Today, we will see Paul continue by revealing for us a third way followers of Jesus are to practice a lifestyle that strives for unity, beginning in Romans 15:14:
And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.In verse 14, we see Paul share his perspective on the members of the church at Rome and their willingness to strive for unity by building others up and welcoming those who were different. Based on all that he had heard about what was happening at the church, Paul was convinced and had a certainty that this was a community that was marked by goodness. This word goodness, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to have a positive interest in the welfare of others.
But not only did Paul have a certainty that this was a church that demonstrated a genuine interest and concern for others; Paul was also convinced that this was a church that was marked by a comprehension and a grasp of the message and teachings of Jesus that resulted in Christ being revealed and reflected to the community around them. When Paul uses the word admonish here, this word literally means to warn and counsel against an improper course of conduct. The church at Rome was not a low expectation, low commitment church; the church at Rome expected people to follow Jesus’ message and teachings in a way that resulted in life change and transformation and that engaged those around them with the message of the gospel.
And it is here that we see Paul reveal for us a third way that followers of Jesus are to practice a lifestyle that strives for unity. And that third way is this: Followers of Jesus are to strive for unity by reminding one another of our mission. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be united in a community that is growing spiritually in a way that reveals and reflects Christ. And we are also called to be engaging, loving, and serving our community around us by investing our time, talents, and treasure, in the kingdom mission that we have been given in a way that reveals and reflects Christ. Paul then reminds the members of the church at Rome, and us here this morning, of the kingdom mission the He had been given by God, beginning in Romans 15:15:
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 from God, 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, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. 1For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in 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 round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And thus I aspired to preach 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 NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND."Here we see Paul explain that the reason behind his letter to the members of the church at Rome was to reveal the mission that He had been given by God to boldly remind them of their mission. As a result of God’s grace; as a result of God’s transformational activity in his life, Paul was driven to the mission of serving God by sharing the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel to the non-Jewish world, including Rome. And in verse 16, we see that the goal that Paul’s strove for was so that the non-Jewish world that responded to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel would be an offering of worship that pleases God and is sanctified. What is so interesting here is that this word sanctified conveys the sense of including someone in the inner circle of what is holy. Paul’s point here is that he was driven to accomplish God’s kingdom mission to bring Gentiles, who were viewed as outsiders, into the community of faith so that they would no longer be outsiders, but insiders as a result of God’s transformational activity in their lives.
And because it was the result of God’s transformational activity and not his own skill that led to non-Jewish people becoming followers of Jesus, Paul explains that he took pride and boasted in Christ of his relationship to God. Paul did not desire to be the focus or the center of attention. Paul did not desire to receive position or prominence or praise for what he had accomplished. Instead Paul desired to deflect all of the praise and prominence to Jesus Christ and His transformational activity in the lives of the members of the church at Rome and throughout the world, as evidenced by their faithfulness in word and deed. In whatever they were talking about and in whatever they were doing with their hands, the members of the church at Rome and others throughout Paul’s sphere of influence were revealing the life changing transformation that had occurred as a result of God’s activity in their lives.
But not only were the members of the church at Rome and other followers of Jesus throughout the region revealing God’s transformational activity in their lives. In addition, God’s supernatural and transformational activity was evidenced in Paul’s life. God was working through the spiritual sign gifts that He had given Paul to perform the miraculous, which served to authenticate that the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel was indeed from God and not made up by man. Paul then concludes this section of his letter by explaining that the ambition that drove his mission was to take the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel to those who were far from God and had never heard God’s message of rescue through faith in Christ.
Paul was not interested in competing with other churches for those who were already followers of Jesus; instead Paul’s ambition was to reach out to those who were far from God so that they could become followers of Jesus and also be a part of God’s mission. And to reinforce his ambition, Paul points the members of the church at Rome, and us here this morning, to a section of letter in our Bibles called the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah 52:15, the prophet Isaiah predicts and proclaims that the Messiah would come to bring God’s promise of rescue to those who had were far from God and had not been invested in and invited to respond to God’s promise.
That is why, at City Bible Church, we refuse to engage in a spirit of competition with other churches. We refuse to engage in a spirit of competition with other churches, we refuse to focus on simply speaking and ministering to followers of Jesus, because that is not the mission that God has given us. As followers of Jesus and as a church, we are to be a unified community that is engaged in God’s kingdom mission to be the vehicle that He uses to reveal His Son Jesus to the world. And as followers of Jesus, we are to engage and invest in the lives of those who are far from God by loving and serving them in a way that reveals and reflects Christ.
You see, God’s kingdom mission is not about competition; God’s kingdom mission is about unity in community that complements one another as we complete His mission. Because, as followers of Jesus, we are to strive for unity by reminding one another of our mission.
So do you strive remind and encourage one another of our mission? Are we striving to be united and complementing others churches in achieving our mission? Or are we focused on competing with other churches in a way that reveals division?
Because the timeless reality is that followers of Jesus practice a lifestyle that strives for unity.
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