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November 2008
Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth
(2
Timothy 2:15)
This
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Romans by the Book Lesson 115
If you’ll take the
time to study what the Scriptures have revealed to us about our Apostle Paul,
not only will you learn what “drove”
this man to be the most successful missionary of all time you’ll also discover who
gave him the endurance, strength, and wisdom necessary to carry out the mission,
reminding us that the power we receive to live the life of a Believer comes
from God and not from ourselves. (Philippians
4:13)
Right out of the
gate the first thing you should realize is God can and will save anyone. A lot of people throughout history have committed
despicable acts against other human beings.
Saul’s name could be added to this list without argument, since he was responsible
for the deaths of innocent men, women, and children, but that wasn’t the “end”
of his story… which makes Paul’s story worth telling over and over again today.
Admittedly, Saul
caused great harm to the saints at
Jerusalem and elsewhere trying to
destroy the church (ecclesia = called
out assembly) of God. If he had been brought to trial to face
judgment for his crimes against humanity, many would not consider him worthy of
a second chance at life; but God says he is worthy! How do I know this?
Your Bible says: And He
(Jesus Christ) died for all, (this
means every person who’s ever been born for we are all sinners just like Saul
and Ted Bundy, who became a Believer on death row) so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him
who died and rose again on their behalf.
(Psalms 51:5; Romans 3:23, 5:12; 2 Corinthians 5:15)
Every person
matters to God, including the atheist, those who are trying to live a moral
life (without God), and the despicably wicked.
Every soul has value and is worth saving but only God can redeem the
lost sinner and bring them home (Mark 8:36).
Another thing
you’ll learn about Paul is that he was a humble, but powerful, witness for
Jesus Christ. Certainly, no other human
figure in the Bible demonstrated more humility while sharing God’s Gospel as
Paul: serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and
with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did
not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you
publicly and from house to house, (Acts 20:19-20).
Paul shared the
good news of Jesus Christ: preaching the kingdom of God and teaching
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness (boldly), unhindered (Acts 28:31). Paul was not ashamed of the gospel or afraid to tell others what the Lord was
doing in his life and the lives of others.
He would spend the rest of his days working tirelessly, against the
odds, for the kingdom of God (Romans
1:16).
I think you’ll also
learn in short-order that Paul was
“sold-out” for God. This doesn’t mean he
was so heavenly minded that he was of no earthly good. It simply means that Paul kept the Main Thing the Main Thing. God and His
kingdom are the Main Things. External matters come into play but they
are not able to “bump” our relationship with God and others off the #1
position.
The Pharisees in
Jesus’ time are a classic example of focusing on secondary matters and missing
the Main Thing. In Matthew 23:23-24 Jesus scolds them: “Woe to you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe
mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the
law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should
have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and
swallow a camel!” The Law
commanded tithing, but these men had gotten so carried away with tithing that
they even counted out a tenth of their table spices! All the while, Jesus says, they neglected the
heart of the Law, which was justice, mercy, and faithfulness. They neglected to keep the Main Thing the Main Thing.
********
Please
open your Bible at Romans 15:17 and let’s read some Scripture together.
Romans 15
17: Therefore in
Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to
God.
18: For I will not
presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me,
resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed,
19: in the power of
signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from
Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the
gospel of Christ.
Too
many people in the church, both leaders and worshippers, speak negatively about
Paul, if they mention his name at all. They
label him a “fraud.” They say his writings should not be in the Bible, stating he
did not meet the criteria for being an apostle of Jesus Christ. They also say he’s a “loud mouth and a braggart.”
False
accusations like these and others in opposition to Paul and his ministry date
back to the 1st century AD and remain prevalent today, unfortunately. Paul defended his apostleship; and the
authority given him by the risen Lord Jesus Christ in quite a few of his
letters to the churches (1 Corinthians 9; 2 Corinthians 10-13; Galatians 1:10-2:14). People who accurately handle the word of truth (rightly dividing the
Scriptures) are still defending his apostleship today! You may count this Bible teacher as one of
these.
When
Paul boasts it’s never about himself,
his goodness, his abilities, or in his accomplishments. Instead, as your Bible says here: (Paul) found
reason for boasting in things pertaining to God, Christ Jesus, and
what He has accomplished through (him)
by making the Gentiles obedient to
Jesus Christ. What does this mean?
The
Gentiles obeyed in “word,” by
confessing Christ as their Lord and trusting in His substitionary sacrifice for
their sins. They obeyed in “deed” by acknowledging their sin, turning
away from it, and by obeying the commands of God (2 Timothy 3:16). These are outward signs of genuine inward
change and of true conversion.
When
Paul said, “I will not presume to speak
of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me,” he is merely
saying that he is the conduit through which Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit
both work. His ministry wasn’t a self-started,
self-designed, self-sustained mission.
It is the very work of Christ, continued through Paul in the power of signs and wonders,
in the power of the Spirit. Only God can work such miraculous signs
and wonders and it was the Holy Spirit who gave Paul the power to preach.
Paul
took the gospel of Jesus Christ where it had not been heard before. The signs
and wonders which Paul performed were to prove to the pagans that God was
in their midst and they served to authenticate Paul’s message; a message that
should be taken seriously. These signs
and wonders also confirmed Paul’s apostleship (2 Corinthians 12:11-13).
FYI: Illyricum
is on the west side of Greece. So Paul
had spread his gospel from Jerusalem to Galatia and then crossed the Aegean Sea
to Greece and then all the way to western Greece. He hasn’t entered Rome yet, but he will end
up there in a roundabout way. He gets
arrested in Jerusalem and sent to Rome to stand trial (Acts 21:27-36).
Romans 15
20: And thus I
aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another’s man’s
foundation;
21: but as it is
written, “THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD
SHALL UNDERSTAND.” (Isaiah 52:15)
In
verse 20 Paul remarks that he does not wish to preach the gospel where Christ
was already
named or build on another
man’s foundation. Don’t get the idea
that there were a lot of people traveling the countryside preaching Jesus
Christ crucified at this time in history because there weren’t. So it’s doubtful that Paul would encroach upon
another man’s territory. What our
Apostle Paul is actually telling us in verse 20 is that it’s God’s will that
Paul preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, primarily to the Gentiles, where it had
not been preached before. Paul understood
his calling as an apostle of Jesus Christ fully. It wasn’t his role to build on another man’s foundation or their preaching. His responsibility was to lay the
foundation!
Permit
me to show you what I mean from Scripture.
Please turn in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 3:10-15: According
to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise (skillful) master builder (architect)
I laid a foundation, and another (teacher)
is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on
it. For no man can lay a foundation
other than the one which is (already) laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Those
of you with some building experience already know this but the purpose of a
firm foundation is to hold up and hold together the structure above it. A properly built foundation increases the
amount of abuse or stress the structure above it can take and yet remain safe
protecting the inhabitants inside it. And
so goes the gospel and teachings of Paul.
By
the grace given to him by God Paul proceeded to lay a firm foundation in Corinth on which the church (the Body of Christ) could
mature. He communicated to these
Believers the first elements of God’s mystery of grace. But let every man that comes after him, who
professes to be a teacher/preacher, be careful what instructions he gives to
the church that has been founded by Paul and established on the only true
foundation – Jesus Christ. This is God’s
plan designed to guard against false instructions and false teachers. False teachers should take heed because the
church belongs to God and He is a jealous
God (Exodus 20:4-5; Galatians 1:6-10).
Romans 15
22: For this reason
I have often been prevented from coming to you;
23: but now, with
no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a
longing to come to you (Acts 19:21).
24: whenever I go
(on
my course) to Spain – for I hope to see
you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first
enjoyed your company for a while (Acts 15:3).
In
verse 22 Paul remarks that he had often
been prevented from coming to you (in Rome). After many years of hoping, praying, and
trying to visit the saints in Rome, Paul offers up an excuse for his delay in
coming and his extended absence from Rome.
The
thing that struck me is why did Paul offer an excuse for not coming to Rome and
why is it recorded forever in the annals of history?
Taking
into account that this letter was penned in Corinth, some 600 miles southeast
of Rome, Paul admits to having preached the gospel in and as far as Illyricum,
just across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, which was little more than 400 miles
from Rome. However, Paul didn’t travel to
Rome, as close as he was at that time.
Now when he leaves Corinth he intends to travel in the opposite
direction (southeast) more than 800 miles to Jerusalem.
The
reason Paul offers an excuse for not visiting Rome and the reason it’s recorded
here for us to learn from is his commitments (travels) and priorities (ministering
to the saints), which took most of his time, prevented him from coming to Rome. The success of Paul’s ministry or the positive
impact the gospel of Jesus Christ was having on the pagans kept him away lo
these many years. In other words, Paul was busy serving God, His
saints, and doing His will (Romans 12:1-2).
As much as Paul desired to be with these folks in Rome, Paul understood the
work of God took top priority. There’s a
lesson here for all of us. Either the
things of God matter or they don’t.
There’s no middle ground here and Paul knew this.
Yet,
according to verse 23, he considered his “mission” complete, in terms of taking
God’s Gospel to these regions. Paul was referring to evangelizing the Greek
speaking eastern half of the Mediterranean world. If you think about it this is an incredible
statement. What a wonderful thing it
would be if anyone of us could say we had talked to all the people on our block
or in our neighborhood about what Jesus Christ means to us or is accomplishing
in our lives… Paul had evangelized a
large portion of the Greek speaking world and he had his eyes on Spain.
Does
this mean every soul in this area had been converted? All the saints firmly established and
perfected in Christ Jesus? No, it
doesn’t. What he meant is he had
fulfilled his role as an apostle; he had laid
the foundation. His mission was to go and preach Jesus Christ
crucified and resurrected from the dead and to establish church groups so that
the gospel of Jesus Christ could go out from these small groups.
Paul
felt the “urge” to go where
Jesus Christ’s name had not been heard before – a Divine calling without a
doubt. In verse 24 the Greek word for go is Poreuomai (pronounced: por-yoo’-om-ahee) which means: to
pursue. It’s the same word used of
Christ’s pursuing His path: When
the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to
Jerusalem; (Luke 9:51).
From
Paul’s comment in verse 24 we know that Paul “planned” to go to Spain. Whether he
actually made it there is an unanswered question. Since the Scriptures give zero details about
this missionary journey, we’re going to leave this item right where we found it
and move on. I’m not one to speculate or
offer an opinion on the unknown.
Paul
hopes not only to spend some time with these folks in Rome, but to be helped on (his) way there by them. This is how the gospel was spread back in
Paul’s day and to some degree is today.
It is by the offerings and the prayers of the saints that men are sent
to preach God’s good news where it hasn’t been heard before.
You’d
think with the arrival of the “electronic age” that every person on the
planet would have had an opportunity to hear the gospel by now, but you’d be mistaken. Despite our technological advances less than
7% of those living today are Believers.
About 50% of the world’s population still does not know who Jesus Christ
is and they have not heard the gospel.
China with 1.2 billion people has only a limited gospel witness. In addition, approximately 75% of the world’s
population does not have a clear understanding of the gospel. People view Christianity with the same vagueness as they view Buddhism,
Hinduism, or Confucianism, which means just because he or she has heard the
gospel of Jesus Christ doesn’t mean they have a clear understanding of it – which
means they have not appropriated God’s message and are not saved.
Romans 15
25: but now, I am
going to Jerusalem serving the saints (Acts 19:21).
26: For Macedonia (the northern part
of Greece) and Achaia (the southern
part of Greece – Corinth was in this region) have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints
in Jerusalem.
27: Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to
them. For if the Gentiles have shared in
their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material
things (1Corinthians
9:11).
In
verse 25 Paul announces his plan and his purpose for going to Jerusalem. It was to
serve the (very) poor saints living there by hand-delivering
the contributions collected from the
saints in Macedonia and Achaia. This was
a love offering pure and simple. In fact, it is termed a “special grace” from God six times by Paul, when he speaks of it in
his second letter to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 8-9).
What
we aren’t seeing here in these verses is the area where this love offering came from was extremely
poor. These folks didn’t give freely
from their wealth; they gave freely and gladly from their poverty. The poverty of the Macedonians is confirmed
by secular history, as the Romans confiscated the majority of their wealth when
they conquered this former homeland of Alexander the Great.
Although
it’s true they suffered from “extreme poverty,” it is also true they had “an abundance of joy” (2 Corinthians
8:2) and according to their ability, and
beyond their ability, they gave of
their own accord (meaning Paul didn’t ask for this contribution). These people pleaded with Paul for the favor of participation,
actually considering it a privilege to share in this service to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
Since
the areas of Macedonia and Achaia were poor themselves, don’t get the idea that
a huge sum of money was collected from these Believers. If a word had to be chosen to describe their gift
that word would probably be “meager.” Given
that, why did these folks go through all the trouble, especially when they had
so little?
Paul
says …but they gave themselves (first)
to the Lord and to us by the will of God
(2 Corinthians 8:5). Their sacrifice
was to Him first and foremost. It was a
work of grace, i.e. God the Spirit working in them and through them, and they
were pleased to do it. They knew the
spiritual gifts they had received by faith in Christ Jesus ultimately came by
way of the Jews (John 4:22). They also
knew the very least they could do in response to God’s free gift of Grace was
to lend a helping hand, by way of financial support, to those in need and no
one needed to ask them for the gift (Romans 5:15-17).
Romans 15
28: Therefore, when
I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit (contribution) of theirs, I will go on by way of you to
Spain.
29: I know that
when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
[Published
Weekly on Friday]
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