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Paul's Obligation to Preach the Gospel

Romans 1:8-15

1. Read verses 8-10. What can we learn from these verses about the importance of prayer in St. Paul's life? What was St. Paul's thanksgiving topic in his prayer? What was his prayer topic at the present time? Why do you think St. Paul prayed about these things? What are some of your prayer topics? What can you learn from St. Paul about how to pray (1 Th 5:16-18; Mk 11:22-25)?

2. Read verses 11-12. What was Paul's goal in visiting the church at Rome? What can we learn from this about the ideal Christian relationship? How can we live up to this ideal?

3. Read v. 13-15. What was the spiritual gift that Paul wanted to impart? How is this related to his calling (Ro. 1:1, 5)? Why was he so eager to serve at Rome? What made him obligated to all men? (See Acts 9:4-6, 15-16, 1 Co 15:10) What are our spiritual obligations as God's people?

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Message

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PAUL’S OBLIGATION TO PREACH THE GOSPEL

Romans 1:8-15

Key Verse:1:14,15 “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.”

  Last week we studied Paul’s greetings to the saints in Rome. In his greetings, he revealed his life purpose, which is to preach the gospel for Christ’s name’s sake: “Through him and for his name’s sake we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.” (5) The year 2009 had passed and the new year 2010 has just started. I believe that all of us here have New Year resolutions. Have you remembered God’s grace upon your life while looking back this past year? Who among us has newly determined to live for Jesus’ name’s sake?

  Today’s passage teaches us Paul’s prayer for the saints in Rome and his reason for visiting there. Above all, we will learn the reason why he was so eager to preach the gospel there.

First, Paul’s prayer for the saints in Rome (8-10) Look at verses 8-10. “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 be opened for me to come to you.”  The Church in Rome was mainly house churches (Ro 16). The saints met in one house after another. To the eyes of worldly people, the church members were nothing but a handful of gentiles and Jewish immigrants who barely survived in the capital city of Rome, the world power in those days.  But to the eyes of Paul, they were very precious and important saints in world salvation history. To the eyes of Paul, they were not just immigrants or foreigners, but pioneers and history makers who would change the history of the world with the gospel of God. Indeed Paul saw God’s vision for world salvation through them.

Paul had witnessed how the gospel of God had worked mightily in each of the cities in Judea, Asia Minor and Europe during his missionary journeys. He saw many demon-possessed people be healed and idol-worshipers repent and come to believe in Jesus Christ. He saw how the Holy Spirit worked diligently for raising disciples of Jesus wherever the Word was preached. Paul had conviction and vision that someday God would work mightily through the saints in Rome to evangelize the whole world one nation after another. Paul wanted the saints in Rome to share in his vision together. In reality Paul’s vision is God’s vision for world salvation. For this reason Paul constantly prayed for the saints in Rome.

  After sending several Korean missionaries to America in the 1970s, Dr. Samuel Lee constantly prayed for Bible America through them. At that time, Korean missionaries in the US were nothing but foreigners and immigrants to the eyes of Americans. They had no church buildings. They met in their apartments and worshiped God. But, they diligently invited students to Bible studies and raised them up as disciples of Jesus. Dr. Samuel Lee heard about their faith and about the work of God in America. He saw God’s vision for world salvation through the work of God in the US, which is the superpower nation of these days.  God gave him a clear pray topic for America in order to make America a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  To the eyes of the worldly people our St. Louis UBF ministry is nothing but a handful of foreigners and immigrants. But to the eyes of God we are a kingdom of priests and history makers in this generation. As Rome was conquered by the gospel of God through the saints in Rome three century later, so also America will be evangelized by the gospel of God to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation through us. May God help us to share God’s vision for world salvation through us and in us. Amen.

Second, Paul’s longing to visit Rome.(11-13) The Church of Rome was not built by the Apostle Paul. Paul did not even visit Rome. However, Paul earnestly and constantly prayed for the saints in Rome as a father prays for his son who studies in a foreign country. Let us read verses 11-13. “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 others’ 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.” Here we learn the reason why Paul wanted to visit Rome. He wanted to share some spiritual gifts to make them strong and to be encouraged by each other. What are the spiritual gifts which Paul wanted to impart to the saints in Rome? They could be the grace of God which Paul had received through Jesus Christ. They could be the knowledge of God which Paul had gained through his personal relationship with Christ and through his mission life. Above all, they could be God’s vision for world salvation which Paul eagerly wanted to share with them.

Third, Paul’s obligation (14,15) There is another reason why Paul wanted to visit Rome. Let us read verses 14,15. “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.” Paul was eager to preach the gospel to the saints who were in Rome. Paul said that he was obligated to preach the gospel both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. Here Greeks were not only those who lived in Greece, but all those who speak Greek, which was the most common language of those days like English is these days. What Paul meant was that he was obligated to preach the gospel to the people of the whole world. Then why did Paul feel indebted to the people of the world? Did he owe Greeks and non-Greeks for something? Not at all! He did not owe Greeks or non-Greeks, but God. Paul felt indebted to God for what God had done for his life. Paul knew very well that he was saved by the merit of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. He knew that God paid off all his debts of sin by the precious blood of Jesus. Indeed, Paul was helpless and he had nothing to do with paying all the debts of his sin by his own willpower or human ability like a homeless person is unable to pay millions dollars on his credit card debts. Paul was well aware of the fact that he was saved only by God’s grace.

  God’s love compelled Paul to preach the gospel. Moved by God’s amazing grace and love, Paul wanted to do something to please God. If you really love someone, you are willing to do whatever pleases him or her. Paul loved Jesus. Paul was willing to obey whatever Christ Jesus commanded him to do. That is why Paul was obligated to preach the gospel to the people of the world. He wanted to share his master’s joy with him.

There is another reason why Paul wanted to preach the gospel. Whenever Paul remembered the grace of salvation upon his life, he had a great sense of responsibility for perishing souls who were dying without the knowledge of salvation. To the eyes of Paul, people who had no faith in Jesus Christ, whether they were Greeks or non-Greeks, the educated or the uneducated, the old or the young, were people who were heading toward the fiery lake of burning sulfur (Rev 21:8) So for Paul, preaching the gospel was a very critical and urgent task. When you see someone driving the wrong way, don’t you stop him right away for his safety? Last Thursday on the way to the Young Disciple’s Conference, we almost had a head-on collision on the highway. One car was running toward us at full speed on highway. By God’s help I immediately changed lanes and escaped a deadly collision. Then, I warned him with many honks. What would have happened if I didn’t notice him or ignore his suicidal driving? To the eyes of Paul, those who don’t hear the good news of Christ are nothing but ignorant and perishing people like the suicidal driver on the highway.

  We are obligated to do many things. In fact, our life each day starts with a sense of obligation or a sense of duty. For instance, my wife Mary is obligated to get up before 6:00 am for prayer meeting and for her work. She is also obligated to pay all the bills, to clean the house, to care for two children, and to teach the Bible to her students. I am obligated to prepare the Sunday message every week, lead all the meetings, care for each family, maintain our properties properly and so forth. Our students are obligated to attend all their classes, turn papers in on time, finish the semester successfully, pay their rent, and other things. Thus we are not free from any sense of obligation or sense of responsibility on this earth.  Do we need more to be obligated? Do we have more things to care for and to accomplish? Yes! Let us read verse 14,15 again. We are obligated to preach the word to Americans, Russians, Chinese, Indians, Muslims, and all peoples of the world. We are obligated to preach the gospel of God to students at Wash U. and students at all the campuses in the St. Louis area. Some may ask, “Why should I be obligated to the young students who look okay? I owe nothing to them” Yes, we owe nothing to them, but we owe God for his debt of love. We owe Jesus for his death on the cross for our sins. We are indebted to God for what he had done for our lives.

We are obligated to preach the good news to the perishing people. Jesus did not die only for us, but for others. When we love Jesus, we feed his sheep. (Jn 21:15). When we love Jesus, we obey his commands. Love compels us to do what God wants us to do. Does a mother feel obligated to feed her baby at her bosom? Does she take care of her baby out of obligation? No, a mother cares her baby because she loves her baby. In the same way, we take care of others because we love Jesus. Paul was eager to preach the gospel to the saints in Rome because he loved Jesus and he loved Jesus’ sheep.

  We are accountable for their condemnation if we do not preach the gospel. One young pastor had a chance to sit by a young girl on a plane. The pastor was compelled to preach the gospel to the girl, but he ignored the voice of his conscience. Then, they got off the plane. Not long after that, the pastor heard that the young girl who sat by him committed suicide. The pastor was grieved, but it was too late. He suffered much from the guilty feeling that he did not preach the way of salvation to the girl. If we ignore perishing souls, we are accountable for their second death.  I pray that we may not find many perishing souls in the fiery lake of burning sulfur because of our selfishness, indifference and negligence.

In the book of Ezekiel 33, the Lord said to the prophet Ezekiel, “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head…But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.” (Ez 33:1-6) This story tells us that if we do not preach the word of salvation to those who are around us, in the future we are accountable for their condemnation. It is because we did not warn them of God’s divine judgment and did not share the knowledge of salvation with them. That’s why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:16, “For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.”

  Today we learned why the Apostle Paul wanted to visit Rome. We also learned why we have to preach the word to the people of the world. Let us pray that we may not be selfish or indifferent, but responsible and reliable. Let us love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength so that we may love our neighbors as ourselves. Those who love Jesus feed his sheep. Those who love Jesus share the gospel. Those who love Jesus obey him. May God help us to love Jesus all the more and to become more faithful, responsible and diligent Bible teachers and missionaries this year. Amen.

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• parom0108-0117-2009.doc