Daily Thoughts from Romans: The Obligatory Gospel (1:8-17)

Daily Thoughts from Romans: The Obligatory Gospel

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”  (Romans 1:8-17 ESV)

Paul has wanted to come to Rome for some time but apparently now sees the opportunity as close by.  He longs to bless them and be blessed by them and to have an outreach to the Gentiles in Rome and reap a harvest of souls for the kingdom.  In fact, he feels obligated to preach to them by the commission Christ gave him and by the love God has for the nations.  What he doesn’t know is that he will not arrive in Rome on his own recognizance but in Roman fetters.

And Paul has confidence in the gospel he preaches because God uses it powerfully to bring those who believe to salvation.  It rescues those who are perishing in their sins if they believe.  His obligation does not stop with Gentiles.  The gospel is for the Jew first. It is the fulfillment of God’s promise to bring Israel to Himself and redeem them.  Paul always started his ministry in any location by looking first for the Jewish community and preaching there.

In the gospel God’s righteousness is revealed.  That is, what God requires in terms of righteousness is revealed and how incapable we are of attaining that righteousness.  The way to be considered righteous before God is made known in the gospel, the good news.  It is by faith in Christ alone that we are declared righteous in God’s eyes.  The righteous shall live, have life, by faith (and Paul will make clear later that this means not by works).

How eager are we, how obligated do we feel, to preach the gospel?  To whom do you feel most obligated?  You may not be the apostle to the Gentiles, but you are the apostle to someone.  God has put people in your life with whom you can have the most influence and opportunity to share this good news.  Your sense of obligation should inform your eagerness.  If you are not eager, why aren’t you and what can you do to correct that?

In Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft, Thor Heyerdahl tells how he and a crew of five crossed the Pacific Ocean from South America to the South Pacific Islands on a crude raft of balsa logs bound together with hemp rope.  During the three-month journey in 1947, they had little control of the direction of the raft and no way to stop its forward progress.  They learned early in the voyage that anything dropped overboard was almost impossible to recover once it passed behind the raft.

Two months into the voyage and thousands of miles form land, Herman Watzinger lost his footing and went overboard.  The raft, driven by a strong wind in heavy seas, moved ahead faster than he could swim.  The five remaining men were horrified for their friend.  They tried to throw him a life belt on a rope, but the wind blew it back at them.  In seconds, Herman was all but lost to their sight in the tumble of waves.

Suddenly Knute Haughland grabbed the life belt and dove into the water.  He swam back to Herman and wrapped his arm around him, holding his exhausted friend and the rope while the men on the boat drew them back to the boat.

Effective evangelism requires that someone risks and takes the gospel to the one who is lost. (David Denny)