Online-SUNDAY SCHOOL
My Ongoing Mission 30 NOV 08
ROM 15:14-16 Paul states he has written in plain terms to
them for a reason. We don’t know who started the church at Rome or how old it was. Some speculate that
Jews from Rome
were converted on Pentecost and returned to Rome. It could be because of Christians
dispersed by the Acts 8:1-2
Jewish persecutions. Nonetheless, Paul had never been to Rome and only knew of them through hearsay.
Paul spoke more strongly than strangers usually do. So he explains why he has
done so. He first expresses his confidence in their Christian capabilities.
(Rom 15:14 RSV) "I myself am satisfied about
you, my brethren, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all
knowledge, and able to instruct one another." The Greek words express
total actions. This is an overstatement; otherwise he would not have needed to
write the letter. He expresses two things:
1.
They are generally growing and not standing still. They
already knew the things of which he wrote.
2.
They are capable and willing to learn and grow even
more. They could better know what they already knew.
Paul
writes thus because of the “grace that is given to me of God.” “Grace” here is
not the usual meaning. Paul is stating that he feels favored to have been given
the task assignment of Apostle. (Rom 1:1 RSV)
"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for
the gospel of God" The word
“minister” in Greek is 3011. leitourgos, li-toorg-os'; from a der. of G2992 and G2041; a public
servant, i.e. a functionary in the Temple or Gospel, or
(gen.) a worshipper (of God) or benefactor (of man):--minister (-ed). Similarly “ministering” in Greek
means to serve as a priest. Paul was made a priest to the Gentiles. We would say he was a Missionary to the Gentiles.
Thus he feels the task is to “offer(ing) up .. Gentiles” who are “acceptable, being
sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” This means saved Gentiles. “Sanctified”
means to be set apart. Paul goes back to the doctrine in (Rom 6:22 RSV)
"But now that you have been set free from sin and have become
slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal
life." Only the Holy Spirit saves!
Christians are not Soul-Winners but only Soul-Witnesses. (1 Cor 12:3 RSV) "Therefore I want you to understand that
no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus be cursed!" and
no one can say" Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit." Critical to his direction is the fundamental
fact that all Christians are priests just like Paul. (Rev 1:6 RSV) "and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for
ever and ever. Amen." All Christians are ministers, priests and
missionaries. (Mat 28:19a RSV) "Go therefore and make disciples of
all nations. (Eph 4:12a RSV) "to equip the saints
for the work of ministry…."
We must remember that Peter was
the lead Apostle to the Jews while Paul was the lead Apostle to the Gentiles.
This making of disciples was at first directed strictly at Jews from Pentecost
on until Peter learned otherwise and so did the Christian Jews. (Acts 11:17-18 RSV) "If then God gave the same gift to them
as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I
could withstand God?" {18} When they heard this they were silenced. And they glorified
God, saying, "Then to the Gentiles
ALSO God has granted repentance unto life."" Paul also went first
to the Jews, even after his commissioning to the Gentiles, until the Jews
forcibly rejected his attempt. (Acts 13:46-47 RSV) "And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly,
saying, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to
you. Since you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal
life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. {47} For so
the Lord has commanded us, saying, 'I have set you to be a light for the
Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the
earth.'"" Even then he would try to get Jews to be the lead group in
any new work. The SBC was right to
include Jews as being in the same need for evangelism as any other human group.
THE JEWS HAVE NO SPECIAL SALVATION OPPORTUNITY FROM GOD! NOTE CAREFULLY (Acts 15:11 RSV) "But we believe that we (Jews)
shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they (Gentiles)
will."" Jews have to be saved
the same way as Gentiles, by repentance and faith in Jesus as the Divine
Messiah. (Rom 9:8 RSV)
"This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children
of God, but the children of the promise are reckoned as descendants." The
“Promise” people are only Faith People, not blood people.
ROM
15:17-19
It is all right to glory in our accomplishments for Jesus (“in those
things which pertain to God”)
for we do it “through Jesus Christ.” Such glory is valid only
when Christ has “wrought by me.” “Wrought” in the Greek means
2716. katergazomai, kat-er-gad'-zom-ahee;
from G2596 and G2038; to work fully,
i.e. accomplish; by impl. to
finish, fashion:--cause, do (deed), perform, work (out). It was not Jesus who was doing the work but Paul doing
the work Jesus directed him in the manner Jesus directed. Only when Paul did it
Jesus’ way, was there glory for Jesus and for Paul. Paul dare not speak of any
other accomplishment in this sense. Note carefully he did so by both word and
deed. A witness cannot be only by words. You can hear people say anything and
everything. But the road to believing these words is in the lives of the
speaker. By such a witness Paul (and company) were
able to lead the Gentiles to obedience (commitment) to Jesus as Lord. The Greek
for “make” is eis which has numerous meanings. The
meaning here is in the context of (Rom 1:5 RSV) "through whom we have received
grace and apostleship to bring about the
obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,"
and not “make.” No one can make or pray a lost person into becoming a voluntary
person of repentance and faith. (More on this in a moment.)
But through every means of showing that the words are true (Paul could use
“signs” meaning the significance of miracles, “wonders” meaning beyond nature
to cause wonder, and “power”, i.e. “works of power” as in 1 Cor 12:10a), Paul
spread the words and deed from Jerusalem clear up to Illyricum. The Greek contextual
meaning of “round about” is best read “up to but not including.” In doing
so Paul declared he had “fully preached” the good news about the True Messiah.
“Fully” does not mean he preached to every single person in this area but when
he did preach he left no essential fact unspoken. WHAT A CRITICAL POINT! There
is no short-cut Plan of Salvation. A prime example today are people who say
that committing to Jesus as Lord is separate from accepting Jesus as Savior.
Paul is again specific this to the Romans. (Rom 10:9 RSV)
"because, if you confess with your lips
that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved." Only by a commitment to Jesus as Lord is anyone saved.
No wonder there are so many unsaved church members!
ROM
15:20-22 Paul’s prime directive from God was to start new
works. So he tried to always do that. Any new church needs some nurturing. This
Paul did also, but he tried to hold it to a minimum of time.
ROM
15:23-24 Paul very much wanted to go to Spain. Why?
Many have speculated but we can only guess. Probably one reason was that Spain was the
edge of the Roman Empire and was literally to
Romans (Acts 1:8) “the uttermost part of the earth.” Paul planned to go through
Rome and then
on to Spain.
He was naturally aware that Britain
existed but it was north-west and Spain was thought to be the point
furthermost west. He expected to enjoy their company for awhile. It would not
be a quick visit. He also said he expected to be helped in going to Spain “by you.”
Paul believed in the Cooperative Program
of the day. As Dr. Hobbs put it, Paul and we “give not to but through the Cooperative Program.”
ROM 15:30-33 “Beseech” in Greek means 3870. parakaleo,
par-ak-al-eh'-o; from G3844 and G2564; to call near,
i.e. invite, invoke (by imploration, hortation or
consolation):--beseech, call for, (be of good) comfort, desire, (give) exhort
(-ation), intreat, pray. He
invites them to come alongside him through prayer. Paul states that their
prayer would actually strengthen him in several areas. He asked this not just
for himself but for his service to Jesus and for the love of the Holy Spirit.
Note that as he had opened his lengthy letter, he closes it with a strong
statement about the fact that the Trinity exists as Three Individual Divine
Persons who are perfectly united. “God” here means the Father. Note also that
Paul asked for prayer TO the Father
just as Jesus directed in the Model Prayer. (Mat 6:9 RSV) "Pray then like this: Our Father
who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." He is specific that Jesus is the
Lord Messiah. What does he mean “for Jesus’ sake?” Jesus gave the Great
Commission to his Body on earth. The success or failure of each local body
(church) reflects upon the Head. And no one in the Church is more concerned and
desirous of leading the lost to be saved than Jesus. Paul means a similar thing
in reference to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit and the Christian are the
Witness Team John speaks of in Rev 11:3-4.
So he calls all to “strive together”. This comes from a two part Greek word
meaning to agonize together. Prayer for missionaries, be
they Paul or the birthday missionaries, is a real work of spiritual assistance.
But God IS NOT responsible for the witnessing to the world. That is the
responsibility of every Christian, i.e. the Church. (Mat 24:14 RSV) "And this gospel of the kingdom
will be preached throughout the whole
world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come." And
(2 Pet 3:12 RSV) "waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the
heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with
fire!" So Paul he wanted them to prayer for three specific things
(Specific prayer is always better):
1.
The hostile
Jews are kept at bay while he is in Judaea.
(Acts 21:27-26:32)
2.
The
Circumcision Party of the Jerusalem
church turns and accepts his work with Gentiles. This church believed you had
to become a Jew before you could be saved because salvation is only to the
Jews. (Acts 21:17-20)
3.
That his mental
state and time with them be with joy and refreshing for his trip to Spain. (Acts
28:11-16)
ROM 16:25-27 “To the only” is not directly named. Like any
teacher, Paul expected the readers to be learners. While he repeated a lot
through restatements, Paul does move to conclusions. He does expect the readers
to remember what he said throughout the letter. Who is the one who can “to
strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ”? Paul
names in this doxology Jesus. He names “the eternal God” and “only wise God.”
This is obviously, from early in and throughout the letter, the Father. (Rom
1:7-8 KJV) "To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. {8}
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is
spoken of throughout the whole world." Therefore “to the only” is the Holy
Spirit. (John 14:16-17 RSV) "And I will pray the Father, and he will give
you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, {17} even the Spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you
know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you." (John 14:26 RSV)
"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have
said to you."
NOTE:
The lesson conveniently overlooks (Rom 16:1-2
RSV) "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae, {2} that you may receive her in the Lord as
befits the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she
has been a helper of many and of myself as well."
The Greek for “deaconess” is a
"servant" (diakonon,
Greek). The word "servant" is the same word sometimes translated
"deacon." Strong states 1249. diakonos, dee-ak'-on-os; prob. from an obs. diako
(to run on errands; comp. G1377); an attendant, i.e. (gen.) a waiter (at table
or in other menial duties); spec. a Chr. teacher and pastor (techn. a deacon or deaconess):--deacon, minister, servant.
Note the male and female definition in the technical definition. Most today
[The SBC and the revised Baptist Faith and Message, among them] try to make the
technical meaning of diakonon to apply in 1 Tim.
3:8-13 as being restricted to a functional ecclesiastical office which was held
only by men. The Bible makes not such limitation. Paul not only called Phoebe a
deaconess, but “our sister” in the same sense as he called Priscilla and Aquila
“my helpers” and (Phil 3:1 RSV) "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the
Lord. To write the same things to you is not irksome to me, and is safe for
you."
And on top of that he gave her authority over men, i.e the whole church at Cenchreae!
Remember always (Gal 3:28 RSV) "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one
in Christ Jesus."
Marvin
Ganote, Hobbs Study Class, Adult Teacher. Lesson at: http://www.dma.org/~ganotemd/lesson.htm or http://homepages.udayton.edu/~ganotem/bible/lesson.htm