Paul describes his own call to frontier trailblazing mission work. He also praises the Roman church’s mature faith.
These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.
Romans 15:8-12 I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs 9 so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name.” 10 Again, it says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to him, all you peoples.” 12 And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him.”
Romans 15:14-22 I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done– 19 by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” 22This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.
I. Main Questions:
1. What is Paul’s main message to the Roman church in this passage?
2. What is the significance Paul saying they are “competent to instruct one another”?
3. How does Paul understand his missionary calling?
4. What is Paul’s ambition? What ambitions should healthy Christians have?
5. What does this passage say to us in the 21st century about world missions?
II. Verse by Verse Questions:
1. What three things does Paul ascribe to the Roman congregation? (14)
2. What does it mean that they are “full of goodness”? How can this be true when Jesus says “No one is good but God alone” and Paul says in Romans 3:12 “There is no one who does good—not even one.” (14)
3. What does Paul mean by “complete in knowledge”? (14)
4. The third statement Paul makes is “competent to counsel” one another. The Greek word translated “counsel” or “instruct” is also translated “admonish” and it relates to dealing plainly and honestly with sin and serious matters of life. What is the significance of the fact that the Roman church is “full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to act as counselors for one another”? How does it relate to Christian counseling? (14)
5. What does Paul say about his writing in verse 15? How has his writing been very bold? What is the “grace given” to Paul from God? (15-16)
6. What does Paul mean by a “minister” in verse 16? How has Paul been a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles”? How does he compare it to a priestly ministry? How does it make the Gentiles an “offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit”? (16)
7. Note other priestly offerings of the Christian life: our bodies (Romans 12:1); spiritual sacrifices (1 Peter 2:5); money (Philippians 4:18); a life of love (Ephesians 5:2); worship (Hebrews 13:15); prayers (Acts 10:4); martyrdom (2 Timothy 4:6)
8. What does Paul mean by “I glory” in verse 17? ESV has “I have reason to be proud of my work for God.” How should we understand his attitude in verses 17-18? (17-18)
9. Do you see a healthy balance in Paul’s understanding of his own efforts on the Gentile mission field, and what God achieved through him? How does this relate to Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 15:10? (18)
10. What is the role of obedience in the Gentiles faith according to verse 18? (18)
11. What other aspects of Paul’s ministry does he mention in verse 19? How have signs and wonders contributed to the spread of the gospel in the Gentile regions? See Acts 8:6, 13:12, 14:9, 14:13, 15:12. (19)
12. How far had Paul travelled in preaching the gospel? Note: Illyricum is modern-day Yugoslavia, across the Adriatic Sea from Rome… a distance of almost 1100 miles as the crow flies… a lot longer overland. What do you find remarkable about that? (19)
13. What was Paul’s “ambition” according to verse 20? (20)
14. Why is it good to have such “ambitions”? Where do they come from? (20)
15. Should everyone have the same ambition that Paul did? Note: there are three uses of the word “ambition” in the NT: 1 Thessalonians 4:11, 2 Corinthians 5:9 and here. How do they instruct you on life callings?
16. What is the scriptural basis of his ambition? (21)
17. What practical point does Paul make about that in verse 22? (22)
18. Comment on the following quote about missions:
John Piper: A few years ago when I had to preach my first missions sermon at Bethlehem I took the yellow pages of the Minneapolis and St. Paul phone books and counted the number of churches in the Twin Cities. There are more churches in the Twin Cities than there are North American Protestant missionaries to the 1.9 billion people that make up 10,000 Muslim, Hindu, Chinese, and Buddhist unreached people groups. Let me say that again: there are 1.9 billion people in 10,000 unreached people groups served by about 700 North American Protestant missionaries. But there are more CHURCHES in the Twin Cities than that.
I could only think of one explanation for this state of affairs: disobedience. What would we say to the Master who commanded us 2000 years ago to make disciples of those 10,000 peoples? It was a personal crisis for me like is was for Fraser. And I told my congregation that I would have to resign and engage more directly on the frontiers unless I could be convinced that by my staying on as pastor of Bethlehem more could be done for the cause of frontier missions than if I were to go myself. How else could I stay in a place where there were 800 churches evangelizing just two million people, and these already reached by any mission standard?
19. How should we develop an appropriate concern for unreached people groups today?
III. Summary:
Paul describes his own call to frontier trailblazing mission work.
