Full Circle

We come this morning to the close of Paul’s monumental letter to the Roman Church. That doesn’t mean I’m done with it. I would almost suggest putting that word close in quotes, because though Paul does begin to conclude his thoughts to this church in Rome, like a good pastor, he has another good thousand words or so, a full chapter and a half of final thoughts. This morning, we find ourselves once again in Romans chapter 15, if you would begin turning there. In order to set the context of the verses before us, Paul has been discussing the Christians’ relationship to so many others. This is one of the lengthiest sections in his entire letter. It began back in chapter 12, as we’ve seen.

He discusses the believer’s relationship to one another, the relationship to those who are hateful towards them, the relationship with those who are discouraged or downtrodden, the relationship with those who are contrary to us, whether they’re Christians or not, And in chapter 13, we saw that Paul’s continued subject of relationships goes even into a consideration of the Christian’s relationship to civil authority and also then with those that Paul simply identifies as our neighbor. And then in chapters 14 and 15, which we have only just concluded, Paul deals there with the important subject of the weaker brother, the relationship of the stronger brother and the weaker brother. And so it certainly seems as if Paul must have exhausted the amount of relationships that really needed to be addressed. But In the latter half of chapter 15, Paul takes up one last and very crucial relationship. It’s his relationship with the Roman church itself.

We’ll come back to verses 13 and 14 momentarily. But in verses 16 through 19, if you would glance there, Paul rejoices and even boasts in Christ Jesus for all of the stupendous things that God had allowed him to do and that allow him to see in his ministry. If you would glance down at verse 17, Paul says, therefore, in Christ Jesus, I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit, so that from Jerusalem round about as far as Elycrium, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Paul is overflowing with gratitude to have been used by God for so glorious a ministry, the salvation of the Gentile nation, and it’s almost as if he’s talking like his ministry is over.

It’s not. And in verses 20 through 29, Paul details his future ministry plans. He desires, as his conviction, to preach the gospel on new frontiers, new frontiers of ministry where the gospel has not been preached, unharvested fields, as he says, where Christ was not already named.

And he says this really for the sake of the Roman Church. who had already embraced the truth of the gospel, and therefore it was not Paul’s top priority to go there. Paul desires to come to Rome, but for now he has other priorities, not the least of which is a trip to Jerusalem to deliver the monetary gift that he had collected from the Gentile churches to relieve the suffering of the church in Jerusalem. And so ministry in Rome will just have to wait. In verses 30 through 33, Paul appeals to the Roman Christians for prayer. In essence, he implores their participation in his ministry. Strive together with me, he says, in your prayers to God for me.

Now, we can look back on the ensuing events of the journey In the book of Acts, we know how things went. And we might even be tempted to say that God must have ignored Paul’s prayer request, that he be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea. The monetary gift, God honored that request. It was indeed acceptable to the saints. But we know that Paul walked into a firestorm there with the unconverted Jews, and ultimately he was arrested, repeatedly tried before both Jewish and Roman courts. But that prayer request was not ignored by God.

Rather, it was shaped. because his run-in with the Jewish authorities developed into the very means of his long-desired visit to Rome. He would visit Rome, but it wouldn’t look like his standard missionary efforts. It came, as we now know, from his appeal to Caesar.

Well, that’s just a brief overview of the remainder of Chapter 15, but I’d like us to track back to Paul’s words in verses 13 and 14. In short, these are words of blessing and encouragement. Blessing in the sense of prayer for these believers, and encouragement that would fill their sails with eagerness to serve the Lord. Would you just glance at those two short verses, 13 and 14. Now, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to admonish one another.

Paul here, in these two little verses, completes the sweep of God’s grace from beginning to end. He brings it full circle. In verse 13, he not only sees the initial presence of God’s grace in the lives of the Roman Christians, he also sees deficits, shortfalls, He knows exactly where to go to seek remedy for these deficits. He knows exactly where to secure remedy for the shortfalls. He goes to the giver of all good gifts, that God would fill up these believers with joy, all peace, abounding in hope. Paul is not shy about his appeal to God. He knows that there is an inexhaustible supply in the grace of God.

And there is always room for growth in these areas in believers. But even when believers are filled to capacity with these various graces, if that were possible, Neither Paul nor God himself could be satisfied just with that. God desires to use us, and he graces us for that reason. It’s not fullness of these graces that pleases God, but usefulness. were graced by God and even filled in measure in order to be used for God’s glory in the service to Christ’s church. This is Paul’s focus here in these two passages, not merely a discussion of these graces, not only an acknowledgment of their presence in the lives of believers, not just a highlight of what they lack in this regard, but a prospect of how these gifts might be used in Christ’s church.

If you would, go back to verse 13, where we want to look this morning at this inexhaustible stream of grace, and first of all, to the initial reception of this grace. If you look at verse 13, now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul begins his discussion of this personal relationship with the Roman Christians with a blessing.

It is, to be sure, a prayer. It’s a request made to God. And in that sense, a blessing differs only slightly from a prayer. Both are appeals, both are requests made to God, but a blessing is often spoken before or over the prospective recipient. It’s not that a prayer cannot be said in a prospective recipient’s hearing.

We do this all the time. May I pray for you? And it’s not like we cannot ask God to bless someone in our private prayers. We do that all the time. But a blessing seems to be one of these impromptu verbal appeals that is made in the hearing of those for whom it is given, or in this case, in writing.

The sentence begins in most of our English translations with the word now. It’s a mild conjunction, but it does indicate a change of direction. Paul is changing subjects. Paul has concluded the previous section in which he urged believers to follow Christ’s example. And he begins a new subject here. Paul employed this same formula back in verse 5. Glance back there if you would. Romans 15 and verse 5 where he says, now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind. It’s the same exact formula. Now Paul uses that formula elsewhere also in his first Letter to the Thessalonians, he uses it twice.

Listen carefully, 1 Thessalonians 3.11, Paul says, now, may our God and Father himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you. Later on in that same letter, Paul uses the formula again.

Now, may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely. and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete. He uses the formula again with the Thessalonians in his second letter. In 216, he says, now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word. You may have noticed another feature in these blessings.

All five times Paul uses this formula, he characterizes the God to whom he prays. Listen again very briefly. It’s Paul’s recurring pattern to ask a blessing upon a church. And here, on behalf of the Roman church, in 15.5, he says, he speaks of God as the one who gives perseverance and encouragement. In that Thessalonians passage, the first one that I read, 3.11, he refers to God as our Father, and he includes there the Savior, Jesus, our Lord.

He uses that same wording in 2.16, and in 1 Thessalonians 5.23, he refers to God as the God of peace. And so here in our passage, not surprisingly, Paul characterizes the one to whom he appeals. He characterizes him as the God of hope.

The God of hope, that’s such an appropriate way to begin his blessing on the Roman church. Because hope is not only a key theme in this chapter, but it is one that characterizes the entire epistle. 14 times in this letter, Paul uses this word. That alone suggests the characterization of the epistle to the Romans as the epistle of hope.

There’s a question that arises about this phrase, the God of hope. Is God presented here as the giver of this hope? Or is God the object of the believer’s hope? And it is difficult to decide, and most commentators punt. They don’t decide. But even hope in this sense, if you think about it, it would be a gift of God that God gives us hope in himself. And so it’s not out of the question at the end of the consideration to say that it’s both.

We couldn’t call anything other than God himself a genuine object of hope. God gives us the hope in himself. And of this God of hope, Paul asks three things. He asked three things in them believing. Everything that he asked in this context is in the course of their life of faith, heart of trust in God himself.

You see, there would be no point in asking for additional blessings upon these believers until that one great blessing of salvation was secured. Without faith, there can be no joy. Without faith, there is no peace. Without faith in Christ, there is no hope.

And so Paul issues his request that in believing that God may fill them with these additional graces. Now, these graces you may already recognize are mentioned plentifully in Paul’s epistles. He refers to these individually over 250 times. Obviously, joy and peace and hope flow naturally to a life that is justified by faith. Because of Christ, we have joy. Because of Christ, we have peace and hope.

But beyond that, they’re mentioned in various combinations an additional two dozen times. Faith and hope. beautifully blended three times in Paul’s letters with love, hope, and joy. What the Thessalonians were to Paul, joy and peace, the very fruit of God’s kingdom, as Paul just told us in 1417. But this verse, Romans 15, 13, is the only verse that captures all four of these grace gifts from God. in one spot.

Surely, as saved people, these Christians had already experienced a measure of these blessings from God. He asks now that God would fill them up, max them out. If we were to examine any believer, we would immediately find that he or she is far from complete, far from perfect, Far from being a perfect representation of Christ, such is the nature of sanctification that until glorification in heaven, we are all merely in process. Essentially, Paul here pleads to the Lord that he would continue this process in the lives of these saints, ours as well. Fill them up, he asks. As I first suggested a moment ago, this filling for which Paul asked, takes place in the course of their Christian lives, their life of faith.

Paul describes it as in believing. In this letter, Paul has spoken abundantly of faith, justification by faith, but the wording here is very unique. One translator’s helpful attempt Put it this way, in the sphere of believing. Another translation had it like this, because you trust in him. Still another said, as you believe.

Paul is seeking blessings that will be granted in the active exercise of a life of faith, in their lives as believers. He asks first that God would fill these believers, not just with joy, but even more intensity, intensively rather, with all joy. That all points to the fact that at any season of our lives, there may indeed be things about which we are joyful. It’s only reasonable that a Christian should rejoice in the gift of salvation, as well as the additional and abundant gifts that God pours out upon us. After all, joy is one of the many attendant blessings of the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5.22. Over 20 times, Paul speaks of this joy in his letters, but there are always those trouble spots in the life of a Christian. These are those areas of heartache, uncertainty, which anything approaching joy seems to be elusive. And so he prays, he prays that these believers would know all joy. Paul knew both the difficulty and the victorious joy that rose above these difficulties.

Remember Act 16? In Act 16, Paul had gone to Philippi to do ministry. And yet Paul and Silas found themselves not only arrested, but imprisoned right there in Philippi. And yet in the dark of night and under heavy guard, they begin to sing praises to God from hearts of joy.

For Paul, joy was not contingent upon circumstances. And so Paul asks that God would lead these believers in Rome to rejoice regardless of their conditions, all joy. To rejoice in the Lord always, as he urged the Philippian believers. See, Christian joy is not the same as the world’s so-called happiness. A believer in Christ can, by God’s grace, hover above life’s difficulties in a joy that to the world is incomprehensible, baffling to the unbeliever. It is, as Peter calls it, joy inexpressible, a distinct indication of God’s grace. Secondly, Paul implores God to fill up their peace. that the God of hope would fully supply these believers with peace.

This God-given peace includes not only peace with God, a holy God, who has reconciled us to himself so that there is therefore now no condemnation, but it is also a deep inner peace. We know in our hearts that we’ve been forgiven. We know that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross accomplished it all. It paid for all of our sin, past, present, and future. It’s a deep inner peace, a spiritual serenity in the Christian’s conscience. He or she knows that they are forgiven. They are at peace.

As Paul described it to the Philippians, the peace of God that surpasses all comprehension. We can’t explain it. All we can do is enjoy it. Paul asks a third blessing upon the Roman Church. He says that the God of hope would make them to abound in hope. The calm demeanor of hopefulness is a distinctly Christian characteristic. We’re not worried. We’re not shaken by what transpires in the world. Everywhere around us may be falling apart, but the Christian’s hope is sure. And he asks here that the very one who first stirred their hearts to confidence in God would make that hope or confidence to grow. grow to overflowing.

The idea that we gather from this word abound is a word frequently used by Christ in the gospels. Not merely a measure or a supply of something, but an abundance to overflowing, more than enough. It’s that word that was used to describe the fragments of what was left after the feeding of the 5,000, 12 full, 12 abundantly full baskets. Paul uses this powerful word in this very letter to speak of the exceeding measure of the grace of God in response to our transgressions. The gift by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to the many. This hope flourishes. It abounds. It looks to the future in great confidence in God.

Paul explains here the divine means by which all of these gifts are manifested to the believer. It’s only by God’s grace bestowed through his spirit. just as the Holy Spirit initiates our salvation by his work of regeneration, bringing us to life, spiritually speaking. So also the Holy Spirit cultivates our sanctification. He shows us where there’s sin. He brings us to conviction. He leads us to confession. He grants us the grace to change. He’s the helper. promised by Jesus Christ for that very purpose.

In Ephesians 1, Paul says that the Holy Spirit is God’s seal upon the believer. Paul told his readers that it is the Holy Spirit that provides righteousness, peace, and joy. And so these graces, joy, peace, and hope, are unattainable outside of God. It’s only by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Well, such is the quality of these grace gifts from God that God expects a return on his investment. Jesus stated it this way in Luke 12, 48, from everyone who has been given much, much will be required. God doesn’t pour out these blessed and glorious gifts for nothing, joy, peace, and hope. They are not intended to terminate on us as believers. They’re to be lived out, passed on. They’re to be given full expression.

And this is Paul’s second point. In this inexhaustible stream of grace, not only is there this initial reception of grace and even a burgeoning supply of this grace, there is a successive expression of this grace. We read about it in verse 14. And concerning you, my brethren, I myself am also convinced that you are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to admonish one another. Now here, Immediately following this blessing, essentially a prayer to God on their behalf, he moves to affirm them for what he already knew them to be. Who they already were because of Christ’s work in their life.

Keep in mind that at this point in his ministry, Paul had never even been to Rome. He had never visited this church. And so all of this information about this body of believers had come to him secondhand, probably even from his fellow workers, Priscilla and Aquila. They were one time residents of Rome and likely brought this report. You can’t believe what’s going on in Rome.

We don’t even know how this church came to be, but it is flourishing. Someone brought Paul a report, and whoever it was, Paul trusted them, because he says here he was convinced. He trusted the news that had been shared with him, that this was indeed a solid church. These were solid believers. And he notes several particulars about this assuring testimony about them that he had received. Glance at the passage. First of all, he notes that they were full of goodness.

This can’t even possibly refer to unbelievers. These are Christians. Paul himself early in this epistle acknowledged Psalm 14 back in chapter three. that declares there is none who does good. There is not even one. As sinners, we have no inherent goodness to live out, to put on display to the world, but a sinner, once saved, is made new.

He or she is a new creature in Christ, changed from within. and enabled now to do and to be good. This goodness, too, is a feature of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, right? Galatians 5, so the people to whom Paul writes here must have been genuine Christians. And as such, theirs was not an intermittent or a fleeting goodness, But that which was characteristic of their day-to-day living, these were good people. Good by God’s grace. By God’s transforming grace, they now lived lives of humility and kindness and holiness, righteousness, peace, benevolence toward others. They were good by God’s grace. Their lives were a living testimony to the grace of God. God had begun in them, these believers in Rome, not only an evident goodness visible to all, but he also adds here that they were filled with all knowledge.

Now, there’s absolutely no sense here in being overly literal. Paul is not suggesting that these Christians knew every detail of every subject that was knowable to mankind. That’s not what he’s saying. He doesn’t here in any way suggest that these believers were perfect in their knowledge, that they had nothing left to learn. Rather, he points to their knowledge of the nature of God. They knew what God was like.

They knew about his holiness. They knew about his righteousness. They knew about his wrath. And they knew about his mercy. They knew of the gospel and God’s plan of salvation that it promises. That by believing in Christ, their sins could be forgiven. They could be reconciled to a holy God.

They knew this. They knew of their own inherent sinfulness. They knew that they were separated from God outside of Christ. They knew that they needed repentance. They knew that they needed salvation and a savior. They knew of the sinless one who had come and his sacrifice for sinners in the Lord Jesus Christ. They knew of the free offer of salvation by faith in him in his finished work on the cross.

They may not have known the depths of science or history or mathematics, but they knew the things that were most important. They knew the gospel In short, they were doctrinally sound Christians. That’s what Paul means when he says that they were filled with all knowledge. Paul has received a trustworthy report about these believers, that they were good and decent people, deeply persuaded of the knowledge of God. But Paul notes a final thing that was true of these believers. They were, he says, able to admonish one another. Let me tell you about this word admonish.

It’s a compound word comprised of the word nous, the mind, N-O-U-S, the mind, the ability to reason. This is where we get our understanding. So it’s made up of the word nous and also the word tithami. a verb, which means to set or to place something. And so the blended verb, nutheteo, literally means to place into the mind, to remind someone, to warn someone, to instruct another believer. Or as the NAS has it here, to admonish a person so used, takes the word of God and places it into the mind of his or her brother, reminding them of the truths and principles of scripture, so that once reminded, the individual is led to turn away from sin and back onto the path of righteousness. Nuthetow. Admonishing. We simply call it counseling. Discipleship.

Paul was not shy about this aspect of ministry. When needed, he didn’t hold back from admonishing others. I did not cease to admonish each one with tears, he says in Acts chapter 20 to the Ephesian elders. For sure, admonishing every man was the cornerstone of Paul’s ministry, he told the Colossians in 128. that this aspect of ministry was not just for apostles, not just for shepherds, not just for elders.

In 1937, a man named Charles Williams took up the task to produce a new Bible translation. And in Romans 15, he translated this word, nuthetao, as, listen, competent to counsel. Not a bad translation. And it does capture the admonition aspect of this word, as well as the ability aspect that is obscured in some translations. Williams insists, says Paul, that they were competent to counsel one another from the word of God.

Well, you may know the rest of the story that in 1970, before I was even saved, an author named Jay Adams seized hold of this translation and wrote a landmark book on biblical counseling. The title of his book, you guessed it, was Competent to Counsel. And that title, indeed the very premise of the book, was derived from that translation of this word, nuthateo. And the movement in the church that his book launched quickly became known as euthetic or biblical counseling.

What Adams promoted was exactly what Paul is extolling here in Romans 15, 14, that a Christian may well be competent to counsel. These Christians were able, they were capable of admonishing one another from the truths of Scripture for the purpose of stirring in their brother some duty or correcting them from some sin. This is in close keeping with Scripture, isn’t it? Paul urged the Thessalonian Christians to admonish the unruly.

And in Colossians 3, 16, we have this clear command to the entire church. Let the word of Christ dwell within you with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. He says you have it. You have the ability. Admonition is the brotherly duty of all believers.

He or she doesn’t need a degree in counseling. They don’t necessarily need to be certified by some organization. They don’t need necessarily to receive any formal training. But if they are mature believers, if they have gotten the beam out of their own eye, if they are devoted to prayer, if they are knowledgeable about the scriptures, then essentially they are competent to counsel.

That’s not my opinion. It’s not even J. Adams’ opinion. This is what the Apostle Paul is saying in this verse. Listen to the way Adams explained it. Newthetic activity, admonition. Euthetic activity is a work in which all of God’s people may participate. It particularly characterizes the work of the ministry. But it’s everybody’s responsibility. And whether you come alongside a brother to encourage or even to challenge, to educate, to inform, to caution, to rebuke, That’s euthetic activity, that is admonition.

Remember, Paul is writing here to the Roman church. He’s writing to the Roman church as a whole. He doesn’t call out just the elders or the pastoral staff of the church. And as such, Paul insists that this kind of counseling is the responsibility of every godly Christian, whether or not they have an official ministry position in the church. And so Paul brings his comments full circle.

Whereas God had granted these believers an initial blessing of grace, joy, peace, hope, there was an inbuilt expectation that they should apply these graces in ministry to their fellow Christians. It was indeed their solemn responsibility to watch over the souls of those around them, and to correct by means of God’s word, not their opinion, to correct by means of God’s word the very evident sin in their brothers’ and sisters’ lives. May God grant us that grace. Let’s pray.

Our merciful God, If it were just salvation that you bestowed upon us as a precious gift, we would be eternally grateful. But on top of that, Lord, you lavish us, pour out on us, overwhelm us with grace gifts, not the least of which is joy and peace and hope. But Lord, you give us these for a purpose. To comfort those around us, to encourage those around us, even to caution and warn, and if possible, even rebuke those around us. Lord, you expect a return on your investment. And you have poured these things in us without charge, but you do expect us to use them for your glory.

Lord, we pray for that grace. We pray that you would ready us and prepare us. If there’s something in a way that keeps us from encouraging or even challenging a brother, grant us the grace to rid ourselves of it. Get the beam out of our own eye so that we can deal with the speck in our brothers. Father, use us, we pray for your glory.

Lord, what a great reminder this passage is. There’s no amount of desire or effort could ever achieve these things, joy, hope, peace. These things come with the blessing of salvation that is granted to us by faith alone in Christ alone. Lord God, we humble ourselves before you and we plead for any in our midst to do not know the sweet blessing of salvation by faith in Christ. Lord, we plead with you that you would have your way with them. Bring them to conviction and to their awareness of their need of a savior. They are hopeless without him. They have no peace without him. Certainly have no joy. Lord, we plead for their souls and we pray these things in Jesus name.