Romans 15:7-21

Romans 15: 7-21 –Gentiles, Paul and the Gospel

Sum Up 1-6  Bear the weaknesses of other Christians, be of the same mind and with one accord and one voice glorify God.

Read 7-21 Looking for Paul’s description of his Ministry Mission. (Preach the gospel of Christ to the gentiles or where it has not been preached before). V16

·         Paul was called to minister to gentiles

·         Paul was let by the Holy Spirit

·         Paul focused his speech on what Christ had accomplished through him.

This passage is an interesting comment on the idea of dispensationalism. Paul cites OT prophesy about how Jesus would come and ultimately rule over the gentiles and give them hope. The OT focuses on God’s interaction with His People, the Jews. But the NT, particularly Paul’s ministry spreads out to other people and nations. This section of scripture highlights the change in how God is moving on earth after Jesus came.

BUT I have advertised this section of Romans as the “practical” part of Romans, so let’s talk about a practical application from these verses.

Paul characterizes his sermons/ministry as highlighting God’s work over his own. He says, “¹⁷ Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. ¹⁸ For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me,

For thought as we go:

Let’s take a few minutes and think about 2 or 3 conversations you have had this past week. How much of them boasted on things pertaining to God? For that matter, how many of them contained any mention of God at all? I will come back to this idea in a minute, but let’s look at a few other things first.

Of course we can all claim, “I’m no Paul”. We would be right about that. But if Jesus is your Savior, you have a lot in common with Paul. Let’s explore that idea a little.

Paul was called to minister to the Gentiles. I am sure that God has called me to be the best husband I can be (Karen is helping me with that), to lead this class, and to Obviously live for Him at work and in other places where I interact with People. What has God called you to do?

 There may be some folks here that are not sure what God has called them to do. What would you say to a person who is a believer but is unclear about how to respond to a question like that?

The next thing that Paul mentions is the leading of the Holy Spirit. I am sometimes a little skeptical of what people claim to be led to do by the Holy Spirit. Can you be sure that something that you want to do is from the Holy Spirit? How?

Finally, Paul focused his speech on what God had accomplished through him. I find that hard to do. At work, I’m usually thinking about teaching, getting tasks done, etc. Does anyone else feel like they sometimes go days without mentioning the Lord in a conversation? What kind of shift in thinking or actions can help us to use Paul’s technique (bragging on God) to fulfill the mission God has given us?