Roman epistle, Paul did not need to deal with any specific sin issue. That is because there was not anything that was of serious concern as when he wrote to the Galatians or the Corinthians. Paul, therefore,  commends them for three things in verse 14. First, he commends them for their goodness. This means that they are rich in moral character, which is the work of the Holy Spirit. Paul recognizes the good heart placed within them at salvation and that they have allowed that goodness which results from their submission to the Holy Spirit to rule in their lives. You might remember that the fruit produced in us as a result of our yielding to the Holy Spirit includes: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. The Romans are therefore enjoying the goodness that is a gift from the Holy Spirit because of their willingness to be obedient. Goodness applies to a Christian with moral excellence; it is an expression of goodness that is opposed to evil. They hated evil and sin, and loved righteousness.[fn] They were able to do what Paul spoke of in Romans 12:21 NLT:

21 Don’t let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.

They were committed to living lives according to the example Christ had set. That does not mean they were without sin, but they were making every effort to follow the example of Jesus Christ. Paul tells them that they are a good church and he hopes that they can become an even better one.

Paul continues by telling them that not only were they filled with goodness but they had all knowledge. So they were a good church and they were also living according to Jesus teaching.  They were taking the teachings of Jesus and putting those teachings into practice in their daily lives. They knew God’s truth and they were able to apply that truth in their lives. This is the combination that God desires for His Church: Knowledge of the truth and applying it in our daily lives. This is a way of life that is possible for every believer because of the Spirit of God which is given to us when we believe in the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross on our behalf. We can know true goodness. We can hate sin and love righteousness. We can have the fruit of the Spirit and be filled with all the fruits of righteousness as Paul told the Colossians. Paul tells the Colossians that in Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. We should all have these two things because they are basic to the life of the Church. 

So at the end of verse 14. Paul says they are able to admonish one another which in effect means they were able to advise one another. Paul is telling them that they can function just fine without him. The Greek word used here for “admonish” means to lead someone away from a wrong path leading nowhere onto the right path going in the right direction. We lead them through warning and teaching.

Now, in chapters 12—15:13, Paul has just described a perfect church. This is how things should be and could be if everybody allowed the Bible to guide every decision in life. We, however, have yet to experience a church where everyone behaves this way. I know I do not always behave this way. Betty comes as close as anyone I have ever known, however, to living like this. There may have been some churches like this at one time and there may be a few around today. But certainly, most people who are part of the church as it exists today do not have the qualifications to counsel anyone. Rather, those who feel they need it should seek good Christian counseling from a Christian psychologist.

It is true that in Paul’s time there were no psychologists and psychiatrists. And it is not hard to see that in a healthy church, which is practicing the disciplines discussed here by Paul, people could be capable of counseling one another under the direction and power of the Holy Spirit. The problem, unfortunately, is that most churches today do not have the kind of purity Paul told the Roman church they had. If that is the situation in any given church, the people in such churches have no business counseling anybody.

It is our personal opinion that counseling by a Christian psychologist, who is practicing what Paul suggests spiritually, is your best opportunity for receiving help with a wide variety of emotional problems. My experience, however, with secular psychologists suggests to me that long term benefits are minimal. As a committed Christian, I could not in good conscience recommend a secular psychologist or any other counselor who does not have a committed relationship to Jesus Christ, although there might be some exceptions. So if you have an opportunity to work with a good Christian psychologist like Betty, there is an excellent possibility for progress with emotional problems.

And if you belong to a church like Village Church, you can be assured that we are striving to be the kind of church Paul describes in Romans 15:14, whose members are capable of providing good counsel for one another in many areas of life. But when it comes to the heavyweight emotional problems that many people in a sinful world struggle with, your best resource is a competent Christian professional psychologist. If you feel you need help with emotional problems, your pastor should be equipped to provide recommendations for qualified counselors on both a spiritual and emotional level. I believe we are equipped to provide you with that kind of help here at Village Church if you request it.

Now if the Roman church that Paul is writing to is such a good church, why did Paul write them such a long letter? Verse 15 sheds some light on that. Romans 15:15 NLT:

15 Even so, I have been bold enough to emphasize some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder from me.

Any good teacher knows two things. Two things that you have to emphasize in teaching are forgetfulness and repetition. The principle of forgetfulness states that what has been said in the past has for the most part been forgotten. Human beings forget 90% of what they hear. If we were to quiz the members of your church on last week’s sermon, how many of you think you could answer half the questions correctly? If you think you can, and you are able to do so, you would send your pastor’s ego right into orbit.

But we know that most of what has been said has been forgotten. And do you know how we know that? Because we have also forgotten what we have said. Any good teacher knows therefore that you must repeat things. That is why we find repetition of many great truths in the teachings of Jesus. It is the same with Paul. His epistles repeat the same truths over and over again. So it is important for a teacher to remember forgetfulness.

It is therefore important to repeat the same information, but repeat it with creativity.  When repeating the same information you cannot say things in the same way you have previously said them because folks will get bored and tune you out. So the challenge of teaching is to repeat the same things over and over again in various creative ways so as to keep the interest and attention of the listeners. So Paul tells them of the necessity to remind them of what they already know.

9 For I am the least of all the apostles, and I am not worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted the church of God.
10 But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than all the other apostles, yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.

So when Paul speaks to the Romans he is telling them that the reason he is speaking to them more boldly than they might have expected is because there is a grace of God filling his life that compels him to speak the way he speaks. I can understand Paul’s feeling for ministry when in 2 Corinthians 5:14 NLT he says:

14 Whatever we do, it is because Christ’s love controls us.

I also understand what he means in 2 Corinthians 5:11, where Paul writes:

11 It is because we know this solemn fear of the Lord that we work so hard to persuade others.

Or 1 Corinthians 9:16:
16 For preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I did not do it!

Any believer should feel the very same way regarding whatever their spiritual gift might be. For all of us have been given gifts from the Spirit of God, which the Spirit of God by grace expects each believer to use. A committed Christian understands that duty. In defense of his boldness Paul says, “I am under orders to be this firm about the things I’ve written you.”  After all, Paul did not write Romans on his own. He was led to write it by the Holy Spirit of God. What does Paul say in the very first verse of the very first chapter of Romans? Romans 1:1: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.

Then in verse 5: through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name.

Paul has a duty to speak the truth about Jesus. Now, after having spoken about his apostolic calling, we find in Romans 15:16-20 that Paul does a wonderful thing. He describes his role as an apostle. Paul introduces himself as a priest, a preacher, and a pioneer. These things describe the call of God that brought him willingly to be an apostle and to write the epistle to the Romans.

Paul sees his office as comparable to that of a priest. Please notice the choice of words. He is not in the strictest sense of the word a priest, but his role is comparable to that of a priest. Romans 15:15,16 NLT:

15 For I am, by God’s grace,
16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Paul is saying that God has called him to be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. The key to understanding this particular point is to understand the term minister, which most often refers to sacred worship or service. And that is the proper use of it here. The statement, “in the priestly service of the gospel of God,” solidifies the priestly interpretation of the word minister. The New American Standard and the New International Version translations of this passage include the word priest. The Jews in Paul’s audience would understand and relate to the concept of “priest.” They would understand that Paul is using the word to describe his role as someone who prayed for them and who brought them God’s Word. So Paul is a priest of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, serving as a priest in the gospel of God. Now this is not to say that Paul is an actual priest, a member of the priesthood. As we learn in the book of Hebrews, especially Hebrews 7:21-25, that was done away with through the ministry of Christ. All believers are now priests. 1 Peter 2:4, 5 NRSV:

4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and
5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Verse 9:
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

All believers are priests. Believers do not have to go through some other human person to get to God. All believers have ready access to the throne room of God. We do not need priests to get to God. 1 Timothy 2:5 NRSV:

5 For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human.

You and I as priests can offer God an offering as well. We can offer Him the offering of the souls of those the Holy Spirit has caused us to lead to faith in Jesus Christ. We can do that because these people have been sanctified, made holy by the Holy Spirit of God (Titus 3:4-7). What are you offering to God? Are there lives that you can offer to God? There is no feeling that can match the one you will have when by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit within you, a new believer comes to Christ. Why was Paul so bold? Because he lived to be used to offer up redeemed souls to God as his supreme act of worship. May we follow his example.

 

How To Live Within The Will Of God
Romans 15:17-33:

Have you ever struggled over knowing the will of God for your life? Perhaps in a particular matter, where you were trying to know just exactly what God wanted you to do? Or maybe you were struggling because you were afraid you did know God’s will and it was very different from your own will. That reminds me of a story told some time back by a man who was ministering to college students. He said that he was always reluctant to give himself totally to God because he was afraid that if he promised to do God’s will, God would send him to Africa as a missionary. But then he said, “You know those three years in Africa weren’t bad at all!”

We are now going to look at how Paul viewed and responded to the will of God in his life as we look at his role as a preacher.

Romans 15:17-21 NLT:
17 So it is right for me to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God.
18 I dare not boast of anything else. I have brought the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I lived before them.
19 I have won them over by the miracles done through me as signs from God—all by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ all the way from Jerusalem clear over into Illyricum.
20 My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else.
21 I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says, “Those who have never been told about him will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand.”

31 As the Scriptures say, “The person who wishes to boast should boast only of what the Lord has done.”

Then in 2 Corinthians 10:17:

17 As the Scriptures say, “The person who wishes to boast should boast only of what the Lord has done.”   (NLT)

1) Humility: Paul claimed nothing except what Christ had done through him.
2) Faithfulness: Paul preached obedience to God.
3) Authenticity: Paul had personal integrity; he was genuine. He practiced what he preached.
4) Power: His work was given divine affirmation by mighty signs and 
wonders.
5) Thoroughness: His work is completely fulfilled. Paul preached
everywhere the Lord sent him.

Paul’s mission was to reach as many people as possible for Christ. In Romans 15:20 and 21 we also see Paul the pioneer. Let us read those two verses again:

20 My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else.
21 I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says, “Those who have never been told about him will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand.”

Paul has a call to the un-reached people of the world. Paul is a pioneer, a trail blazer, a missionary, a church planter. Rome is only a stopping off place for Paul who intends to go on to Spain where the Gospel has never been preached. We all need to do some pioneering work, even if it is only right in our own town.

Now we are going to move along to examine Romans 15:22-33, a section that deals with ministry within the will of God. When you teach the Bible, you sometimes find that a passage is very explicit in what it says. The meaning is very clear. There are other passages that imply something without stating the meaning clearly. They do not just give us clear facts but an underlying message that lies beneath the facts that are given. At first reading it can seem like a lot of meaningless background material. This passage is like that. After reading through the entire passage, we will study it in more detail. Romans 15:22-33 NLT:

22 In fact, my visit to you has been delayed so long because I have been preaching in these places.
23 But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you.
24 I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can send me on my way again.
25 But before I come, I must go down to Jerusalem to take a gift to the Christians there.

27 They were very glad to do this because they feel they owe a real debt to them. Since the Gentiles received the wonderful spiritual blessings of the Good News from the Jewish Christians, they feel the least they can do in return is help them financially.
28 As soon as I have delivered this money and completed this good deed of theirs, I will come to see you on my way to Spain.
29 And I am sure that when I come, Christ will give me a great blessing for you.
30 Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit.
31 Pray that I will be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to obey God. Pray also that the Christians there will be willing to accept the donation I am bringing them.
32 Then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you with a happy heart, and we will be an encouragement to each other.
33 And now may God, who gives us his peace, be with you all. Amen.

At first glance this does not really seem to be a life changing passage. It looks like a whole lot of data about Paul’s plans. Underlying what we see here is a very important truth that is given in verse 32. If we take the phrase by the will of God and spread its implications over the whole passage, we will see in this passage the attitudes, perceptions, and viewpoints of a man who functions within the will of God. Studying this passage more closely we begin to see the things that characterize Paul’s ministry within the will of God.

Remember that Paul has discussed something of his personal ministry in the prior passage (verses 14-21). Paul sees himself as a priest, offering up to God a sacrifice of redeemed Gentiles, which God has used him to reach. He sees himself as a prophet whose task it is to proclaim the saving Gospel of Christ in every place the Lord sends him. He sees himself as a pioneer whose desire is to serve in areas where the message has never been heard.

To see just how much Paul was committed to functioning within the will of God, we will turn to his sermon at Antioch in Pisidia in Acts 13. Immediately after Paul was sent from the church at Antioch to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, we see his commitment to the will of God by first making some statements about David. Acts 13:22 NLT:

22 But God removed Saul from the kingship and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘David son of Jesse is a man after my own heart, for he will do everything I want him to.

Then down in verse 36, we read: After David had served his generation according to the will of God, he died and was buried, and his body decayed.

Twice here, in verse 22 and in verse 36, Paul marks David as one who did the will of God. And in between those two statements, in verses 22-34, Paul points out in detail how Christ’s life and ministry were according to the will and purpose of God. That then becomes a pattern for Paul’s own ministry. Even as Paul begins to write his epistle to the Romans, he says this, in Romans 1:10 NAS:  always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.

Over in Romans 8:27, Paul is speaking of how the Holy Spirit prays for us: And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.  (NLT)

You might remember the familiar passage in Romans 12:2 NRSV:

Paul saw the importance of the will of God in David’s life as he preached. Then in his own ministry in writing to the Romans, Paul emphasizes how important it is to know, understand, and be in the will of God.

We see throughout Paul’s letters in the New Testament his constant awareness of the significance of God’s will in his life. For instance, as Paul begins the epistle to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1:1 NLT, he writes: This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.

Paul makes the same reference in 2 Corinthians 1:1, Ephesians 1:1, Colossians 1:1, and in 2 Timothy 1:1. Paul was a man whose primary preoccupation in his ministry was to do the will of God. Now let us go back for just a moment to the book of Acts, chapters 21 and 22. In Acts 21:13 Paul reacts to the concern of certain believers who believe that if Paul continues on his journey to Jerusalem he is going to experience great suffering. In fact a prophet in verse 10 by the name of Agabus makes a prediction that Paul will be imprisoned. So in verse 12 they beg him not to go to Jerusalem. Then in Acts 21:13:

13 But he (Paul)[fn] said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! For I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but also to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.”
14 When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The will of the Lord be done.”

In other words Paul convinced them that to do the will of God was the only thing that was important for him. Then in chapter 22:14, when Paul gives his testimony in his defense before this mob of people in Jerusalem who did try to kill him, he remembers his encounter with Ananias in Damascus at the time of his conversion and quotes Ananias when he says:

14 “Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you (referring to Paul)[fn] to know his will.

Now what are the results of functioning within the will of God? Let us go back to Romans 15. Because Paul functioned within the will of God, he knew spiritual triumph. Because he functioned within the will of God, he could praise God in verses 17 and 18 for the things that Christ had done through Paul, making the Gentiles obedient in word and deed. By his testimony of life and ministry, God had used Paul to bring about Gentile salvation. So the message here is obvious. When we serve within the will of God it leads to spiritual triumph.

Also because Paul was within the will of God he knew supernatural power. In Romans 15:19 we see that Paul saw mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God. Living within the will of God put Paul in a place of triumph and a place of power. Finally it put him in a place of fulfillment. At the end of verse 19, Paul says he has fully preached. He accomplished his mission and knew the feeling of satisfaction. He knew he had done what God wanted him to do. What a wonderful thing to know. What a great way to come to the end of your life and be ready to go on into glory and reward. It sure beats coming to the end of your life and saying to God, “I am not sure what you wanted me to do.” Or to have to say to God, “I know I did not do what you wanted me to do.” But Paul was a man who functioned within the will of God, and you see the results: spiritual triumph, supernatural power, and satisfaction.

What are the elements in Paul’s life that lead him to such thrilling results? Well, there are some key words in this passage from Romans 15:22-33 and they all start with “p”, so you should be able to remember them easily.

 

People who function within the will of God know:

1) Precision

This word probably reminds you of a watch. It functions precisely, is on time, and without error. Anyone who functions in ministry within the will of God will know precision. I know we have read these two verses a couple of times already, but please indulge me as we read them again in light of this topic. Romans 15:20,21:

20 My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else.
21 I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says, “Those who have never been told about him will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand.”

Paul says that his calling was to places where they did not know about Christ. So we see a precision in Paul’s ministry. He understood his calling from the Lord. He understood where his giftedness was for ministry. He understood exactly what he was to do. He would never glory in anything other than Christ and what Christ had brought about through him in the precise ministry that Christ had given to Paul. Any effective servant of the Lord is one that has a clear perspective on the purpose of God for their life. There are so many people who do a little bit of a whole lot of stuff and never really find that calling, giftedness, and unique place with precision where they can most efficiently and effectively maximize the calling of God in their life.[fn]

The best illustration of this is Jesus Himself. He focused His ministry in a tiny little country and never traveled more than two hundred miles away from home. In fact, look what Jesus said in John 5:30 NLT:

30 But I do nothing without consulting the Father. I judge as I am told. And my judgment is absolutely just, because it is according to the will of God who sent me; it is not merely my own.

Jesus did not do anything unless the Father told Him to do it. In John 7:30 and John 8:20 we see that Jesus repeated that His time had not yet come. Jesus had a tremendous sense of timing. He had a precise plan and a specific time frame in which to accomplish the will of the Father for His life. Jesus also had a definite focus regarding the people to whom he was sent to minister. He said He had come for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:6). Further, He spent the majority of His three-year ministry working with only twelve apostles.  He was totally in touch with what God the Father wanted. And we further believe that Paul was also constantly seeking and following God’s will and God’s plan. 

Paul had a sense of direction from God in his ministry. He reveals this back in Acts 20 in a discussion with the Ephesian elders at Miletus. Paul is very committed to the task God has given him. Acts 20:22-27 NLT:

22 “And now I am going to Jerusalem, drawn there irresistibly by the Holy Spirit, not knowing what awaits me,
23 except that the Holy Spirit has told me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.
24 But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God’s wonderful kindness and love.
25 “And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again.
26 Let me say plainly that I have been faithful. No one’s damnation can be blamed on me,
27 for I did not shrink from declaring all that God wants for you.

Paul knew God’s precision. Do you remember the words of John Knox? He said, “Give me Scotland or I die!” He knew exactly what God had laid upon his heart. Any successful servant of God realizes that success will come when he/she understands their calling, gifts, and opportunities in line with clear goals. If you do not have such an understanding you need to spend some more time on your knees seeking it. Realize also that it might change as life goes on. But whatever it turns out to be, function within it with commitment and precision.

There is an important lesson in all of this and that is that neither Paul nor Jesus ever felt that they had to do everything in the world that could possibly be done. Rather they sought to function within limits consistent with the Word of God. So we only need to ask one question as we go through life, and that question is: “Is this the will of God?” And I cannot help but believe that if God has a will for you, He wants you to know what it is. Therefore, what do you think would be a wise course of action? Simple enough; ask Him; He will tell you. And if you do not feel you are getting an answer it will not be because God is not telling you. It will be because your receiver is on the wrong frequency. The message is going out; your receiver is not right.

The second key word is:

2) Providence

Paul’s ministry was to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. That was his calling. But look what he says in Romans 15:22:

22 In fact, my visit to you has been delayed so long because I have been preaching in these places.

Paul says he has been so busy doing what God has called him to do and that is the reason he was delayed in coming to Rome. This is providence. By moving Paul here and moving him there, God had providentially controlled his life. God controls us and He controls human history in basically one of two ways:

1) Through miracles, which are a direct interruption of the
natural laws of the universe, or
2) By controlling all things in the natural course of events. This
of course is how God primarily works.

Paul has been under the controlling elements of providence, a series of things over which he had no control. It is as if the Lord has just made all this happen. Let us turn to Acts 16 to get a better idea of how providence might work. Acts 16:6 NRSV:

6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

Now how did the Holy Spirit prevent Paul from going into Asia? It does not say. It does not say a miracle occurred. It does not say they heard a voice out of Heaven. Somehow the Holy Spirit did not let them go into Asia. Now let us look at verses 7-10 NRSV:

7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;
8 so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.
9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

Here we see God controlling circumstances to bring about His own will. One of the classic illustrations in the Old Testament involves Joseph, who when sold into slavery by his brothers, becomes his brothers’ savior. Later when the famine comes to Egypt, his brothers go down to get food and by that time Joseph is the prime minister and gives them food. Another classic Old Testament illustration is Esther, who because she is so beautiful is chosen by the king for his queen. When a decree goes out to slaughter all of her people she is in a vital position as queen of the land and is thereby able to save her people from total destruction.

Paul knows what it is like to function within the realm of God’s providence. Paul knows and we should know that God will order everything the way He wants it to be done. We may think an event that prevents us from getting somewhere or that causes us to be late will result in a disaster. Do not be so sure. God may have something in mind that you have not a clue about. Do not worry about things you have no control over. Simply trust in God’s providence and know that no matter what happens in this world, everything is as God wants it. Now let us look at a third key word for people who function within the will of God and that word is:

3) Planning

While it is wonderful to trust God’s providence, that is no excuse for poor planning. In fact you may find this difficult to accept initially, but you will never really experience the providence of God unless you have got some plans for God to work on. Romans 15:23,24 NLT:

23 But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you.
24 I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can send me on my way again.

Waiting on the providence of God does not eliminate planning. Paul had plans. They may have been hindered, altered, and delayed but he still had a plan. His plan may have been altered occasionally by God’s providence, but that does not mean planning is not necessary. I believe in the leading of the Holy Spirit, but I also know that effective ministry just does not happen without careful planning and prayer. Proverbs 16:9 NLT:

9 We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

And the key for being confident that the Lord will determine our steps is to prayerfully make our plans. Let us look a few verses earlier in Proverbs 16. Proverbs 16:3 (NKJ):

Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established.

The Amplified Bible makes this verse especially clear:

Roll your works upon the Lord—commit and trust them wholly to Him; [He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.

Things happen because we plan. So Paul reveals his plan in Romans 15:23, 24. His work in this area is completed and it is time to move on. Paul thinks it is now God’s will for him to move on to Spain and, according to the verb structure here in the original Greek, he is asking the Roman church for their support in such a missionary journey.[fn] He is looking for the Roman church to provide guides and supplies for the journey. But Paul never got to Spain. God planned for him to travel in that direction but it was not God’s actual destination for him. Sometimes God seems to lead us in one direction, even though that is not where He eventually wants us to be. He knows, however, that if we start in that direction we will then be in the place where He can redirect us along the path He really wants us to take.

So Paul wanted to establish himself doctrinally with the Romans. That is primarily the reason for his writing this letter to them. He wanted to establish himself with them personally and with fellowship and get their support.

Let me ask you something. Do you make any plans? Do you lean on the providence of God? Do you function in a ministry with precision? Those are characteristics of ministry within the will of God.

In Ephesians 6:5,6 Paul calls us NRSV:

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ;
6 not only while being watched, and in order to please them, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

Look at Hebrews 10:36 NLT:

36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

All through the New Testament it is basic to Christian living to do the will of God. Now when we speak of the will of God we could be speaking of any number of dimensions.

1) The sovereign will of God
There is a will of God that never changes. That sovereign will of God relates to God’s control of history, to His absolute purpose for history, which is perfectly carried out to fulfillment without variation. God’s will determines the history of the universe. The will of God is what the plan of the ages is. This will always be accomplished. God will do what He predetermines to do in the course of history.

2)The moral will of God
The moral will of God has to do with God’s desire for obedience to His expressed standard of righteousness. It is bound up in every command in the Bible. When God says you ought to do this and you ought not to do this, that expresses His moral will. His moral will like His sovereign will is revealed in Scripture, but unlike His sovereign will, it is not always done. People are not always faithful to fulfill the moral will of God that comes through His commands in the Bible.

3) God’s will for an individual believer’s life
This is the individual plan that God has for each Christian’s life ministry. This will is not explicitly revealed in the Bible. For this will to be revealed to us we must listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit of God. We must take into consideration the circumstances in which we find ourselves and the options that appear to be open to us. It is this dimension of the personal plan of God for the life of a believer that is Paul’s concern here. That is, knowing the place of service where God would have each believer, being able to see the guiding hand of God’s Holy Spirit at work in our lives. That is Paul’s specific concern here. Paul was certainly committed to all three aspects of God’s will and they do often intersect and interface, but here the emphasis is on God’s working in the unfolding of a believer’s ministry.

4) Priority
The person who is functioning within the will of God has God’s priorities. From Romans 15:25-28, as we saw last time, Paul says that in spite of his dreams, or his plans to go to Spain, in spite of his plans to go to the Roman church and get supplies, money, and people and go on to Spain to evangelize an area that had never been evangelized, and to take the message of Christ where it had never been, there is a priority in Paul’s heart that he must take care of. That was this matter of taking an offering of money to the Jerusalem church for the relief of the poor saints and the conciliation of the Jewish-Gentile factions within the church.

We therefore see here that one who functions within the will of God, even though he/she is a planner and dreamer with goals or desires, he/she is still able to commit themselves to the present priority. Fifthly, there is the element of:

5) Prosperity
There is prosperity for one who functions within the will of God. But it is a long way from the “prosperity gospel” preached by so many today. True prosperity, in the center of God’s will, does not mean money, houses, power, and fame. Prosperity for Paul and for the apostle John was prosperity of the soul. Let us look at 3 John 2, 4:

3 John:2, 4, NAS:
2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.
4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.

Prosperity of the soul comes from walking in the truth. Prosperity of the soul means to be rich in love, joy, peace, and God’s wisdom. It means the satisfaction that comes from a right relationship with God.

Paul knew he would prosper spiritually when he functioned within the will of God. Precision, providence, planning, priority, and prosperity are all elements of ministry within the will of God. They are the principles that mark the person devoted to pleasing God. Now all of these are positive elements and we would now like to introduce you to a negative element. That will be a sixth principle and we find it in Romans 15:31. It is the principle of:

6) Persecution
It is true that one who is serving within the will of God is going to experience persecution. Let us read Romans 15:30,31 NLT:

30 Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit.
31 Pray that I will be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to obey God. Pray also that the Christians there will be willing to accept the donation I am bringing them.

In verse 31 Paul asks for prayer that he be protected from those in Judea who are not believers. Paul is asking them to pray that he may be delivered from a very dangerous situation. It was not uncommon for Paul to face danger. As a matter of fact it had become a way of life for him. He was in danger most of the time. There is a powerful passage in 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 NLT, where Paul writes:

5 We have been beaten, been put in jail, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food.
6 We have proved ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, our sincere love, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
7 We have faithfully preached the truth. God’s power has been working in us. We have righteousness as our weapon, both to attack and to defend ourselves.
8 We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors.
9 We are well known, but we are treated as unknown. We live close to death, but here we are, still alive. We have been beaten within an inch of our lives.
10 Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.

Prior to that powerful statement, Paul had affirmed in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 NLT:

3 All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us.
4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
5 You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.
6 So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.

Paul had no idea what the Jews in Jerusalem would do to him but it was very predictable that they would be hostile towards his message. Paul was confrontational and direct. He spoke the truth of God and said what needed to be said without pulling any punches. Because of this he encountered a great amount of persecution and he knew inevitably that on his way back to Jerusalem with money to give the Jerusalem saints, he would receive a hostile reaction from the Jews who hated him.

They hated him because he renounced Judaism. You may remember that at one time he was their hero. He was the guy representing the Jewish establishment going around killing Christians, imprisoning Christians, and persecuting Christ. Now he is the ultimate traitor. He has become one of them whom he previously had persecuted. Let us now take a look at yet another word that characterizes a person who is functioning within the will of God.

7) Purpose
One who serves within the will of God has a very clear purpose. Romans 15:30,31 NRSV:

30 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in earnest prayer to God on my behalf,
31 that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints.

Here is the summation of Paul’s ministry. Paul is saying, “I plead with you to pray for me that I might carry out my ministry.” Why does he ask this? Is it for Paul’s own sake? No. Is it for his own safety? No. Is it for the sake of evangelism? No, not really. Paul wants them to pray for him so that he might continue to do his work for the sake of Jesus Christ and the love of the Holy Spirit. The thing that motivated Paul was not his own comfort or his own success. The things that motivated the apostle Paul were the glory that would go to the Lord Jesus Christ, and his great love for the Holy Spirit. Why do we teach? Why do we preach? Why do we give? Why do we serve? Why do we do anything? We do it for the sake of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 9:22,23 NLT, Paul writes:

22 When I am with those who are oppressed, I share their oppression so that I might bring them to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ.
23 I do all this to spread the Good News, and in doing so I enjoy its blessings.

Paul does everything for the Good News that gives glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Two years earlier Paul had written to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 4:5,6 NLT:

5 We don’t go around preaching about ourselves; we preach Christ Jesus, the Lord. All we say about ourselves is that we are your servants because of what Jesus has done for us.

Everything is for the sake of Jesus. Everything is for Christ’s sake. He is always the purpose of everything. Paul knew that if he went to Jerusalem with all this money expressing love, and if the church there received him, and if his trip to Jerusalem was successful, Christ would be glorified. Why?

So if Paul could pull that off, that would be to the glory of Christ. For another thing Christ desired for the church to express love to its own. Such behavior would glorify Christ. Christ would be glorified if the ministry of Paul continued with success. It was Paul’s pleasure to suffer persecution in bringing glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The second thing Paul says in Romans 15:30 is to request that they pray for him because of the fact that the Holy Spirit has developed the fruit of love within them. This is the only place in the New Testament that this particular phrase is used. Romans 15:30:. . . . Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit.

In other words Paul is saying, “because of the fruit of the Spirit of love within you, please join in my struggle against the forces of evil and pray for me.”[fn]Do we have such motives in our prayers and in our service for God? Are we compelled to serve because of what Christ has done for us and because of what the Holy Spirit is doing in us? We should serve in the will of God to bring honor to Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, operating out of the fruits of the Spirit within us.

There was a deep spirituality that reigned in the heart of Paul. It is a far cry from the shallowness of most Christian service today. Now we have looked at all these elements, all these words: precision, providence, planning, priority, prosperity, persecution, and purpose. There is one more word, one that is included in all the rest. The eighth element for serving within the will of God is:

 

8) Prayer
The person who lives within the will of God is a person of prayer. A person cannot fully know what the will of God is for him or her unless they are constantly in prayer and in the Word. Andrew Murray, a deeply devoted preacher and minister of God who lived in the 1800s, stated this:

“[The minister’s] highest calling is not preaching, or speaking, or parochial visitation, but it is to cultivate the life of God daily, and to be a witness of what the Lord teaches him and accomplishes in him.”[fn]

In Romans 15:30 we see that Paul realizes that ministry within the will of God is dependent on prayer and that prayer is a battle. Prayer is a war waged against the forces of evil. Keep in mind, however, that, as John Stott reminds us, “The purpose of prayer is not to bend God’s will to ours, but rather to align our will to his.”[fn]

The Bible teaches us to pray fervently. James wrote in his epistle in James 5:16, NKJ:

16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Paul makes a statement in Ephesians after he has been discussing spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6:18-20 NLT:

19 And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words as I boldly explain God’s secret plan that the Good News is for the Gentiles, too.
20 I am in chains now  for preaching this message as God’s ambassador. But pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.

Just before this, in Ephesians, Paul had spoken about principalities and powers and about the demons that we battle and the need for armor in the battle. Now in Romans 15 he points out that the most important ingredient in the battle is prayer. He asked the Romans to pray for each other and to pray for him. Paul has three specific requests in mind regarding prayer. We see these in Romans 15:31, 32. The first request is for deliverance,
in verse 31 NLT:

31 Pray that I will be rescued  from those in Judea who refuse to obey God.

Paul asks for prayer to protect him from the evil intent of unbelieving Jews. At this time there was the same element of Jewish leadership in Jerusalem that had brought about the crucifixion of Christ. And Paul knows this is what faces him, so he asks that they pray for his safety. Let us turn to the book of Acts to get a little better understanding of this Jewish
hostility. Acts 9:20 NLT:

20 And immediately Paul began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”

Now I would have to equate such boldness as walking into a Jewish synagogue and preaching that Christ is the Son of God to walking into the camp of terrorists and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Telling them plainly that Jesus was the Son of God. Look at the reaction of the Jews as we continue in verse 21:

21 All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t this the same man who persecuted Jesus’ followers with such devastation in Jerusalem?” they asked. “And we understand that he came here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests.”

 23 After a while the Jewish leaders decided to kill him.
24 But Saul was told about their plot, and that they were watching for him day and night at the city gate so they could murder him.
25 So during the night, some of the other believers let him down in a large basket through an opening in the city wall.  (NLT

There are other verses we could point out, but we think you get the idea. The bottom line was that the Jews wanted Paul dead, and he lived with that reality constantly. Look at what he says in Acts 20:24 NRSV:

Self-preservation was not a concern for Paul. But I think you can understand why he would ask God’s people to pray for his safety. His desire was to go wherever the Word of God had not been preached so that unbelievers could be led to faith in Christ, in spite of whatever danger might be found in those places. His request for prayer was so that the message could continue to be preached, not for his own protection but so that he could complete his ministry.

A second element to his request for prayer in Romans 15 is for the success of the ministry God had given him. Verse 31 NRSV: That my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints.

This is how to pray for a missionary. This  is what we should pray for our own missionaries today? We need to pray for their safety and for the success of their ministries.

The third element is found in verse 32: Then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you with a happy heart, and we will be an encouragement to each other.

Paul asks them to pray for the fulfillment of his plans and that ultimately he might come to share fellowship with them and to rejoice with them over what God had done. Recounting God’s victories is a sure way to be encouraged. The Jews knew this as well, for they often repeated Psalm 136, which recounts all that God had done for His people throughout history. Serving in the will of God, believing in the precision of gifts and callings, commitment to the providence of God as He works out the circumstances does not eliminate the need for prayer. To the contrary they increase the importance of prayer. You see, standing alone, precision, priorities, purpose, planning, and prosperity all are dangerously close to the corporate model that has replaced prayer and the leading of the Spirit in so many churches and parachurch ministries today. We have to view these P-words as tools of the Holy Spirit, not as the primary means by which things are accomplished.

Did Paul’s prayers and those of his Roman partners get a positive answer? They sure did! Did Paul experience safety and deliverance? He sure did! When he got to Jerusalem the mob tried to kill him and the Roman soldiers rescued him. Was Paul successful? You better believe it. When Paul got to Jerusalem, look at what happened, as recorded in Acts
21:17 NLT:

17 All the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem welcomed us cordially.

Prayers were answered and that is a testimony to the power of prayer. What do you think it takes to serve in the will of God? Is it something mystical? Is it something for an elite few people at a certain level of spiritual life? No, it is not. Serving in the will of God means that we know our gifts and our callings and we maximize our lives in those areas, that is precision. Serving in the will of God means we understand the providence of God, which means we never need to worry and fret, because God is in control of all the circumstances. Serving in the will of God means we plan and set goals under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It also means that we know our priority for the moment and that none of our plans for the future cause us to be ineffective for the present. Ministry in the will of God is also marked by prosperity and that is not a matter of how successful we are outwardly or materially, but a matter of being in the place where God blesses.

Doing the will of God also leads to persecution because if we are attacking the kingdom of darkness for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, Satan is going to try and defeat our efforts. But doing the will of God also means purpose. We do what we do for the Lord’s sake so persecution is not a big issue to us because what we do we do for His sake. Serving in the will of God requires prayer first, last, and all the way through. All of these are elements Paul has pointed out as necessary to serving within the will of God, and we see them working effectively in his life.

Paul, who has just asked the Romans to pray for him, now prays for them in the simple but beautiful benediction that closes the chapter, verse 33:

And now may God, who gives us his peace, be with you all. Amen.

If it is your desire to do the will of God and to know God’s will in your own life as Paul did, you might want to consider following these guidelines:

1)   Have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Only then are you in a position for God to lead and direct you.

2)   Learn God’s Word as well as you can. Much of God’s will for His children is directly revealed in Scripture. Many people forget this and are misled by voices other than God’s. A prime illustration of this is a young couple who feel they are madly in love and in whom hormones are raging. They go ahead and have relations without being married and the explanations they give often include, “It felt right,” “We prayed beforehand,” “We are planning to get married,” etc. So they have rationalized their actions to justify their sinful behavior. God’s Word is plain on this subject. In many places throughout the Bible God forbids fornication, or having sex outside of marriage. God is gracious and will forgive a couple who asks forgiveness in this area, but they still often have to bear the consequences for their actions.

3)   Seek to put God first in everything you do and to glorify God in all things. Psalm 37:4, NAS: Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. And Philippians 2:13, NLT: For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey Him and the power to do what pleases Him.

You see, when we are delighting in the Lord and doing our best to follow the revealed will of God, He works in our heart to give us desires that please Him. When we have done all the above, it is safe to follow our heart’s desires. Then God has the joy of granting those desires, and we have the excitement of having our heart’s desires fulfilled. That is a wonderful plan that only a sovereign and loving God could come up with?

4)   Pray, pray, pray. To know God’s will you must be in constant communication with Him. He will guide you along the paths He wants you to take.

5)   Know what your own spiritual gifts are. Any ministry that God is going to lead you into will utilize those gifts. If you attempt to do a ministry that is outside your gifts, you will feel like “a square peg in a round hole” and will find the ministry to be a struggle and a burden rather than a delight and joy.

 

Isaiah

John

Romans

1 Peter


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