Mutual Admonishments Romans 15:14-22

Text:  “And I myself also am persuaded of you, my Brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.”

Romans 15:14.

Good morning, mature Christian!  Let me ask you, “What distinguishes you from a mere ‘babe in Christ’, a novice in the faith, an immature believer in the Lord Jesus Christ’s service?” 

The maturity-level of the Christian’s faith and usefulness in His service is clearly revealed in our text above.  The mature Christian is striving to be like Christ daily.  He/she is often failing; often faltering; sometimes in doubts; and at all time merely a sinner saved by grace - but always continuing on in the faith; growing, ever growing, ‘...in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ...’.       (2 Peter 3:18)

At least three things mentioned in today’s Bible passage determine Christian maturity, and it is these three Christian attributes that we shall look at in today’s lesson.  (Psalm 119:105)

Full of Goodness: The mature Christian servant must be ‘...full of goodness...’, for God is goodness incarnate, and we must be ‘born again’ of God if we are to manifest any true ‘goodness’ at all! 

“This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is Light (i.e. goodness), and in Him is no darkness (i.e. badness, evil) at all.”  (1 John 1:5)

Therefore, to be ‘...full of goodness...’ in this Scriptural meaning is to be ever seeking to be full of Godliness; Christ like; truly Christian.  This first attribute is an absolute necessity for Christian maturity. We must have learned by personal experience how to be like the Christ Whom we profess to a world of darkness and ignorance.  We do this by studying the Lord Jesus, His teachings; and His way of living in obedience to our Father in Heaven.  

If we can achieve this honourable goal in any degree, we can then move on to fuller Christian maturity in our daily lives for Christ.

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”  (2 Timothy 2:15)

Filled with all knowledge:  Secondly, we must seek to be ‘...filled with all knowledge...’ if we are to be deemed 'mature Christians'.

We have already seen how knowledge of God’s Word incarnate (the Word in bodily form, Christ Jesus!) is vital to the maturity we seek.  However, only as we seek to apply ‘knowledge’ of God’s Word to our own daily lives in a very personal manner will we begin to ‘...grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ...’.  (2 Peter 3:18) (John 1:1;14)

God the Spirit leads us into all truth as we read/study the inspired Word of God; we in turn pray to be, and become, ‘...filled with the Spirit...’ of God. 

“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”  (Ephesians 5:18) 

Being filled with the Spirit of God gives us the power we require to do great things for Jesus, and bring much glory to His Holy Name.  People will often be influenced more by what spirit we believers manifest consistently than a million words we might say.

“But ye shall receive POWER, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me...unto the uttermost part of the earth.”  (Acts 1:8) 

Able also to admonish one another:  Ability to successfully admonish one another is a very clear trait of Christian maturity.  Oh, it takes no Spiritual attribute at all to CRITICIZE another Christian sister or brother - in fact, fault-finding Christians are one of the biggest hindrances to the real work of any Christian group within Christ’s church!  

But, to successfully admonish one another, with a view to bringing each other even closer to Christ, is an ability which is invaluable in the church at large today.  What does God’s Word say on the matter:

“Brethren, if any man/woman be overtaken in a fault, ye which are Spiritual (i.e. mature in the faith), RESTORE such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”  (Galatians 6:1)

It is some other Christian in trouble today, it could be YOU or I in trouble  tomorrow!  We must seek to restore each other with meekness, for if we can manifest and practice this Godly Christian quality, we will be manifesting a characteristic of our beloved Saviour, Jesus Christ, Himself.  Praise His lovely and most gracious Name!  (1 John 1:8-9)

In conclusion therefore, let us go forth in the knowledge of our lesson above and grow, and become even more mature in our Christian faith daily.  The Lord needs mature Christians in His church in these ‘latter days’ of self-righteousness and apostasy.   Go forth, and the Lord go with you in all you say and do.  Amen.  (Exodus 4:12)

Thought:  If we think we have reached absolute maturity in the faith - it’s a proof we really haven’t!  We are, at all times, a ‘work-in-progress’.

Love's Convictions Romans 15:1-13

Text: “...Be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus, that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 15:5-6.

Good morning, Spirit-led Christian!  Because Christ has loved you - with all your weaknesses, faults, and failings - and loved you enough to lay down His very life for you upon the Cross; you are led by the Holy Spirit within you to love others who seem, perhaps, even weaker in faith than yourself.  This is what I call Love’s Convictions: a love within which reveals a strong outer conviction to love others as Christ loves us.  This could also be referred to as Spiritual love in action.  (James 2:26)  (John 13:34-35)

It is every true Christian’s reasonable duty and God-given responsibility to exercise a love towards weaker, more apparently vulnerable, brothers/sisters in any given Church group.  There is indeed one way of ensuring that we are consistently trying to exercise this true Christ like love.  (James 1:22)

This method entails a simple reminding oneself of one’s own personal weaknesses, faults and, if we are honest, frequent failings when compared - not to the local Pastor, not to a respected and otherwise Godly elder; nor to the Sunday-school teacher - but to the altogether Holy and truly perfect, Christ Himself.  (1 Peter 1:15-16)

Christ is God’s standard for us in all things, but especially in the area of righteousness - an asset of which we mere mortals are completely devoid.  (Romans 3:10) (Isaiah 64:6)

Therefore, when we are honest with ourselves as to our own personal and utter failure to match up to Christ’s perfection, we shall be more ready to receive the weaker, more apparently vulnerable, believers into our fellowship and to encourage them to be strong in the Lord.  (Matthew 7:1-5) (Galatians 6:2)

The Lord is bigger that all our pathetic problems, faults, and shortcomings; His grace is indeed all sufficient for us.  Hallelujah!  What a Saviour!  Amen.  (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

However, with the above concept in mind, there is one thing we must not forget.  The Lord cannot abide blatant hypocrisy!  We must, therefore, be sure to follow closely the revealed instruction given to us in verse seven of this morning’s Bible reading.  We must be gracious in receiving other born again believers, knowing how gracious the Lord Jesus has been in receiving weak, Hell-deserving, sinners such as we.  (Romans 6:23)

If we can comprehend this concept more fully, and put it into practice as it pertains to other ‘weaker’ brothers/sisters, we shall in fact prove to ourselves that we possess a love which convicts.  A love which does not convict us into practical action is a love which is selfish, and useless as a means of bringing glory to the Lord God.  (1 John 4:7-8;21)

True convicting love is also exercised in plainly spoken rebukes to those who are seen to be either flaunting obvious weaknesses before a fault-finding world, or persisting in sin which is clearly open to the fellowship group and thus a hindrance to younger believers in the faith. (i.e. cigarette smoking!)  (1 Corinthians 6:12) 

Yet, convicting love rebukes, corrects in a spirit of Christ like meekness, and such corrective rebuke is given at all times in order to restore the offender to close fellowship with God and with the Church group.  It cannot be criticism for criticism’s sake!  (Galatians 6:1) (Romans 3:22-23)

With the present lesson in mind, let us therefore love on with convicting love, yet, ‘be there’ at great personal depth for each other, and for all those of ‘...like precious faith...’ in Christ Jesus.  Amen!  So be it, Lord.

Thought:  When searching for faults - search FIRST for your own!

Stumbling-Blocks? Romans 14:1-23

Text:  “...But judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”

Romans 14:13.

Good morning, potential Christian stumbling-block!  Everyone who professes the Name of Christ Jesus as Saviour and Lord - the writer included - can be a potential ‘stumbling-block’ to other believers.

“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  (Matthew 26:41)

Disputes and bickerings within the universal Body of Christ, the true Church, are one of the greatest causes of Spiritual hindrance today.  The Church desires to do great things in the service of our Redeemer King, Jesus the risen Christ, yet we find our power coming in short bursts instead of a steady flow of world-shaking energy which might threaten to turn the world upside down.

“And if a house (i.e. the Church) be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”  (Mark 3:25)

One section of the Church, the universal Body of Christ - all those truly born again of the Spirit of God; by grace alone; through faith alone; in the Cross of Christ Jesus alone - believes fervently in speaking in other tongues, while another believes Biblical ‘tongues’ are proper languages. 

One demands that women wear hats, and forbids females wearing ‘...clothes pertaining to the male...’.  The other welcomes women wearing trousers and devoid of any head-covering – believing that the woman’s hair is her ‘covering’. (Deuteronomy 22:5)     
(1 Corinthians 11:5-6)

One believes that The Lord’s Table should be administered every Lord’s Day, while another disagrees and administers The Lord’s Table once per month. 

Both believing groups of Christians reckon these differences in doctrinal interpretation to be serious issues of separation, and thus, the Body of Christ is divided over secondary doctrines, and consequently weakened against the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Each group of believers pray fervently, but their prayers may well be hindered, according to the Word of God.

“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go  thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”  (Matthew 5:23-24)

“Likewise ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.  (1 Peter 3:7)

Anything that hinders the prayers of God’s people needs to be dealt with immediately, that the Church may go forth in God’s full strength and not in the strength of our own fallible flesh.

I believe today’s Bible passage deals with the need to have mutual respect for another Christian’s sincerely held beliefs - as long as that belief is not recognized heresy, or a denial of a fundamental doctrine of “...the faith once delivered unto the saints...”.  (Jude 3)

As our passage today clearly teaches: “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” (V.19)

It is so easy to be a serious stumbling-block to Christian power and the vibrant growth of the universal Church.  It is much more difficult to build up than to tear down a believer’s faith in an unseen Lord God - for “...faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  (Hebrews 11:1)

However, as our selected text from Romans 14: instructs us, the Lord thinks it a serious matter when we, as Christians, “...put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in a brother/sister’s way.” (V.13)

With the above lesson in mind, therefore, let us seek to encourage each other in the Body of Christ, and pray unhindered prayers to God.  Let us pray unhindered prayers that we might all be built up in our God-given faith, by the Word of God, and by sound Christian support for each other in Christ’s Body, the Church.  Let us go forth in unified power and claim all for the glory of Christ Jesus.  (Romans 10:17) (Romans 16:27)

Thought: Are you a stumbling-block or a stepping-stone to faith?