An acceptable offering.
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We are getting closer to the end of the Book of Romans. And it is ending as any letter would end. Some of it is recap, some of it is information needed for the future, and some is last minute thoughts.
Romans is Paul’s great explanation of the Gospel. It is his dissertation, all of his study - compiled into one graduate level project. To the extent that we have been studying it for over 14 months together.
Romans is good. It is good to study over and over and over again, to store up in our hearts - to have imprinted in our minds.
Since it is the end of the letter, there aren’t too many direct instructions here, like there were in chapters 12 - 14. Here we have more of a discussion on what is going on, what Paul’s plans are, and what the church in Rome should expect. It ties together the church and the missionary, as well as gives us a framework on how we interact with one another. We will spend this week and next here in the last part of chapter 15.
14 My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.
15 Nevertheless, I have written to remind you more boldly on some points because of the grace given me by God
16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the gospel of God. God’s purpose is that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17 Therefore I have reason to boast in Christ Jesus regarding what pertains to God.
18 For I would not dare say anything except what Christ has accomplished through me by word and deed for the obedience of the Gentiles,
19 by the power of miraculous signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit. As a result, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum.
There are a lot of things to see here, but the two I want to focus on today are the role of a minister and the role of the church.
Paul says in the 14th verse -These things make up a good church, and you are it.
Goodness.
Knowledgeable.
Able to teach one another.
They say in organizational leadership that Culture is what you celebrate.
Paul was building a culture in the church.
He was creating a framework.
He said - you people who gather here together, in Rome, you people… you’re good people.
I am excited about your existence - full of joy that you are alive. He was celebrating a few things.
He celebrated their goodness.
He wasn’t writing to correct a bunch of nonsense. He was writing just to write, to say he wanted to come visit. What he has heard, was that they were GOOD people.
They had the fruit of the spirit that is Goodness.
They lacked qualities of badness.
They were seeking after Jesus. And Paul wanted to celebrate that.
Romans 1:8
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because the news of your faith is being reported in all the world.
They were also knowledgeable.
They had understanding.
They were theologically discerning people - careful to apply the word of God to their lives.
Paul wanted to celebrate a church who was determined to know and to grow in knowledge of the gospel.
And so here he gives them this encouragement and affirmation.
It is good.
And because they were filled with knowledge, they can teach!
And not just the clergy, ordinary believers, able to instruct one another.
Mature christians should counsel, warn, encourage, and challenge one another.
Paul tells Timothy
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,
17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge,
6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness,
7 godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul celebrates in this church the things that he sees that are going well.
And this wasn’t something that all churches got right.
The author of the book of Hebrews chastises the church… for the exact same things the church in Rome is doing well.
12 Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food.
13 Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness, because he is an infant.
14 But solid food is for the mature—for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.
These issues are important to the father. They are important to the Lord. They have been addressed more than 3 times in scripture - very directly.
Celebrated when it looks right, and told to shape up when it doesn’t.
This is the culture that the leaders of the early church were looking for. This is the church that Paul wanted to use for his launch into Spain.
There isn’t a perfect church out there, but a church that is pursuing goodness and knowledge and teaching one another, is pushing in the right direction.
It is easy and tempting to think that once we get to a certain point in our faith that we don’t really need to go to church. We don’t need bible study times. We don’t need to make time to get together. But that can’t be further from the truth.
If we get to a point where we ARE full of knowledge, and even as we pursue that fullness - we become teachers. In structured and unstructured environments we have to teach one another.
Your knowledge and experience is likely going to benefit someone else.
And as we pursue knowledge our ability to teach to specific areas and concerns increases.
And when that plays out, it is a beautiful thing,
It is a blessing to both the teacher and the taught, to be able to be used by God in times of trouble and to hear comforting words about who our Lord is in the midst of nonsense. We do that for one another.
So the question becomes, how do we measure up?
Are we that church?
Are we working to be that church?
Are we full of Goodness?
To answer this collectively we have to answer it individually, and the question goes deeper than just what do we do, but why do we do what we do?
This is a very important conversation for us to have with our God.
God I want to do good things for right reasons. I want my heart to be right.
14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
As a church - we want to be full of goodness - that brings Glory to Jesus.
Are we full of knowledge?
11 The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
15 Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.
29 Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, because you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God.
Are we teaching each other?
14 My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
13 But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception.
Ephesians 4:15,25
25 Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another.
If we can say yes to those things - Paul would be proud…
If we can say yes to those things, Jesus will be glorified.
So we check ourselves. As individuals and as a church.
The author of Hebrews spoke for the Lord when he shared his disappointment with the church for not maturing. Let us not get stagnant.
If we can get to that place, and offer ourselves up as sacrifice, sanctified by the holy spirit - we will have accomplished God’s purpose.
12 Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food.
13 Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness, because he is an infant.
14 But solid food is for the mature—for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.
The second part of this passage in Romans is Paul talking about himself, and leaving those of us in positions of leadership with something to live up to.
Paul tells us that his goal, aligning with God’s, is to bring the gentiles to obedience. We see that in Romans 15:16 and 18.
Verses 15-16: “But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” So here Paul’s goal is to offer the Gentiles to God acceptable and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Paul believes that his ministry is an instrument in the hands of God to prepare a people for God who are acceptable and sanctified.
Now verse 18: “For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience.” So here Paul’s goal is to bring the Gentiles to obedience. He believed that his ministry was an instrument in the hands of Christ to bring about a people who are obedient to God.
Now put the two goals side by side. Verse 16: the goal is a people who are acceptable and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Verse 18: the goal is a people who are obedient to God through Jesus Christ. I think those are essentially the same goal: a people sanctified by the Spirit, a people obedient through Jesus Christ. A holy people and an obedient people—conformed to the holiness of God, and conformed to the will of God.
So now we can say the main point of this passage with specific focus. Verse 17 says that Paul’s crowning experience is exulting or boasting in Christ and what he has done through Paul’s ministry. And verses 16 and 18 tell us what he has done: he has brought into being a sanctified and obedient people that Paul brings to God as an offering of worship.
So we can say the main point like this: Paul’s crowning experience is exulting or boasting in Christ and his work through Paul to prepare an offering for God, namely, a holy and obedient people.
And from this passage, we see that all of that is only capable through the mercy given by Jesus.
Now we see in verse 14, perhaps to our surprise, that the people themselves—the offering itself that we are preparing for God—are supposed to take the measure of goodness and knowledge that they have and use it to admonish each other. In other words, in their ministry to each other, they are utterly crucial in preparing themselves as a holy and obedient offering to God.
Which means for us pastors that our aim is now this: to exult in Christ and his work through us to prepare an offering of holy and obedient people by preaching and teaching and praying and applying the gospel of Christ in such a way that the people themselves will be filled with goodness and knowledge to admonish and instruct and exhort and warn and encourage each other.
And underneath that goal lies the great God-exalting truth: In all our work—and in all your work—it is God who works. From him and through him and to him be glory, for ever. Amen.