Title: Fellowship of Love (Romans 15:22-29)
Content Humans are beings of sharing. In other words, it is impossible to live a life without fellowship and without communication. A society with sharing has order and harmony. However, in a society without sharing and without fellowship, conflicts and confrontations inevitably intensify. The community of the family as well as the community of the society, the state, and the church can all be established through true fellowship and sharing. The model of the most ideal community can be found in the community of the early church. The severance of sharing and fellowship is the cause of the church's failure to become a church. The text shows the sharing of love.
1. Paul's desire to visit Rome (22-26)
1) Desire to love the church (22-23)
The reason Paul was so eager to go to Rome was because of his fervent missionary zeal. It was from the point of view that evangelizing Rome would be a measure of accelerating the evangelization of the whole world. In particular, in Paul's desire to love the Roman Church, we can feel his passionate missionary zeal to save the Gentiles.
And Paul wanted to go to Savannah (Spain) through Rome, but before that, there was a task to be accomplished. So the desire to visit Rome was put on hold. When we are planning something, there are times when circumstances or circumstances do not match and cause setbacks. Anyone who tries to get ahead of the Lord is bound to fail. Waiting in prayer until the Lord opens the way is the attitude people of faith should take.
2) Desire for fellowship with saints (24)
The fellowship of saints is spiritual. The fellowship of saints is the fellowship of sharing the grace of God. It is not a fellowship that shares human affection. Therefore, the fellowship of saints must be established in Christ.
3) Paul practicing mercy (25-26)
Paul collected special relief offerings from the Gentile churches he established to help the poor Jewish believers of his mother church, the Jerusalem church (1 Corinthians 16:1, 2 Corinthians 8:1-2, 9:1-2 Gal 2: 10). Now, before visiting the church in Rome, Paul first visited the church in Jerusalem to deliver the relief offering to the Jewish believers. In this way, he gave consideration to the saints so that they could live in unity in love (Gal 6:9-10).
2. The debt of love that the saints should share (27-29)
1) The debt of love to share (27)
In the text Paul says that the Gentile churches are indebted to the gospel to the Jewish church. This is because the Gentiles received the gospel of Christ freely from the Jewish believers. The debt of this gospel is the debt of love.
2) Debt of love to be expressed in the flesh (28)
Paul is saying that it is proper for the Gentile church to serve the spiritual thing from the Jewish church, that is, the physical thing because it has received the grace of the gospel, that is, the Jewish church that is in trouble with alms. This means that physical and material rewards for spiritual grace are natural. This is because most of the ways in which humans can receive divine grace and repay it are physical and physical. What is important here is that the essence of divine grace is love, and the material reward is love.
Moreover, helping the poor saints is an active expression of love. Giving alms to the infinite storehouse of heaven is the wisdom to make it into eternal wealth (Luke 12:33). Salvation is the greatest wisdom that turns small wealth into great wealth. (Proverbs 11:24-25) Scattering and giving will make you richer. If you spare too much, you will only become poor. Those who love alms will have abundance, and those who refresh others will be refreshed.
He did not say to give alms with what is left of his possessions, but to sell his possessions to give alms. (Luke 12:33) Sell your possessions and give alms, so that you may make pouches that do not wear out, a treasure laid down in heaven, an inexhaustible treasure, where thieves do not approach, and moths do not eat.
3) Workers who proceed in the blessing of Christ (29)
Paul is saying that when he goes to the church in Rome, he will take with him the full blessings of Christ. In other words, he said that he would go to the Roman church with the full blessings of Christ. Those who take the gospel of Christ are those who take the blessings of Christ. Therefore, the steps of those who preach the gospel of the Lord are blessed.
I pray that you will live as a source of blessing to share the infinite love and grace in Christ to the saints and neighbors.