From Romans 15:14 we’re headed downhill toward the last “Amen” in the letter. Verse 13 (which we looked at last November) is a great benediction, a good word that bookends the last major division of the application/implications (that started in 12:1) which addressed brothers welcoming one another as Christ has welcomed us (14:1-15:13). What remains is more personal, with some reminders from Paul about his commitment to the church in Rome as part of his commission to take the gospel to the nations.

The paragraph covers verses 14-21. We’re going to take it in two parts. Verses 18-21 are probably one sentence, and it’s a sentence that begins by explaining verse 17; we’ll pick up at that point next time. For now verses 14-16 are a feast, more than an explanation for the epistle and his tone, they are an expression of Paul’s life aim. This is enough to get someone fired up; it certainly fired up the apostle.

You know a lot about the apostle Paul. For that matter, we’ve been with him for fourteen and a half chapters (386 verses, 84 previous sermons) of this letter. If you had five minutes to write one sentence of Paul’s life mission, what would you say? You could hardly improve on Colossians 1:28, or even Philippians 1:25. Before he describes his work product (verses 17-21), he describes and defends what pushes his work. It wasn’t that he was discouraged about the Romans, it’s that his objective was so ambitious.

Two parts: his confidence in God’s work among them and his compelling desire for God to accept them. Paul was well pleased with them, he wanted God to be fully pleased with them.

Confident Approval (verse 14)

Paul wrote an awful long letter to some people he was convinced had everything they needed.

I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. (Romans 15:14 ESV)

This is personal, I myself and you yourselves, along with the my brothers. It’s personal and emphatic and affectionate.

It’s also confident. He starts by saying he’s satisfied, alright, also “convinced” (NASB) or “fully convinced” (NET), “persuaded” (KJV) as in, having been brought to a particular point of view. He had his info, and had no doubts. About what?

His confidence was in their maturity. They were full, filled with all, able. It’s astounding, considering that the church in Rome had to have been less than a decade old, and Paul had never been there (see verse 22). But Paul thanked God for them, “because your faith is proclaimed in all the world” (1:8).

Here their faith manifested in character: full of goodness. Their faith was not ignorant or sentimental, but they were: having been filled with all knowledge. (And that was true before having heard the contents of this letter.) And their knowledge was of the kind that was for the community, not just the individual: able to instruct one another, though “admonish” (KJV, NASB) would be better; assuming a standard and helping one another toward it in “congregational obligation” (Morris). (This was apparently true in spite of the stronger/weaker brother tangles.)

They had goodness, knowledge, and capacity for speaking the truth in love and building up one another in the body. That’s some reputation, and Paul accepts it, affirms it, and yet is both pleased and not satisfied. This reference in Mere Christianity isn’t exactly the same, yet there’s some overlap.

“As a great Christian writer (George MacDonald) pointed out, every father is pleased at the baby’s first attempt to walk: no father would be satisfied with anything less than a firm, free, manly walk in a grown-up son. In the same way, he said, ‘God is easy to please, but hard to satisfy.’”

Compelling Ambition (verses 15-16)

With that kind of endorsement, what else to they need? I don’t think that Paul is merely being polite; he’s plainly thankful for them, while also having such a massive goal that he can’t consider his work done.

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. (Romans 15:15–16 ESV)

I referred to these verses a couple weeks ago applied to sermons and especially the word of reminders. Who’s to say that every Christian in Rome knew every bit of Paul’s teaching on sinfulness and guilt, on righteousness by faith and in our walk, on the love of God for groaning sufferers, on God’s blessing some to make Jews jealous that they would return to Christ, let alone all the particulars on presenting ourselves as living sacrifices. And so what if one of them said, “I know all that.” Paul still knew what God’s grace to him was for.

He wasn’t just reminding, some of his reminders were written to you very boldly. In the original text boldly or audaciously is the first word in the sentence, grabbing attention. He wasn’t holding back, wasn’t reluctant to remind them. It was part of his calling. That’s what the grace given to me by God refers to, not his salvation, but his apostleship, as evidenced by the fantastic progression of his purpose in verse 16.

He was a minister of Christ Jesus. It’s not the usual word for minister/servant, it’s leitourgon (λειτουργὸν), a man who leads in public service, typically in worship settings, but sometimes of the work of government officials. There’s a pattern to follow, a proper ordering of things. Of course our word liturgy descends from it. For sake of our mediation, he was a liturgizer of Jesus.

This was aimed mostly at τὰ ἔθνη (same as the object of the Great Commission), the “nations” or the “peoples,” so not the nation, Israel, but the rest, so the ESV translates it, the Gentiles, all ethnicities other than his own (his Israelite brothers, Romans 9:2-3, 10:1, 11:1).

Unlike his usual analogies (shepherd, builder, father, etc.), here Paul likens his work as priestly service of the gospel of God. He’s been talking about “the gospel of God” since the start: “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God” (Romans 1:1 ESV). The gospel is the good news about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and of peace through faith, but the whole news is from and through and to God.

This priesting work was preparing an offering, that the offering of the Peoples may be acceptable. He considered the whole “fullness of the Gentiles” (τῶν ἐθνῶν - see Romans 11:25) — as many as were appointed to eternal life (see Acts 13:48) — as a “gift” brought as an expression of service. The gospel is making, transforming, adorning, a gift-people. You are part of that gift.

“[D]oubtless this is the priesthood of the Christian pastor, that is, to sacrifice men, as it were, to God, by bringing them to obey the gospel.” —John Calvin

Such an acceptable offering is only possible as sanctified by the Holy Spirit. All three persons of the Trinity are working, and all three are honored as the offering is surrendered for His pleasure.

The gospel can be summarized, and, its aims are sweeping, both for each believer and among the nations.

As confident as Paul was in their faith, he was compelled by his bold ambition (also verse 20). In this case, if it’s not broke, press the gas pedal.

Conclusion

Is your character full of goodness? Are you filled with the knowledge of God and His will? Are you ready to come along side your brothers so that they might walk even better in newness of life, for altar-living? If yes, praise the Lord! You’re still not done for the Lord, and in particular, we all are being consecrated for presentation to the Lord.

This is group jealousability for serious. The gospel of God is the power of God for salvation, from faith to faith, making an obedient offering to God. The gospel does more than get into your head, it messes with all our stuff.

---

Charge

Individually, we are meant for altar-living. Corporately, we are meant for completed, consecrated communing, to be an offering acceptable to God. He has purposed our whole group holiness and health. He has bold ambitions for us, to make us pleasing to Him. Live your amen, so let it be.

Benediction:

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (1 Thessalonians 5:23–24, 28 ESV)