Okay, I’ll go back to the making decisions post eventually…but I wanted to continue in my thoughts about Romans. I’m finding that just thinking through the basics of Christian theology has been a good reminder to me of what my life’s purpose is and understanding grace better.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.



I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong – that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.



—Romans 1:8-15 (NIV)

Upon first glance, this section certainly doesn’t seem like it’s as theologically rich as the first seven verses of the chapter. But as I look at the different things Paul addresses in his opening remarks to the Romans, I see a lot of small things that I can take away.

• Paul thanks God through Jesus Christ for the Romans. Paul has always struck me as a very thankful guy. I’ll go into the reason for the thankfulness in my next point, but I wanted to examine this little bit. I’ve heard people say such things as “Praise God” for this, or “Thank God” for that, without really considering what it really means. I probably do that a few times every day. In fact, I could give countless examples of times when I’ve been less than sincere with my words. And what gives me pause in this short phrase is that while I can’t say for certain Paul’s motives for writing what he did, I’m pretty sure that those words were sincere. And that makes me wonder, how many times do I go through my day and thank God for the people He’s placed in my life? How many times do I tell them how much I appreciate them? How do I show that appreciation? I don’t really want to think about the answers to those questions, they make me realize just how far I am from showing others that I care for them.


• The Romans’ faith was being reported all over the world. What I see in Paul’s account (and reason for his thanksgiving) is the growing reputation of the Romans’ faith. It seems to me that this indicates that, perhaps, our faith should be known around the world – there should be a known reputation for the faith of Christians that marks it as different than anything else. Hopefully, it’s a good reputation. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, and thank God for grace that pays the price of failing for us. I guess my point is that this talk about how “faith is a private matter” is a bunch of baloney – everyone has a belief system and worldview, and to say that it should be kept private for fear of proselytization is imposing a worldview on everyone that believes that. There is no neutral ground.


• Paul serves God with his whole heart. I guess I should clarify that a bit by saying that not only does Paul serve God with his whole heart, but he wholeheartedly preaches the gospel. I see Paul’s passion in this verse. It’s something that I long to be able to say – realizing that it’s not an emotional concept but a fully conscious choice to commit all the way in what I do.


• ”...that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” I’m realizing more and more how weak I am without the encouragement and support of close, intimate friends. I think this illustrates the concept of fellowship pretty well…our faith grows stronger through the encouragement of like-hearted people.


• Paul is obligated preach the gospel to everyone. As the letter continues Paul establishes why the gospel he preaches is obligated to everyone, regardless of who they are and what their background is. But that’s probably giving the part of the story away. I think it’s a good reminder to me that I, too, have an obligation to preach the gospel to all people. And while my giftings may be different than Paul’s, I’m definitely not exempt from that call.

Wow, another late night. But I’m glad that I got some time to meditate on the Word.