Now I myself am
confident concerning you,
my brethren, but you
also are full of goodness,
filled with all
knowledge, able also to admonish one another.Nevertheless,
brethren,
I have written more boldly to you
on some points, as
reminding you, because of the grace
given to me by God,
that I might be a minister
Jesus Christ to the
Gentiles, ministering the Gospel
of God, that the
offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the
Holy Spirit.
Romans 15: 14 -- 16
Discussing
the book of Romans clearly has shown us the deep things of God and how we are
to live as Christians. We cannot
disregard those bold statements by Paul and cast them aside as though they are
of no importance. God inspired Paul,
and Paul wrote those inspired word to encourage us, to show us that the love of
God is so great that He does not leave us destitute. What Paul wrote was clear, plain, and teaching us what is
required of us; that as Paul was, so are we to be, a minister of Jesus Christ,
ministering the gospel of God. There
are many denominations that focus on such things as the miraculous, the
supernatural, and speak of feelings, even of the raising of the dead, speaking
in tongues that were not even authorized by Scripture as though this is what is
required of Christians. You may be one
who has fallen into that camp. Paul
goes on to tell us: "Therefore I
have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God"
(Romans 15: 17). How is it that we
are to glory, as did Paul, in Christ Jesus regard to things which pertain to
God? What are those things that pertain
to God? Is it the supernatural, and the
miraculous, or is it something different?
What is needed to be preached to the world? Paul speaks of things that God accomplished through him: "For
if I will not dare to speak up any of those things which Christ has not
accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles are obedient––
in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God so that from
Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of
Jesus Christ. And so I have made it my
aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on
another man's foundation, but as it is written: "To home He was not
announced, they shall see; and those who have not heard shall
understand"" (Romans 15: 18 – 2; cf. Isaiah 52: 15).
What were those mighty signs and wonders that Paul says he performed by
the power of the Spirit of God? He does
not say! To say about anything in
regard to those signs and wonders is nothing more than to speculate upon that
which is unknown and never spoken of by Paul.
Paul tells us what we need to understand, it is the gospel of Jesus
Christ that he was concerned about in his preaching and it should be our
concern in our preaching and witness to others. Jesus Christ was specific when he spoke about those people who
focus upon the miraculous, and this supernatural, and says to the world that
they do this in the name of the Lord: "Not every one who says to Me,
‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My
Father in heaven. Many will say to me
That in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your That name, cast
out demons in your That name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them,’ I never
knew you; depart from me That, you who practice lawlessness" (Matthew 7:21
-- 23)! Paul knew what Jesus Christ
taught in preached about such things therefore he never focused on those things
and never tells us what those things were that he did that were miraculous and
wonders of God. This is not the
important thing that people need to know about or even experience; for it is in
the gospel in Greek guards to go in life, death, resurrection, and ascension
into heaven by Jesus Christ's that people need to know about. When Jesus says to us, "never"
he used as a specific Greek tense, and that tense is in the perfect tense: the
perfect tense well known by the Greek hearing people understood exactly what
this meant. Somewhere in the past Jesus
Christ did not know those who practice such things as he just spoke about, and
that accomplished thing in the past has continuing and present consequences and
those consequences continue on into the future. This is serious business,
and it is affecting many people to practice things that are not becoming of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and in great sense, it is harming the gospel. Knowledge never saves anyone: it is only God
who saves and not by any works of man.
We are not more up high as or approved by God because we do these things
that he has spoken against. What people
need to understand is that they are sinners and via the fact that they are
sinners they cannot come to God unless God draws them and enables them, and has
given them the faith to believe (John 6: 44, 65: Ephesians 2: 8 -- 9).
Brothers
and sisters come we are ministers to our God and Savior and as an ambassador
for Jesus Christ we have but one responsibility and that is to preach, teach,
about what God has done through His Son, and what is required by those that God
has called, enabled, and given the faith.
They are to convert to Him, and to live according to his will and
commandments. We as Christians are to
deny ourselves, and not be stumbled by the culture of this world that is so in
opposition to God. This takes great
courage as we face this opposition.
This begs the question: who has the priority in our life? I pray that it is God.
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ
is born of
God, and everyone who
love is him That who begot also loves him
who is
begotten of Him.
By this we know that we love the children of God,
when we'd
love God and keep His
commandments.
1
John 5: 1 -- 2
You are a child of God
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