Romans: Unity & Trust

Romans 16.17-27

If you’re joining us for the first time today, we’re happy you’re here, but you’ve come on an unusual Sunday: today we are ending a series we’ve been doing for the last year and a half, on Paul’s letter to the Romans. That might sound like a bad thing for you, like you might be lost because you haven’t followed the last thirty-eight messages in this series, but it’s actually okay. For all its theological depth, Paul’s letter to the Romans actually has a fairly simple and unified message.

My wife and I have two children, Jack and Zadie. Jack and Zadie are very different from one another, but one way you see that difference is through the way they progress.

For the most part, Jack progresses through encouragement—he’s like me. Most of the time, he needs to be able to see that he can do something before he even attempts it. So he needs to be encouraged, he needs us to explain to him why the task in front of him isn’t actually insurmountable, that he really does have all the tools he needs to accomplish a task. And I’m the same way.

Zadie’s like her mom: she progresses through challenge. The best way to get Zadie to do something is to tell her she can’t do it. “This is really hard, kiddo, I don’t know if you’re up to this.” And she’ll go: “Okay, watch.” And she’ll do it. Sometimes if we ask her to do something, she’ll get this look in her eye (that frankly scares me a little) and say, “Tell me I can’t do it.” And when we say she can’t do it, she does it, or at least tries.

Challenge and encouragement are both important motivators for us. Challenge gives us a realistic portrait of where we are today; and encouragement gives us hope that we can be more than we are today.

That is essentially what Paul gives us in this letter—challenge and encouragement. He lets us know what’s actually going on in our lives as Christians today, so we can clearly see the challenge in front of us. But he also gives us incredible encouragement that what we are today is not all we will be tomorrow. That we actually can scale this mountain in front of us.

So that’s what we’re going to see today. We’re going to spend some time reviewing this letter before getting to the final text at the end of chapter 16, because this is where Paul has been going this whole time: it’s not just a final greeting, but a crescendo.

Summary

The first thing that Paul establishes in his letter with absolute clarity is that we are all sinners. All humanity has been plunged into chaos by sin; no one naturally worships God for who he is, but rather we seek to pursue our own desires, to be our own gods. That is what we mean when we talk about sin.

In the first three chapters, Paul levels the playing field. He’s speaking to a very mixed church in Rome. There are Jewish Christians—who were born into the people historically known as “the people of God”—and Gentile Christians, who would have been known as pagans to the Jews. But everyone is in the same situation: we are all sinners, we have all fallen short of God’s glory, and as a result, we are all naturally under God’s wrath. God hates sin, and he’s right to hate sin: he cannot allow sin to go unpunished.

And yet, because God loves his people, he refuses to allow them to continue in their sin. So he comes to save us.

And that’s what we see starting at the end of chapter 3: God’s salvation comes to us all in the same way, and that is through faith, not works. He gives the example of Abraham, the patriarch of the Jewish faith, who was declared righteous by God before he actually obeyed any of God’s commandments. Why was he declared righteous? Not because he was obedient, but because he believed in God. He trusted that God is who he says he is, and that he is deserving of his obedience. After that, Abraham did obey—but it’s not his obedience that saved him. It’s his faith that saved him.

And through faith, Paul says starting in chapter 5, we have hope. He gives us two very large categories for every human being who has ever lived: we are either “in Adam,” or we are “in Christ.” Naturally, we are all “in Adam”—we all inherit the sin of the first man, we inherit his rebellion against God, and we inherit God’s wrath against our sin.

But God gives faith to his people, takes them out of Adam, and places them “in Christ.” Christ lived the perfect life none of us lived, and took on the rebellion of his people, and was punished for that sin, in our place. Now, through faith, we live in Christ’s righteousness, which we wear (like a coat). God looks at us, sees the perfect life of his Son, and declares us righteous. That’s how he can punish sin while saving the sinner: he places our sin on Christ and punishes Christ for that sin, and he places Christ’s perfection on us and declares us perfect.

And Paul says in chapter 8 that no matter what our struggles are, no matter how much sin we still see in our own lives, it’s already been taken care of: nothing can separate us from his love. Because of this, we have hope. We have hope for eternal life—the promise that because of Christ, we will live forever in perfect joy with him. And we have hope for our Christian lives, today—the promise that through faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit who lives in us actually does give us the power to learn to obey him and become more and more like Christ in practice.

Then in chapter 9, Paul widens the scope, showing that God’s salvation has come to all peoples in the same way. The Jews have received the Savior God had promised them, and the Gentiles have been brought in to the salvation this Savior gives.

As a result, these very diverse groups of people can truly live in unity—and that’s what Paul insists on in chapters 12-15. He shows us how we are to live together within the body of Christ (our church), in our cities, in our world. He shows us how we are to take care of one another, and work together to bring the gospel to all the nations.

And now, in this final passage of the letter, Paul gives the Romans a final exhortation, which summarizes the implications of everything he’s said, and reminds us of the true unity he has established amongst his people in Christ.

Fight Division (v. 17-20)

If you remember last week, in v. 1-16 Paul gives a long list of greetings to members of the church in Rome. And then, instead of continuing on to the other greetings he still has to give, he interrupts them with this exhortation: fight division at all cost. V. 17:

17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Some people have wondered why Paul breaks up his final salutations to give this warning against those who create division in the church, but it’s not hard to understand. He’s doing it because he’s literally just finished his list of greetings that celebrates the unity this church enjoys in Christ, and his unity with them. He’ll come back to that unity in a minute, so this warning pops up here in the middle, accentuating the very point he’s trying to make.

Romans, if you wanted to, you could find a million reasons to be divided amongst yourselves, but you haven’t. You’re one body, with many members, and despite the multiple points of tension in your church, you’re doing well. So protect that unity at all costs.

Paul says to watch out for those who cause divisions and who create obstacles contrary to the doctrine you have been taught. Not just people who say wrong things, but who incite others to act in ways that are contrary to sound doctrine.

Now we don’t know specifically what false teachings (or teachers) Paul was talking about here, and we don’t need to, because Paul doesn’t identify them; he describes them.

He says in v. 18 that they draw people away from right doctrine, as we’ve seen. He says that they don’t serve Christ, but their own appetites—no matter what altruistic impression they give, their goals are ultimately selfish. Paul says they deceive the naïve through smooth talk and flattery: “Come on, you’re smart. You love the Lord. You can see this is right.”

Paul says these people are convincing; they’re compelling, because they tell you what you want to hear. But just because you want to hear it doesn’t make it right, and if you learn to know the Bible, you’ll learn to see that.

But sometimes even the most knowledgable Christians can be taken in by a convincing false teacher. In the end, the false teaching will reveal itself,  because the end result of false teaching is always division.

Now we need to be careful to not accuse someone too quickly of trying to create division. “Division” is not the same thing as “disagreement.” We can disagree frequently, and we can do it well—we saw this in chapter 14. We talked a few weeks ago about secondary issues, which aren’t central to the gospel, on which we can disagree and still consider ourselves brothers and sisters in Christ—and even still be part of the same church.

Division comes when we place our disagreements on such a level of importance that it makes communion with one another impossible, when our opinions on secondary issues are so important that they keep us from brotherly love.

Paul is very clear concerning people who provoke these kinds of situations in a church: he says to avoid them. A lot of us won’t dare going this far, for fear of being impolite. Paul’s not afraid of being impolite—if you seek to divide this church, our command from God is to avoid you.

Now, Paul’s not warning the Romans about this because they are currently being divided. He says it in v. 19: For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you. Like Joe said a couple weeks ago, they were doing well. And their disagreements over secondary issues related to their diversity were being handled in the right way. But, Paul says, I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.

And this warning, this reminder, is coupled with assurance. V. 20: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

What he says here is incredible, and it’s subtle enough that we might miss it. The God of peace will soon crush Satan—not under his feet, but under your feet. How will he do this? He will do it by giving us everything we need to live united to one another, many members of one body, living out the gospel amongst ourselves and bringing the gospel forward to those outside the church.

We went through a divisive situation in our church last year, many of you will remember it. You remember the pain it caused, and how worrying it was. It was a scary situation to be in.

But God did not allow that situation to gut the church. You resisted the division, you saw it for what it was, and you said no. You loved each other well, and protected each other well.

What God did in our church last year is proof that we don’t need to be afraid. Christ has won the victory over Satan, and Satan will not stand. Even if he seeks to divide, he will not stand. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

Live United (v. 21-23)

And it is to this unity in the body that Paul returns in the following verses, when he comes back to his formal salutations. It’s like the second piece of bread on a sandwich. He began by celebrating unity within the church of Rome (v. 1-16, last week), takes a step back to contrast it with those who create division (v. 17-20), then comes back to hammer in the nail even further by highlighting unity again (v. 21-23).

But this time, it’s slightly different from what we saw last week. These greetings are not to specific people in Rome, but rather from specific people who are in Corinth with Paul. And in these greetings, like we saw last week, he encourages the Romans to rejoice in the unity they have, in the midst of diversity—not just unity with one another, but also with other Christians in other places.

V. 21:

21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.

So first we see Timothy. Timothy is Paul’s young protégé, a Gentile to whom he wrote two letters we have in the New Testament. He eventually became a pastor in the church in Ephesus; he’s a sort of spiritual “son” to Paul, and probably his closest collaborator.

Next, we see Lucius, Jason and Sosipater. These men are Jews—Paul calls them his “kinsmen,” and he himself is Jewish. We’re not sure who Lucius is, but Jason is surely the Jason we see in Acts 15, and Sosipater is probably the man called “Sopater from Berea” in Acts 20.

So already we see ethnic diversity: Jewish and Gentile Christians greeting the church in Rome together.

Next we see Gaius. Gaius was probably a Gentile, given his name, and he was almost surely a man of wealth, because he was able to give Paul a place to live in Corinth, and host the entire church of Corinth in his home.

We see something similar with Erastus. Erastus is the city treasurer, essentially the Minister of Finance. This was a man of great influence, an elected official in the city of Corinth. He’s a man who would have been known to almost everyone in the city.

So that’s one side of the socioeconomic scale.

On the other side, we find two men: Tertius and Quartus. Notice v. 22: I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. Obviously, Tertius isn’t asserting that he is the author of the letter (Paul is identified at its author at the beginning), but rather that he’s the one who was holding the pen. Tertius acted as secretary to Paul, at least in this instance, and took dictation from him.

So we have Tertius, and then we have Quartus, at the end of v. 23.

You don’t need a degree in Latin to identify what these names mean. Tertius means “third,” and Quartus means “fourth”. What does this mean? It means that these men were very likely born into slavery and not even given names at birth, but rather were simply called, “Third” and “Fourth.”

And yet, Paul calls Quartus “our brother.” Not my brother—our brother. Although Quartus and Erastus would have had no conceivable reason to even look at one another, much less be found in the same room together, even less speak to one another, here they are: brothers. Tertius and Quartus were considered, and accepted, and seen, by men who had no reason outside of Christ to do so.

Why? Because now, in Christ, they are no longer defined by their ethnicity, or their power, or their socioeconomic status; they are defined by who they are in Christ. So they all have the same value, and they all have the same privilege. Andy Crouch said, “Family is a place where you can’t hide; and it’s a place where you can’t get lost.”

What an encouragement these greetings would have been to the Romans! It’s proof that what was happening in their midst—this unity in the midst of tension and differences that ordinarily would have divided them—was happening in other places too. Paul’s saying, “You see, Rome? Everything I’ve just spent fifteen chapters describing, God is doing it, not just in your church, but throughout the Roman empire!” What an encouragement!

Strengthened with such encouragement, the Romans leave the reading of this letter with a renewed motivation and power to live united to one another as Jewish and Gentile Christians, members of one body.

Doxology (v. 25-27)

As is his usual way, Paul ends his letter with a doxology, which serves as a reminder of the assurance the Romans have in Christ, in the light of all of these massive truths he has laid out for them. V. 25:

25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Remember, Paul has given the Romans some monumental tasks here. Living in unity in a context in which division would be very easy—even (humanly speaking) inevitable. Taking to heart the need for peoples in other places (namely, Spain) to hear the gospel. Living out in practice the earth-shattering realities he laid out in Romans 1-8. This is a heavy load he’s placing on their shoulders, and ours.

But the good news, which he has stated over and over again in this letter, is that it’s not up to us to make it happen. We don’t need to muster the strength in ourselves to get this work done.

God is able to strengthen us, by anchoring us in the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is how he has always strengthened his people—see what he says in v. 25-26, when he reminds the Romans of the revelations given by the prophets that have now been made clear in the gospel of Christ. This too, he has done over and over again in this letter, to remind us that everything he describes here was always God’s plan. He has never once deviated from his plan, and he won’t do so now.

Which is very good news for us, because God’s goal and his intention, which Paul already stated back in chapter 1, verse 5, is to bring about the obedience of faith.

God gives us faith to obey; God gives us strength to remain united and to help one another grow in obedience; God gives us faith to undertake God’s mission to bring the gospel to the nations. He is the one who does all of it, through his people and for the good of his people.

Joe mentioned this a couple weeks ago, but Paul likely didn’t make it to Spain. We know he made it to Rome, but we don’t know for sure what happened to him after that.

And it doesn’t matter. The gospel made it to Spain, because God brought it there. And he brought it much further than that—all the way to us, two thousand years later.

God performs this glorious work in his church, according to his wisdom, for his glory, through Jesus Christ. We can trust him.

Because of what Christ has done, God saves sinners.

Because of what Christ has done, God causes imperfect people to grow to be like his Son.

Because of what Christ has done, nothing can separate us from God’s love.

Because of what Christ has done, God will make his glory known to the whole world.

Now, what does this mean for us, today, in Paris in 2023?

It means that we can trust him.

If you are feeling dubious about your own salvation, and whether or not you think God will keep on loving you over time (because you know how unlovable you really are), you can trust him.

If you are worrying about what your place in this huge story might be, you can trust him.

If you’re burdened by the thought of your family members or friends or neighbors not knowing Christ, you can trust him.

If you’re bothered by the idea that you don’t get to reign over your own life, you can trust him.

If you’re worried about being part of the church, worried about getting too close to people because of how often you’ve been wounded in the past, you can trust him.

If you’re hearing all of these magnificent things about God’s plan and worrying that they just might be too good to be true… They’re not. You can trust him.

We can trust him, brothers and sisters. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet. His plan, kept secret for long ages, has now been disclosed to us in his Word. He is able to strengthen us in the gospel and in Jesus Christ. He will bring his good news to the nations, to bring about the obedience of faith. He will be glorified, forever, through Jesus Christ.

And we will be there to see it. We will be there to work with him, and be served by him, and love him, and rejoice in him, forever.

A Real Church

Romans 16.1-16

I love this picture. It was taken during our church retreat last June. We’ll look at it in a few years, and what will we see? A moment frozen in time: a picture of a particular church (ours), at a particular moment in our life together.

In a lot of ways, Romans 16 is the same type of picture.

Last week Joe described the book of Romans as a monumental defense of God’s mission on this earth, and he’s absolutely right. Last Sunday’s text was the climax of this entire letter—it’s the inevitable, final application of his gospel. If you’ve understood and embraced the gospel, you will be mobilized for the mission of the gospel.

But here’s what I love about the Bible, that we can see particularly in Paul’s letters: although Paul can write with such force and eloquence about these huge, earth-shattering truths, he never forgets the very real individuals, the real men and women, to whom he is writing: in Paul’s writing, as throughout the entire Bible, truth is never divorced from love.

So we’re going to do something a little unusual today. We’re going to just go through the text all at once, to try and simply get a grasp of who these people were and why Paul is addressing them like this—to get a kind of picture in our minds, like the picture of our church at the retreat. And then we’ll take a step back and talk about some things God wants us to take away from that picture, because this is a lot more than it looks like on the surface; it’s a lot more than a list of names.

Before we read though, let’s remember the context a little—I know we’ve talked a lot about this over the last year and a half, but it’s really important for this text, and for next week’s as well.

Remember, the church in Rome was a church comprised of Jewish and Gentile Christians who are trying to figure out what it looks like to be followers of Christ together. And we have multiple passages in Romans in which Paul warns one group or the other—Jews or Gentiles—against judging the other group, or entertaining the idea that one group is more favorable in God’s eyes than the other because of what they do or don’t do. These passages show that while there may not have been any open conflict over these issues, there was at least a good deal tension there.

Now, more than one person came to me this past week after hearing Joe’s sermon last Sunday, going, “Didn’t he sort of contradict you?” Joe said that Paul’s goal in writing this letter was not to correct the church in any way, because he says they were doing very well—full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct each other (15.14). Rather, he was writing to mobilize the church for the mission. I was expecting some questions on this, because after thinking about it I realized I probably haven’t been clear enough in past sermons.

I want to go on the record as giving a hearty amen to what Joe said: Paul wasn’t writing to correct the church, and throughout this series I never meant to suggest otherwise.

Here’s what I mean when I talk about tension. Tension is not division; it’s actually inevitable in any healthy relationship, and it is often a sign that things are going well—there is no tension if you’re not working hard. How many healthy marriages are there that have to work through points of tension between husband and wife? The answer is, all of them. Tension is something that stretches you, that needs to be worked out, in order to make you stronger.

Paul didn’t write everything he wrote about salvation and the Law of Moses in order to correct the church in Rome; they didn’t need correction, they were doing well. But this tension between Jew and Gentile was indeed present in the church, because there were Jews and Gentiles there, who were coming at their deep-seated understanding of how God works from very different angles. So Paul said in 15.15, You’re doing very well… “But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder”.

Why were these reminders necessary? Because given their particular makeup, the church in Rome was a church that, from a human point of view, could have been incredibly easy to divide. There was so much natural separation between the different members of this particular body that no one would have been surprised if this church ended up splitting into two different groups—a Jewish church on one side, and a Gentile church on the other, with maybe even more subgroups after that. Such a division over these secondary issues would have been completely unsurprising, but it would have been detrimental to the mission of the gospel.

Greetings (v. 1-16)

And that is why chapter 16 is so beautiful: despite all of the numerous reasons why this church could have been divided amongst itself, in this seemingly uninteresting list of greetings Paul shows us the beauty of the sort of church he describes in chapter 12: one body, with many members.

So let’s look at the greetings together, starting in v. 1:

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, 2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

We’ve mentioned Phoebe once or twice before in this series. She was a deaconess of the church in Cenchreae (a port town just east of Corinth). Paul was likely writing from Corinth, and sent Phoebe from there to Rome in order for her to deliver this letter to the church. He goes out of his way to commend her to them, saying, she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

This more than likely means that Phoebe was a woman of means and of a particular social standing, who put her wealth and her resources and her time at the services of ministers like Paul, who needed support. The missionaries in our church, I think without exception, are living off of the generosity of people back in their home countries, who give them money every month in order for them to fulfill their ministry.

Same thing here: Paul and the apostles were traveling around, bringing the gospel to places that hadn’t yet heard it, and they needed money to do so. Phoebe was one of these people funding their ministries. This service is invaluable to gospel ministry; the mission of the church is impossible to maintain without it.

And as was usual when someone would transmit a communication in this way at the time, since Phoebe had delivered the letter to Rome, she was likely reading the letter out loud to them as well. Which might have made for an awkward moment for her, when she got to this part, because Paul commends her to the Romans and asks them to give her whatever she needed. (“I promise, Paul’s saying this, not me!”)

Next, he says (v. 3):

3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.

Now if you’ve read the Bible, you’ve seen these two before. We see them in Acts 18, where they meet Paul for the first time. Remember, we talked about how this particular context in Rome likely started: the Jews were exiled from Rome by the emperor Claudius and had only recently returned home to this church which was now being run by the Gentile Christians who’d been left behind. Prisca (or Priscilla, as we see her called sometimes) and Aquila were among those Jews exiled, and now they’ve come back home.

They worked in the same trade as Paul (they were tentmakers), so that’s how they got to know him, but Paul also calls them “fellow workers”. We see them doing not just manual labor, but gospel labor; they’re the ones who sort of tutored another important gospel minister at the time, Apollos. They pulled him aside, recognizing his wisdom and his gifts, but also his need for further instruction in the gospel; so they taught him.

Paul says that they “risked their necks for my life”. We don’t know the exact circumstances of this event, but it’s an example of what we saw last week. The church does not need attendees, but Christians who devote themselves entirely to the work of the gospel. This couple devoted themselves to the gospel to such an extent that they risked their own lives to make sure Paul was able to continue his ministry.

He also says at the beginning of v. 5,

Greet also the church in their house.

So here we can see a bit of the organization of the church in Rome: it wasn’t one church that met in one big building, like we do, but several small churches that met in homes, and that likely congregated occasionally and worked together. (That’s the way things were done at the time, and it’s similar to what we try to do today in our community groups—this was one church which usually met in several houses.)

Next we see (v. 5b—we’ll go a little more quickly through these):

Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.

So we have several people: Epaenetus, the first convert in Asia (likely a more recent convert than many others in the church); Mary, whose work may have gone unnoticed, as service in the church often does; and Andronicus and Junia, probably another Jewish couple, who were apparently in prison with Paul for their faith, whom the other apostles know, and who have been Christians longer than Paul himself.

V. 8:

8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.

Paul sends greetings to various people whom he knows, or at least knows by reputation. I’m terrible at remembering names—if you know me at all, you know it’s true. Paul has never visited the church in Rome, but he’s met several of the people there, and he remembers them. For others, he knows of them, and approves of them. He talks about the work they’ve done, how they’ve helped the cause of the gospel, and how they’ve helped him (he even mentions the mother of Rufus, “who has been a mother to me as well”—what a precious gift to have older men and women in the church who can act as surrogate mothers and fathers to those younger than them, even ministers of the gospel like Paul).

These greetings are slightly less personal than the earlier ones (and we’ll see why in a minute), but the overwhelming feeling that comes from these greetings is genuine affection. He’s not just saying, “Say hi to these folks.” These greetings were expressions of unity and affection from Paul and the other churches around him.

In other words, the church in Rome wasn’t anonymous for Paul. He wrote earlier in the letter about how the Romans should view the other Christians in their community as members of one body. These greetings indicate that on a wider scale, Paul sees all of them of members of the body he belongs to as well.

A Real Church

There are several reasons why this list of greetings is remarkable, and worth reflecting upon. But if I had to sum them all up under one heading, I’d say that the list is worth remembering because it helps us remember that this entire letter to the Romans is not a theological treatise. It wasn’t a book that Paul intended for publication, at least not first and foremost. It was a letter that he wrote, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to a real church.

A Real Family

We have to remember that Paul is greeting real people. Paul uses real names to designate individual he knows, whom he has heard of, with whom he has spent time, who each have their own distinct characteristics and gifts.

One of the things that helps us see these are real people—and not just a list of names Paul pulled out of a hat—is the remarkable diversity on display here. It’s a diversity that would have been shocking in any other context.

First of all, we see a great amount of ethnic diversity. We have Jews mentioned—Prisca and Aquila, Andronicus and Junia, Mary (probably), Herodion (these are Jewish names). The rest are names that are not of Jewish origin; they were Gentiles, people like many of us who were “grafted in to” the family of God, as Paul explained in chapter 11.

We also see a great diversity of gender here. Among the names Paul lists, there are nine women, which already would have been surprising in that cultural context. But what makes it even more shocking is that five of these women—Prisca, Junia, Tryphaena and Tryphosa, and Persis—are commended for their labor. And that’s if you’re not counting Phoebe. (Only two men, Aquila and Urbanus, receive a similar commendation.)

Ministry in the early church was never restricted to men; women played a vastly important role in almost every single aspect of the life of the church, and Paul wants the women in Rome to know that he knows how important they are.

In this list is something else that is probably not immediately evident, because you’d need to be familiar with Greek names and phrases (and to be clear, my Greek is not good enough for me to have discovered this on my own). We’ll see this again next week too, but we see in this list an incredible socioeconomic diversity—notably between slaves (or former slaves) and free men and women.

“Those who belong to the family of Aristobulus” are probably slaves belonging to the household of a man of that name (who may not be a Christian himself). Similarly, Ampilatus, Urbanus, Narcissus (and those in his household), Tryphaena and Tryphosa, Persis and Hermes were likely all slaves or former slaves. So these slaves would have been members of the same church as all of these other free men and women, and Paul has taken great pains in this letter to display why they should consider themselves, not as two different classes of people—slaves and free men and women—but as brothers and sisters. It’s an incredible leveling of the playing field.

We also see prominence given to people in different social situations, notably singles and families. Several married couples are mentioned, as well as individuals whose families are never mentioned. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul makes a case for the importance of singleness in the life of the church, and in Ephesians 5, he makes a case for the value of marriage in gospel ministry. Both are good, both are blessings, and both are necessary.

Lastly, we see a diversity of ages here, or at the very least, ages in the faith. He mentions at least one elderly person—the mother of Rufus—as well as someone who would have been at least a comparatively recent convert: Epaenetus, the first convert to Christ in Asia.

Here’s the point of all of this: outside of the grace and work of Jesus Christ, there is no realistic reason why these people should ever have been in the same room together. In Rome at the time, all of these people hanging out together would have been unthinkable. But here we see it: the church is gathered, listening to Phoebe read the letter, and as they look around, they see it. Jews sitting next to Gentiles, slaves sitting next to free men and women, old people sitting next to young people, men sitting next to women.

They should not have been together. But through what Christ has done, these people with nothing in common suddenly find themselves side by side, working together and living together, not just as acquaintances or colleagues, but as family.

The next thing we see is that life in the church is never less than real work. Paul mentions a number of co-laborers in this list, and there is a good deal of variety to their work. We see deacons, prisoners for the faith, itinerant missionaries, and ordinary Christians working hard alongside ordinary Christians.

The Christian church is not filled with acquaintances, and it is not filled with mere friendships. On top of those things, the church is a place of meaningful partnerships. We cannot accept the idea that church is less than partnership, less than work, for the sake of the gospel. It’s much more, but not less.

Thomas Schreiner, in his commentary on this section, says this: “Paul was not a ‘lone ranger’ kind of missionary. At every point in his ministry, Paul depended on a significant number of others who were working along with him. And if Paul needed such help, how much more do we. There is no room in modern ministry for the lone ranger approach either.”

These people did not come to church to have a good time. They didn’t come to church to be entertained. They came to church even though they knew it would likely soon cost them everything (and already had cost some of them a great deal), because God chooses to send the gospel forward through the diligent labor of his children, and this work is good.

The Romans’ work is finished; now it’s our time. We have to get rid of the idea that church is just a community. Church is work: not mainly for one another, but for the sake of the gospel. God has given us a mission, to bring the gospel of Christ to our families, to our neighborhoods, to our city, and to the ends of the earth.

And we are called to be all in—totally committed and given over to the work before us. Like Phoebe, like Prisca and Aquila, like all of these people who gave themselves over (their time, their resources, and themselves) to the work of the gospel, we are called to work sacrificially, in the same way.

But of course Paul isn’t reducing everything down to a kind of business transaction, as if they were all simply colleagues working together for a common goal. He’s not just saying, “Greet these people because they worked hard.”

He’s asking to greet these people because he feels real love for them.

We cannot accept the idea that real, fruitful partnership can be present in the church without real brotherly love.

Multiple times, he specifically calls out this love: “my beloved Epaenetus,” “Ampliatus, my beloved”, “my beloved Stachys”, “the beloved Persis.” He expresses genuine affection for these people, and lest we imagine that he was only singling out his love for these people, he says this in v. 16:

Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

In other words, your affection for one another should be visible. It should be plain and easy to spot. So make visible signs of affection—I would add, in culturally appropriate ways. A kiss was a common way of greeting someone at the time; at least since Covid, it’s become slightly less common to kiss people. And that might actually be a good thing: for the longest time, the “bise” wasn’t actually a sign of love, but just of salutation. At least with members of the opposite sex, when you meet someone—a friend of a friend—you give them a kiss. (Between men, you’d shake hands.) That’s not necessarily a sign of love.

Paul is saying to greet one another with a holy kiss—that is, express your affection in a way that reflects the real and holy love that exists between you as brothers and sisters in Christ. What that looks like may vary wildly, but it should be visible.

For example: How often do we simply say “I love you” to a brother or sister in Christ? Not in an ambiguous or a romantic way, but in a familial way? If I say it to my wife and kids, if I say it to my parents and brothers and aunts and uncles, why wouldn’t I say it to you?

We mustn’t neglect our love for one another, and we must find ways to express that love, to make our love for one another clear and visible.

And this affection shouldn’t just be for the Christians in our church—as he says at the end of v. 16,  ALL the churches of Christ greet you. You are united to one another, but you are united to these other churches as well. They love you, and you should love them.

Paul is speaking to real people, in a real church, with real concerns just like we have, with real differences just like we have. But in this letter Paul has presented a case for believing that it isn’t just possible, but necessary, that these people, and we, see ourselves as one body: essential members of the family of God.

The question is, why? How can these disparate people, with so little in common, consider themselves one body, with a common mission, united by a genuine love for one another?

It is because their very real unity is found in Christ. Look at how many times Paul repeats the same words.

• V. 2: Welcome Phoebe in the Lord.

• V. 3: Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus.

• V. 8: Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.

• V. 9: Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ.

• V. 10: Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ.

• V. 11: Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus.

• V. 12: Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa.

• V. 12: Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.

• V. 13 : Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord.

This reality that these diverse people are “in Christ” is what makes all the difference; it’s why these people can be in the same room with one another, and actually love and depend on one another.

Think all the way back to chapter 5, which we saw around this time last year. In chapter 5 Paul reminds us that the separation that defines the human race is not fundamentally a geographical or ethnic separation. There is one separation that truly matters: every human being who has ever lived or who will ever live is either “in Adam,” or “in Christ.”

We remember that Adam, the first man, sinned against God and plunged humanity into sin and death. Left to our own devices, we are all naturally “in Adam”—we suffer from the same weakness, the same sickness, the same sin. And, in the end, left to our own devices, every human being is naturally going in the same direction: towards condemnation, and eternal separation from God.

But now, because of God’s grace, we have been transported into a new register. If God has given us faith in the work of his Son, we are no longer “in Adam”; now we are in Christ. His victory is our victory. His obedience is our obedience. His righteousness is our righteousness.

Despite our many differences, we are in Christ. This is what defines us now, and this is what unites us to one another. If you look around this room you’ll see a remarkable diversity—not so much of age (we’re still working on that), but of origin and background and gender and, perhaps, socioeconomic status. Yet we are all in Christ. We are many members of one body.

That is what defines us now, and that is what defined these men and women to whom Paul was writing. Think of it: they were in Christ, and we are in Christ. We will see these people in heaven. We will get to talk to Phoebe, and ask her if it was weird to read Paul’s commendation of her to the church in Rome. We’ll get to see Ampilatus and Epaenetus and Andronicus and Asyncritus and Phlegon, and laugh together at how many churches throughout history had a really hard time reading their names aloud during church. We’ll get to rejoice together in the presence of God, forever.

What a gift to see that what we’ve been praying for Connexion since before we planted the church, God has been doing in real, individual churches for two thousand years. These greetings to the Romans are the proof of this. So let us live as who we are: real people, with real diversity, forming real partnerships for the mission of the gospel, supported by real love for one another—and all of this, on the foundation of the real unity that we have with one another, and with our brothers and sisters, all over the world, in Christ.

Why Paul Wrote Romans

Romans 15.14-33

When If you're joining us for the first time this morning, welcome. We are almost at the end of the letter to the Romans, which we have been thinking about for over a year. 

Here is our question this morning: what would be the sign that we had understood Romans? How would it show that we understood the message of this letter ? In other words, if its author, Paul, had a time machine and he came to visit us, what impact would he want to see on us?

That Romans had a great impact on history is undeniable . For those who are interested in these things

Last Tuesday was ... Reformation Day . 506 years since the German , Martin Luther, nailed his 95 theses to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral ; Martin Luther whose theology had an enormous impact ... and whose starting point was a verse from Romans

. 1000 years before Luther, an Algerian named Augustine was converted thanks to a verse from Romans before becoming one of the greatest Christian thinkers in history .

200 years after Luther , John Wesley , a great evangelist in England and America , was also converted thanks to Romans .

In our French-speaking world, the Swiss François Godet wrote that “ it is probable that any great spiritual renovation in the Church will always be linked … to a deeper understanding of this writing . ”
Maybe this is confirmed for us . We can think of specific encouragements that Romans gave us this year .

But what would be the sign that we had really understood his message?

Let us remember the major themes .

Realism about what is wrong with our world - the problem of sin and the wrath of God . Having this realism , is that the sign that we have understood Romans ?

Is it the fact of feeling reassured and grateful to Jesus ? He solved the problem of sin . _ _ We have nothing more to fear. We know that we are at peace with God, we are his adopted children, he loves us with a love from which nothing can separate us . We have every reason in the world to feel reassured and grateful to Jesus ! 

Is this the sign that we have understood?

Is this more obedience to God ? Obedience is the logical response to what Jesus did . _ Paul calls it our reasonable worship. 

Is this the sign that we have understood Romans?

is it that we are becoming more welcoming - the theme of the last few weeks . Know how to welcome people with different opinions on aspects of Christian life .

Somehow we have to say yes and amen to all that ! If after a year in Romans, we are more realistic , more grateful, more obedient and more welcoming ... great ! Thank you Lord ! It was n't wasted time!

However ... if we leave it there , it seems to me that the apostle Paul would say ... that we have not yet completely understood ... where he was coming from .  

As we will see this morning, the sign that we have understood in Rome is that we are burning with a passion for what Adalberto, Josh and Stéphanie have just spoken to us about - the mission - in the first place. s and far away!

I suggest to you that this is what Paul wrote Romans for . To strengthen us, so that we can commit side by side to the proclamation of the good news throughout the world . We will see that this is something that concerns us all, whether we are in Romania, Togo or Paris .

Small parentheses . Our conviction is that God speaks to us today in the Bible.

To understand what God wants to tell us, we must try to understand the situation in which different books of the Bible were written and what prompted the authors to take up their pen and write .

This is why we will spend a lot of time this morning trying to understand in what situation Paul wrote Romans.

He talks a lot about his travels. We can ask ourselves: what link with us today ? In fact, reflecting on your travels is the key to understanding what God wants to say to us . 

So what impact is Romans supposed to have?

Before telling us what his purpose was in writing Romans , Paul tells us in this text what his purpose was not in writing it .

First point

Paul did not write to solve problems

Not mainly, anyway.

Verse 14 - follow with me 

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.

I said earlier that several great figures in history discovered the true Christian faith thanks to Romans . _ It 's super encouraging to read their testimonies .

Perhaps for some of us , Romans played a role in our conversion . This is the case for my wife for example. She read the first chapter which describes our rejection of God. She said to herself : That ’s me. It was an important step in his journey.

Romans offers us one of the most complete presentations of the Christian good news in the entire Bible and therefore as a starting point for discovering the Christian faith , it 's great.

Not to convert them

But it is striking to see that Paul did not write this letter to convert the Romans. They already were . _ _ _ Paul calls them “ my brothers and sisters ”

Sometimes we give the impression that the message of the gospel is the gateway to Christian life . Sin , forgiveness , faith in Jesus - all this is the starting point . Then we move on to something else.

Paul disagrees . He wrote this letter, which talks a lot about the ' fundamentals ' of the Christian faith ... to people who already believed .

Paul did not write to convert the Romans; nor did he write to correct them.

Not to correct them

Some have imagined that the Church of Rome was a problematic church . Maybe they still had a lot of misconceptions and that 's why Paul wrote such a long letter . Others thought that it was a divided church , with factions, Jewish and non-Jewish in particular, and that Paul was writing to them so that they would put their differences aside .

This passage suggests the opposite.

Paul says that he is “ personally convinced that [the Romans were ] full of good disposition, filled with all knowledge, and able to warn one another. “

This church was fine! They were solid, filled with all knowledge. If ever there were small disagreements between them, they knew how to warn each other. They were fine and Paul did not write to correct them.

I 've already heard people say, ' Yes , but maybe verse 14 is just a bit of an English saying . Paul flatters them to make things easier by reproaching them .

Paul was n't like that . Paul weighed his words. When he says they were fine and did n't need to be corrected , he means it .

In saying that , if we discovered from Romans that we needed to correct certain ideas about God or put aside certain differences - so much the better ! Just because the Romans didn't need to be corrected does n't mean I don't need to be ! I think of several slaps that I have received even in recent weeks thanks to Romans .

Still, Paul 's ultimate goal in Romans was not to answer problems .

What was his ultimate goal?
Paul did not write to solve problems ...

 2. Paul wrote to recruit partners 

The purpose of Romans , its ultimate goal, is that we mobilize as partners in the mission - that is to say , the proclamation of the good news of Jesus to the extremities of the earth. 

Verse 14 again

14 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. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 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.

When people ask me what I do for a living and I say that I'm a pastor, one of the questions I'm asked most often is: therefore, you don't have the right to get married. Yes, if I am a pastor, not a priest ! For the Roman Catholic Church, a priest is truly in a different category from other Christians .

This is not the case for a pastor. Protestants say that, on the one hand , our only priest is Jesus ; on the other hand, since we all serve God, all Christians are priests .

It may therefore surprise us that Paul describes himself as ... a priest !

Paul the priest

 Look again at verse 16 . He carries out the “ priestly service ” of preaching the Gospel . He seeks to present to God a pleasing offering . He desires that this offering become holy through the action of the Holy Spirit. He 's a kind of priest !

In the Old Testament, a priest offered sacrificial animals in the temple. Have you noticed what Paul is offering? People ! In particular, people of non -Jewish origin. 

The goal of his ministry is to present as an offering to God ... people ... from all the nations of the earth.

I don't know what you think about that! If you are like me, you may find the image disturbing . I do n't want to be compared to a slaughtered ox or goat dripping with blood .

Please change your image Paul! But in fact this idea should not surprise us because we have already encountered it . In Romans 12, Paul encouraged us , through the mercies of God, to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. That is to say , to dedicate our whole life to the service of God.

That ’s what it ’s like to be a Christian . Grasp what Jesus' sacrifice accomplished for us, and offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, a pleasing offering , in response .

This is true worship. This is our reasonable, logical worship - offering our body to God, since Jesus offered his body for us. The idea of being an offering is not new . The question is why does Paul bring it up again? Did he think the Romans weren't yet enough of an offering ? Did they need a little encouragement to be better sacrifices?

I do not think so.

When Paul says that he wrote to them “ as if to awaken their memories because of the grace which God gave him to be a servant of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles , ” he is not Don't think about the non-Jews in Rome who already believed in . He thinks of those further than Rome who did not yet believe.

Paul was writing to the Christians in Rome , because they were looking beyond Rome to the vast territories populated by people not yet saved

To put it another way, Paul was not just a priest . He was also a pioneer.

Paul the Pioneer 

Verse 17

17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, 21 but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”

I don't know if there are among us ski enthusiasts crazy enough to enjoy going off-piste. Personally I don't have the level. The only time I tried , I got stuck in a tree. Some people love it . Get off the beaten track to discover virgin terrain , where no one has yet skied .

It was a bit like Paul 's approach . Not with regard to skiing - to my knowledge, he has never done it - but with regard to his ministry . Christ had made him a pioneer who announced the gospel in virgin territory, where Christ had not yet been proclaimed . He says his ministry consisted of “ bringing non-Jews to obedience , that is to say , to lead people of all nations, through the gospel , to bow the knee before King Jesus , or to use the image from a moment ago, to offer oneself to God as a pleasant offering .

Paul was a priest ... pioneer ... that Jesus had sent so that people everywhere would become living sacrifices to the glory of God.

Already , that 's something to wonder about . If what we learn from Romans is that we must offer our body as a living sacrifice to God, that's good!

But for Paul, it still doesn't go far enough! It was n't just his little person that Paul wanted to offer to God ... it was the whole world! He didn't say to himself : I have my faith, I have my worship of God, but it 's private , it only concerns me, and I'm not going to bother others with it .

Paul understood that Jesus deserves the world. At the time of writing , he had traveled through Cyprus , several regions of Turkey, Macedonia , Greece , the Balkans, and he never apologized for believing that Jesus died . the obedience and adoration of the inhabitants of all these countries .

On the contrary. He saw his duty to bring them to obedience . Ah, someone will say , isn’t that a bit imperialist ? A little intolerant ? By what right could he say that all these people, who already had their beliefs , had to believe in Jesus ?

But Paul was not an imperialist . He had simply understood that if Jesus created the world and all those who inhabit it , and that he died for the world and all those who inhabit it , then the world and all those who inhabit it are for him.

We can sometimes feel uncomfortable talking about Jesus with people who believe something else . Your Muslim colleague . Your atheist neighbor . The animist Togolese that Josh and Stéphanie will meet.

What right do we have to tell them to believe in Jesus ?

The reality is that your colleagues , your neighbors and all the inhabitants of the earth were created by Jesus and for Jesus , it is not normal that they do not worship Jesus . Jesus deserves the world . Paul had this role of pioneer, because he understood this.

Have we understood this?

But for this pioneering ministry …

Paul was looking for partners for the next phase

Verse 22

This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain…

Paul had just spent 10 years preaching the gospel and planting churches from Jerusalem to Illyria - what we today call the Balkans, countries like Croatia , Bosnia. 

At the time of writing Romans, his pioneering work was finally finished in the east , and he was preparing for what followed in the west .

This is what actually explains his trip to Jerusalem which he mentions in verse 25.

Paul's ultimate destination is Spain . We kind of want to say to him: Paul, if you are in Greece ( where he wrote Romans ) and you want to go to Spain, Jerusalem ... it 's not really on the way ! Another meaning Paul, another meaning! But Paul goes to Jerusalem , to bring to the poor money collected from the churches he had established , precisely to close the first phase of his mission . As if he were saying: look! Peter, James, John , you who are in Jerusalem , where it all began , look at what the gospel has produced !

These non-Jews, who were dirty pagans , became living sacrifices who love you and wanted to help you ... and all that ... thanks to the proclamation of the gospel !

It 's a bit like someone who starts producing wine , who toils all year round , who spends all their time there. His family doesn't really know what it will be like but at the end of the year he brings them a bottle, they taste it ... and it 's delicious .

If this is the fruit of your work, you must continue.

This is why Paul makes this trip to Jerusalem . To say ' look what the gospel has produced! The first phase of my mission is mission accomplished! Let's prepare for the next phase - Spain . '

Because preparing for this next phase ... that 's why Paul wrote Romans.

Verse 23 again

But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.

Paul wrote Romans so that the Church of Rome would commit itself to his side to help him bring the gospel to virgin territory.

Help him financially . _

Help him logistically.

Help him by praying.

Help him by accompanying him in the field.

The goal of Romans is to mobilize for the mission. The sign that we have understood this is that we too are mobilizing . Let us consider ourselves partners fighting side by side in the great mission of the gospel .

Joe , are you saying that Romans, with all its richness and depth, amounts to a fundraising letter ?

When we depend on donations to fund a Christian ministry , we write letters to potential donors talking about our ministry and asking for money .

We often feel a little embarrassed to ask for money , so we talk about everything we do and why it 's important - we post nice photos - and then at the end we slip in a little word to say ' by the way, could you support us? '

Am I saying that Romans is it ? A letter requesting support?

No.

Romans is Paul's masterful defense of the mission of the gospel to the nations . He begins by evoking a duty towards all, civilized or not, wise or ignorant, which comes from the fact that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of all those who believe. 

In the first half of the letter, he explains everything that this mission to the nations produces for the nations. To be justified , sanctified , assured of one's salvation, loved , glorified . In the second half , he explains how this mission to the nations helps Israel too . His point is to say that only the announcement of the gospel to the world can create a new humanity blessed by God and which obeys God .

He spends 15 chapters showing it , then he asks: did you understand that ? Get involved with me!

And friends, if during this year in Romans we have understood something of the goodness of the gospel , let us mobilize too. The sign that we have understood where Paul was coming from is that we adopt his mission as our mission.

Rome was the center of the world in the first century . All roads led to Rome. His church was perfectly placed to shine in Europe , Asia and Africa. We who are in the center of Paris are also well placed to shine in France and, thanks to the very international character of our assembly , well beyond .

The needs are enormous . Let 's start with our city.

You may be familiar with the statistics. It is estimated that for every person in France to have a realistic opportunity to hear the gospel , there would need to be one evangelical church for every 10,000 inhabitants.

In Paris, there is one for 25,000. We must support the establishment of new churches . There will be more to say on this in the coming months.

Other regions of France are even less well off . The Pays de la Loire. Overseas, Mayotte. Not to mention the needs elsewhere in the French-speaking world.

As in Paul's time, the unreached or barely reached regions are numerous. So am I saying that we should all drop our work tomorrow, take a one-way ticket to Timbuktu and go preach in the streets there ? Or do we all have to make the same choice as Adalberto, Miranda, Josh and Stephanie?

No, even though there are probably people in this room to whom God has given gifts to proclaim the gospel and access to certain cultures who should at least ask themselves the question of whether the mission abroad or in other regions of France is for them .

But for most of us , that 's not what we're going to do. For us what is needed is a change in mentality .

Do we have this desire not only to be living sacrifices, but also to see other people, near and far, also become living sacrifices to the glory of God?

We need a mentality that unites adoration and mobilization for evangelization and mission . John Piper says the highest purpose of the church is not mission, it is worship . If mission exists, it is because worship does not exist.

In the light of Romans, one would say that he is right.

Jesus deserves the world . If we adore Jesus , let us aim to lead others to adore him too . Near and far.

Perhaps you wouldn't introduce yourself as a Christian this morning and wonder what relevance any of this has to me? I would like to tell you that we are delighted that you are here . 

The relevance is enormous . This mission exists because God came to seek out people who were far from him to offer them true life . If you want to know more about this true life , reading for yourself this book, Romans in the Bible, would be a good place to start .

For the rest of us, all this means that Connexion Church does not exist just for her. There is a danger for a church to become turned in on itself . 

Having a missionary mentality implies being outward - looking , ambitious to see the gospel advance , including in virgin lands, and to support its progress through our words, our prayers and our doors. -currencies.

To the extent that we are already ' among the nations ' here in Paris , we all have a role to play so that the gospel is proclaimed wherever God has placed us . Our French, Malagasy, Cameroonian friends , and so on, are all part of what God calls “ the nations ”

And even if we will not all be pioneers who set off into unknown lands, we are all partners called to support those who are.

There is a story told about William Carey, who is sometimes called the father of modern missions. William Carey had shared his desire to proclaim the gospel in India with the newly founded Baptist Missionary Society . 

He was told : “ There is a gold mine in India; but it seems as deep as the center of the earth; who will venture to explore it?”

Carey replied : “ I will go … but remember you have to hold the rope. ”

Wouldn't it be a beautiful thing if Connexion Church was both a William Carey church and also a church that held the rope for others .

It would be expensive . This would involve putting money behind projects of which we do not know how long they will bear fruit . It would involve saying goodbye to friends. For some, it would mean being the friends to whom we say goodbye.

But it is a cost that we will agree to pay if we are animated by this vision - Jesus deserves the world .

The apostle Paul, we don't know if he ended up going to Spain or not . What we know is that when he returned to Jerusalem he was arrested and that when he arrived in Rome a few years later , it was as as a prisoner.

Was he able to leave for Spain afterwards ? Some think yes, some think no, and it doesn't matter! Because someone did it . For what ? Because the message of Romans has been understood .

A missionary mentality was adopted , people mobilized , a partnership was forged and the gospel was proclaimed to unknown lands .

And U.S ? Did we understand?

As Christ Has Welcomed You

Romans 15.1-13

When we began Connexion in 2014, one of the most consistent things people said about the church is that they came once because a friend invited them, and they kept coming back because of how they were welcomed. We were a much smaller church back then—for the first year, there were about thirty of us—and we held our services in the afternoons. After service, everyone walked back to the apartment where Loanne, Jack and I lived and had dinner together. We spent a lot of time together, and everyone was invited.

That became impossible to maintain pretty quickly: thirty people in our tiny apartment was unsustainable. And yet, we (and by “we” I mean you, the people who were here at the time) found ways to keep making people feel welcome. The welcome team here does an incredible job every week, not just setting things up, putting out coffee and tea, handling the logistics of the service, but also doing everything they can to make sure when people walk in the door, they are welcomed. I’m so grateful for the work they do, because it’s thankless and incredibly important.

That said, the fact that they do such a good job might give us the impression it’s the team’s job to welcome people. And it also might give us the impression that that’s all “welcoming” is: serving coffee and saying hello and making sure people get integrated into the church.

Welcoming people in the church is not only for the welcome team; it is not just serving coffee and getting people integrated; and it is not only geared towards people coming for the first time. All of us are called to welcome, and all of us—even those of us who have been here for years—need to be welcomed. Because it’s much bigger than what happens when you first join a church.

Essentially, this is what the apostle Paul has been bringing us toward throughout this entire letter.

In chapters 1-8, he talks about the gospel: how it works, how it applies, exactly what Christ did to save people who have sinned against him. (And if it’s your first time, just a reminder: when we talk about “sin,” we’re essentially talking about rebellion against God: our desire to be our own masters rather than letting our Creator rule over us.)

Then in chapters 9-11, Paul took everything he said before and showed how it applies to the particular people groups he’s been writing to: the Christians in the church in Rome, who were a mix of people from both Jewish and Gentile origins. He says that the gospel—the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ—is not only for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles. These two groups that had been historically separated from one another (the Jews being “the people of God”, and the Gentiles being “everyone else”), Christ has brought together into one body, through his life, death and resurrection.

Then, starting in chapter 12, Paul zoomed way in, showing us what difference this unity makes on the ground—in the church and in the world. Paul ended chapter 14 by showing that those Christians who are more mature in their faith should sacrifice their own preferences for their weaker brothers and sisters in Christ: to not do anything that would make obedience difficult for others down the line, even if the thing in question isn’t sinful at all. It’s more important to love your brother, and make obedience easier for him, than doing whatever it is you want to do at that time.

That’s where we are at the beginning of chapter 15, and here, Paul’s going to start zooming back out again. He’s going to take what he said in chapters 12-14 and show how all of this practical obedience is actually rooted in something deeper. Essentially, Paul is going to bring us back to the same place he left us at the end of chapter 11: we’re going back to the big picture. And in that big picture, he’s going to point us to Christ, showing how Christ served us, so that we might understand how to serve one another, and why.

Christ Took Responsibility for Our Failings (v. 1-3)

He begins by continuing his thought from the end of chapter 14. This is similar to what he was saying before—about how we must be patient with the differences of opinions we might have, and sacrifice what we want for what will help our brother and sister grow. But here he makes it more explicit, and takes it even further. V. 1:

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

Now on the surface it seems like he’s saying exactly the same thing as last week—but there are some notable differences. First, he says we aren’t just to bear with the opinions of our brothers and sisters in the church, which we might not agree with, but with their failings, with their weaknesses. (Literally translated, he says we must bear with “the weaknesses of the powerless”, or “those who lack power”.) He’s not trying to create several different “classes” of Christians (it’s not the strong versus the weak); he’s merely stating a fact, and that fact makes total sense. I’m stronger than my son, not because I’m better, but because I’m older. He’s eleven, I’m forty-two, so I’m bigger than him; I can do things he can’t. In the same way, a Christian who has faithfully followed Christ for years will naturally be “stronger” than someone who met Christ last week—they’re not better, but the new Christian simply hasn’t had time to grow yet.

So we who are strong must “bear with” the weaknesses of our brothers and sisters. (And that goes both ways: we all have areas of strengths and weakness we need help with.) So far, that might not seem surprising—like he’s saying, “Be patient with one another, and love one another despite your weaknesses.” That’s not wrong, but he’s saying a lot more than that.

Two things show us that “bearing with” each other’s weaknesses is more than simple patience. The first is the word “please”—what does it mean to “please” your neighbor? If Paul is commanding me to do whatever makes you happy, then I’m in trouble: what if what makes you happy, in the short term, is horrible for you? What if I have two neighbors, and they both want two opposite things? We can’t “please” everyone all the time.

But the context reminds us that’s not what he’s talking about. Firstly, he tells us the goal : we are to please our neighbor for his good, to build him up. So “pleasing” here doesn’t mean making our neighbor happy, but rather doing what contributes to their good and their growth in the faith.

He’s making a contrast in v. 1, saying that we are called to act for our neighbor instead of acting for ourselves—we are to put them first, instead of ourselves.

Which brings us to the second way he shows us what it means to “bear with” each other’s weaknesses: we bear with each other’s weaknesses, instead of seeking to please ourselves, because this is how Christ acted toward us.

In verse 3, when Paul says, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me,” he’s quoting Psalm 69.9. In Psalm 69, David is talking to God, saying that those around him who hate God also hate David, because of his clear association with God. They hate God, so they attack David. They’re wrong to do so, but it doesn’t matter: in their minds, David and God cannot be disassociated.

You see, it’s not so much a question of consequence, but of identification. David was identified with God so deeply that when his enemies wanted to attack God, they came after David. In the same way, Christ identified with his people so completely that when God’s righteous wrath was poured out against our sin, it fell on Christ instead of us.

When Christ was crucified, what did he do? He united himself to his people to such an extent that he took responsibility for sins he did not commit. He had committed no sin, and wasn’t remotely guilty of anything we have done or will ever do. Even so, he took responsibility for our sin, and endured the punishment for our sin, in our place.

Christ identified with us so completely that he bore with our failings—he took responsibility for us, though he wasn’t responsible for our sin.

This is a model for us—again, not of consequence, but of identification. We are not responsible for the weaknesses of our brothers and sisters; but we can—and we are called to—take responsibility for one another. To “bear with” the failings of the weak means to take on ourselves the work it will require to help someone grow from weak to strong.

When Loanne and I got married, I was still very much a kid—I hadn’t yet learned to be a responsible adult. I had significant debt from the two years I’d spent at university in the U.S., and I hadn’t been making my payments. When we got married, Loanne had to “bear with” my failings in this regard. She shared in the consequences of my lack of responsibility. She taught me to pay my loan payments, to do basic things that adults need to do (and trust me, that learning process was painful for both of us).

If we are in Christ, we are no longer separate from one another: weak or strong, we are all members of the same body. So we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak: if they don’t grow, the whole body is weakened. We share in that responsibility.

The great news here—the humbling news—is that this is nothing new. In calling us to bear with one another’s failings, and not just our successes, God isn’t asking us to do anything he hasn’t already done himself. Identifying with God’s people to such an extent is scary and painful and hard, but God has always been faithful to fulfill his promises and accomplish his good plans for his people. Christ is the proof of that: foretold in the Old Testament, fulfilled in the New.

Christ Unites Us by His Word (v. 4-6)

And this is where Paul goes next. It’s a bit of an aside from his main argument, but it’s an important one. He’s widening the scope once again: we take responsibility for one another because Christ took responsibility for us. In doing so, he fulfilled what was written about him centuries earlier, the prophecies with which the Jews had lived their whole lives. V. 4:

4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Notice the “for” at the beginning of v. 4: he’s referring to what he’s just said in v. 3. When Paul quotes Psalm 69 in v. 3, he’s bringing the Romans back to Scripture, reminding them that what David wrote isn’t just an interesting coincidence. The Old Testament constantly anticipates, or explicitly foretells, the person and the work of Jesus Christ.

Why is this so important? Because if we know that God has fulfilled his promises before, we’ll have the assurance that he will continue to fulfill his promises in the future.

There are many things that Scripture prophesies, that have already taken place. The life, death and resurrection of Christ. The inclusion of the Gentiles into God’s plan. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We could keep going. These are things which, for the Christians in Rome at the time, were done—they were past fulfillments of the promises of Scripture.

But there are many other prophecies in Scripture which haven’t yet occurred. The return of Christ. The new heavens and the new earth. We still have an incredible number of promises for which we are still waiting today.

If God fulfilled his promises in the past, he will keep fulfilling his promises in the future. But in order to have that assurance, we need to understand what those promises are—what God’s character is like, what his plan is, what he wants for his people.

All of these things and more, we find in the Scriptures, the Word that God gave to his people for their instruction. This Word—which we find in the sixty-six books of the Bible—instructs us for three reasons, which we find in v. 4.

Firstly, it exists to help us endure. A lot of us count on our own feelings to help us endure. It’s easy to persevere in our faith when we really want to, and when our situation is making endurance easy. It’s not difficult to persevere when you’ve had a good night’s sleep, you’re well fed and you’re walking at a comfortable pace.

But there will be times when our feelings will pull us in the opposite direction. There will be times, like the times the Romans were living in, when we will feel like God’s plan has derailed. We may feel persecuted, not victorious. We may endure suffering rather than ease. We may feel like all of our prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. We may feel far from God. In these periods, in these moments, we must persevere, and we cannot trust in our feelings to get us there, because much of the time our feelings are begging us to just lie down and sleep.

The only thing which will allow us to persevere in that kind of a situation is the Word of God, because it is objective. It is written in black and white, we can hold it before our eyes, and we can see that what was written thousands of years ago was fulfilled. We can see the promises of God for his people, and we can look back at our own lives and see that—no matter what I’m feeling right now—God did these things for me. We can look back at events in our lives and remember that that did what God said he would do.

No matter how we’re feeling, if God fulfilled his promises in the past, he will fulfill his promises in the future. So we can persevere. We can keep going. Because we know that no matter what we’re feeling, his promises are assured.

Secondly, the Word of God exists to encourage us. When we persevere, and do the hard work of obedience even we don’t feel like it, we see the result of our obedience in our lives and—what do you know!—the result we see in our lives is exactly what God’s Word said it would be. We already saw this in chapter 5, verses 3-4: We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

Which, coincidentally, is the third reason the Word of God instructs us: that through the encouragement of the Scriptures YOU MIGHT HAVE HOPE. Remember, hope in the Bible is not a feeling: it is the assurance of a coming fulfillment. It is knowing that whatever we can see is not all there is, and it is definitely not what will be forever.

The people of God—the body of Christ—the church—is formed by the Word of God. And when we know that, the short prayer Paul gives in v. 5-6 makes perfect sense:

5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul showed us earlier in the letter that God’s plan for his people was laid out in the Old Testament, long before Christ ever came. So his prayer here—that we, God’s people, might live in harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus—is a prayer that we as God’s people might finally experience what was predicted in Scripture: that all of God’s people, Jew and Gentile alike, might be united to one another and live united to one another, and glorify God with one voice.

Christ Serves All Peoples (v. 8-13)

Which is exactly what Paul brings back to our minds starting in v. 8. Remember, the Romans would have read this letter in one sitting. We’ve been seeing it over months, so it’s been a while since we’ve seen Paul insist on this to such an extent, but the context in which he is writing is that of the tension that existed between the Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome.

So in v. 8, Paul brings us back to the fact that the hostility that once divided these disparate groups of people has been removed in Christ.

V. 8:

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,

and sing to your name.”

10 And again it is said,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”

11 And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

and let all the peoples extol him.”

12 And again Isaiah says,

j“The root of Jesse will come,

even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;

in him will the Gentiles hope.”

These verses are a succinct summary of what he said earlier, in chapters 9 through 11. Christ became a servant to the circumcised (that is, the Jews); when he came, his ministry was almost exclusively amongst the Jews. They were the ones he preached to, they were the ones he healed. Why? To show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs. The promises which foretold that the Messiah, the King whom God promised to send, would come to save his people.

At the same time, Christ’s ministry also ensured that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. The Christian church began in Jerusalem, under the ministry of the apostles (all Jewish), and grew out from there, to the entire Roman Empire—to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Suddenly, people who were not Jewish were placing their faith in the Jewish Messiah, and being integrated into the church.

This too was a fulfillment of promises given in the Old Testament—several of which Paul quotes in v. 9-12. (In verse 9, he quotes 2 Samuel 22.50 and Psalm 18.49 (50); in v. 10, Deuteronomy 32.43; in v. 11, Psalm 117.1; in v. 12, Isaiah 11.10.)

All of this brings us back to where Paul left off in chapter 11—though the Jews were historically known as God’s people, Jesus Christ came in order to open the door to all the nations. The Gentile Christians had been grafted in to the historic people of God, whom the Jewish Christians still represented. They worshiped the same God the Jewish Christians did; they were no longer two peoples, but one.

Welcome One Another, as Christ Welcomed You (v. 7)

So you can see what Paul has been doing here—for three chapters he has been applying these glorious truths to the daily life of the church, teasing out many implications and showing them how they might live out these truths. And here, he brings the Romans back to the main point, reminding them of why they are to live this way.

Which is why, in v. 7, he gives his final, global application:

Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

I held off reading this verse until now because it acts as a kind of pivot point in this passage. V. 1-6 provide the foundation for his command in v. 7 (this is why he begins the verse with “therefore”), and v. 8-13 deepen that foundation even further (which is why he begins v. 8 with the word “for”).

Paul has explained that Christ took responsibility for the sins of his enemies—because of his work, we have been forgiven, declared righteous, reconciled to God. This was the fulfillment of what the Scriptures said Christ would do, and we have received these Scriptures for our instruction, to produce endurance, encouragement and hope. We are now a people formed by the Word and united by the Word. We have been united to one another, as members of one body—if one member falters, the whole body falters.

So in the light of all that, how are we to respond? Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

So now we see how this command to “welcome one another” goes far beyond saying hello to people over coffee on Sunday morning (though that is an excellent beginning). Welcoming one another as Christ welcomed us means several things, all of which we see in today’s text. It means treating the other Christians around us as members of the same body. It means celebrating in their joys, and persevering together in our failings. It means (as we saw last week) putting the growth and maturity of our brothers and sisters ahead of our own desires—even if it takes a long time and a lot of patience to get to that growth.

It also means moving toward one another, to help one another grow, and then moving together towards those people we don’t know yet, outside the church, because many of those people don’t know Christ yet, but they will. And we are called to welcome them into the family—to speak to them about Christ, to sacrifice ourselves for their salvation. It’s never one or the other; we are not allowed to choose between the edification of the body of Christ and the mission of the body of Christ. One does not come without the other. We grow in Christ, and we help each other grow, in order to move outside these walls and make disciples of all nations—to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the nations might glorify God for his mercy. (This is what we’ll be talking about next week.)

Can we just be honest and agree that what Paul is calling us to is a lot of work? I even joked about it at the end of last week’s service: Now I don’t just have to think about my OWN obedience, but also the obedience of the people sitting next to me? To a certain extent, yes! We can’t control what our brothers or sisters do; but we are called to help one another obey and grow, no matter how long it takes, no matter how annoying and painful and frustrating that might be.

It’s a lot of work. But here’s what we must remember, and this is what Paul has been getting at this whole time. If Christ has welcomed us, as sinful and fallible and inconsistent as we are, and if God’s plan was always to unite us together as one body for his glory, what excuse could we possibly have for living our life any other way? What Christ did and does for us is infinitely more difficult than what he is asking of us. So if Christ has welcomed us anyway, as monumental a task as that was, what excuse could we have for not welcoming one another, for not bearing with one another’s failings, for not taking responsibility for the other members of our own body?

What he is calling us to do is difficult, absolutely. But it is far easier than what he has done for us. And the good news is that we don’t have to do it alone.

Doxology (v. 13)

Which is why Paul ends this section with this simple and beautiful doxology—a final prayer to remind us that we cannot do this under our own steam…and we don’t have to. V. 13:

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

This is the third time he has mentioned this final goal of our hope in his goodness and his plan (after v. 4 and v. 12). Our hope is that God will do what he promised he would do—that he would save us by the finished work of Christ; that he would give us a full assurance of our salvation and fill us with the incredible joy and peace which come from that assurance; that he would unite us to one another; that he would cause us to grow up into Christ together, as a body; and that one day, just as he promised, he would bring us home.

These truths, this assurance, are what should be in the back of our minds every time we come together to worship, every time we enjoy our community groups together, every time we read the Bible together, every time we sit down to a meal together. These truths animate our love for one another, our discussions with one another, and the sacrifices we make. These truths reorganize our priorities, remind us of what is truly most important to us—not our professions or our hobbies or where we live, but the people of God, saved and forgiven by the work of Jesus Christ, and united to one another for his glory. Nothing is more important.

We are one body, in Christ, and we are growing together in him. So let us welcome one another, as Christ has welcomed us, for the glory of God, and let us rejoice when we do it, because we know that we’re not doing it alone.

The Limits of Our Freedom

Romans 14.13-23

On September 13, 1989, a ground-breaking event took place in my life: Tim Burton’s Batman was released in cinemas. I went to see it multiple times that fall, and when it was released on VHS a couple months later, I watched it constantly.

The following April was my ninth birthday. Mom and Dad asked what I wanted to do for my birthday and I didn’t even have to consider it: I wanted to invite my friends for a Batman movie night.

So that’s what we did: we had pizza, we watched Batman, it was fantastic.

But my dad was the youth pastor in our very conservative church, and he was young himself (only 32 at the time). A couple days after the party, he got called into the pastor’s office for a talk. Apparently some of my friends’ parents had complained to the pastor that it was inappropriate for my dad to show such a dark movie to their kids.

To be fair, they should have gone to speak to Dad directly. But that’s not what shocked me. What shocked me was when Dad told me that the pastor had been right to call him to task about it. Not because Batman was in itself inappropriate (he still didn’t think it was), but because he should have taken these other families into consideration.

It annoyed me to no end when I was young, but Dad always said the same thing during my adolescence when addressing this kind of situation (it’s almost as if he’d learned something that day). He always quoted Romans 14.16: Do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. In other words, do your best to avoid even the appearance of sin, even if no actual sin is happening.

That verse has stuck in my brain my entire life, and it used to bother me. Why should someone else’s mistaken opinion of what is wrong or right determine how I decide to live? We talk so much about freedom—why should I give up my freedom to do as I please just because it happens to bother someone else?

That is the question Paul asks in this text, and it’s a difficult question, because it’s so incredibly real. It sits right at the point where our theology meets our everyday life, and for a lot of Christians, that’s where things fall apart.

If you remember, since chapter 12 Paul has been applying everything he said in the first eleven chapters: because of God’s mercies to us in Christ, we are called to present ourselves as living sacrifices as our spiritual worship to him, which means pursuing love for one another in the church, love for others in the world, and holiness in every sphere of life.

Last week, in chapter 14, verses 1-12, Paul reminded us of one way love can easily be lacking in the church: we have differing opinions on secondary matters—like what foods are okay to eat, what days we should celebrate—and because of these differing opinions, we can end up judging one another. As we saw last week, when the Bible says, “Do not judge,” it doesn’t mean to never judge an action or a situation, but to not judge the person: to “judge” someone, in a biblical sense, is to consider them less worthy or legitimate as a child of God because of something they do.

So Paul tells us not to that, for two main reasons: we all have the same Lord and Judge, and we all have the same motivation.

In short, in last week’s text, Paul told us what not to do in the midst of disagreements. In today’s text, v. 13-23, he tells us what to do: how to proactively love each other in the midst of disagreements.

Love Your Brother By Protecting His Conscience (v. 13-19)

The first thing he tells us to do is surprising: he calls us to love our brothers and sisters by doing whatever we can to protect their conscience.

V. 13:

13 Therefore—that is, because we have one Judge, to whom we will give an account—let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

So he reminds us: don’t judge—but instead, love your brother (or your sister) by helping them listen to their conscience.

Now, if you remember the context of this chapter, you’ll remember that he’s speaking practically here, not theologically: he’s referring to things we do, which come out of our theological convictions. He comes back to this example of what the Roman Christians eat or do not eat. In all likelihood, he’s talking about Jewish Christians who have been told all their lives not to eat certain kinds of meat (because these meats were forbidden by the law of Moses), and who would have had a very hard time in their conscience, sitting at a dinner table where these kinds of meat were being served.

That’s the situation, and Paul’s speaking directly to those (probably Gentile Christians) who would have had no problem eating meat. He’s telling them not to judge those brothers or sisters who don’t see things the same way, and to go even farther than not judging—he’s saying, “You see your Jewish brothers and sisters have a hard time with this. So help them out. Don’t do something you know is going to make listening to their conscience more difficult.” That’s what he’s getting at in v. 14:

14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.

So here Paul speaks clearly: for you Christians who believe it’s fine to eat any kind of meat, you’re right. Ever since the apostle Peter’s vision in Acts 10, in which God actually tells him it’s okay to eat all kinds of meat, that has been the official position of the Christian church: Christ fulfilled the Old Covenant, so now you can eat what you like.

Paul agrees: no food is inherently unclean.

Bu then he says something strange, in the second half of v. 14: but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.

Why would that be the case? Let’s take a different example. In the churches in which I grew up, they believed that it was sinful to drink any alcohol, of any kind. I always understood why they would speak out against excess, against drunkenness; but why they would say that it was wrong to have a glass of wine with dinner baffled me. (I understand a little better now, but it’s still pretty funny to hear a teetotaling preacher try to explain why Jesus’s first miracle of turning water into wine “isn’t what it looks like”.)

Here’s the thing, though. Let’s say one of these Christians came to France, and came to dinner at our homes. Most of us would likely serve wine with dinner. This person might feel like he has to drink some wine (it would be rude not to, after all), so despite the fact that he believes it’s a sin, he does it anyway. He has a glass of wine. And when he does, his conscience is screaming at him: This is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong.

But the next night, it gets a little easier to have a glass of wine with dinner. Then a little easier. Then a little easier. Keep in mind, he’s not accepting the wine because he’s convinced it’s okay: he’s drinking wine because everyone else is, even though he still believes it’s wrong.

What is he doing when he does this? He’s essentially desensitizing himself to his own conscience. He’s teaching himself not to listen to his conscience.

Now, in this case I would say his conviction that alcohol is inherently sinful is wrong (after all, as Paul says, no food or drink is inherently unclean). We’re still growing; sometimes we’re not as sensitive to the Holy Spirit as we should be, or our conscience gets bothered not because of what the Bible says, but because of preconceived ideas we’ve inherited. So we won’t get it right every time.

The problem is that if this brother learns to ignore his conscience in this matter, what will happen on the day his conscience tells him something he really needs to listen to? If he desensitizes himself to his conscience, he runs the risk of not listening to it, for fear of being too strict—even though it’s telling him exactly what he should do.

If you’ve been a Christian for twenty years, maybe you have the maturity to take a step back and see what’s going on; maybe you have the maturity to listen to your conscience no matter what. But if you’re “weak” in the faith, as Paul says—if you’re a new believer, or if you simply haven’t exercised those particular muscles yet—it won’t be so easy.

So you, strong brother or sister, you need to help your weaker brother, and make it easier for him. V. 15:

15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.

These Gentile Christians knew enough about Judaism to know that eating meat would probably be hard for many of their Jewish brothers and sisters, even if their conviction was mistaken. So Paul says to take that into account when you sit down to eat together, when you host a meal.

Why? Because if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.

This might seem unfair, because Paul is (at least in a limited way) making our brothers’ and sisters’ feelings about something our own responsibility: he says, you are no longer walking in love, if your brother is grieved by what you eat. Of course you can’t help it if you didn’t know—but most of the time we can guess, and if we can’t guess, we can always ask: “Do you have wine with dinner? Is there anything you don’t eat?”

I hope you see what he’s doing here (and it’s going to be difficult for some of us): in this text, he’s not calling us to think theologically. He’s rather calling us to think relationally, for theological reasons. There’s a difference.

For example, if you’re thinking purely theologically, your defense will probably be, “Well, it’s not a sin to eat meat.” You’ll say “it’s not a sin” to do whatever it is you’re doing. And you might well be right.

But that’s a really low bar—plenty of things aren’t sinful, but that doesn’t mean they’re helpful. Just saying “It’s not a sin” doesn’t take into account the Christian sitting across from you—what they’ve understood, what their convictions are, what their maturity is like. "Is this a sin?” should not be our only question—we should also be asking: “How will this serve the brother or sister with me? How can I love them in this situation? How can I build them up? How can I help them grow?”

Love Your Brother By Sacrificing Your Freedom (v. 17-22)

This is hard for us to accept: loving your brother, protecting his conscience, might sometimes mean sacrificing your own freedom. That is something none of us want to do. We place a high price on our freedom, and we’re not wrong to do so. But what if our desire to preserve our own freedom ends up putting our brother or sister in chains? Is it okay to preserve our own freedom at the expense of someone else’s?

If our goal really is to be like Christ, to love one another and to build one another up, then our own appetites will go way down in our list of priorities.

V. 17:

17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Think of how much time we spend trying to earn simple pleasures. A good meal with friends and family. A good time on vacation. Comfortable homes. Enjoyable pastimes.

None of these things are wrong in and of themselves. But they are not the essence of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God isn’t about pleasures—at least not earthly pleasures to be gained right away. The kingdom of God is about deeper things, things which will dig roots and continue to bear fruit for all eternity, things that will bring us infinitely more pleasure than a good meal or a good vacation every will: righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That is, growing to be like God, having peace with him, and knowing the joy of being his children.

So these are the things we should be pursuing above all others. And if we do, that will have necessary consequences on our decisions. We will not just be thinking about what we want at any given moment, but about how to serve God in whatever situation he puts us in. And if that situation brings with it a brother or a sister who needs help to grow, then that brother or sister’s needs will come before whatever we happen to want at the time. If our focus really is the kingdom of God, our own appetites will take second place.

This might all sound abstract, but remember the context: it’s harder to get more down-to-earth than a meal. You, Gentile Christians in Rome, want meat, and that’s fine—it’s okay to eat meat. But if your Jewish brothers and sisters are eating with you, then eating meat meat might compromise their integrity. Who cares if they’re wrong? What’s more important? Eating what you want, or helping other members of the body of Christ learn to listen to their conscience?

This is what’s at stake in these really practical matters of what we eat, what we drink, what we watch, what we listen to, what we laugh at, what we discuss. V. 20:

20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.

Notice what Paul is doing here. Like before, he is placing the conscience of our brothers and sisters at our feet—and here, he goes even further. He doesn’t just say that if we eat although our brother is grieved by what we eat, we’re not walking in love (as he said in v. 15). He says that it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.

We will have two big objections to this. Firstly: “How can I make someone else ‘stumble’? I’m not forcing them to sin.” Maybe not. But if you’re doing something you know is troubling them in their conscience, you’re putting them into a position in which they feel pressured to do something they think is sinful. And remember—they’re weak in their faith.

I have two younger brothers. When we were kids, I could talk my little brothers into anything. Firstly, because they looked up to me, and secondly, because I was the strong one. I don’t have to force anyone to sin to make them stumble; I just need to put them in a position in which they doubt themselves, in which they worry what their “more mature” brother or sister in Christ will think of them if they don’t do this thing. In such a situation, many people will stumble—and if they don’t, then at the very least they’ll be miserable trying to fight the temptation.

The second objection is even more complex: how can someone “stumble” if what they’re doing is not a sin? Paul has already said that in the Lord Jesus no food is unclean in itself; it’s not a sin to eat meat. So how can something that is not sinful make someone “stumble”?

We’ve already talked about this: it’s a question of conscience. There are a lot of things that the Bible clearly calls sin. Those things, we should all avoid—it is objectively, clearly sinful to do something the Bible calls us not to do.

But there are other things that are less clear, that may come more from upbringing or from past trauma or from social norms. Or maybe they come from the situation: how do we apply the Bible’s instructions in this particular context? Sometimes these ideas will be right, and sometimes they won’t; but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that, for whatever reason, these acts or behaviors about which the Bible is less explicit make the person concerned feel uncomfortable in their conscience: they feel like they shouldn’t do this, that it wouldn’t be honoring God. Their consciences are warning them to not do this thing.

We need to listen to our consciences, even if the Bible says nothing explicit about a particular action or decision. Our conscience is how the Holy Spirit guides us when the Bible doesn’t speak on a given subject, and often he does this by warning us against things that might not be sinful in itself, but that wouldn’t be good for us.

For example, someone who is predisposed to addiction could more easily become an alcoholic than someone who isn’t. So the Spirit may warn this person, in his conscience, to stay away from alcohol, because once he starts he may not be able to stop.

The point of all this should be a big relief for those of us who aren’t perfect yet (that is, all of us): Paul wants it to be clear that it’s okay to still be growing. It’s okay to not know where every line is; it’s okay to not know what the Bible says about every possible sin, or how to apply what the Bible says in every conceivable situation. These are things we’ll learn with time.

So if you’re more mature in your faith, don’t make this learning process more difficult for your less mature brothers and sisters. Make things easier for them. Take their growth into account. If you see they’re uncomfortable with whatever you’re doing, do something else. Really, what will it cost you? A little bit of your own pleasure now, in order to love your brother or sister well. What we gain from that exchange far outweighs whatever paltry pleasure we lose.

Love Your God By Not Taking the Risk (v. 23)

And if you’re the less mature one, and you’re uncomfortable but you’re not sure whether you should be, Paul has one simple word for you: if you have even the slightest doubt about whether or not you should engage in any activity, don’t do it.

V. 23 (this is the one verse directed towards the “weaker” brother or sister):

But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

If you have a doubt about whether or not doing this thing is a good thing—eating this meal, or drinking this drink, or watching this movie, or listening to this music, or participating in this conversation, or spending time alone with this person—if you have a doubt about whether it’s a good thing or not, don’t do it. If you have a doubt, and you do it anyway, you’re condemning yourself.

Don’t panic when you hear that: he’s not using the word “condemned” here in the same way he did at the beginning of chapter 8—Paul has clearly told us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. What he means is that if you do something even though you think it might be sinful to do it, you’re making yourself guilty of sin. It may not be sinful to eat meat, but if you’re unsure about that and you do it anyway, eating meat becomes sin for you, because you’re displaying your willingness to disobey God. You’re showing that you’re willing to take the risk of disobeying him—not because you’re convinced it’s okay, but because everyone else is doing it.

Now, that sin of being willing to disobey God has been covered by the blood of Christ, absolutely—he lived, died and was raised in order that you might be forgiven of that. But it’s still not nothing: we don’t speak often enough about the fact that sin isn’t just something we have to confess later, but something we’ll have to recover from. All sin—even sin we know has been forgiven by God—makes it harder for you to listen to God in the future, harder to enjoy God in the future. It’s a sin you will have to confess and recover from later. Don’t do it.

But why would something that’s not sinful—in this case, it’s eating meat, but it could be any number of things—become sinful just because we have doubts? Paul gives the answer: because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

So if you have a doubt, don’t do it. Let your refusal to do something—even something that might be okay—be an act of faith, a way of telling God, “I don’t know if you want me to do this. But I want to be like you so much, I want to take holiness so seriously, that I don’t want to take the risk.” That’s an act of faith: denying yourself something that might be fine, in order to do something you know is right.

Conclusion

A good way to land the plane here might be to come back to this question of freedom. Paul says in v. 14: I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. That’s a pretty broad statement, if taken out of context—obviously, he’s talking about things that God created, not sinful actions we commit. But one of the most frequent questions that people ask me (and we asked it this week in our home groups) is, What exactly does it mean to be “free” in Christ? Are there limits to that freedom?

I often explain the freedom Christ gives in two complementary ways. If we look at the teaching of the Bible as a whole, freedom in Christ means, firstly, that we are free from having to earn our salvation through our behavior. It is not the fact of doing or not doing certain things that makes us right with God—it is only the work of Christ accomplished for us through his life, death and resurrection, and applied to our hearts by his Holy Spirit to give us faith in repentance. That is what saves us. So we don’t have to achieve anything in order to be loved and forgiven by God. That is incredible freedom.

But it does come with a necessary change. Freedom in Christ does not mean that we are now free to do whatever we want. Rather, freedom in Christ means that we are finally free to desire those things we should desire, free to do those things we should do. Why? Because now God has given us faith. Before he came in and changed us, we had no faith, so we only sinned, all the time—we did nothing from faith, and whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. But now, we have faith. We can finally do things that proceed from faith—we can finally desire those things God says are good for us, and we can desire them for the right reasons.

So how do we know the limits of our freedom in Christ? If nothing that God created is unclean in itself, how do we know when to say no?

This text gives us three clear limits.

Limit 1: We say no to anything the Bible calls sin. Again, nothing God created is unclean in itself, but there are plenty of ways to misuse what God created: the human body, our relationships, food, drink, leisure, our minds, our hearts… If the Bible clearly calls something sinful, that is an automatic no for us.

Limit 2: We say no to anything our conscience tells us not to do. Again, our conscience might be wrong—or rather, we might mistake for conscience things that make us uncomfortable for other reasons. It doesn’t matter: if we have a doubt, it’s better to say no. It’s not worth the risk of desensitizing ourselves to the voice of the Holy Spirit reminding us of what truly is right and wrong. If we feel our conscience is troubled by something, we should say no, even if the Bible says nothing explicit about it.

Limit 3: We say no to anything that might trouble the conscience of the brother or sister next to me. This is more of a general principle than a “no”—when we are with other people, we take them into account before making a decision. We ask ourselves what would serve them best in this situation, how we can love them well in this situation. And if we don’t know, we ask. We have that conversation. Like we saw last week, if we approach these discussions with humility, they will always result in growth in our faith and in our relationships with one another.

There is incredible freedom in Christ—but that includes freedom we might not expect. It means being free to not pursue our own desires at all costs. It means freedom to put others’ needs before our own. It means freedom to focus our eyes on something other than ourselves, which is far more freeing than we imagine.

Let us serve one another well, love one another well, and celebrate our freedom together by what we don’t pursue, just as much as by what we do.