1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life[a] was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power[b] by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from[c] faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

History records that Augustine, Martin Luther and John Calvin all had life-changing encounters with God as a result of reading and pondering on the Book of Romans. Martin Luther said that Romans is “The chief part of the New Testament and the perfect Gospel… the absolute epitome of the gospel”

The apostle Paul wrote the book of Romans ahead of his planned visit to the Christians in Rome.  He was aware that he may never make it to Rome, and so he wrote them a letter so comprehensive that the Christians there would have a full understanding of the gospel even if Paul himself were not able to visit them.

I remember reading the book of Romans as a young person and struggling to understand some of its complex concepts, but over the years as I have read and re-read this book, it has been instrumental in shaping my understanding of God and the gospel.

I am so grateful that Paul fulfilled his assignment as a “devoted slave to Jesus Christ” authorized by God to write this letter to the Romans. He probably never dreamed that we would still be studying it over 2000 years later.

Each one of us has things that God has assigned us to do. They may well seem small and insignificant in our eyes, but  we will never know the full impact of our obedience and service to God in this life. 

Stay the path and be faithful in the little things. You just never know what God is up to as He works through you and me.

Written by Shelley Witt

13 This will be my third visit to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” 2 I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent: On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others, 3 since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. 4 For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him in our dealing with you.

The Apostle Paul is preparing to visit the Corinthian church for the 3^rd time. On his first visit to Corinth, Paul founded the church and stayed for 18 months. His 2^nd visit was short and involved problems within the Corinthian church. And now he is preparing to come for a 3^rd time and he is not happy with the reports of what he has heard is going on there.

Paul’s opponents, the leaders among the Corinthian Christians seem to think that Paul is too weak and humble for their liking. They want to see more “power” from Paul. So Paul is warning them here that he is going to come back with the power of God to clean up the church, unless they clean it up before he comes.

Listening to reproofs and rebukes is not easy. Human nature and pride makes us want to do things our own way rather than listen to others. But it’s always better to stop and examine yourself and humble yourself to repentance rather than incur wrath and judgement.

Sometimes in our stubbornness and pride, we choose not to listen to the gentle rebuke and end up bringing a much tougher discipline upon ourselves.

I am reminded today to listen to the correction of those around me and not let it get to the stage where people have to get “tough” with me before I will listen.

Written by Shelley Witt

12 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul achieved so much through his life but we can see from this passage that he only did it with God’s help. He knew he needed God’s help and he asked for it. He knew there were things about himself that meant he couldn’t do what he wanted to do by himself – the way he would normally approach things.

That happens with us too. We want to do things but there is a fear in us or an attitude in us or a lack of confidence that means we hold back in what we say or don’t take opportunities when they come to us. We forget to ask God into the situation. We need to go with God and learn what He has for us in our weaknesses. He doesn’t just magic them away, we need to learn and to grow in character in how we work with these weaknesses or even overcome them. We can only do this when we step into things holding God’s hand. His grace is sufficient. He can help us to do what we see as impossible.

Lord please helps us to learn from Paul – to accept that You have made us – weaknesses and all – and You are there to help us every step of the way and You are just waiting for us to ask for help.

Written by Therese Manning

7 Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. 10 As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. 11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 12 And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

What I really love about this passage of scripture is the way that Paul demonstrates how he is a genuine superior to the ‘super apostles’ that are mentioned in the chapter.

Instead of presenting a theological argument or engaging in intellectual debate, or even demonstrating his superior credentials as an incredible disciple of Christ, Paul simply demonstrates that he had gone to significant lengths to ensure that he had not been a burden to the community of Corinth.

Ultimately, he was pointing to the things that demonstrated that he had clear motives – his time spent with them and his financial independence from them.

This makes me reflect on my own life and the motives that drive me to act the way that I do. I have realised that I’m often acting without any real awareness of what my true motives are! The more I think about my motives and bring them into line with what Christ calls me to focus on, the more that I am able to achieve in his name.

Lord, help me to be aware of what is driving me and help me to be motivated by your ways and empowered by your Holy Spirit.

Written by Ps. Justin Ware

10 By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away! 2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. 7 You are judging by appearances.[a] If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. 8 So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 9 I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10 For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.” 11 Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.

Have you ever met a person who thinks they are always right?  Some people believe if they think something it must be right.  Maybe you are one of these people only to find out you are often wrong. This usually happens if you fail to realise all thoughts and ideas need to be tested for correctness. To do this you need to be ‘thinking about what you are thinking’.

Paul knew this to be true and in verse 2-5 NIV he states; 1) He does NOT live by the standards (thoughts and ways) of this world.  2) He tests all thoughts and ideas to see if they are in line with his knowledge of God and the teachings of Christ.

This may sound simple but when you are confronting the grind of daily life with beliefs that are often contrary to society it becomes obvious why Paul uses the language of battles and warfare.

We love people but we are at war with the thoughts and ideas that stand against people finding God.  For us to be effective in this battle we must first be sure we are thinking right thoughts before we can challenge others. The good news is there is supernatural power (v4) available to us when we challenge the ideas that separate us and others from God.

So, take the opportunity today to be more aware of your thoughts and challenge any wrong thinking.

Help us today God to be more aware of what we are thinking so in turn we can help others to tear down the barriers that have separated us all from You.

Written by David Newton