I am always amazed at the depth of relationships in Paul’s life. The guy was SUPER busy, but had deep, meaningful friendships with many. He structured his life differently than many of us do. Also, he saw the significance in deep, meaningful friendships within the churches he started. I wonder if we treat church the same way. Is it a family, a place to plug in? Often we treat it like a chore or a part of our checklist. I’d love to see that change!

He then ends the letter with a warning and some encouragement. Are you someone who causes divisions and creates obstacles for people to believe? This is not good! Repent and start today to live new! God has made Christ known both in Romans and through today. What a blessing and what a time to be alive! Let’s use our lives well, not in some self-serving humanistic way, but to the glory of the One who bought us with His life! Amen? Amen!

I would love to focus on just a few verses in this chapter that help understand all the book has been driving towards. Romans 15:18-21 – “For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience – by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God – so that from Jerusalem and all the way around Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, ‘Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.'”

Paul is proud of what Christ is doing through him! This is something to boast in! How a mighty God, strong and powerful, can take a lump of clay and use him (or her, but here, we are speaking of Paul) to do mighty things! Ultimately, though, Paul wants to see those far from Christ know Him and follow Him – in obedience! This is huge! We don’t get close to Christ and then get to do what we want, when we want. He is Lord; that demands some kind of response! We are called to surrender our will and way to let Him lead us… to obey the way of God. Paul has done this and has made it his ambition to share the good news of Jesus – how can we not share it! News needs to be shared! Think of how excited you’ve been to share news – “I got a new job!” “I have a new niece/nephew!” “We’re getting married!” “We’re having a baby!” “We’re adopting!” We share news all the time, temporal, significant news in our world. Yet how much more should we share the news that is eternal and more significant than anything here! Stop being bored! Jump into the fray! If Christ is raised, everything is changed! Let’s get to work!

Do you find the church judgmental?

This passage stands in the face of an affirmative answer. It also cautions us to be wise and careful. Let’s unpack the idea behind the idea a bit. If the Gospel is true, Jesus is indeed Prince of Peace and Lord of Lords, the one who rules (ultimately) over this world and His church. While satan is “prince of the world” at the moment (John 14:30, etc), he is only allowed to reign by the sovereignty of God and one day will have no control (Rev 20). So Christ reigns in us, His church, and we believe He is the one true God. Therefore, if He is the one true God, there is no such thing as a false god. One may worship a god, for sure, they are imaginary and false. In Paul’s time, there was a debate over what one could eat and drink. This came up in Acts 15, oddly enough. However, Paul’s argument (based on Acts 10, etc) is that Christ has made all things new and proves idols and false gods false. Therefore, if a piece of meat is “offered” in worship to Zeus, and is cooked thoroughly and looks appetizing, may it then be eaten? Many would say “no!” due to the idea that it is tainted and unclean. However, if the god doesn’t exist, Paul would say, then it was offered to nothing but the flame and barbecue becomes tasty if done correctly. If the god isn’t real, food was created, not an offering.

So now we get the theme of part of Romans 14, the argument of what one should do. Can we eat things offered to idols or false gods? Paul says yes! Can we drink something that was made “sacred” by someone? Of course! What if someone doesn’t understand this truth? What if they have trouble with you eating what you wish and having no theological issue with it? Be generous and abstain, thinking of them more highly than yourself (see Phil 2:5-11, 1 John 4). But there is no guilt in becoming “unclean” by food, for it does not make us unclean. Compare with Matthew 15:1-20 and see what Jesus is saying. We have faith that eating habits do not condemn us. In fact, they show our faith and proper theological understanding. Yet we do not deal with these issues in pride or arrogance, but lovingly care for one another and help one another to understand properly. This is just as much based on our faith.

The beginning of this chapter has caused no shortage of wrestling for many throughout history. Americans, lovers of freedom and liberty, often see “the other” political party as the enemy at worst and confused idiots at best. Every policy decision and political promise is clung to and hoped on, at times more than the promises of God. I know I am in dangerous territory here, but hear me out. We do this because we have the power to convert our government as often as we want – at least part of it every two years. We (or at least some – voting is often done by a little over 50% of the population) take ownership so much so that we vilify the other side, becoming “evangelists” for our party and all that comes with it. Yet reading Romans 13:1-7 makes us crawl. We must “submit” to Barack Obama? We must “submit” to Donald Trump? We struggle with the root question – “Were the revolutionaries wrong? Should they have ‘submitted’ to the UK?” But these struggles are nothing compared to the age of the early Christians! Caesar often really WAS a monster – more than a political talking point on a 24/7 news station. Nero persecuted Jews and Christians in response to the Roman fire unjustly. Domitian, Decius and Diocletian (the 3 D’s!) persecuted Christians in extreme ways in their day. How was one to “submit” to these authorities? What is Paul saying?

Paul tells us to be subjects to government. Government – order – is God-ordained and given by Him. We are better due to order! It helps us! Rulers (even those persecuting) intend to help the “greater good.” The problem is often that “greater good” misidentifies who the “enemy” is. Christians are easy targets. Consider today those that believe they can’t participate in services that don’t honor God and are sued by the ACLU. Civil liberties often see religious belief as standing in stark contrast to one another. Sometimes “order” gets out of hand. We take the good as it comes, but we lovingly and graciously push back against the evil. Think Martin Luther King Jr. versus the Black Panthers – one is attempting to live this passage out. Paul seems to be saying, “be a great citizen, pay taxes and follow the law” but the question exists – what if the law is against God? Then we must take the path of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. King, do your worst, but we serve God and God alone. So, what do we do today? We live in a nation of unprecedented order, wealth and peace. We must be grateful for this and honor God for His blessing. We pray for and submit to the leaders that we don’t agree with. We honor our leaders as God ordained and seek to create change where injustice lives. We pay our taxes and work to make our towns, counties, states and nation better.

So, were the revolutionaries “wrong?” I think some of their motives can be questioned, for sure. Taxation without representation was hardly a revolutionary endeavor. The king, however, was crazy and did not “deserve” to be followed. We also rebelled at a time that allowed it. The whole thing might have gone differently if Britain were not side-tracked and had the French not assisted. Yet obviously God was behind it, or it would not have succeeded. God was making a new thing out of the old. This new thing has turned into a marvel – the greatest power of the past 125 years for sure and a major reason the world is the way it is (for both good and bad). We must submit to our ultimate King and honor His ways first. Then submit to our governing authorities as the authority over us, as God allows. There is a place for revolution. It starts in our hearts. Only then will we know our place in helping bring change about that pleases God (Rom 12:2).

Paul makes the case that Israel has rejected God’s call throughout Romans. Chapter 10 ended with Paul pointing out Israel’s disobedience and hardened hearts. But has God rejected them? No! Some were turning (Paul was one!) to God them and many are turning to Him now. Hard hearts are breaking! Pray for those working with Jews to show them the truth! God chose Israel and gave them access to the truth. Even though they were not the best stewards with it, God chose them.

Paul then begins to explain that Israel has been grafted in. The established “olive tree” of Israel has had the Gentiles grafted in – in part because God hardened hearts to open the world up to His message, that Israel was meant to show the whole time! Verse 25 suggests that this hardening was only for a time (likely during Christ’s ministry) to accomplish His purposes. Now it is a choice, and one with eternal consequences! Let’s not be hard hearted towards God!

Now that we’ve been redeemed, we consider our response. Worship! In the Bible, over and over again, God moves in some form of redemption (as a response to sin) and then the people receiving this gift move in some form of response. This response is seemingly dependent upon the understanding of the recipient of God’s movement – from sacrifice to action. If they understood God, they responded well (think Abram leaving Canaan) and if they didn’t quite get God, they responded poorly (think Jephthah or Cain). This response is called worship – and some forms of worship are pure, while others have other motives.

Paul beckons us to respond to God’s salvation by BECOMING the sacrifice. We have been purchased by Christ, so our response is to surrender in worship, daily, as a response to Him. We should think, act and speak differently because of God’s goodness. No longer are we to go the way of the world (conforming), but to start to live God’s way, being transformed by Him. Only then will we know God’s will for our life. We will start to live His way! Sure one can “act” like a Christian and “do good things.” But being a follower of Jesus means that we are responding to God’s first move, not the other way around. This is key for us as followers.

Paul then shows that we are a part of a new body – the body of Christ. We each have a part! (v3-8)

Then he shows us what genuine faith looks like – we are genuinely loving, abhorring evil, honoring one another, hoping on God, and on and on and on (check v9-21). This is what worship looks like. Are you a follower? Are you a worshipper?

Humans mess things up! We seek our own version of righteousness and do not do things God’s way. This is the story of Israel. (This is the story of me. Of you too.)

One way that is shown is in the Israelites lack of sharing God’s plan of salvation to all. They tried to keep it hidden and avoid the world from hearing. Until He showed up and changed that! (Remember Gergesa and the feeding of 4000!)

Jesus crossed boundaries often to show God’s love to those far from Him. Are you doing the same? Are you a Jonah (reluctantly going or running away)? I want to share what He has done.

Paul goes in another brilliant direction and shows that after Abraham still not all received God’s mercy, but only those whom the promise extended to, by His grace. Isaac’s children were in the line (not Ishmael’s), and then Jacob (not Esau).

All this intends to show that one cannot EARN the grace of God, but works in response to His love. The law does not intend to show us how to earn it, but the guidelines to live by in faith that He will do what He promised. So we shall pursue life in God by faith in Christ alone!

Without Christ we stand . We are blessed to have no condemnation in Him! Even better: it is a status we enjoy in Him that can’t be tainted or removed from us!

He lived a life as a human, helping us relate to Him. Yet as a human we cannot please God. In Christ, we are given access to the Father and the same power that raised Christ from the dead now lives in us!

Due to this, we are a part of the new creation. We through the Spirit have access to a better prayer life. Our will and destiny starts to go differently. Also God is for us! What can be against us? Nothing! You are His!!

Paul brilliantly points out that the law is only binding while we are alive. Then, since we are dead to our old self in Christ, we are free!

But the law isn’t sin itself, it just shows us what sin is! How would we know if we weren’t told? Yet, what is interesting is that sin and our sin nature jump at the opportunity to use knowledge against us. We know what is wrong and that is what we want. The deceiver has planted that seed in our hearts! You and I hear “surely, the Lord didn’t mean…” now instead of truth. We aren’t strong. In Christ we are!

So unfortunately we often do what we don’t want to do. God is greater!

We would be lost without Him, amen? So we need Him! Have you found Him?