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In this great letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul has unfolded the doctrine of justification by faith in its many ramifications. Paul's heartfelt desire is to assure Christians of their permanent and sure salvation. He understood that as people come to know and trust in what God has already done for them, they will be able to tell others, not in a legalistic way but out of an overflow of love. Paul has taught us practical applications of theology in such areas as yielding our minds to Jesus, holding a right opinion of ourselves and others, the relationship of Christians to the state, how believers are to live in light of the imminent return of Christ, and the need for Christians to accept and value one another. In verse 16 of this chapter Paul explains the purpose of his ministry and ours to "proclaim the gospel of God." God had directed Paul in his priestly duty to be a minister to the Gentiles. Paul is now encouraging the Romans and all those who will read this letter to bring the "Good News" to the world. It seems strange to hear Paul refer to his "priestly duties." The early church's preachers, pastors, or ministers are never called priests in the New Testament. That is because we have only one priest, Jesus Christ, as explained in Hebrews 5:14-16 and 10:11-14. He alone has made atonement for our sins by His death on the cross, and He, along with the Holy Spirit, intercede for us to the Father. (Romans 8:27, 34) The priestly duty to which Paul refers is gospel teaching. The task of a minister, and each believer, is to proclaim the gospel. The Gospel teaches that God has provided a way for us to be saved from sin through the work of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, many people today do not recognize themselves as sinners in need of a Savior. Their lives conform to the culture around them and they imagine themselves to be "good enough" for God. In the book of Romans Paul has shown us the nature and extent of sin. He did this to help us understand the incredible gift of God's saving grace. We also see in Romans that while the gospel is simple it is not simplistic. Faith comes first, then full understanding and appreciation take time. Paul's desire for the Gentiles was that God would sanctify them by the Holy Spirit. The process of sanctification begins when we become Christians. The reign of sin and self is broken and Christ becomes Lord. Sanctification continues as Christians offer their bodies, moment by moment, to God "as living sacrifices." (see Romans 12:1-2) Paul is urging us to be an effective, hard working, God-glorifying, dedicated church. This will happen by God's grace and the teaching of the truths found in Scripture. Throughout the New Testament we come to understand we have direct access to the Father through Christ. But with that access there comes responsibility. That responsibility is addressed in the conversation of Jesus and Peter in John 21:17, "Do you love me?" "Yes, Lord, you know I love you." "Feed my sheep." If we truly love Him we will seek with every fiber of our being to know Him, in prayer and in the study of His Word. We will also follow Him and obey His commands. Paul's passion was to proclaim the Gospel, "so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit." In verse 14 we see Paul was convinced that the Christians in Rome were capable of proclaiming the Gospel of faith and grace. The problem today is many Christians do not believe they are "complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another." Often for that reason they remain silent when clarification of God's truth is needed. The disturbing part of our silence is that those who oppose the cause of Christ in our society are not silent. Those who teach a false or incomplete gospel are quite vocal! Remember, if you have a personal relationship with Christ, you have the Holy Spirit living in you, and a testimony about what Jesus has done for you. John tells us in Revelation 12:10 how we overcome. "They overcame him (the accuser) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony." We have the responsibility and privilege given in the words of Isaiah 66:19, "They will proclaim my glory among the nations." Paul had a deep love for the service he did for Jesus Christ. God blessed his work greatly, but Paul also experienced hardships, threats, beatings, dangers, and rejections. (2 Corinthians 11:23-29) In these verses he "boasts" about what God had accomplished through the hardships, "in leading the Gentiles to obey God." There is such a thing as a proper kind of pride, not in what we have done, but what God is doing through us. In 2 Corinthians 11:30 we see why Paul can boast about the hardship he faced. He understood that he was too weak to withstand the hardship he faced. It was only in the strength of Christ that Paul was able not only to endure but give God the glory and praise for what Christ was doing through him. We serve a living God who desires to reach His world through us. He also desires to strengthen, lead, and guide us as we trust in Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 states, "for the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." Christ's love had changed Paul from a proud, stubborn, self-righteous murderer of God's people into the greatest pioneer missionary the world has ever seen. Paul's desire was to go to Spain to preach the gospel, "where Christ was not known." Whether or not he got there is an open question depending on whether he was imprisoned in Rome one or two times. But the principle of verse 24 is very important. Here he seems to be trying to recruit members of the church in Rome to become what we would call a home support team. Paul understood his need for prayer, and in verse 30 he asks the Christians in Rome to pray for him. We know that no one can do God's work alone. Paul knew he would face difficulties in Jerusalem. He urges the Christians in Rome to pray specifically that he would be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea. He also asked them to pray that his service would be acceptable to the saints there, and that he could come to Rome. (Romans 15:31) Their prayers were effective, as we see Paul being rescued from the unbelievers in Judea. (Acts 21:31-33) His service was "acceptable to the saints there" and helped bridge the gap between Jewish and Gentile Christians. He also did get to Rome, perhaps not as he may have planned, but as a prisoner of the Roman emperor. Paul understood that prayer is not only effective, it is the necessary starting point of work for Christians. There are often two common
errors in our understanding of prayer. The first brings a
superficiality to prayer, thinking that God is sovereign and that His
will is always done no matter whether we pray or not. That belief,
though true, can err in deducing that prayer is unimportant, except in
regard to how it changes us. The opposite side of the coin makes God
somehow weakly dependent upon us, as if God is impotent apart from our
prayers. The right understanding of prayer is that God not only
appoints the end to be obtained, He appoints the means to attain that
end, and God's appointed means to spiritual blessing and work is
prayer. Paul shows us prayer is the source for our strength and
success! We must pray specifically and pro-actively for ourselves and
others.
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