Mutually Encouraged

 Greeting everyone.  

We continue to look at Romans, as Paul greets the church:

8 First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, as your faith is being talked about all over the world. 9 I serve God in my spirit as I proclaim the gospel of his son. He is my witness of how I am constantly making mention of you. 10 I am always in prayer for you, asking that possibly, at last, I may succeed in coming to you, according to God’s will. 
11 I am eager to see you, so that I may give you some spiritual gift to strengthen you. 12  This is so that we can be mutually encouraged by one another’s faith.  13 I do not want you to be unaware , brothers and sisters, that I frequently planned to come to you, but so far I have been prevented from doing so. This has happened so that I may see fruit among you, just as I have among other nations. 
14 I am one who is under obligation to both Greek and non-Greek, to the wise and the foolish, 
15 Therefore, I am eager to proclaim the good news to those of you in Rome.

According to Douglas Moo, in Greek letters, it was fairly common to include an expression of thanks, and a petition to the gods on behalf of the reader.  (Moo, 56.) Paul adopts this custom here in verses 8-10:

He expresses his gratitude for them and their faith.  Even though he has no connection to them, unlike most of the people and churches Paul writes to, he begins his letter expressing his gratitude for them. Apparently they have shown themselves to be very faithful.  In verse 8, he says that “your faith is being proclaimed throughout the world. 

What an amazing thing to have someone say about you, that faith is being talked about all over. To have someone with the apostolic authority that Paul carried must have been encouraging indeed.  Paul follows this thought up in verse 9, stating that he always mentions them, and God would verify that, as his witness.  It is as though he is saying, “everyone is talking about your faith, particularly me,”  Paul is undoubtedly speaking in hyperbole, undoubtedly not everyone is talking about them, but, as Moo points out, the church in Rome, the seat of Roman power, is not bowing a knee to Caesar, but only to Jesus Christ.  They would at various points in time, face tremendous persecution for this, and their faith would encourage those who hear of it. (Moo, 57.) 

In verse 9, Paul tells them that “I serve God in my spirit.”  There is much talk about what that particular phrase means.  The explanation that makes the most sense to me is that when Paul talks about serving God in his spirit, he is referring to the deepest part of himself.  In other words, Paul is simply saying that he serves God with whole-hearted devotion. Then, as he serves God in his spirit, he proclaims the good news of Jesus. His bold proclamation of Jesus as God’s son springs out of whole-hearted devotion. 

Paul frequently prays for those in Rome.  Part of his frequent and constant prayer for the Roman church is that he will soon be able to see them.  He expresses a little later on that he has long desired to do this, but to this point has been prevented from doing so.  

In verse 11, Paul expresses that his motive behind wanting to see them so badly is so that he can give them some kind of spiritual gift to encourage and strengthen them, but that there also may be a mutual benefit It is not clear what spiritual gift Paul desires to give to the Romans, only that the gift would in some way strengthen them.  To me, it makes sense that he would want to lay his hands on them and give them some kind of miraculous gift, as it seems that no apostles were connected to the church in Rome.  

In verse 12, Paul continues his talk of being eager to see them, this time stating that they would be mutually encouraged.  He has something for them, (spiritual gift), but he would also receive something from them, encouragement, of course, but likely something more.  Perhaps, he seeks financial support to go to Spain. (Romans 15:24)  

To this point, Paul has already stated that he prays for them a lot and talks about them a lot. Now, in verse 13, he states that he has wanted to come see them, but so far, has been prevented from doing so.  

He doesn’t explain how he has been prevented. He does add that he wants to come to Rome to see fruit among, just like he has everywhere else. He has an obligation to preach the gospel to all and so he is all the more eager to preach it among those in Rome.    

Although Paul did not start the church in Rome, his missionary zeal is such that he still desires to go there for the purpose of spreading the gospel.  Since the church was already in place, he had dual objectives.  He can spread the gospel while strengthening and encouraging the church. Paul has an obligation to share the good news with everyone, whether Jew or Gentile,  wise or foolish.  This obligation that he feels makes all the more eager to join them in Rome, so that he can spread the good news there.

Good News, Part 2

Hey everyone. 

We will continue to look at Paul's initial greeting in the letter to the Romans.  Here are verses 4-7:

4  The Spirit of holiness has designated him, in power, as the Son of God, through his resurrection from the dead. He is Jesus Christ, our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship, for the purpose of calling all nations to an obedient faith in His name, 6 and through Jesus Christ, you too, have been called.  

7 To all of those in Rome, loved by God and called to be His holy ones:  Grace and peace to you, from God, our Father, and from the Lord, Jesus Christ. 

In my previous post we looked at verse 2, and how the Son of God was promised to us and became flesh. Verse 4 tells us a few more things about this Son of the Promise. In verse 4 and 5 we see this about the Son:

• The Holy Spirit designated Jesus as the Son of God.
• This designation was made with power through the resurrection of the dead.
• The Son, identified as Jesus, is Lord.
• It is through Jesus that we receive grace.
• It is through Jesus that we receive apostleship.

(This doesn’t mean that we all, like Paul, were given the title Apostle, but we have been sent to the world, to call it to an obedient faith in Jesus. The word ἀποστολὴν (apostolēn), according to the Lexicon, means “the office of a special emissary.” So, while Paul bore a special title, we are all emissaries of the Gospel.)  

Our grace and apostleship has a purpose. That purpose is the calling of all nations to an obedient faith in Jesus. To be sure, God has given us His grace to be enjoyed, but also to be shared. Some thoughts about verse 5:

• It is a call to take the good news to all the nations. Πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν (pasin tois ethnesin) all of the nations. Jesus made the same call in Matthew 28:18. His gospel, or good news is for everyone, and is to be taken to everyone.
• It is a call to obedient faith. We have this idea that faith is merely belief. It isn’t. Real faith involves obedience. Consider the men and women of faith discussed in Hebrews 11. All of them are considered faithful because of their obedience, not merely a belief in God’s existence.

Douglas Moo explains it like this, “In light of this, we understand the words "obedience" and "faith" to be mutually interpreting: obedience always involves faith, and faith always involves obedience.” Moo, 52.)

Gordon Ferguson explains how throughout Galatians and Romans, Paul rejects salvation by works in favor of salvation by faith. He says in regard to obedience, “ There is one kind of obedience that belongs to faith, and another type that belongs to legalistic works. The apostle’s rejection is never to be interpreted as a rejection of obedience.” (Ferguson, 23.)

In verse 6, Paul adds that it is through Jesus, that they, too, have been called. This statement comes within the context of calling all nations to an obedient faith in Jesus. This includes his readers in Rome. (Us, too, of course.)

The introduction concludes with a statement about those Paul is writing to: the church in Rome. He describes them as those “loved by God and called to be His holy ones.” Again, we see a couple things that puts in about his audience. They are 1) loved by God, and 2) called to be holy.

Finally, as Paul does in most of his letters, he offers his readers Χάρις καὶ εἰρήνη (charis kai eirēnē).or Grace and peace. Grace and peace is something we all want, and it comes within the context of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Good News

Greetings everyone.

Today we start a journey through Paul's letter to the Romans.  I have heard it said many times that, "If you get Romans, then God gets you."  Well, let's get Romans.  Today we will look at the first three verses:  Here is my translation: 

1 Paul, a servant of Jesus, the Messiah, called as an apostle, and set apart to proclaim the good news of God. 2 This good news was promised long ago by his prophets, in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His son, who became flesh, a descendant of David. 

In verses 1-7, we see what is something of a standard greeting, in that time, for a letter.  The sender identifies himself, then identifies the addressee, and offers them a greeting.  Paul certainly identifies himself by name, but then quickly declares himself to be a servant of Jesus and His gospel.  Most of the first 6 verses, in which Paul identifies himself, are really about Jesus, where Paul finds his identity. 

Paul says three things about himself: 

1. He is a servant (or slave) of Jesus.  According to the Lexicon, the Greek word δοῦλος (doulos) means slave (involuntary servitude), but it also states “or those to whom total allegiance is pledged.”  Paul has not been enslaved by Jesus.  His service to Jesus is completely voluntary, and it comes with total allegiance to Jesus.
2. He was called to be an apostle.  As in Galatians, Paul establishes his apostolic credentials.  Paul has been given some authority as an apostle. He was κλητὸς (klētos) - “called” to his apostolic position by Jesus.  We know from what The Lord said to Ananias in Acts 9:15 that Saul (Paul) was called specifically to be sent to the Gentiles. Paul was to be the Lord’s “chosen instrument,” as an apostle to the Gentiles. John R. W. Stott points out an interesting dichotomy that Paul shows us here.  He is a slave, or servant, a position of great humility, and at the same time, an Apostle, a position of great authority in the church.  (Stott, 31.)
3. He was set apart to proclaim the good news of God. - εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion) is a noun meaning ‘good news’ or ‘gospel.’ The word εὐαγγέλιον in its verb form, it means 'to announce or proclaim the good news.'  We know that Paul was set aside specifically for this reason, to proclaim the gospel of Jesus to the Gentiles.  Paul has told us in other places, like Gal 1:1,11, that Jesus called him, specifically and gave him authority and the gospel of grace that was to preach among the Gentiles. 

In verse 1, Paul has already told us something about this ‘good news’ or gospel.  It is of God. Thomas Schreiner points out that this means that the gospel is from God, but also about God.  (Schreiner, 41.)  

Stott says this about the good news of God, “ This is still the first and most basic conviction that underlies all authentic evangelism. What we have to share with others is neither a collection of human speculations, nor one more religion to add to the rest, not religion at all.  It is rather the gospel of God, God’s own good news for the lost world.  Without this conviction, evangelism is emptied of its content purpose and drive.”  (Stott,  32-33.)

So far, Paul has this gospel, or good news, that is from God and is about God, and with it comes an obligation to share this good news.  

Continuing on, in verses 2 and 3, Paul begins telling us more about the gospel, or good news.  He says two more things about the good news: 

1. The prophets promised this 'good news' in the Scriptures, long ago. The idea that the gospel of Jesus was promised in the Old Testament, affirms that the gospel that he is preaching is not something of his own creation. (If you read Galatians, Paul spent considerable time in Galatians establishing that the gospel he was teaching had come directly from Jesus, not from himself.) 
2. The promise concerns God’s son, (whom he identifies as Jesus in verse 4). This son became flesh, which certainly implies that the son did not start out as flesh, but rather as something else. The son is also identified as a descendant of David.  

So what do we make of this good news:  So far, we can see that God had planned long before to send His Son to the earth in the flesh, and had made promises about this through His prophets in the Old Testament.  It is not the whole picture yet, but it is good news.