Paul was a minister of Christ Jesus. In Romans 15:14-33 we see 7 character traits of a minister of Christ. Every Christian is a servant of Christ, so there is much in this passage that we can apply to our lives, whether or not we are a pastor, missionary or elder of a church, or just an ordinary Christian.
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A Minister of Christ Jesus – Pt. 1
Romans 15:14-19
By the time we come to Romans 15:14, in a very real sense we have finished the book of Romans. Paul’s teaching is finished at that point. But we should by all means avoid the mistake of thinking that what we have from 15:14 to the end of the book is unimportant, a kind of P.S. that we could well afford to skip over. Nothing could be further from the truth! Up to this point, the letter has been extremely doctrinal; now it becomes intensely personal. In this section, Paul speaks about himself, his past, present and future. Romans ends just as it begins. In fact, if you go back and read Romans 1:1-15, you will find that it closely parallels 15:14 to the end of the book.
I want to point your attention to a little phrase in verse 16, “to be a minister of Christ Jesus.” I believe everything Paul writes about in Romans 15:14-33, is an unpacking of that little phrase.
Now, I don’t want you to tune out this morning because you think I’m going to speak about something that has no practical relevance to your life. You say, “Brian, I’m not a minister of Christ Jesus. I will probably never preach a sermon, or travel to a third world country as a missionary. Why should I be interested in what you have to say this morning?” Good question. It’s because a “minister” is a servant of Jesus Christ. Are you a servant of Jesus Christ? I sure hope so! This is not just talking about people in “full-time ministry” – in other words, people who devote the majority of their time to ministry, rather than secular work. In fact, I believe every Christian is in full-time ministry. If you are not serving Christ full-time, you need to repent. If you are serving Him part-time, and serving yourself, or your flesh, or your lusts and pleasures the rest of the time, you are not doing the will of God. We can serve Jesus while we are changing diapers, shopping, cleaning windows, mowing lawns, demolishing buildings, or whatever! Even the apostle Paul was not in “full-time ministry” if you define it as devoting all your time to ministry, because he made and sold tents to help support him while he ministered.
Since every one of you who are true Christians are ministers of Christ Jesus, all of this is directly applicable to your life. As we examine the life of the apostle Paul, I want you to see him as an example for your own life.
There are seven traits of a minister of Christ Jesus that we are going to look at in the last half of Romans 15. A Minister of Christ Jesus:
- Reminds the People of the Truth of God
- Ministers the Gospel of God
- Boasts in the Works of God
- Seeks the Unreached for God
- Labors for the Peace of God
- Knows He Will Be Used Of God
- Covets the Church’s Prayers for the Blessing of God
Now, we are not going to be able to consider all of these traits this morning, so we will have to be content with a Part 1 today.
1. Reminds The People Of The Truth Of God (15:14-15)
What was Paul convinced about?
You yourselves are full of goodness. Goodness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. I take that to mean that Paul was convinced they were genuine Christians, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and producing the fruit of the Spirit. They were actively seeking the good of one another.
Filled with all knowledge. Paul did not look on these believers as ignorant, and devoid of spiritual truth. They were not spiritual babes, who could only digest milk. No, they were well taught and filled with all knowledge.
Able also to admonish one another. The word “admonish” has a wide range of meaning. It can mean to warn, reprimand, reprove, counsel, urge, caution, or advise. It is very similar to the word “exhort”. Since these Christians were filled with goodness and knowledge, they had the two prerequisites to admonish one another. To be full of goodness is to have the genuine desire for the other person’s good. It means he has their best interest at heart. To be filled with all knowledge implies he understands the great truths of the Word of God. It is not enough to have only one of these. If you have goodness without knowledge, you desire to help others but lack the understanding needed to counsel and exhort them. If you have knowledge, without goodness, you will be no help because you lack love for them.
Why did Paul write to them very boldly on some points?
Application: To remind them again. The purpose of Paul’s bold teaching was not to teach them something new, but to remind them of something they already knew. Take note – these Christians were filled with all knowledge, but Paul still took the time to remind them of what they already knew. Peter tells us the exact same thing in His second epistle. In 2 Peter 1:12 he writes, ““Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.”
It’s sad, but too often we forget the things we want to remember, and remember the things we wish we could forget. A gospel minister’s job is not just to teach new truth to God’s people. A great part of it is to remind them of truth they already know. Brethren, after you have been a believer for several years, and have read the Word, and been in church, and heard hundreds of sermons, there isn’t going to be a whole lot of new truth you have never heard. At that point, you will know and understand much of the truth in the Word of God. But you will never move beyond needing to be reminded of the truth you already know.
Those of you who lead bible studies, do not grow weary in reminding others of truths they already know. Those of you who lead devotions in your home, don’t be discouraged because most of the time you are not learning something new. Being reminded of spiritual truths you already learned is just as important as learning new truths.
Application: Ordinary Christians ought to be able to counsel and exhort one another. It was never God’s intention that only church leaders do all of the spiritual counseling in the church. Brothers and sisters, verse 14 tells us that a great part of the spiritual ministry in the church is to be carried on by the church itself, and not just its spiritual leaders. If you are filled with goodness and knowledge, you are prepared to minister to others in the body of Christ. This is not just a job for the “clergy” but for the “laity.” The Scriptures encourage us in every member ministry in the body of Christ. Do not excuse yourself from ministry because you are not a pastor or missionary!
Application: We need to balance rebuke and exhortation with encouragement. Paul has been challenging and correcting the Roman Christians throughout this book, but at this point he pauses to encourage them. He tells them some very positive things about them. They are full of goodness. They are filled with all knowledge. And they are able to admonish one another. Paul correct them in those things he must, but he encourages them in those things he can. There’s a lesson here for us. Some of us gravitate towards rebuking and correcting others. OK, fine, but make sure you are balancing that with words of encouragement as well. If you are always correcting and rebuking others, you will become a drag to be around, because others know you are always going to blast them. If you naturally gravitate towards correcting and criticizing, look for ways you can encourage others. Instead of putting others down all the time, look for ways you can lift them up. Folks, I’m preaching to myself right now. I tend towards the critical, and I’m learning to encourage. I have a really good example of this in my wife. She is one of the best encouragers I know of. She is constantly encouraging me, and our employees, and our church family. So, I’m trying to take a page from her book, and learn to say, “You know, I really appreciate this about you.”
2. Ministers The Gospel Of God (15:15b-16)
Why did God give Paul grace?
To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. Notice that Paul is not talking here about saving grace, but empowering grace. This is not the grace that saves from sin, but the grace that equips and calls to ministry. My friends, God has not only given you grace to save you, but He has also given you grace to serve others according to His gifts and calling.
Who was Paul a minister of?
Christ Jesus. Yes, there is a sense in which Paul was serving the church. There is another sense in which Paul was serving the lost Gentiles. But in everything he did, He was serving Christ Jesus. Paul had an eye on Christ in whatever he did. The Lord sees all, and will reward all on that final day. We must make sure that we do not serve, just to be busy, or so that others will notice our faithfulness, but for the pleasure and glory of Jesus Christ! Can you say in truth that you are a minister of Christ Jesus? I pray you can.
Who did God call Paul to minister to?
The Gentiles. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. This was a very specific calling on his life. The Lord told Ananias in Acts 9:15, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles.” In Galatians 2:7-9 Paul wrote, “But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised (for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles), and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.” Paul had a very specific and clear calling from the Lord Jesus.
What was Paul supposed to minister to the Gentiles?
The gospel of God. Here we have it. Here is the great sum of what Paul ministered – the gospel of God. The good news from God. The glad tidings of what God had done in Christ to save poor sinners. When I was a young Christian I really thought that the gospel was the very first thing you learned as a Christian, but as soon as you understood the gospel, you left it behind and went on to bigger and greater truths. How wrong I was! You never grow beyond the gospel. The gospel is the warp and woof of the Christian life! The gospel is not just the ABC’s of Christianity, it is the A to Z of Christianity! We never graduate from the gospel. It is not just the door to the house, but it fills every room in the house. We will be finding ways to apply the gospel to our lives for the rest of our time here on earth.
What was Paul’s goal as he ministered the gospel to the Gentiles?
An Offering of the Gentiles. Paul pictured himself as a priest. One of the jobs of a priest was to offer up sacrifices to God. Paul saw his job as offering Gentiles up to God. In other words, as Paul preached the gospel, some would believe and be saved. Paul saw these converted Gentiles as an offering to God, his act of worship.
Acceptable. This is the same word used in Romans 12:1, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” There says that when we present our bodies to God for His service, it is a living and holy sacrifice, and is “acceptable” to God. That word “acceptable” means well-pleasing. Not only is it well pleasing to God when we consecrate our bodies to His service. It is also well pleasing to God when Gentiles are converted and begin to follow Christ. He takes delight in these trophies of His grace.
Sanctified by the Holy Spirit. What kind of Gentile “convert” is well pleasing to God? Those who are sanctified by the Holy Spirit. But, what does it mean to be sanctified? Verse 18 will help us to understand verse 16. There we read that it is Christ’s aim in Paul’s ministry to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles. In verse 16 Paul tells us that his aim in ministry is to bring sanctified Gentiles to God. Therefore, to be sanctified, means to obey Jesus. That makes perfect sense, because when Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission, He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Jesus never commanded us to go into all the world and get people to make professions of faith. He commanded us to teach men to obey all His commandments. A Christian is being sanctified to the degree that He is obeying the commands of Jesus.
One of the primary works of the Holy Spirit is to make Christians holy. God is not well pleased with unholy converts. The good news is that every person the Holy Spirit regenerates, He also goes to work in their life to make them holy. He shows them their sin, enables them to repent of it, and leads them to trust fully in Jesus. He also opens their eyes to see the glory of Jesus, and gives them a desire to be pleasing to Him. The Holy Spirit lives in the believer, and is constantly at work in Him to conform Him to the image of Christ.
Application: Who are you bringing as a well-pleasing offering to God? Are you investing in anyone, that they might be sanctified by the Holy Spirit? The way to accomplish this, is to minister the gospel. Nothing else will achieve these desired results. Merely loving others will not accomplish it. You must serve people the gospel. Tell them of Christ, His perfect life, substitutionary death, and victorious resurrection from the dead. That is the only way to bring an offering of saved sinners to God. It’s time for us as a church to start reaching out again with the gospel. Covid-19 has sidelined us long enough.
3. Boasts In The Works Of God (15:17-19)
What did Paul boast in? In verse 17 Paul says that he has found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. What does he mean? Does he mean he is going to boast about all the great things he has accomplished for God? Not at all! Verse 18 makes it clear, “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me.” It was not what Paul was accomplishing for Christ. It was what Christ was accomplishing through Paul! That’s what Paul boasted in!
What did Christ do through Paul? Verse 18 says He brought about the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit. Paul understood that it was the risen Christ that was doing the saving. Of course He used Paul. He worked through Paul’s words and deeds. But it was Christ who wrought great signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit.
Application: We must boast only of what God has done. If you slip into boasting about all the things you have done for God, you’re going to be put on the shelf. God can’t use you any more. If you start speaking about all your fastings and prayers, all of your sermons, and how much you study the Word, how many people you have witnessed to, etc. you are no longer speaking like a minister of Christ Jesus ought to speak. The only thing that is ever worth speaking about is what He has done! Galatians 6:14, “But may it never that that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
Application: We can’t save anyone. Paul understood that. He says he won’t boast about anything except what Christ has accomplished through him, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed. If anyone is ever saved, it is because God has saved through the gospel. We are just the instruments He uses to proclaim the gospel. That’s it.
Application: God uses signs and wonders to accomplish His work. Of course, this is undeniable Scripturally. In Acts 9:32, Peter traveled down to Lydda, and found a man named Aeneas who was bedridden for eight years because he was paralyzed. Peter told him that Jesus Christ heals him; get up and make your bed. Immediately Aeneas was healed. “And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.” Later in the same chapter we find Peter raising Tabitha from the dead. Acts 9:42 says, “It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.”
Of course, the burning question is whether God still performs signs and wonders today as part of His plan to extend His kingdom in the world. Now, signs and wonders can only fulfill a supporting role in the conversion of sinners. They can’t proclaim the truth of the death and resurrection of Christ and how these events can bring salvation. Only the gospel can proclaim those truths. But signs and wonders can confirm the word. Mark 16:20 says, “And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.”
But should we expect God to do signs and wonders today, or was there just for the days of the apostles? My answer is a qualified “Yes.” On the one hand, I don’t see anything in the Bible that tells us that miracles will cease at any particular point in history. Rather, we are told that miraculous gifts have been given to the church (1 Corinthians 12), and that these gifts will cease when the perfect comes and we see face to face – which must be a reference to the second coming of Christ. However, I don’t think we should expect to see miracles occur in the same measure as they did in the first century of the church. One of the reasons God gave miracles in the early church was to vindicate the authority of the apostles who were laying the foundation of the church. In 2 Corinthians 12:12 Paul writes, “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.” Therefore, if God is no longer laying the foundation of the church through His apostles in our day, we should not expect to see God give miracles to confirm that authority. In the book of Acts, most of the miracles that occurred took place through the hands of Peter or Paul. So, my answer is “Yes”, I believe God still does miracles today, but probably not in the same measure as He was doing them in the first century.
Probably some Christians expect more miracles than they should, and others expect fewer miracles than they should. Some Christians believe it is God’s will for Him to heal everyone, and so they expect all believers to be healed. Other Christians expect far fewer miracles than they should. I think this relates to many of us here at The Bridge. When we pray, we can almost be afraid to ask God to heal someone miraculously and instantly. Of course, we can’t dictate to God how and when He will perform a miracle. But, as long as the gospel is central, and we are submitted to God’s sovereignty, I think we ought to ask God to do the miraculous in our midst.
Conclusion
If you are a servant of Jesus Christ, you are a minister of Christ. Your sphere of ministry may be far more limited than someone else’s. Your sphere of ministry might be a few close Christian friends, your immediate neighbors and relatives, and your children. But within that sphere of ministry, follow Paul’s example.
Remind others of the truth of God. Remind other believers in your life of God’s truth. Don’t worry about the fact that they already know that truth. They need to be reminded of it.
Minister the gospel of God. Pray for opportunities to speak this gospel, and when the opportunity presents itself, be bold! Join The Bridge as we plan special days when we reach out together to share this glorious gospel.
Boast only in the works of God. Refuse to toot your own horn, and draw attention to yourself. If you are going to boast, make sure that you are boasting in what Christ has accomplished through you.
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