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Program Announcer
Back to the Bible Let it be our plea. God's word alone are authority Every word, every step in the name of Christ Back to the Bible for the way of life.
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Bible Study Teacher
Welcome to this period of Bible study and thank you for taking the time to spend with us just a few minutes in a consideration of God's Word. We have called this program Back to the Bible and that is our aim. We want to take God's Word and plant it deep in our hearts so that we are shaped into the image of Christ as we listen to the will of God revealed to us in His Word. And it may be along the way that as we try to communicate what we see in God's Word that we fall short. Either we fall short in our accuracy, that is, we've missed some major point and we would love for you to reach out to us and to consider that with us. But it may also be that we have just fallen short in explaining what we believe that the Bible teaches. And we want to make it our aim to be clear and faithful in our instruction. And so if there's any way in which we can improve in those areas, please feel free to to reach out to us. The best place to reach us is at our website, backtothebiblepodcast.com there you can find this program, you can find previous episodes, you can find information about the program, other resources we've tried to make available, and you can contact us there through a couple of different forms that you can submit. And we will get your questions or your comments. And we'll do our very best to respond to those in a pleasant and in a faithful way. We are studying the book of Romans and we're coming very close to the end of the book as we begin this study. Last time we looked at Romans chapter 14 and just the very beginning of chapter 15. And at the time we made mention of the fact that there are a lot of disagreements about what's happening in Romans 14 and 15. But I think that we have to be able to say when we look at these disagreements, whatever the disagreements are, is that they are both options are things that are not sinful. And yet there is an awareness that one is stronger in confidence or in conscience, and one is weaker in confidence or conscience. And that is one group says, I know that it's not right, I know that it's right to do that, but I'm not going to participate. And the other side has to say, I have the right to participate in this, but I'm not going to do so in a way that makes them stumble. And so I take it to be that probably we are dealing with Jew Gentile issues regarding some of the topics that we have discussed through the Book of Romans, perhaps like the eating of meats or the keeping of Sabbaths or something like that. Whereas there may be other options for what the disagreements are. It could be Gentiles who are coming out of idolatry who were trying to avoid certain meats, and it could be some other arrangement of this eating and day keeping. But the point that we made is, is that while it might be difficult for us to know precisely what kind of disagreement that there is, they are both called to exercise on the part of the weaker brother towards the stronger brother, acceptance of their participation. And on the side of the stronger brother looking at the weaker, they are supposed to exercise compassion and concern in view of that person's limitations. I think that the end of chapter 14 offers some basic fundamental conclusions for how the person is supposed to operate. He says he who doubts is condemned if he eats because his eating is not from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin. I don't think in this case he is talking about whatever is not from faith. That is, it's not revealed by the will of God. I think it has been revealed by the will of God whether or not this person can participate. Here it is talking about conscience, confidence. If he doesn't believe that he can participate in such, then he he needs to restrain from that. Now, chapter 15 focuses mostly on the strong brother at the beginning and really says that the strong brother needs to look at Christ in imitating how he gave up rights and privileges in order to be a benefit to us. And so what he says is that God will help in this manner because his goal is for us to be united verse 6 with one voice to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So verse 7 perhaps is the fundamental conclusion to chapter 14. The beginning of 15. Therefore accept one another as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. The distinctions, the differences that are cataloged In Romans chapter 14 are not significant enough to be drawing divisions, especially in view of the fact that Christ has been a servant to us. He became a servant to us in order to bring us to be unified. And if we are not unified, then we are missing the very work that Jesus accomplished. Now let's pick up at verse 8 and see how Paul concludes this section and then we'll move forward. He says verse 8. For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God, to confirm the promises given to the fathers and for the Gentiles to glorify God for his mercy. As it is written. Therefore I will give praise among the Gentiles to you, and I will sing to your name. And again he says, rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people. And again praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him. And again Isaiah says, there shall come the root of Jesse, and he who arises to rule over the Gentiles in him shall the Gentiles hope. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. So Paul continues this line of thinking and says, Christ became a servant and as a fulfillment to the promises. But beyond just fulfilling the promises that were made to the Jewish people, he had promises to fulfill to bring the Gentiles to praise and to hope, to bring them to be a part of the family. Now he goes through the Old Testament and references several passages there he references Psalm 18, Deuteronomy 32, Psalm 117, Isaiah 11, 10, and all of those have specific context that would be worth the time to take and look at. But what I think we see is that from the scope of Scripture, from the law, the Psalms and the prophets, the intention had always been to bring the nations into this relationship with God. It was always the intention that the Gentiles would be able to join in, in singing praise. It was always intended that the one who was coming, According to Isaiah 11, the one who would come and rule over God's people. It was always intended that Gentiles, the nations, would come under that rule and that in him, the nations the Gentiles would find who hope. Now what Paul is doing there is. He is saying, if that's the case, since that's the case, because that's the case, then the pursuit of unity needs to be privileged when it comes to the relationships between Jew and Gentile because of God's work in them. Now he says in verse 13 that he's praying that the God of hope remember the God who had promised to give the nations hope, the Gentiles hope. He says that God of hope may give you joy and peace in believing that their confidence and that their loyalty to Christ would bring them joy and it would bring them peace, that they would find the fulfillment and the meaning and the comfort that comes by being in Christ, so that they could abound in hope even more by the power of the Holy Spirit. And so he wants them to be even stronger in their hope as they come to unity and recognize God's purpose through the ages. Now we come to verse 14. And what's going to happen in verse 14 is that Paul is going to begin to talk about his future missionary plans. And I think we can notice that at the end of this chapter now he says there, but I myself am also convinced about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, having been filled with all knowledge and being also able to admonish one another. But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me by God, for me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, having become sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in Christ Jesus I have reason for boasting in things pertaining to God, for I will not be bold to speak of anything except what Christ has brought about through me, leading to the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit, So that from Jerusalem and all around as far as Illyquium, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And in this way I make it my ambition to proclaim the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man's foundation, but as it is written, they who had no declaration of him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand. For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you, 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 whenever I go to Spain, for I hope passing through to see you and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while. But now I am going to Jerusalem to serve the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to share with the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they were indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. Therefore, when I have completed this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain. And I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. Now I urge you Brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints, so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find rest in your company. Now, may the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Now Paul expresses his confidence in the Roman disciples. He knows that they've been filled with knowledge. He knows that they are full of goodness. He knows that they can admonish and teach and instruct one another. But the reason he wrote to them in the way that he did, the reason he says he wrote with such boldness on some of these topics, is because he had a special role. He was to be a minister of a servant of Jesus Christ, and he was serving as a priest of God's Gospel. Now, the reason he was serving as a priest because his job was to present the Gentiles as an offering. And what he needed to do was to make sure that that offering was acceptable. Being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, being set apart, being made holy by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, he says, I can boast, I can celebrate, I can glory in what God is doing. Now. He says, I would not boast about what I'm able to do, but I will boast about what Christ has been able to do through me. That is, that the obedience of the Gentiles in word and in deed has been brought about because of his preaching, because of his work, that is, in the power of signs and wonders and the power of the Spirit. He says, I have worked so that the Gentiles will be presented as an offering to the Lord. And he says that beginning at Jerusalem and going all the way around a large distance, that the Gospel has been proclaimed, Christ has been fully proclaimed, preached there. So he expresses his interest to come to them because he wants to go to places where Christ has not been named. He's been able to bring the nations to obedience. But now he needs to expand the territory of his preaching because he has proclaimed him to the Gentiles in that area. Now, he hadn't come to them, but his goal had always been to go where Christ had not been named. And for that reason he had been delayed in coming to them. He says, he says in verse 22, for this reason, that is because he was proclaiming where Christ had not been heard. But he has an intention to go to Spain. And he was hoping that his trip to Spain, his preaching work there, would be assisted, would be aided by the Roman Church's help. So, so he says, I'm going to come to you. But he had a prior responsibility. He had to go to Jerusalem to take this contribution for the saints. Now, we read about this contribution in the book of Acts, and we read about it through a lot of the Epistles, especially prior to Paul's imprisonment. We read about it in first and Second Corinthians, we read about it in Galatians, we read about it here in Romans. And what you see in all of those is that here was a collection that was being made to take care of the saints in Jerusalem and in Judea as they were experiencing famine and as they were experiencing deep poverty. And so, for example, you have written to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 16, that that that collection that would be for the needs of the saints was to be taken up on the first day of the week. And then you have Second Corinthians, especially chapters eight and nine, where Paul is encouraging them to have that collection ready so that as he makes his way to them, there won't be collecting when he gets there, but they will have already done that out of cheerful and generous hearts. And then in Galatians chapter one, we have the reference there that they were to Revelation, remember the poor. And I don't know if that is specifically about this collection or in more of a general way, but I would take it to be that it at least involves this, which Paul says, which we were ready to do. And then here in Romans, Paul is talking about making preparation for the delivery of that collection to the saints in Jerusalem. Now, what you see here is he's going to serve them because Macedonia and Achaia, that would be the area of Greece, Achaia, and north of that Macedonia. So this would be where the churches of Philippi and Thessalonica and Corinth and other groups had already made their collection and were ready to send it back to share with the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. And so the way he explains that is he says they viewed themselves as obligated or as indebted to do so. Not that this was something that they didn't want to do, but something that they felt responsible to do. Why? Because the church in Jerusalem, the Christians in Jerusalem and Judea, had so worked to make it possible for them to receive the Gospel, their support, and their efforts in sending people to preach and teach, they have shared in their spiritual blessings. And so now they viewed it as just the right thing to share in the. The physical blessings that they had. So he says, if they've been able to share in the spiritual things, how much more they can partner with them in material things. Now what Paul says is, I am going to complete this. I'm going to put my seal on this. Then I'm going to go on by way of Spain, and I will go on by way of you. So he can see them, be encouraged by them, and go on. He says, I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. Now, what he does here in verse 30 is he asks for their prayers. What he says here is he needs them to strive together with him in prayers to God. For me, that is, that prayer is a means by which they could work together diligently with Paul. He says, strive together. That is, we are giving all kinds of effort in this effort in this work in order to work with Paul in that preaching. And so we can strive together with those who are preaching and proclaiming the Gospel by praying for them. So he says there's a couple of specific things he mentions about being prayerful about that he needs noted verse 31. So that he can be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea and that the service will be acceptable to the saints ultimately, so that he can come to them by the will of God and find rest and then prays for the peace of God to be with them. Now, this is going away from the book of Romans for just a moment. But we know that Paul will go to Jerusalem and he will take this offering to the church at Jerusalem and to the churches at Judea. He will entrust it to the elders there for their concern and their care of the needy brethren. But he is going to be arrested by those disobedient Jews. And I think the gift will prove acceptable to the Christians and he will come to the Romans. But remember, it will not be of his own free will. He will come to the Romans on a Roman prison ship, on a Roman trading boat, really, on which he is imprisoned. He is held captive because he's going to go stand trial before Caesar. Now, as he talks to the Romans about coming and seeing them, I doubt very seriously that he had the idea that that is the means by which he would come and see them. But perhaps in all of this we see God's providence at work. And especially as we read the prison epistles, I would think specifically of the book of Philippians, we see how Paul's circumstances work out for the greater good of the Gospel. And then as we read in the Book of Acts, as Paul arrives in rome in chapter 28 of the book of Acts, we see that the Roman Christians meet him and they are encouraged by one another there. And so at the end of chapter 15, he is previewing, at least in some ways, what's going to happen. Even though I don't know that he has very many details, except that he's going to take the gift. He recognizes there's disobedient Jews in Jerusalem and he wants to come see the Romans. And so all of that is going to work out in one way, but it's not perhaps going to be the way that Paul thought that it would. Now we come for just a few minutes to the beginning of chapter 16. And perhaps the key thing we should see in 16 is the greetings that he gives to all of these different people. Now he begins chapter 16, verse 1. Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea, that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints and that you help her in whatever she may have need of you. For she herself has also been a benefactor of many and of myself as well. So Phoebe, he commends her. She was a church servant who had been a blessing to many, including Paul, and she was the one who, who was bringing the letter. Now, we don't need to miss what Paul says about the role of women. As we consider Phoebe, who was serving in a tremendous way. I think that we should note Phoebe is called a servant of the church, that she has served the Lord in a amazing way. In an amazing way. And that she has been a benefactor or a patron, a gift giver to many, including Paul. Now what has happened, however, is that some people have taken what is said about Phoebe and I think we would say they have overstepped in what they think this means for the role of women in a local congregation. And what I mean by that is the word servant there they have noticed and they're right in this, that that is a translation of the word from which we get deacon. And they've said, okay, well, Phoebe was in a deacon's office, she was in the role of deacon. The challenge with that is, is that when the qualifications for a deacon are given, it seems to be that in First Timothy Chapter 3, it would require one being a man. And so people have gone a step further and said, alright, she's the one delivering the Letter. She must have been reading the letter to the congregation. What does that mean for women speaking roles in an assembly? Here she's called a benefactor or a patron. Perhaps she is in some kind of leadership role where now she's granting these favors. And I think the idea of her being a help to Paul or a benefactor and a help to others is an encouragement for them to be a help to her. I think that's a play on those words. She has been a help, so you be a help to her. Now, let's note a couple of things. One, the word deacon there is the word for servant, and it is rendered that way throughout the New Testament, not always in reference to the office of a deacon. Second of all, we need to keep in mind the limitations that Paul does absolutely place on the role of women. First Corinthians, chapter 14, that women are to keep silent in the churches or in those assembly settings. In First Timothy Chapter 2, he reins in women's ability to be able to teach with authority over a man. Now, there are limitations in a women's role, but just because of that does not mean that they cannot be great assets with regards to kingdom work. In this case, Phoebe has already been a helper to many and is delivering what may very well be one of the deepest letters of the New Testament. And Paul commends her as a servant and as a helper to the cause of Christ. That is significant. Now, as we look at verses 3 through 16, we're going to read these names. There are 28 individuals, three congregations, and two households mentioned in these 14 verses. He had never been to Rome, but he was no stranger to the people in those Roman congregations. So let's read verses 3 through 16 fairly quickly. Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risk their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also to all the churches of the Gentiles. Also greet the church that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia. Greet Mary, who has labored much for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners who are outstanding to the apostles who also were in Christ before me. Greet Amplitus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ and Stachys, my beloved. Greet Apelles the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet those of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, laborers in the Lord. Greet Perseus, the beloved who labored much in the Lord. Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord also his mother and mine. Greet Asinitris, Asyncratous, excuse me, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobus, Hermas and the brothers with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister and Olympus, and all the saints who are with them greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. So as Paul references these people in the churches at Rome, I want you to notice we see Prisa or Priscilla and Aquila. We've seen them in Corinth, we've seen them in Ephesus, now we see them in Rome. And one thing we should note about this godly couple is that everywhere we see them, they are faithfully committed to helping and serving local congregations. We also have them referenced as risking their lives for Paul's sake, which has made them somebody who has been a blessing to all of the Gentile churches who should be giving thanks to them. In addition to that, you have others that are named Adronicus and Junia, are mentioned as outstanding to the apostles. Some have said that that phrase outstanding, some translations render that among the apostles have meant that these people were apostles. I don't think that's the case. I think they are well noted to the apostles, they are considered outstanding and they were in Christ before Paul. But then you have others that he greets as well. Some have suggested that perhaps the rufus in verse 13 is the son of Simon of Cyrene who carried the cross of Christ because he is mentioned as the father of Rufus in the text where he's carrying the cross. And perhaps that's because someone would know him. Now, all of this means that. That he was no stranger to the Roman congregation. And as he writes to them, he encourages them by saying all the churches of Christ, all the local congregations, all those assemblies that were meeting under the rule and reign of Christ, sent them their greetings. Next time, Lord willing, we'll finish up the letter to the Book of Romans and perhaps survey what we have looked at and then move on to other things. But until then, we bid you a pleasant good day.
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Program Announcer
Back to the Bible. Let it be our plea. God's word alone, our authority, every word, every step in the name of Christ. Back to the Bible for the way of life.