THE BOOK OF ROMANS Thursday – September 19, 2013 – Romans 15:16 “That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.” There is one other thing that Paul was reminding the church at Rome of, and that was that God had appointed him as a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. This was important because the majority of the church at Rome was made up of Gentiles. Paul was a Jew, but he was also a free-born Roman. This gave him a unique perspective in and of itself; but as a Jew, he was also a Pharisee, and very devoted Pharisee who had taken the job of seeking out believers in Christ for the purpose of arresting them as heretics, traitors to the Jewish faith. When Paul was struck down on the road to Damascus, he was not only saved, he was changed, dramatically changed. No longer did he desire to arrest believers, no longer did he desire to persecute those who followed Jesus, and no longer did he feel that they were traitors to the faith. When the cry came from Macedonia (Acts 16:6-11), “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us” (v.9), Paul did not hesitate. Scripture says he immediately went to Macedonia to preach the gospel. His entire life was now devoted to preaching Jesus, His death, burial, and resurrection, and salvation by grace. Remember Romans 10:1, when Paul said his heart’s desire was to see Israel saved? Israel was his people, by birth, but following the guiding of the Holy Spirit, Paul soon found that the Gentiles were his people as well and his desire grew to include them. Paul could have fought the Spirit. He could have said that the Jews were his people and he was more familiar with their customs and beliefs. It would make more sense for him to minister to the Jews. His only knowledge of Gentiles was that as a Jew, they were considered dogs, unworthy of their time or attention. When Paul began preaching to the Gentiles, it was against everything he had ever known. For Paul to preach to the Gentiles was to turn his back on what he had been taught about them all of his life. Many a missionary today has gone off to another country whose customs and traditions are completely different from anything they ever knew. The languages spoken, the way they dress, even their diet, totally foreign to the young person God has called to go minister to them; yet, they go. One family I know of uprooted from their home in Florida and moved to Haiti, over 30 years ago, and they now minister to the Haitian people having learned their language and their customs. God has used them to establish churches and train local pastors to preach and teach Jesus. God has used them in a mighty way, because they heard the call and they obeyed. The next time you bow your knees in prayer, thank God for Paul. He listened to the call of the Holy Spirit and took the gospel outside of Israel, to the Gentiles. If not for Paul, perhaps God would have raised someone else up to carry the message to us, but He did not have to because Paul obeyed. Thank God for Paul’s obedience, for his faithfulness, and for his willingness to leave all he had known, for you and for me. My prayer for today- What a mighty man of God Paul was, and simply because he was willing to be obedient to the Holy Spirit. We all have the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but few of us are as willing as was Paul to obey. Touch our hearts, Lord, and raise up a generation of people faithful to You and willing to follow. For these daily devotions/studies to truly apply to your life, you must first belong to God. He will welcome you because He loves you, even before you love Him. He loves you so much that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Scripture tells us that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation, (Romans 10:9-10). Won’t you confess today and ask Jesus to forgive your sins and be your Savior? He is waiting with open arms…
Posted on: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 08:52:21 +0000
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