13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises. 14 Personally I am convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, amply filled with all [spiritual] knowledge, and competent to admonish and counsel and instruct one another. 15 Still, on some points I have written to you very boldly and without reservation to remind you [about them] again, because of the grace that was given to me from God, 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I minister as a priest the gospel of God, in order that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable [to Him], sanctified [made holy and set apart for His purpose] by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have found [legitimate] reason for boasting in things related [to my service] to God. 18 For I will not [even] presume to speak of anything except what Christ has done through me [as an instrument in His hands], resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles [to the gospel], by word and deed, 19 with the power of signs and wonders, [and all of it] in the power of the Spirit. So [starting] from Jerusalem and as far away as [c]Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel [faithfully preaching the good news] of Christ [where it had not before been preached]. 20 Accordingly I set a goal to preach the gospel, not where Christ’s name was already known, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation (Romans 15: 13-20 ~Amplified Bible)
To make sense of anything we read, especially the Holy Scriptures, it helps to firstly establish these three basic facts:
- Who is speaking?
- Who is being addressed?
- What is the message?
If we did that, we’d save ourselves many a heartache. We wouldn’t hang ourselves on trees just because we read that one of Jesus’ disciples did it, or try to cross a swollen river on foot because Peter walked on water. We wouldn’t cite the miracle at Canna of Galilee, or Paul’s prescription for Timothy’s stomach troubles to justify drunkenness. While “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness… (ii Tim 3:16) we apply it to our personal situations only within appropriate context. Any portion of Holy Scripture taken out of context ceases to relay God’s message. Satan specializes in misleading people by perverting God’s Word.
With that in mind, let’s review Paul’s ministry to the Christians in Rome. It’s seems to follow a three-point strategy.
- God’s Purpose
- Paul’s Goal
- Unique Ministry Approach
God’s Purpose
What is the primary purpose of ministry to Roman Christians? Why is Paul sent to them in the first place? In verse 16 Paul says, “…I minister as a priest the gospel of God, in order that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. You see, purpose is decided by God, not the minister. Paul’s ministry serves God’s purpose. His overarching goal is to ensure God’s purpose is realized.
The offering
What offering? Paul isn’t telling Romans to collect an offering for God. He isn’t trying to collect an offering from Christians to defray ministry costs. No, he is sent there as a priest to prepare an offering for God. The entire church of the Romans is the offering!
In chapter 12:1, Paul instructs believers to offer their bodies as living sacrifices. But here, a different idea is conveyed. Paul presents himself as a skilled priest who knows the specifications of God’s sacrifices. Old Testament priests followed specific details when preparing and offering animal sacrifices. A priest died at the altar if either he or his sacrifice was unacceptable. By presenting himself as such a priest, Paul takes enormous responsibility for his task. Firstly, the Holy Spirit must sanctify an offering so it’s acceptable to God. Whether or not an offering is sanctified depends on its quality. God’s anointed priest has the onus to prepare it to acceptable standards. In the New Testament, people are the offering.
And they will bring all your people, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the Lord. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels. (Isa 66:20 ~NIV)
Roman believers “are full of goodness, amply filled with all knowledge, and competent to admonish and counsel and instruct one another.” That’s commendable, and is the expected function of a healthy body, [see 1 Cor 12]. However, the task overseer, Paul warns that God has specially called and anointed him to prepare the Gentiles church for its divine purpose and destiny. Not every admonisher can fulfil that role. The onus is Paul’s.
For instance, a teacher may encourage students to help each other in lessons they are learning together. In the process, some students grasp concepts and run ahead of their colleagues. But no matter how bright a student, s/he can never substitute the teacher. King Saul learned that the hard way when he took it upon himself to offer a sacrifice because Samuel was late.
Paul’s Goal
Paul aims at presenting the Gentiles to God as a suitable offering. Aware that the Holy One doesn’t accept an unworthy offering, Paul takes requisite measures to adequately prepare this engrafted body of believers. It’s a slow job requiring patience and strategy.
Late Visit to Rome, or Was it?
Although the book of Romans has an early placement in the New Testament, it wasn’t first among Pauline Epistles. By the time Romans was penned, Paul had already sent other epistles to Thessalonica, Galatia, Philippi, Philemon, etc. Meanwhile, the apostle deferred his enduring desire to impart Christians in the city of Rome. The reason? Other preachers got there before him. By coming behind other ministers, Paul would inevitably build on theological concepts founded by others.
Some theological foundations were especially problematic. Jewish converts were reluctant to accept Gentiles into the commonwealth of Israel. Others enforced circumcision as a prerequisite for Gentiles’ salvation. Still others asserted that the Law of Moses was central to any relationship between man and God. Baptism was another knotty subject, with some preachers baptizing in the fashion of John Baptist. These disputes created much trouble for Paul. Malicious religious leaders stirred mobs to accost, whip, stone and leave him for dead. He was marginalized, stalked and waylaid. At some point, a band of forty Jewish extremists bound themselves with curse oaths in their zeal to eliminate him.
It was much more difficult to minister to professing Christians than to folks who hadn’t heard about Jesus. Paul constantly ran into situations where conflicting theology caused serious clashes. At Corinth, Christians were pledging loyalty to Cephas, Apollos, Christ, etc. Paul was hesitant to jump into muddied waters. He’d learned the importance of proper timing. Inopportune schedule could easily result in wasted effort, or worse. He prepared and planned. Ultimately, delayed ministry produced his greatest epistle! An introduction of the book of Romans in Kenneth E. Hagin Legacy Bible reads thus in part, “While the four Gospels present the words and works of Jesus Christ, Romans explores the significance of His sacrificial death.”
If all we did was rehearse the passion of Christ without grasping its relevance to our individual lives, what good would that do? We could as well study Plato or Aristotle! We don’t underrate any part of God’s eternal Word, but to benefit from Christ’s sacrifice, we must learn to apply it to ourselves. Teachings along these lines are imperative to Gentile believers, and that makes Paul’s epistle to the Romans priceless to the non-Jewish church.
Unique Ministry Approach
…I set a goal to preach the gospel, not where Christ’s name was already known, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation (vrs 20). This is a constant theme with Paul. He tells Corinthians, “…brethren, …I came to you, …not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. (1Cor 2:1-3, 5 ~KJV)
Paul determined to take his ministry only to folks who’d never heard of Jesus so he could lay a sound foundation of their faith. When he found believers, he didn’t care about what they knew. That’s odd, isn’t it? Doesn’t it help to know your audience? Not for Paul! All they’d tell him was what Peter had said, what Apollos had taught, what so and so had forbidden, etcetera. From then on, whatever Paul said would be viewed as a contest between his position and that of previous ministers. That wouldn’t aid his goal; it’d only complicate his ministry.
It’s a common, if unfortunate trend, for Christians to criticize others. Paul was out to fulfil his God given ministry, not to antagonize others. The less he knew about folks, the more he was able to focus on his assignment. That remains true for all time.
Has God called you to serve in His vineyard? Set your mind on it. Assignments of other servants are none of your business. If others seem to do a slapdash job, the Lord will deal with it. Work in such a way as to produce fruit that the Holy Spirit can sanctify. As a priest, let your goal be to eventually offer the fruit of your labor before God as a sweet smelling and acceptable offering. God’s assignment to you may simply be your immediate family, your spouse, children or one simple person who looks up to you for guidance. Give it all you’ve got. In the final analysis, nothing else will matter.