Romans 1: 5 – 16
Hi All, This Is Paul
5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; 7 To all who are 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. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, 10 making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. 13 Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. 15 So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
I remembered when I first was going through the Bible how I was bothered when I read about how God selected the tribe of Levi along with appointing Aaron and his sons as the chief priests. In confession my first thought questioned God’s use of people. What was He doing, making slaves of people to wait on His every need? I was stupid then and have only come a little way for the better.
I read about Moses arguing with Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High about not being picked as Israel’s rescuer from the evil Egyptians. There was Jeremiah saying he was too young and Jonah mad at God for sending him to vicious evil people to tell them to repent.
You see I needed also to repent. I did not understand or come to realize what a privilege and honor it is to be allowed to serve the Creator, that is until in His Grace He also said, ‘Hey, you come and follow Me.’ My response was, ‘Is there anything I can do for you my Lord?’ You see once you realize how I and you have hurt our Holy Master by our sins, and what He did and presently does and will do for us in the future, I bow my head in shame. I am so thankful I want to serve Him in any manner I can. I now see how Paul thought the same way as we pick up in chapter 1.
5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;
As I mentioned in our last study the church at Rome developed without any of the top guns. You know like Peter or Paul and the other apostles. Paul recognized this and did not lay any claim that they existed as a church because of his influence. No, all he wanted was to share with them some great insights from God’s word. This is what I like to do also.
There is a thrill I get when I come across something that I fell would greatly benefit others. I cannot wait to share the good news.
I can relate to Paul in many ways. Serving the Lord I have been daily mistreated, insulted, abused, and misused. As the Lord Jesus Christ has forgiven me so also I forgive all those brothers and sisters who like to set me out for their satanic pleasure. Paul had to constantly defend his commission from the Lord. I guess all his life he felt that he did not fit in with the other apostles because he didn’t have the opportunity to walk with the Lord as the other disciples did. Many people forget that in fact he had more quality time with the Lord than the others because the Lord spent over 3 years with Paul all by himself. We read in the book of Galatians this, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called [me] through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those [who were] apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days.”
Notice how Paul points out all the time God’s Grace. You have to have God’s Grace before you become His servant. I like to use the words ‘sent’ and ‘went’ to describe the various ways people serve the Lord. You see some are ‘sent’ by the Lord and never ‘went’. Some ‘went’ and were never ‘sent’. Lastly, there are the ones who are ‘sent’ and they ‘went’.
Salvation has to come before service. Our Lord said, ‘Come unto Me’ before ‘Go into all the world and make disciples.’ In my church you have to sit under the teaching of the word for at least a year before you can serve. You have many who are anxious to serve the Lord yet they come from ‘works’ backgrounds. As a parent you did not have your kids to do all you housework, well most parents didn’t. No, you have your kids to love and spoil. So, also, a person needs to just enjoy the worship and teaching then he or she can now serve. As church leaders we need to understand that servants need to be committed to the truth before they can anyway be capable of the task of faithful service. I would encourage as many Pastors as possible to begin multiple services as soon as they can. Then they can have their flock attend a service and serve in other services.
7 To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you are a believer you have to recognize that there are not just specific people whom our Holy Ruler picks. If you turn you life to Him then like verse 7 highlights, you are also called to do something for the Lord. Please notice also that we are all called to be what? – saints. No, you do not have to die and be voted into this group. In fact in order to be a ‘saint’ you need to be alive, not dead. There are no dead ‘saints’.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,
If you want to win friends and influence others then follow Paul’s pattern. He starts out by complementing all the brothers and sisters in the Roman providence – ‘8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,’
He lets them know how important they are to Christians in other parts of the world. He mentions that he prays daily and often for them and praises the Holy Lord for their faith which has become well known.
I do not know about you but his words are quite convicting. I only pray without ceasing for a few. Paul, had a whole list of people in which he daily and often brought into God’s Holy ears.
10 making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
Paul’s interest in the Christians was not phony. He was not in seeing how they could look upon him as their church leader. In his sincerity he just wanted to see them and witness for himself how these believers were so faithful to the Lord - 10 making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. 11 For I long to see you,’
And as I mentioned before he felt that he could bless them with some spiritual truths. - that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.’ Hey, suppose you also had three years alone with the Lord. You would pick up some additional good stuff, would you not? This is why when you read the other Epistles of Paul we find some of the Lord’s mysteries revealed such as what is spoken about in the book of Ephesians chapter 5, “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”
13 Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. 15 So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
Here is a question for you bible scholars, ‘how was Paul ‘hindered’ from coming to visit the Roman Christians? If you answered that he was arrested and in prison, you win a cookie?
You see Paul had great spiritual insight. He realized that his imprisonment was a direct result of the Lord. It was the Lord Who ‘hindered’ him from going to Rome. This is an important fact for us to understand. Our Great God Is in charge of everything we do. Once you truly understand this fact then the frustrating plans and dreams you have that do not happen will allow you to stay in a peaceful mind set.
Look at Paul’s mind set even though he was ‘hindered’ from going to Rome. - 13 Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. 15 So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
He was a ‘debtor’. In other words he felt that he was obligated to get to Rome to see them. He felt that the Lord had planted this desire in his heart and he was anxious for the Lord to allow him to do it.
Also, he was ‘ready’. He has his bags backed and is waiting for the Lord to deliver his travel tickets. The Lord used the ruling government of the time to provide for his travel.
And lastly he was ‘not ashamed’. He was confident that the Lord would make his time with them very ‘fruitful’. He did not know what the outcome would be but he knew if the Lord was in the trip all would be great.
