Romans 1:8-15

The verses in Romans 1 v 8-15 give a great insight into what Paul saw as his apostolic role when he visited the church in Rome, and can help us in how we see ourselves in relationship with God’s people, whether we are in leadership or not.

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. ⁹ God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you ¹⁰ in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.

¹¹ I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— ¹² that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, 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.

¹⁴ I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. ¹⁵ That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

Romans 1:8-15 (NIV)

We serve God

The first thing that we can learn from Paul and these verses is that he is in no doubt who he serves, as in verse 9 he says that he serves God. This follows on from how he introduced himself in verse 1 as a servant of Christ Jesus, and how he often refers to himself in other letters. This should be our position as well. We do not serve man, institutions, denominations, we first and foremost serve God. Of course as we serve God we also serve those who we are in relationship with and those whom he has put over us. But we are answerable initially to God and take our directions and assignments from him.

We are called to preach the Gospel

Secondly, Paul had a passion to preach the Gospel. In verse 15 he says that he is eager to preach the gospel, and in verse 14 he says that he is under obligation, or as translated in the Authorised Version “I am a debtor”. John Stott in his Bible Speaks Today commentary on Romans explains it like this: “… if a friend of yours were to hand me £1,000 to give to you, I would be in your debt until I handed it over.” And goes on to say that Paul “has not borrowed anything from the Romans which he must repay. But Jesus Christ has entrusted him with the gospel for them”. In 1 Thessalonians 2:4 Paul says that he is approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We too have been entrusted with good news, and we have it for the benefit of others.

We are to pray for God’s People

Paul also prayed for God’s people. In verse 8 we see that he thanked God for them and in verse 9-10 he says that he constantly remembers them in his prayers. This is a challenge to each of us. How do we pray for God’s people? Is it regularly? Is it with thankful hearts? In Ephesians 6:18 we are told to keep on praying for all the saints. This was a part of Paul’s life, is it a part of ours?

We are to encourage and strengthen each other

In verse 11 we can see that there was an expectation from Paul that he would impart some spiritual gift to them. He would want to give them some teaching, encouragement,  or maybe a prophetic word which will encourage them and make them strong. He also expects to receive something from them, as he says in verse 12 that there will be mutual encouragement by each other’s faith. This is a great way of viewing our own role within the body of Christ. We should all humbly expect to be used of God to encourage and strengthen the church with spiritual gifts, but also be ready and willing to receive encouragement and strengthening from others.

We should expect to be fruitful

Finally, Paul is expecting a fruitful time. He says in verse 13 that he wants to have a harvest among them just as he did among the other Gentiles. Do we have the same expectation from the areas of ministry that God has assigned to us?