Romans 1:8-17 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.… We tried to appreciate in our last homily the character of the Church to which Paul directed this Epistle. We now pass to the policy he meant to pursue should he ever reach Rome; and which he embodies also in this Epistle. One or two preliminary matters, however, will prepare us for the climax in the paragraph before us. And - I. PAUL LIFTS THE VEIL AND SHOWS HIMSELF AT HIS PRAYERS. It is a case of intercession. How noble and broad the views contracted at the throne of grace! The apostle becomes a statesman as he lies before the Lord. 1. He gives thanks for the world-wide reputation of the Roman Church. "First I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of ['proclaimed,' Revised Version] throughout the whole world." Rome, as the metropolis, had many ways of communication with its provinces, and the Church at Rome had all the advantages of provincial publicity. In this Paul rejoiced before God. It led to much discussion of the new faith on the part of many who would not otherwise have heard of it. Believers are consequently to be witnesses; the world will sooner or later hear of their existence. 2. He presents ceaseless intercession for the Roman Church, that he may himself be sent on a mission to it. "For God is my Witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son," etc. (vers. 9-12). Now, this intercession is not only ceaseless, but self-denying. Oftentimes intercession simply commits others to the care of the great Father, without involving us in any personal mission. It is different when it contemplates such a personal inconvenience and sacrifice as a journey to Rome implied to the apostle. How genuine and sincere intercession proves when it involves us in arduous missions! And then this mission is with a distinctly spiritual purpose - that Paul may, as apostle, communicate some "spiritual gift" with a view to their establishment in the faith. How often are missions undertaken for minor and temporal objects, a look after Church organization and such-like, instead of having the revival and establishment of saints steadily in view! 3. Paul expects to get good as well as do good in visiting Rome. He says, "that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me ['that I with you may be comforted in you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine,' Revised Version]." Even an apostle with special gifts to convey expects reaction to follow his holy action; he gets benefit while giving it; it is the law of the kingdom. "It is more blessed to give than to receive." II. PAUL REVEALS HIS MISSIONARY ZEAL TOWARDS ROME AS A PURPOSE LONG CHERISHED, BUT HITHERTO HINDERED. "Now I would not have you ignorant, Brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you (but was let hitherto), that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles." It was a settled purpose pressing through long years for accomplishment, and the writing of this Epistle was an expedient adopted amid the continued hindrances. It surely shows how determinedly sacred work should be set about; not as the outcome of hasty impulse, but as the result of deliberate, prayerful conviction. III. PAUL PRESENTS US WITH A WONDROUS SENSE OF HIS INDEBTEDNESS. "I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise." Writing in Greek to these Christians at Rome, he doubtless, according to custom, included his correspondents in the term "Greeks," and not in the term "barbarians." This sense of universal indebtedness arose out of his commission as apostle to the Gentiles; but it is also a distinctively Christian conviction. The genius of Christianity makes us do good unto all men as we have opportunity, and especially to such as are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). No other system so lays the burden of the world's welfare on us. Besides, Paul did not choose a certain class to whom to minister. He took men as they came, "the unintelligent" (ἀνοήτοις) just as readily as "the philosophers" (σοφοῖς). It is noble to throw off selfishness so thoroughly as to feel through Christ a debtor unto all men. IV. THE POLICY TO BE PURSUED WAS TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also," etc. (vers. 15-17). And here we have to notice: 1. The method pursued always was preaching the gospel. It has been said, "Preaching is an institute peculiar to the gospel. It is an agency, previously unknown, which Christianity has created for itself to be its chosen mode of utterance. Jesus and his messengers are, therefore, the only preachers." This method of personal agency, this plan by the pulpit, not by the press, is most instructive. It secures a contact of mind with mind, and heart with heart, which no mechanical substitute can furnish. Even if the pulpit had lost its power, as is insinuated but not proved, the one remedy for this would be the revivifying of the instrumentality. 2. The subject-matter of the preaching is the gospel of Christ. It is an announcement of good news, of which Christ is at once Embodiment and Author. Not a newspaper, with startling intelligence of a personal nature, but a message with a personal application, constitutes the subject of preaching. The good news is this, that God, though justly offended with us because of our sins, is yet prepared for Christ's sake to receive us into his favour and fellowship, as if the estrangement had never been. Surely this is what each sinner needs. It suits the Roman and the Grecian and the barbarian. It is a message for the whole human race. 3. This gospel is "the Tower of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." God has many powers abroad. What destructive forces may we see around us! But here, in contrast, have we his energy manifested for saving purposes. Every one who believes the good news discovers that salvation is in it. The Jew got the offer first, and then was it given to the Greek; but Jew and Greek alike experienced salvation through simply believing it. 4. This gospel is in addition a revelation of God's righteousness from faith to faith. For the gospel is not a promise merely, but also an act of judgment. It is God declaring from his throne that he is prepared to pronounce the sinner righteous, and to accept him as if he had faithfully kept his Law, because of what Jesus has done and suffered in the sinner's room. It is the pronunciation of a reprieve and the utterance of an invitation to fellowship all in one. It is God's public way of burying our imperfect past and receiving us into immediate favour. It is only faith, of course, which can take such a revelation in. The condition of the soul in sin leads sight to suppose that God's righteousness must be always against the sinner; but the proclamation of the gospel leads faith to infer that God's righteousness is now for him; that God somehow can maintain his character for justice and at the same time be gracious to the sinner. The proclamation is, of course, based upon the satisfaction made by our blessed Saviour on our behalf. "God can be just" as we shall subsequently see, "and yet the Justifier of him who believeth in Jesus." 5. The sinner so justified lives by his faith. Here we have the grand consummation. The faith, which simply receives God's offer of justification, becomes the organ of life. We assure ourselves that we shall never perish out of the Father's hand, but continue through his mercy unto life eternal. Just as, under the old covenant, life was attached to obedience, so, under the new, life is attached to justification, which in its turn comes through faith. As Paul subsequently asserts, "Being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life" (Romans 5:9, 10). The practical bearing of this subject is clear. Have we received the gracious message by simple faith, "the hand of the heart, or have we put it once more from us? May our reply be satisfactory! - R.M.E. Parallel Verses KJV: First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. |
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